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.. Weekly Health News + Safety Alerts Shildt Financial Services hopes that you find the following news items to be helpful and informative. We specialize in NO FEE Employee Benefits Insurance: Health/Medical, Dental, Vision, Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, Life, Legal, 401(k)/Pension and Long Term Care. Please Select Your Choice Of News items from our WEEKLY HEALTH NEWS IN REVIEW for each week dating back to March, 2010 that is located below the SAFETY ALERTS Links. SAFETY ALERTS: go to CPSC, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, to help keep your family and yourself safe by checking product recalls and safety news. Or go to FDA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts.   WEEKLY HEALTH NEWS                    IN REVIEW:   Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar   Health News Back To March, 2010 Obama The Corrupt and Obama The Thug: Like a petulant child, Obama always blames someone else when he’s caught with his hands in the corrupt messes that he creates One after the other, the scandals break & President Barack Obama feigns ignorance. He didn’t know. He didn’t know. He’s the smartest man in the world, & he didn’t know. And do not doubt that he’s corrupt. Obama’s problem is that now even the mainstream media can’t ignore it. It’s hit them too close to home (wiretapping AP’s phones, threats to whistle-blowers, thuggishly threatening reporters who don’t toe the line, siccing the IRS on reporters who dare ask tough questions; & by ignoring it, the media loses what little shred of credibility they have left. In addition to being corrupt, Obama’s a thug. He uses the politics of personal destruction - & he has throughout his political career - & he doesn’t care about collateral damage. He’s Tricky Dick with better-fitting suits & a complexion that hides his 5 o’clock shadow. Obama The Corrupt and Obama The Thug: Like a petulant child, Obama always blames someone else when he’s caught with his hands in the corrupt messes that he creates Obama The Obtuse May 15, 2013 by Bob Livingston -- Personal Liberty Digest   One after the other, the scandals break and President Barack Obama feigns ignorance. He didn’t know guns were walking to Mexico. He didn’t know that Benghazi wasn’t caused by a video. He didn’t know he was lying when he repeated his claim "the video did it." He didn’t know the Internal Revenue Service was targeting Tea Parties and small-government advocates. He didn’t know his own Department of Justice was stealing the phone calls of a major news organization. He didn’t know. He didn’t know. He didn’t know. He didn’t know. He’s the smartest man in the world, and he didn’t know. During the run-up to the 2008 election, we were treated ad nauseam to reports of Obama’s superior intellect. After all, he attended college at Occidental, Columbia University, Harvard School of Law… or so he says. He was first an editor and then president of the Harvard Law Review… or so he says. He was a law professor — err, lecturer — at the University of Chicago School of Law. Brilliant guy, or so they say. Yet when it comes time to own up the responsibilities of the Presidency, he’s strangely absent… or absentminded. In a word, he’s obtuse. Obtuse Obama’s sycophants will no doubt rush to his defense. He couldn’t know everything going on, they’ll say. It’s the gun dealer’s fault. It’s Eric Holder’s fault. It’s some low-level IRS department heads’ fault. It’s the media’s fault. It’s George W. Bush’s fault… or Dick Cheney’s. It’s the Tea Party’s fault. It’s Weeper John Boehner’s fault or Mitch McConnell’s. There was no cover-up. We shouldn’t know everything government knows. He wasn’t targeting his enemies. What does it matter? It was a long time ago. There’s just no there there. Harry Truman said, "The buck stops here." Bill Clinton was content to pass the buck to Janet Reno. Obtuse Obama doesn’t where the buck has gone; he just knows he doesn’t have it. Like a petulant child, he always blames someone else when he’s caught with his hand in the corrupt mess he created. And do not doubt that he’s corrupt. Obtuse Obama’s problem is that now even the mainstream media can’t ignore it. It’s hit them too close to home (wiretapping AP’s phones, threats to whistle-blowers, thuggishly threatening reporters who don’t toe the line, siccing the IRS on reporters who dare ask tough questions); and by ignoring it, they’re losing what little shred of credibility they had left. In addition to being obtuse, Obama’s a thug. I told you this a little more than a year ago. He uses the politics of personal destruction — and he has throughout his political career – and he doesn’t care about collateral damage. He’s Tricky Dick with better-fitting suits and a complexion that hides his 5 o’clock shadow. But if it makes his sycophants, his slavish followers — those talking-point parrots who come here day after day and dribble out their foolishness on Obama’s behalf — happy, we’ll just call him Obtuse Obama. That way, he’s not responsible for his failures. But Mr. and Ms. Obama Worshipper, don’t tell us anymore how smart he is. You can’t have it both ways. Obama Is Drunk On Power: Obama has a “crooked” Presidential legacy unparalleled since the administration of Richard Nixon With each snoop scandal; with each cover-up; with each wiretap amendment or backdoor cyber-surveillance revelation; with each executive order to keep documents classified; with each internal memo telling department heads to make spending cuts painful on Americans; with every silence on whether Americans are fair game for drone strikes; with each coordinated attack on the 2nd Amendment or quiet assault on the firearms free market; with each inexplicable concession to the Saudi terrorist-birthing regime; with each flush of a Freedom of Information Act request down the toilet; with each unresolved, unaddressed lie about what the ATF was doing tracking guns in Mexico: With each of these revelations, and more, the Obama White House adds another spectacular dollop of hypocrisy to a crooked Presidential legacy unparalleled since the administration of Richard Nixon. Obama Is Drunk On Power: Obama has a “crooked” Presidential legacy unparalleled since the administration of Richard Nixon Rand Sums It Up: Obama Is Drunk On Power May 15, 2013 by Ben Bullard -- Personal Liberty Digest Whatever your party ideology is, whatever the ideals — left or right — you profess as critical to the understanding of how America’s ongoing experiment in free Constitutional Republicanism will continually emerge successful, you have to hew to what you believe. Elected leaders whose explanations of their vision for the Nation resonated with enough voters to put them in office actually have to enact their visions, or at least do things, once in office, that don’t subvert the principles they sold to the people at the time they campaigned for their favor. President Barack Obama had a lot of political raw material to work with in 2008, positioning himself as a transparent, open and accessible answer to the cultivated perception of the George W. Bush White House as a devilish, secretive, power-mad boys’ club — a pillaging cabal of Statists who appeared on TV news shows as guys who reveled in the expansion of power to achieve honorable aims by sinister, ignoble, illegal means. Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Ari Fleischer, Condoleezza Rice: The names still conjure, in the memory, the indelible image of the unique power culture that emerged in the W. era. So what if you have to give up your privacy? Did you see what just happened to those two towers, all those people? So what if you’re inconvenienced by a little roughhousing at the airport? Don’t you want to play even a passive role in securing the homeland? So what if there weren’t any weapons of mass destruction? We ended up taking out a real bad guy, didn’t we? Hey, we don’t make the weather; but don’t you want the Federal Emergency Management Agency to nail things down while the Corps of Engineers hires some guys I know to make sure your polluted, depressed industrial corridor doesn’t have to be relocated to the Atchafalaya basin? And so it goes. But none of that surprised anyone. The Republican White House of 2000-2008 walked as it talked. If the Feds wanted to snoop on you and if they wanted you to bleed a little for the greater good, Fleischer and Scott McClellan got out in front of a Presidential Seal symbol and told you why their boss thought it was a good idea. In so many ways, they said: "This is the President’s agenda, and this is why he thinks it’s the best thing for the Nation. We know we’ve got the power; now watch us use it." Nothing remotely approaching even that degree of openness has emanated from the White House since 2008, when Obama said this to the leaders of Federal agencies: My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government. With each snoop scandal; with each cover-up; with each wiretap amendment or backdoor cybersurveillance revelation; with each executive order to keep documents classified; with each internal memo telling department heads to make spending cuts painful on Americans; with every silence on whether Americans are fair game for drone strikes; with each coordinated attack on the 2nd Amendment or quiet assault on the firearms free market; with each inexplicable concession to the Saudi terrorist-birthing regime; with each flush of a Freedom of Information Act request down the toilet; with each unresolved, unaddressed lie about what the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was doing tracking guns in Mexico: With each of these revelations, and more, the Obama White House adds another spectacular dollop of hypocrisy to a crooked Presidential legacy unparalleled, so far as we know, since the administration of Richard Nixon. Obama does not walk his talk. The message is diametrically opposed to the deed. And there is no way on Earth it’s inadvertent, no way to cobble together an apology of such hypocrisy as simple misplaced idealism or the seeking of noble goals by ignoble means. Hell, no one — but no one — knows what the goals are anymore. Talking points are hollow. And it’s gotten too egregious to seem rooted in rationality. The inconsistencies between talk and action are just too perplexing. The delusional pathology presents similarly to that of an addict or a drunk. On Monday, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told FOX News: I think of what Lincoln said. He said … if you really want to test a man, give him power. I think, in that sense, the president is failing that test of power, because he has extraordinary power and he’s supposed to be able to be wise enough to restrain himself. But he’s using the power of government to investigate his enemies. He’s tapping the phones of the press. And it turns out last year he signed legislation that allows him to detain an American without a trial and send them to Guantanamo Bay. This sounds like a president somewhat drunk on power — not cautious about how he uses his power. Can a bender this wild last four more years? May 10, 2013 to May 17, 2013Health Highlights **Obama Administration 1st Approved Age Limit For Non-Prescription 'Morning After Intercourse' Pill To Be Lowered From Age 17 To 15: Then judge ruled pill should be available to girls of any age. **New SARS-Like Virus May Pass Between People. **Elevated Levels of Arsenic Found in Chicken. **U.S. Plans Overhaul of Government-Funded Child Care Centers. **Two Health Care Workers Made Ill by SARS-Like Virus. **Women in Their 40s Still Getting Mammograms Despite New Guidelines. **Mental Health Official Softens Stance on New Psychiatric Manual. Health Highlights (May 10, 2013 to May 17, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Obama Administration 1st Approved Age Limit For Non-Prescription 'Morning After Intercourse' Pill To Be Lowered From Age 17 To 15: Then judge ruled pill should be available to girls of any age The Obama administration on Monday filed an eleventh-hour appeal to delay the over-the-counter sale of "Plan B" emergency contraception to girls of any age. Last month, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled that the so-called "morning after" pill be made available without a prescription, with a deadline for any appeal set for Monday. On Friday Korman denied a U.S. government request to put a hold on his order while the Obama administration readied an appeal. The appeal was filed Monday just before the noon deadline, the Associated Press reported. In the document, the government contends that Korman overstepped his authority. But Korman said politics are driving moves by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to block over-the-counter access to Plan B. Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lowered the age limit for access to the emergency contraceptive from 17 to 15 years of age, but Korman believes that doesn't go far enough. In the meantime, the Center for Reproductive Rights, which instigated the lawsuit behind Korman's decision, said it would answer the Obama administration's filing within 10 days, the AP reported. In papers filed before the court, the center said that delays in access to Plan B could be "life-altering" for some women, the AP said. ----- New SARS-Like Virus May Pass Between People A deadly new form of coronavirus that's killed 18 people in Europe and the Middle East may pass from person to person, experts at the World Health Organization announced on Sunday. The new viral strain first emerged in humans in the Middle East in 2012 and is a member of the same family of viruses as SARS, the infection that caused hundreds of deaths worldwide in 2003. So far, there have been 34 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus across Europe and the Middle East, BBC News reported. Those cases include a newly confirmed case in France involving a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room with a 65-year-old who became ill from the virus after returning to France from Dubai. "Different clusters seen in multiple countries increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact this novel coronavirus can transmit from person to person," WHO said on Sunday. "This pattern of person-to-person transmission has remained limited to some small clusters and, so far, there is no evidence to suggest the virus has the capacity to sustain generalized transmission in communities." Infection does seem to have a high fatality rate: According to the Saudi Arabian health ministry, 15 people who became ill with the virus in that country have died, out of a total of 24 confirmed cases, the BBC said. ----- Elevated Levels of Arsenic Found in Chicken U.S. researchers report that they found elevated levels of arsenic in chicken that might lead to a slight increase in lifetime cancer risk for humans who eat poultry, but the levels found were still well below federal safety standards. According to the New York Times, the Johns Hopkins scientists believe this additional arsenic can be traced to the use of the drug roxarsone (Zoetis), which was once used to fight intestinal parasites and promote growth in poultry. Sales of Zoetis were suspended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011 because of public health concerns, but the drug is still sold abroad, the newspaper reported. The potential dangers of arsenic in food has become an issue following reports last year of substantial levels of arsenic found in rice, the Times reported. Study author Keeve Nachman, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, did say that the levels of arsenic found in chickens were much lower than those found in rice, but that they still posed a potential health risk, according to the Times. Study estimates suggested that if the drug were fed to all chickens the exposure could cause an additional 124 deaths in the United States each year from lung and bladder cancer. However, the National Chicken Council said the Hopkins scientists discovered "very low levels of arsenic," and the finding was not worrisome. In 2011, Americans ate about 83 pounds of chicken per person, compared with about 30 pounds per person in 1965, according to council estimates. ----- U.S. Plans Overhaul of Government-Funded Child Care Centers Improved safety standards may be on the way at the nation's 500,000 federally funded child care centers, according to a new proposal released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. According to the Associated Press, about 1.6 million U.S. children attend these types of facilities, paid for by government vouchers supplied to families. Yet health and safety requirements for such centers can vary greatly because they are overseen by rules set by each state. That means that "too many children remain in settings that do not meet minimum standards of health and safety," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. She said the proposed new rules set by the federal government would "ensure that providers take necessary basic steps to shield children from an avoidable tragedy." Among the proposed changes, according to the AP: Workers would be required to undergo fingerprinting and background checks, as well as training in first aid, CPR, poison prevention and safe sleeping practices for babies. Rules for the safe transport of children, to cut the number of deaths among children left in cars. Unannounced, in-person child care site visits by state inspectors. Online posting, in plain language, of each child care facility's licensing and health and safety inspection records. Efforts to widen access to government-funded child care, especially for unemployed parents looking for work. ----- Two Health Care Workers Made Ill by SARS-Like Virus An emerging, SARS-like virus that has sickened 40 people in the Middle East and Europe since September has now caused illness in two health care workers who were caring for infected patients, health officials report. Two health care staffers caring for a patient in Saudi Arabia have been sickened with the coronavirus, the first such recorded case of transmission from patient to health care worker, the Associated Press reported. Person-to-person transmission has been suspected before, the news agency said. Coronaviruses include SARS, the infection that caused a widespread global outbreak in 2003. The new coronavirus appears to have a high fatality rate, with 20 deaths recorded among the 40 known cases. ----- Women in Their 40s Still Getting Mammograms Despite New Guidelines Many women in their 40s are not following updated guidelines on mammograms that recommend waiting until after the age of 50 to start getting routine breast cancer screenings, new research shows. "Patients -- and likely their providers -- appear hesitant to change their behavior, even in light of evidence that routine screening in younger women carries substantial risk of false positives and unnecessary further imaging and biopsies," study author Dr. Lauren Block, a clinical fellow in the division of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in a statement, the UPI reported Wednesday. "Women have been bombarded with the message 'mammograms save lives,' so they want them no matter what," Block added. In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force looked at studies that suggested giving routine mammograms to women under 50 often ended in overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and decided to change course with its guidelines. Now, the task force recommends that women between the ages of 50 and 74 should get a mammogram every two years, while those aged 40 to 49 without a family history of breast cancer should weigh the option of getting a mammogram with their doctor. However, after analyzing mammogram use data on more than 480,000 women that was culled from state health department records, Block and her colleagues found there was almost no change in the number of women in their 40s who got mammograms before and after the guidelines were changed, going from 53 percent before 2009 to 52 percent in 2010. Among women over 50, that percentage dropped from 65 percent to 62 percent in the same period. The study was published online May 15 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. ----- Mental Health Official Softens Stance on New Psychiatric Manual Debate over the validity of the latest version of what is considered the diagnostic "bible" of psychiatry eased Tuesday after a top government health official who had criticized the manual softened his position in a public statement. Set to be released Saturday, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). This latest edition has raised some concerns because of changes in the diagnoses of some disorders, most notably in the area of autism spectrum disorders. But the issue that Thomas Insel, director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), recently took with the manual was more fundamental. Insel wrote in a blog post that the manual is "at best, a dictionary, creating a set of labels and defining each," and that its "weakness is its lack of validity." In his post, Insel added that his agency would instead steer its research toward a new set of diagnostic parameters known as Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), because "DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure." However, in a joint release issued Monday, Insel and APA president-elect Jeffrey Lieberman noted that the DSM-5 "represents the best information currently available for clinical diagnosis of mental disorders." The new statement further clarified that while the manual is used by practitioners, it "is no longer sufficient for researchers," and so RDoC will be the new focus for NIMH. "Looking forward, laying the groundwork for a future diagnostic system that more directly reflects modern brain science will require openness to rethinking traditional categories," the statement explained. "This is the focus of the NIMH's Research Domain Criteria [RDoC] project. RDoC is an attempt to create a new kind of taxonomy for mental disorders by bringing the power of modern research approaches in genetics, neuroscience and behavioral science to the problem of mental illness." The latest statement also pointed out that the DSM and RDoC "represent complementary, not competing, frameworks. . . . As research findings begin to emerge from the RDoC effort, these findings may be incorporated into future DSM revisions and clinical practice guidelines." Why Are President Obama & His Wife Friends With Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi Who Is In The Terrorism Watch List System and Was A Suspect In The Boston Bombing?: Even though he’s marked as a terrorist, he was allowed into the USA, visited the White House 7 times since 2009, & Michelle Obama recently visited him in the hospital Alharbi, who is related to a number of terrorists now residing in Gitmo and/or listed as part of al-Qaida, was admitted to the USA under a “special advisory opinion,” indicating someone pulled some strings for him. His strings go a long way — all the way to the White House, where Alharbi was a frequent visitor (7 times since 2009). His file contained one prior event, indicating he was already in the terrorism watch list system. Yet even though he’s marked as a terrorist, he was allowed in. Perhaps that explains Michelle Obama’s hospital visit; Alharbi & the Obamas are friends. There are photographs on the Internet that purport to show Alharbi near the Boston bomb site Why Are President Obama & His Wife Friends With Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi Who Is In The Terrorism Watch List System and Was A Suspect In The Boston Bombing?: Even though he’s marked as a terrorist, he was allowed into the USA, visited the White House 7 times since 2009, and Michelle Obama recently visited him in the hospital Boston And More Government Lies April 29, 2013 by Bob Livingston -- Personal Liberty Digest A SWAT team sniper in an armored vehicle looks down Bigelow Avenue during a manhunt for one of the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects on April 19. The Saudi Arabian "person of interest" who was hospitalized with serious injuries and then held under guard at a hospital because he was suspected of playing a part in the Boston Marathon bombing is just a college student who happened to be enjoying the annual spectacle. Two Chechnyan brothers — one a naturalized U.S. citizen — who heretofore were unknown to the U.S. security apparatus, became radicalized for unknown reasons. Using instructions found online, they fabricated bombs using kitchen utensils, hardware junk and fireworks, concealed them in a backpack and duffle bag and detonated them near the finish line of the race. Days later, after the FBI solicited the help of the public in identifying two men in grainy video images, the two Chechnyan brothers came out of hiding, killed an MIT police officer in cold blood in an effort to steal his sidearm, car jacked an Asian man, drove to a convenience store and robbed it, then engaged in a firefight with police. The two men were armed with a small arsenal of five pipe bombs, an M-4 carbine, two handguns and a BB gun. They planned to kill as many people as they could and then, depending on who is talking, blow up New York or party there, authorities said. During the early morning hours of Friday, April 19, the two men battled with police, exchanging gunfire and exploding at least one of their bombs. At least 200 rounds were fired by the cops. The suspects fired back 80 or more at police. The older brother, identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was apprehended when he ran toward police while firing his weapon. Tamerlan was on the ground being handcuffed by police when younger brother Dzhokhar — by all accounts of friends a nice and friendly guy who had never expressed jihadist opinions — drove over him in a stolen SUV, dragging the body at least 30 feet before it became disentangled from the vehicle’s undercarriage. This violent exchange, in which police believe they wounded Dzhokhar, led to a voluntary lockdown of the town of Watertown, part of greater Boston. Residents and business owners were encouraged but not forced to stay inside all of Friday while police, FBI and National Guard troops and equipment scoured the neighborhood for the criminal terrorist. Police tactical units, armed in full SWAT or military gear conducted house-to-house searches, asking people to exit their homes at gunpoint, strongly encouraging them (with threats) to raise their hands (even if they were of different sex, race and age of the known suspect) and be frisked. The suspect was finally located hiding in a boat in a Watertown backyard by the boat’s owner, who had noticed the tarp covering the boat was loose. Peering beneath the tarp, the homeowner saw the suspect, bleeding and asleep or unconscious, and called police. Well-armed and fitted with an explosive vest, the suspect posed grave risk to law enforcement. So they surrounded the area, engaged in another firefight with him and finally apprehended him. Having been injured in the throat, the suspect is unable to talk, but he did manage to confess to the plot before being read his Miranda rights by a Boston judge. As best I can tell, this is the official narrative of the Boston Marathon bombing. It is the story the FBI and the rest of government wants you to believe. Because it’s coming from the FBI and being parroted by the government propaganda machine mainstream media, it must be the truth. The masses have accepted it as such and have now moved on to more important interests like the NBA playoffs, the NFL draft, "American Idol" or some other mindless, inconsequential pursuit. However, now we — at least those of us who pay attention — know, thanks to Glenn Beck, the Saudi person of interest is not just some innocent bystander after all. Just hours after the April 15 bombing, Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was put on a terror watch list and had an event file created that indicated he was armed and dangerous; and actions began that would lead to his deportation. Alharbi, who is related to a number of terrorists now residing in Gitmo and/or listed as part of al-Qaida, was admitted to the United States under a "special advisory opinion," indicating someone pulled some strings for him. His strings go a long way — all the way to the White House, where Alharbi was a frequent visitor (seven times since 2009). His file contained one prior event, indicating he was already in the terrorism watch list system. Yet even though he’s marked as a terrorist, he was allowed in. Perhaps that explains Michelle Obama’s hospital visit. Alharbi and the Obamas are friends. After news of his possible deportation leaked, government officials backtracked. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refused to answer questions from a Congressman about Alharbi. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official told Beck a different Saudi was in custody but not connected to the bombing. Someone altered Alharbi’s file on April 17 in a way that disassociated him from the bombing, according to Beck, but an original had been printed out and saved. The change happened around the time that first Secretary of State John Kerry and then President Barack Obama met with the Saudi foreign minister — a meeting that wasn’t on Obama’s schedule. There are photographs on the Internet that purport to show Alharbi with two other Saudis near the bomb site. If the government will lie about who Alharbi is and whether his is a suspect, what else about the official narrative is a lie? Despite initial claims by the FBI that included a request to help identify the two men in the video, the Tsarnaev brothers have been known to that agency and the CIA for some time. According to their mother, the FBI interviewed them five years ago. The CIA was warned about Tamerlan by Russian authorities almost two years ago. He was on at least two terrorist watch lists. He was flagged so that his travel outside the U.S. would create an alert. They may have been so well-known to the government security apparatus that they were, in fact, double agents. If the FBI will lie about knowing who the suspects were, what other portions of the story are false? Police begin to look pretty incompetent if they are having a shootout involving dozens of police officers and just two suspects if the suspects escape, even if the suspects are armed with several weapons. But now we know that the pair did not have an arsenal, as first reported, but only one Ruger 9 mm handgun. If police will lie about the weapons the pair had and what happened during the shootout, what else are they lying about? The doctor who first examined Tamerlan said the suspect was in cardiac arrest when he was brought to the emergency room. The doctor described him as suffering from gunshot wounds and a possible blast injury to the trunk that included thermal burns. No mention was made of injuries sustained from being run over by a car. A witness to the shootout who took photographs out his window said Dzhokhar drove through the police barricade, striking two police cars as he did. He did not mention Tamerlan being run over. If the police will lie about Tamerlan’s cause of death, what else are they lying about? Police fired dozens of rounds at the boat in which Dzhokhar was hiding. He came out of the boat with a wound to the throat. The MSM reports it was a wound so serious it may leave him unable to speak. It may have been a suicide attempt, police say. Except, he wasn’t armed. He didn’t have a suicide vest. USA Today says this "undercuts initial accounts that the 19-year-old university student was heavily armed, had shot at police and possibly had an explosive device." And the wound was small and more like a knife cut or a shrapnel wound, according to one of the SWAT team members who arrested Dzhokhar. And as Robert Wenzel notes, notice the reaction of other SWAT members at about 4:50 on the video as the man speaking describes the cut. Did he deviate from the official narrative? If police will lie about the weapons Dzhokhar had and the extent of his injuries, how much of the rest of the narrative is a lie? As Jon Rappoport points out, the government’s bomb narrative is fishy. The piece of metal that was purported to be remains of a pressure cooker bomb shows no evidence of having contained shrapnel. The bomb blast was designed to stay low, indicating a level of sophistication far above reading a how-to article on an al-Qaida website. Official information about Craft operatives who were seen before the explosions, some of them walking around with radiation detectors, is likewise questionable, not that the MSM and their mindless watchers are questioning it. Runners report seeing bomb-sniffing dogs being used before the event and being told a drill was being conducted. Boston police claim there was no drill. More lies! The FBI claims it’s looking for other members of the Tsarnaev’s terror cell. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick insists they acted alone. It can’t be both, but no one outside of alternative media is asking which it is. The FBI, the CIA and other non-government organizations (NGOs) use patsies to stage terror events. Even Obama mouthpiece The New York Times has outed the FBI for staging terror attacks so it could swoop in at the last minute and "save" Americans from attacks that would not have happened without FBI help. They have long been known to lie to advance their agendas: Aurora, Colo.; Newtown; Waco; Ruby Ridge; Oklahoma City; 9/11; Gulf of Tonkin; USS Liberty — the "official" stories on all these are lies. Yet the people take what government says as gospel and move on. Normalcy bias, or perhaps psychosis, keeps them asleep and happy and thinking there is a government intending to keep them safe. That way, they’re not distracted from their television shows, their iPads or their sporting events. The Obama Crime Family Makes The Gambino Crime Family Look Like Nice Guys: The Obama crime family is killing jobs, strangling business, intimidating opponents, making the energy industry “sleep with the fishes”, wiping out the middle class, & snuffing out the economy like hit men This Don Obama is one bad-ass killer. There are now 90 million able-bodied, working-age Americans no longer working; that’s almost 1/3 of the country’s population. Obama’s like a mafia drug dealer that has addicted the country to entitlements such as welfare, food stamps, disability, unemployment, school meals, housing allowances & healthcare. Obama’s turned millions into addicts freeloading on money heisted from hardworking earners whom he enjoys impoverishing. But intimidation is Don Obama’s real calling card as he bullies business owners & debt-rating agencies, and even defies federal courts that rule against his plans to make energy bills skyrocket so you’ll beg for Obama handouts to pay your utility bills The Obama Crime Family Makes The Gambino Crime Family Look Like Nice Guys: The Obama crime family is killing jobs, strangling business, intimidating opponents, making the energy industry “sleep with the fishes”, wiping out the middle class, & snuffing out the economy like hit men What Barack Obama Has In Common With The Gambino Crime Family May 2, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/05/02/what-barack-obama-has-in-common-with-the-gambino-crime-family -- or read the text of it below. Hello. I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. Can you guess who is the deadliest crime family in our country’s history? If you guessed the Gambinos, you’re wrong. It’s the Obama crime family. The Obama gang is killing jobs, strangling business, intimidating opponents, making the energy industry "sleep with the fishes" and wiping out the middle class. Don Obama and his cronies are very much like the Gambino crime family — except the Gambinos were nicer. You see, the mafia almost never goes after "civilians." They only intimidate, extort and kill other mobsters or "associates" active in the insular criminal world. If only Obama was that discriminating! The Obama crime family goes after every taxpayer in America. Obama desperately needs your money, and he’ll stop at nothing to confiscate it. Whether it’s raising income taxes, payroll taxes, Obamacare taxes, online sales taxes or taking away exemptions and deductions, he’ll find a new and creative way to claim your money as his money. How does Obama steal your money? Let me share a few highlights of Don Obama’s larceny in action. First: through massive taxation and redistribution of wealth. Don Obama targets, hunts, demonizes, intimidates and punishes his best customers (business owners and high-income taxpayers). Even the Gambinos treated their best customers better than this. But taxation is only the tip of the iceberg for the Obama crime family. They can rob widows and orphans blind without ever touching their income or bank accounts. The Obama crime family’s weapon of choice is the Federal Reserve. If Don Obama can’t get his hands on your money, he merely orders the Fed to print trillions in new dollars. That makes your life savings worthless. It threatens your retirement. It even threatens the financial future of your children and grandchildren. All of those trillions of fake dollars printed by the Fed need to be repaid by future generations. That "Obama money" that props up the stock market — and pays for "free" Obama phones and "free" healthcare — isn’t actually "free." It’s debt, and it all must be repaid by your kids. Don Obama is a genius. He has enslaved your heirs to a life of misery, unimaginable debt and excessive taxation — even though some aren’t even born yet. That qualifies Don Obama as the meanest, most dastardly gangster who ever lived. No wonder babies cry upon taking their first breath. At the moment of birth, they owe more than $300,000. This Don Obama is one bad-ass killer. Just last month, 660,000 Americans left the workforce. In one month! There are now 90 million able-bodied, working-age Americans no longer working. That’s almost one-third of the country’s population. The workforce participation rate is the lowest since 1979. For men, it’s the lowest since 1948. Don Obama has killed so many jobs that he should be on top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list. But Don Obama also kills spirit. He overwhelms business owners with so many taxes and regulations that they live in despair and depression. Don Obama is a ruthless enforcer. He created 6,118 new government regulations in just the first 90 days of 2013. He is snuffing out the economy like a hit man. Even worse, he is like a Gambino drug dealer. Except Don Obama’s drug of choice is entitlements. He has addicted the whole country to welfare, food stamps, disability, unemployment, free meals at school, housing allowances and free healthcare. He’s turned almost the whole population into addicts with their hands out, waiting for their "Obama money." Even the Gambinos could never destroy the moral fabric of the whole country. Take notes, Mr. Gambino; this Don Obama is good. But intimidation is Don Obama’s real calling card. Internal Revenue Service audits are up dramatically — specifically on small-business owners. Why? As bank robber extraordinaire Dillinger said, "That’s where the money is." Obama smells money, and he must grab every last nickel. Even the Gambinos left a taste on the table. Not Obama. What’s yours is his. As a bonus, since business owners write most of the checks for Republican candidates and conservative causes, Don Obama is slowly bankrupting his political opposition. Then there’s the intimidation against "ratings agencies." Standard & Poor’s downgraded the debt of America under Obama — for the first time in history. So guess what happened to poor Standard & Poors? A government indictment. Next, Egan-Jones downgraded America’s debt- twice. Can you guess what soon followed? A government indictment. Egan-Jones was recently sentenced with a big fine and banned from telling the truth about America’s finances for 18 months. Were these indictments a coincidence? No more than if a business owner stops paying kickbacks to the mafia and suddenly winds up firebombed. These were messages — messages you can’t ignore (like a dead fish at your front door). Then there’s Obamacare. The IRS predicts the typical family will soon pay $20,000 per year for healthcare. Since no one in this Obamageddon economy has $20,000 to spare, Don Obama will turn us all into wards of the state, dependent on government to pay for our healthcare. But Don Obama saves his real mafia tactics for the energy industry. He despises oil, coal, nuclear and fracking. A true Marxist, Obama wants energy bills to go through the roof, so that we all need government handouts to survive. So he uses every trick in his book to destroy the energy producers — from Environmental Protection Agency regulations to executive orders. A Federal court recently threw out an Obama biofuel tax on the energy industry. It was quite simply unConstitutional. How did Obama respond? He doubled the tax. Don Obama takes killing to a whole new level. Looking for the villain in America today? Look no further than the man ruining our economy and killing our country. The Obama crime family is in a league of its own. My apologies for insulting the Gambinos by comparison. Obama Deliberately Limiting Ammunition Access To American Citizens: Obama Has Ordered Federal Agencies To Make "Massive" Purchases Of "Unnecessary" Ammunition “Ammo bought by DHS [Department of Homeland Security] is being stockpiled, “disposed of,” passed to other agencies, or shot “indiscriminately.” President Obama has been adamant about curbing law-abiding Americans’ access and opportunities to exercise their Second Amendment rights. One way the Obama Administration is able to do this is by limiting what’s available in the market with Federal agencies purchasing unnecessary stockpiles of ammunition. The DHS currently has more than 260 million rounds stockpiled. The DHS bought in excess of 103 million rounds in 2012 and reported using 116 million rounds over the year among its roughly 70,000 agents. Those numbers mean that DHS allocated 1,300 to 1,600 rounds per officer, dwarfing the U.S. Army’s average of roughly 350 rounds per soldier.” Obama Deliberately Limiting Ammunition Access To American Citizens: Obama Has Ordered Federal Agencies To Make "Massive" Purchases Of "Unnecessary" Ammunition GOP Lawmakers Want DHS Ammo Hoarding To Stop April 29, 2013 by Sam Roley -- Personal Liberty Digest Questions were raised last week about the Department of Homeland Security’s true reasons for making the massive ammunition purchases that have grabbed headlines in recent months as lawmakers questioned agency officials about the bullet buys. "It is entirely… inexplicable why the Department of Homeland Security needs so much ammunition," Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said during a hearing. While some Democratic lawmakers defended DHS officials who said that the department had made orders for a slightly higher amount of ammunition than usual, Chaffetz was joined by Republicans in disagreement. He pointed out that DHS currently has more than 260 million rounds stockpiled. According to the lawmaker, the agency bought in excess of 103 million rounds in 2012 and reported using 116 million rounds over the year among its roughly 70,000 agents. Those numbers mean that DHS allocated 1,300 to 1,600 rounds per officer, dwarfing the U.S. Army’s average of roughly 350 rounds per soldier. Representative Darrel Issa (R-Calif.) posited that ammo bought by DHS is being stockpiled, "disposed of," passed to other agencies, or shot "indiscriminately." Other lawmakers have taken similar views, questioning whether the agency is expecting widespread civil unrest or is simply buying ammo to limit access to civilian purchasers. DHS officials attacked conservative online media, namely Drudge Report, for making issue of purchases that represent "about 1 percent of the total number of rounds manufactured in the U.S." each year. The agency denies reports that it plans to buy up to 1.6 billion rounds over five years, saying the number is closer to 750 million. Resultant of the hearings was the introduction of the Ammunition Management for More Obtainability (AMMO) Act of 2012 by Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Representative Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) in their respective chambers. The lawmakers believe that DHS’s ammo purchase plans are directly related to President Barack Obama’s gun-control agenda. "President Obama has been adamant about curbing law-abiding Americans’ access and opportunities to exercise their Second Amendment rights," said Inhofe. "One way the Obama Administration is able to do this is by limiting what’s available in the market with Federal agencies purchasing unnecessary stockpiles of ammunition. As the public learned in a House committee hearing this week, the Department of Homeland Security has two years’ worth of ammo on hand and allots nearly 1,000 more rounds of ammunition for DHS officers than is used on average by our Army officers. The AMMO Act of 2013 will enforce transparency and accountability of federal agencies’ ammunition supply while also protecting law-abiding citizens’ access to these resources." The proposed legislation would restrict agencies from obtaining more ammunition for a six-month period when agency stockpiles reach monthly averages higher than they were prior to the Obama Administration. "I was surprised to find out the DHS has the right to buy up to 750 million rounds of ammunition over the next five years, while it already has two years’ worth of ammo already. This is an issue that must be addressed, and I am pleased this legislation provides us the opportunity to do so." said Lucas. May 03, 2013 to May 10, 2013Health Highlights **Avoid Juices Incorporated Products: Juices may be contaminated with bacteria that cause botulism. **New COPD Drug Approved by FDA. **3 Suspected Cases of SARS-Like Virus Reported in France. **U.S. Lawmakers Investigating Stimulant in Workout Products. **Wrigley Halts Sales of Caffeinated Gum. **U.S. Drug Spending Declines for First Time in Decades. **New Genetic Prostate Cancer Test Available. **Sleep-Deprived Students a Major Problem. **France Reports First Case of SARS-Like Virus. **Valley Fever Cases Rising in U.S. **FDA Warns About Breast Cancer Drug Name Confusion. **Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Strain 'Very Dangerous' **FDA Criticized for OK'ing Combo Cholesterol Pill. Health Highlights (May 03, 2013 to May 10, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Avoid Juices Incorporated Products: Juices may be contaminated with bacteria that cause botulism Consumers should not drink carrot and beet juice products made by Juices Incorporated of Brooklyn, N.Y. because the juices may be contaminated with bacteria that cause botulism, the Food and Drug Administration says. Botulism is a serious and potentially fatal illness caused by Clostridium botulinum. Even if the juices do not look or smell spoiled, consumers should not drink them, the FDA said. The agency said the following Juices Incorporated juice products pose a particular concern for Clostridium botulinum contamination: Carrot Juice Drink; Carrot & Beet Juice Drink; Carrot & Ginger Drink; Double Trouble Carrot Punch; Ginger Beet Juice; and Beet Juice Drink. The products are packaged under the brand names Juices Incorporated, Juices International and Juices Enterprises. The products were previously distributed in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, but were recently found in stores and restaurants in the New York City area, and consumers may have transported the products beyond this region, the FDA said. ----- New COPD Drug Approved by FDA A new drug called Breo Ellipta has been approved to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. COPD is a serious lung disease that worsens over time and is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Breo Ellipta (fluticasone furoate and vilanterol inhalation powder) has been approved for the long-term, once-daily, maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with COPD, including chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema. It is also approved to reduce exacerbations of COPD in patients with a history of exacerbations. The approval is based on a study of 7,700 patients. It found that those treated with Breo Ellipta showed improved lung function and reduced exacerbations compared to those who received a placebo. The drug works by decreasing airflow in the lungs and helping muscles around the airways of the lungs stay relaxed in order to increase airflow, the FDA said. The drug is not approved for the treatment of asthma and carries a boxed warning about an increased risk of asthma-related death. Serious side effects associated with the drug include increased risks of pneumonia and bone fractures. The most common side effects include inflammation of the nasal passage, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. ----- 3 Suspected Cases of SARS-Like Virus Reported in France Three new suspected cases of people with a deadly new SARS-like virus are being investigated by health officials in France, and a 65-year-old man confirmed to have the virus remains in hospital. The man became ill after returning from Dubai on April 17 and was hospitalized on April 23. A nurse, doctor and former hospital roommate who had contact with the man are in hospital and their test results are expected later Friday, the Associated Press reported. There have been 30 confirmed cases of the new SARS-like coronavirus since September 2012 and 18 of the patients have died, according to the World Health Organization. Cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Britain and Germany. Health officials say the virus has likely spread from person to person in some cases, the AP reported. ----- U.S. Lawmakers Investigating Stimulant in Workout Products An inquiry into the safety of an amphetamine-like substance in some popular workout and fat-burning products sold at GNC stores has been launched by U.S. lawmakers. The products contain a stimulant called dimethylamylamine (DMAA), which the Food and Drug Administration believes is an illegal dietary supplement ingredient. Last month, the agency warned consumers that DMAA was potentially dangerous, The New York Times reported. Products that contain DMAA include Jack3d and OxyElite Pro, made by USPlabs. In letters sent Wednesday, three Republican members of the oversight subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a letter to GNC -- the nation's largest dietary supplement chain -- asking why products containing DMAA were still for sale, The Times reported. "FDA issued a consumer safety alert noting that the agency had received 86 adverse event reports associated with products containing DMAA, including psychiatric disorders, heart problems, nervous system disorders and deaths," the letter stated. "However, as of May 7, 2013, GNC continues to sell Jack3d on its Web site." The lawmakers also sent letters to the FDA and USPlabs. Last month, USPlabs said it was phasing out the original Jack3d and OxyElite Pro products containing DMAA. GNC continues to sell both products and a spokeswoman said the company "has no reason to believe that DMAA is unsafe," The Times reported. ----- Wrigley Halts Sales of Caffeinated Gum Wrigley Co. announced Wednesday that it will pull its new caffeinated gum off the market while the U. S. Food and Drug Administration investigates the safety of adding caffeine to food products. Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner of foods, said in a statement to the Associated Press that Wrigley's decision "demonstrates real leadership and commitment to the public health." Taylor added that the company had talks with the agency before making the announcement. "After discussions with the FDA, we have a greater appreciation for its concern about the proliferation of caffeine in the nation's food supply," Wrigley North America President Casey Keller said in a statement to the AP. Keller told the wire service that production and sales of Alert Energy Caffeine Gum, which has the equivalent of half a cup of coffee in each stick, will be suspended until the FDA can craft a way to regulate caffeine-added products. The agency had announced it would investigate the issue just as the gum was introduced to consumers last month. Other food manufacturers have added caffeine to candy, nuts and other snack foods in recent years, according to the AP, and health organizations have questioned the safety of marketing caffeine products to children, who do not metabolize the stimulant the same way adults do. ----- U.S. Drug Spending Declines for First Time in Decades A flood of cheaper generic versions of popular prescription medicines is the main reason for the first drop in drug spending in the U.S. in nearly six decades, says a report from a leading pharmaceutical research group. Consumer drug costs were $325.8 billion in 2012, a one percent decrease from 2011, according to IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, the decline was 3.5 percent. Average spending per person in 2012 was $898, which was $33 lower than in 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported. Another factor that contributed to lower drug spending in 2012 was a weaker-than-normal cough, cold and flu season, according to IMS. The researchers also found that while U.S. pharmacies filled more prescriptions overall in 2012, there was a slight decline in the number of prescriptions filled on a per-person basis, the Times reported. That could mean that some people didn't take prescribed drugs or that consumers are getting more efficient health care, said IMS research director Michael Kleinrock. ----- New Genetic Prostate Cancer Test Available A new genetic test to reveal the aggressiveness of prostate cancer goes on sale in the United States on Wednesday. The Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score joins another genetic test called Prolaris that recently came on the market. Both analyze multiple genes in a prostate biopsy sample and give a score for cancer aggressiveness, the Associated Press reported. The tests are meant to help men decide whether they need immediate treatment for their prostate cancer or if it can be safely monitored. The tests are similar to those used for certain breast and colon cancers. The Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score test costs $3,820 while the Prolaris test costs $3,400, the AP reported. ----- Sleep-Deprived Students a Major Problem The United States has the highest percentage of students with sleep deprivation, which leads to lower classroom achievement, a new study says. The Boston College researchers found that 73 percent of 9- and 10-year-olds and 80 percent of 13- and 14-year-olds in the U.S. are sleep-deprived. That compares with an international average of 47 percent of younger students and 57 percent of older students, BBC News reported. Other countries with the highest number of sleep-deprived youngsters were New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Australia, England, Ireland, France and Finland. Students in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Japan and Malta were the least sleep-deprived. The researchers found that sleep deprivation among students can be such a serious problem that lessons have to presented at a lower level in order to accommodate sleep-starved students. Sleep experts link students' sleep deprivation with the use of mobile phones and computers in bedrooms late at night, BBC News reported. ----- France Reports First Case of SARS-Like Virus France has reported its first case of a person infected with a deadly SARS-like virus. The virus was diagnosed in a 65-year-old man who returned to France after a trip to Dubai in mid-April. He is in intensive care in a hospital in the northern city of Douai, France's health ministry said Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported. The new coronavirus was first detected in September 2012. Since then, 30 cases have been reported in different countries and 18 of the patients have died. Eleven of those deaths occurred in Saudi Arabia. Other cases have been reported in Jordan, Germany and Britain. The new virus is called nCoV-EMC and is related to SARS, a severe respiratory illness that killed about 800 people worldwide during a pandemic 10 years ago. Like SARS, the new virus causes lung infection but, unlike SARS, it also causes rapid kidney failure, AFP reported. ----- Valley Fever Cases Rising in U.S. The number of cases of a potentially deadly fungal lung infection called Valley Fever is on the rise in arid regions of the United States. The infection can be caught by inhaling fungus spores in airborne dust. Experts say a hotter, dryer climate has increased the dust carrying the spores of a fungus called Coccidioides, CBS News/Associated Press reported. There was a sharp increase in the incidence of Valley Fever in California's agricultural heartland in 2010 and 2011. And last week, a federal official ordered the transfer of more than 3,000 highly vulnerable inmates from two San Joaquin Valley prisons where several dozen have died of Valley Fever in recent years. "Research has shown that when soil is dry and it is windy, more spores are likely to become airborne in endemic areas," Dr. Gil Chavez, deputy director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the California Department of Public Health, told CBS News/AP. ----- FDA Warns About Breast Cancer Drug Name Confusion The generic names of two breast cancer drugs can cause confusion and lead to dosing errors, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns. One drug's brand name is Kadcyla and its generic name is ado-trastuzumab emtansine. The other drug's brand name is Herceptin and its generic name is trastuzumab. Some electronic health record systems pharmacy prescription processing and ordering systems incorrectly use the name trastuzumab emtansine when referring to Kadcyla. "The dosing and treatment schedules for Kadcyla and Herceptin ... are quite different, so confusion between these products could lead to dosing errors and potential harm to patients," the FDA said. Since Kadcyla was approved on Feb. 22, 2013, there have not been any reported medication errors related to the confusion between Kadcyla and Herceptin. However, errors did occur during clinical trials for Kadcyla before its approval. Health care professionals should use both the brand name for Kadcyla and its full generic name when writing medication orders or using computerized order entry systems, the FDA said. ----- Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Strain 'Very Dangerous' The impact of an antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea could match that of HIV/AIDS, according to some experts. The strain, called HO41, has been placed in the superbug category along with other antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), CNBC reported. No deaths from HO41 gonorrhea have been reported, but this is "an emergency situation" and "it's getting more hazardous" as time passes, according to William Smith, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. "This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly," Alan Christianson, a doctor of naturopathic medicine, told CNBC. "Getting gonorrhea from this strain might put someone into septic shock and death in a matter of days," he explained. "This is very dangerous." ----- FDA Criticized for OK'ing Combo Cholesterol Pill The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of a new cholesterol-lowering pill called Liptruzet "just doesn't make any sense," an expert says. Merck's new drug combines the generically available ingredient (atorvastatin) in Pfizer's Lipitor with Merck's Zetia (ezetimibe). While Zetia does lower "bad" LDL cholesterol linked with heart attacks and strokes, it is no more effective than drugs such as Lipitor, Crestor, or simvastatin, according to Forbes.com. Unlike those other medicines, there is no evidence that Zetia prevents heart attacks or strokes, and there is no proof that Liptruzet prevents heart attacks, strokes or other cardiovascular events better than atorvastatin alone, according to Forbes.com. A 2008 study failed to show that the combination of Zetia and simvastatin prevented artery hardening better than simvastatin alone. A large study comparing the Zetia/simvastatin combination to simvastatin alone for preventing heart attacks, strokes and deaths is not due to be completed until late 2014 and many experts expected that the FDA would not consider approval of Liptruzet until the study was completed, Forbes.com reported. Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic and a longtime critic of Zetia, blasted the FDA's approval of Liptruzet. "I find it astonishing that after all the controversy about ezetimibe the FDA would approve another combination product with a drug that has been on the market for a decade and has not been shown to improve cardiovascular outcomes," he told Forbes.com. "It seems like the agency is just tone deaf to the concerns raised by many members of the community about approving drugs with surrogate endpoints like cholesterol without evidence of a benefit for the disease we are truly trying to treat -- cardiovascular disease," he said. Nissen said the drugs can be prescribed separately if doctors want patients to have both of them. But due to the FDA's approval of the combination pill Liptruzet, it may be discovered that Zetia really doesn't prevent heart problems only after the medicine has become even more widely used. Merck spokeswoman Pamela Eisele told Forbes.com that the company is "confident in ezetimibe and in the established relationship between lowering LDL cholesterol and reducing cardiovascular events." Obama’s Plan To Destroy America Was Clearly Taught In Obama’s Radical College Class At Columbia University: It was a purposeful plan to drown the nation in debt, hook a majority on government handouts, and bring Americans to their knees begging The destruction & devastation we see happening right now is the plan learned, studied & discussed day & night at Columbia. The plan was revolting, but brilliant. It taught that America could be destroyed only from within. Only by overwhelming the system with debt, welfare & entitlements could the American economy be destroyed. So the plan was to make a majority of Americans dependent on welfare, food stamps, disability, unemployment & entitlements of all kinds. Then, under the weight of the debt, the system would implode & the economy collapse, wiping out the middle class, small business & the majority of donors to conservative causes -- meaning Obama would have no opposition. Americans would be brought to their knees, begging Obama to save them Obama’s Plan To Destroy America Was Clearly Taught In Obama’s Radical College Class At Columbia University: It was a purposeful plan to drown the nation in debt, hook a majority on government handouts, and bring Americans to their knees begging   Obama’s Plan To Destroy America Hatched at Columbia University, Says Classmate April 18, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Watch the video here -- http://www.readability.com/articles/3z4shmtn?print=1 -- or read the text of it below. Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. My new book, The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide, was released just days ago, hot off the presses. And timing is everything in life, because at this moment our economic survival is very much in question. Have you seen the latest numbers on jobs, workforce participation, retail sales and consumer confidence? One word sums it all up: disaster. Shouldn’t the American people have a right to know what our President’s real economic agenda is? Is he out to help us or hurt us? I have a story that sheds light on that life-or-death question. President Barack Obama and I were college classmates at Columbia University, class of ’83. I know all too well how mindlessly radical and in many cases, anti-American and hostile to capitalism the leftist students and faculty of that institution can be, and Obama was certainly no exception. It is in this cesspool of intolerance that Obama and his Marxist cronies hatched a secret plan to destroy our country. There are two things you need to know about Obama at Columbia University. First, he was pre-law and a political science major — just like me. I thought I knew everyone studying political science during my four years at Columbia. Not Obama. I never met him, never saw him, never even heard of him. Strange. Same major, same career path and graduated on the same day. Where was he? Was he busy attending communist party meetings? No need to guess. In his autobiography he proudly admits attending Socialist Party meetings at Cooper Union in downtown Manhattan. He also admits publicly in his own book to not wanting to meet or befriend anyone at Columbia who wasn’t black, Hispanic, gay or a Marxist professor — his words, in print. So it’s possible he was so busy attending communist meetings and trying to avoid guys like me (white, straight, patriotic) that our paths never crossed. But it’s the second thing you really need to know about Obama at Columbia. He says he graduated class of ’83. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. I always have. Well, then, Obama had to attend the same political science classes as me. I can tell you, almost to a man, my classmates in the class of ’83 proudly called themselves Marxist, communist or socialist. They bragged of being "radical" like a badge of honor. They openly hated America, calling it racist. They hated capitalism and vowed to bring "the system down." In my class the typical Columbia political science student vowed to change America, bankrupt business owners and vaporize what they called "the white power structure." For the most part these were children of wealth, given everything on a silver platter. Yet all they felt was anger and guilt. Their goal was to destroy their own fathers. They talked about it all day long. So let me tell you a story that explains the anger, hate and radicalism. Back in 1981, I was sitting in a political science class. The President at the time was Ronald Reagan, a man reviled by the left just as viciously as any Republican is today. Suddenly, our lecture was interrupted by a door swinging open violently, whereupon a breathless fellow student raced into the room screaming: "The President has been shot! They’ve just assassinated President Reagan." Reagan was my hero. The news hit me like a ton of bricks. I instantly felt sick to my stomach and tears flowed down my cheeks. But it was the response of the rest of the class that I will remember for the rest of my life. They cheered. They clapped, they yelled, they high-fived and they whooped in sheer, unadulterated joy. My fellow classmates, the ones I was naïvely trying so hard to befriend despite their radical leftist views, were happy that my hero, President Ronald Reagan, was dead (or so they thought). They were celebrating what they thought was the assassination of America’s President. Incidentally, if Obama actually went to Columbia, he’d almost certainly have to have been in that class leading the cheers. Feel like you need a shower yet? Lest you think I’m exaggerating, British leftists just celebrated and cheered upon hearing of the death of Margaret Thatcher only days ago. It was all over the news. Some Brits held parties celebrating her death. Nothing has changed. But wait, the most frightening and eye-opening revelation is still to come. You see, political science students at Columbia were taught a detailed plan designed by two former Columbia professors named Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven to bring down "the system," destroy capitalism and turn America into a socialist state. We discussed it in class, wrote about it and debated it outside class. It was a hot topic of discussion around the halls of Columbia for four years. The plan was revolting, but brilliant. Cloward and Piven taught that America could be destroyed only from within. Only by overwhelming the system with debt, welfare and entitlements could capitalism and the American economy be destroyed. So the plan was to make a majority of Americans dependent on welfare, food stamps, disability, unemployment and entitlements of all kinds. Then, under the weight of the debt, the system would implode and the economy collapse, bankrupting business owners (i.e., conservative donors). Americans would be brought to their knees, begging for big government to save them. Voilà! You’d have a new system: a system based on fairness, equality and social justice. It’s called socialism. Sound familiar? Lo and behold, one of my classmates was elected as President. And it’s clear as a bell that he is using that plan right now to destroy America, capitalism and the U.S. economy right in front of our eyes. It’s the exact plan hatched at Columbia University in our college days — exact in every way. Under Obama, 660,000 Americans dropped off the job rolls… just last month. Ninety million working-age, able-bodied Americans are no longer in the workforce. Almost 50 million Americans are on food stamps (20 percent of all eligible adults). Fourteen million are on disability. Millions more are on welfare, unemployment and so many different categories of entitlements that my head is spinning. Now, add in free healthcare, plus 22 million government employees. Record-setting numbers of Americans are emptying their retirement accounts to survive. Student loan debt is a national disaster — with defaults up 36 percent from a year ago. Some 16.4 million Americans live in poverty… in the suburbs. Liberals joked about Sarah Palin seeing Russia from her home in Alaska. Well, I’m betting Obama sees Cloward and Piven from every window at the White House. Remember the plan from Columbia? Overwhelm the system with debt. Obama promised to cut the deficit in half; instead, he gave us five consecutive trillion-dollar deficits. He promised to spend responsibly; instead, he now owns the title of "biggest spender in world history." He called Bush’s $4 trillion in debt over eight years reckless, then proceeded to pile on $6 trillion in only four years. He added 6,118 new rules, regulations and mandates in just the past 90 days. He claimed taxes are low, yet he just raised taxes to the same level as bankrupt EU countries like Greece, Spain, Italy and France. Our Federal income taxes are now far higher than the former Soviet Republics’. Now, I ask you: Does this sound like a man trying to "save" us? Folks, this is Cloward and Piven. This is Karl Marx, who despised the middle class and vowed to wipe it out. This is Saul Alinsky (Obama’s mentor) who dedicated his book — Obama’s favorite book by the way — to Lucifer, the devil. This is no accident; nor is it the work of an economically inept liberal. This is a purposeful plan to drown the nation in debt and hook a majority to government handouts, happening in front of our eyes. It’s crystal clear Obama’s plan was hatched in our college days at Columbia, class of ’83. While I never met Obama at Columbia, I can certainly put him at the scene of the crime. He either went to Columbia, or he didn’t. If he didn’t, he’s a fraud. If he did, he knew the Cloward and Piven plan like the back of his hand. He studied it. And his goal — like almost all my classmates’ — was to use it to bring down the U.S. economy and destroy capitalism to create what they consider to be "equality, fairness and social justice." Why would anyone want to purposely collapse the economy you might ask? Alinsky taught the ends justify the means. A bankrupt America wipes out the middle class and small business. That wipes out the majority of donors to conservatives causes, meaning Obama has no opposition. It creates "equality" by putting everyone on equal footing (shared misery). It causes panic; and in panic, voters often make hasty decisions — like choosing big government to save them. The destruction and devastation we see happening right now is the plan we learned, studied and discussed day and night at Columbia. This is the Marxist attack from within designed by Cloward and Piven. And it’s working. Obama has been working on his plan for 30 years (our 30th Columbia class reunion is next month). Now it is time for us to get to work. It’s time for battle. A New Generation of Obama Worshipping Fools [Marxist Worshipping Fools] Will Eventually Cause Everyone In America To Live In Misery Because They Actually Believe They Deserve Something For Nothing: In reality these fools are envious, uncaring adults acting like spoiled lazy children that want a perpetual mommy & daddy to give them what they don’t want to work for nor take risks for - even if it means destroying America with Obama’s big spending, big taxes & big entitlements. The man looked at my wife & our car, and in an angry, mean-spirited, bitter way, said: What a big, expensive car. You must be here to vote Republican. This comment sums up everything wrong with America & the economy under Obama. Obama has created a bitterly divided society filled with anger, hate, rage, jealousy & envy. That man never asked: how hard we worked for 22 years to afford that car, how much money we risked to build our business, how many jobs we created or how many lives our success & wealth have enriched A New Generation of Obama Worshipping Fools [Marxist Worshipping Fools] Will Eventually Cause Everyone In America To Live In Misery Because They Actually Believe They Deserve Something For Nothing: In reality these fools are envious, uncaring adults acting like spoiled lazy children that want a perpetual mommy & daddy to give them what they don’t want to work for nor take risks for - even if it means destroying America with Obama’s big spending, big taxes and big entitlements   The Wisdom Of My Butcher Father April 11, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/04/11/the-wisdom-of-my-butcher-father/ -- or read the text of it below. Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. My father, David Root, was a blue-collar butcher. But he was wise beyond his economic status in life. His wisdom of 40 years ago is still timely and points to the reasons for our economic crisis and decline today. An incident from a few days ago sums up everything wrong with the U.S. economy under Barack Obama. Last Tuesday (April 2), voters across America went to the polls for local elections. My wife, Debra, was one of those voters. She drove to the polling place in her Cadillac Escalade — a big car that is necessary to drive our brood of four home-schooled kids (and often their friends) to lessons, hobbies and sports, as well as for lugging groceries and supplies for a family of six. As Debra got out of the car, another pulled up and parked next to her, a small car. The driver got out, looked at her and, in an angry, mean-spirited, bitter way, commented: "What a big, expensive car. You must be here to vote Republican." Sneering, he turned his back and walked away. This little comment sums up everything wrong with America and the U.S. economy under Obama. This President has damaged the American dream, perhaps beyond repair. This President has created a bitterly divided society, a Nation filled with anger, hate, rage, jealousy and envy. That man at the polling place never asked how hard my wife and I have worked for the past 22 years of marriage to afford that big car. He didn’t ask how many hours I’ve put in. He didn’t ask how much money I’ve risked to build my businesses (the answer is my entire life savings — again and again), how many jobs I’ve created or how many lives my success and wealth have enriched. It never occurred to him that the blue-collar autoworkers at Cadillac are mighty glad there are still Americans with the money to buy Escalades. Forty years ago, my butcher father taught me lessons about wealth that led to my extraordinary success in this great country. He said: "Son, I’d love to hate rich people. But no one poor has ever given me a job." Wiser words were never spoken. Not only had a rich man given my dad his first job, but a rich man had invested the money for my dad to open his own butcher store. And it was rich customers who walked in the store to buy all his high-quality meat. It was rich customers who supported our family and paid our bills. It was all those rich customers who enabled my father to buy a home. And, he pointed out, it was those same rich customers who would someday write a letter of recommendation when his son applied for acceptance at Columbia University. My dad was right about all of it. We lived the American dream. My dad went from minimum wage butcher to butcher store owner. I graduated valedictorian of my class, got those letters of recommendation from rich customers of my dad’s and graduated from Columbia University, class of ’83 (alongside my classmate, Obama). As a kid holding my dad’s hand when an expensive car drove by, he made a point to say: "Son, that will be you someday." Every step of the way my butcher father taught me that people earn their wealth, deserve their success. He told me to be inspired by seeing wealthy people, their big homes and their big cars. To study them, model them and out-work them. And, if I did all that, then one day I could become one of them — in America, the greatest country in the world. He was right. Today, that same blue-collar father says to his son: "Look at that expensive car. Why does he deserve that? Who did he take advantage of to get it? I’ll bet he’s a greedy Republican not paying his ‘fair share.’" That change in attitude explains why the U.S. economy is in decline and why the jobs numbers continue to unravel. It explains why 90 million working-age Americans are out of the workforce. It explains why things are getting worse, not better. Capitalism is what made America great. You can only create more jobs by creating more opportunity, by supporting entrepreneurship, by creating more rich people — not by tearing them down, overwhelming them with taxes and regulations or asking government to redistribute their money. Obama’s philosophy is a massive failure and a great, big jobs killer. The facts are in. Thank you, Dad, for your wisdom. April 26, 2013 to May 03, 2013Health Highlights **Obama Is "Comfortable" With Decision To Allow Girls As Young As 15 Years Old To Have Access To Morning-After-Intercourse-Pills Without A Prescription. **High Levels of TV Violence Concern Group. **Parents' Efforts Key to Approval of Drug for Rare Kidney Disorder. **Ground Turkey Contains Potentially Harmful Bacteria. **Rise in Caffeinated Food Products Could Threaten Children's Health. **First Woman With Transplanted Womb is Pregnant. **Windpipe Implanted in Young Girl. **Hospitals Try New Methods to Reduce Infections. **Outdoor Recess and Sunlight May Help Protect Kids From Nearsightedness. **'What's Bad for the Heart Also Bad for the Brain'. Health Highlights (April 26, 2013 to May 03, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Obama Is "Comfortable" With Decision To Allow Girls As Young As 15 Years Old To Have Access To Morning-After-Intercourse-Pills Without A Prescription President Barack Obama is "comfortable" with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision to allow girls as young as 15 years old to have access to morning-after contraceptive pills without a prescription. The previous minimum age was 17. "It's not my decision to make," Obama said at a news conference Thursday during a three-day visit to Latin America. He emphasized that it was up to the FDA to make decisions based on science, but said the decision was something "I'm comfortable with," The New York Times reported. Obama also said he believes that girls should have broad access to birth control. "I think it's very important that women have control over their health- care choices," he said. "We want to make sure that they have access to contraception." In related news, the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday appealed a federal judge's ruling giving girls and women of all ages access to morning-after pills, The Times reported. ----- High Levels of TV Violence Concern Group The continuing high levels of violence on television shows are cause for concern, a parents' group says. The Parents Television Council looked at 392 prime-time scripted programs shown on broadcast networks between Jan. 11 and Feb. 11 and found that 193 had some incident of violence, the Associated Press reported. Along with an increase in gore from other studies it has conducted over 18 years, the group said the new study found greater specificity and darkness to the violence. "There has been no accountability, in my opinion, in terms of the degree and amount of violence," Tim Winter, the group's president, told the AP. "I think it is only going to get worse," said Dr. Victor Strasburger, a pediatrics professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and an expert on violence in the media. He told the AP that media executives are "not willing to own up to their public health responsibilities." ----- Parents' Efforts Key to Approval of Drug for Rare Kidney Disorder A new drug to treat a rare and deadly inherited kidney disorder has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the efforts of one patient's parents may have played a key role. The drug Procysbi is for nephropathic cystinosis. Left untreated, the disease typically destroys the kidneys by age 10. Even with a kidney transplant, the condition can lead to death by early adulthood, The New York Times reported. Procysbi is not a totally new drug, but rather a more convenient and tolerable version of an existing drug for cystinosis called Cystagon, from Mylan Inc. Cystagon has a strong rotten-egg smell that causes bad breath and body odor, and also causes nausea, vomiting and other abdominal problems. It must be taken every six hours. Procysbi, from Raptor Pharmaceutical Corporation, has the same active ingredient as Cystagon but can be taken every 12 hours and parents say it causes less severe body odor, bad breath and abdominal problems, The Times reported. There is a huge price difference between the older and newer medicines: Cystagon costs about $8,000 a year while Procysbi will cost about $250,000 a year. Still, reductions in the noxious side effects, and the twice-a-day dosing of Procysbi are huge advantages for children with nephropathic cystinosis, said Nancy Stack, a mother from Corona del Mar, Calif. Her daughter Natalie, 22, has the illness, and parents Nancy and Geoffrey formed the Cystinosis Research Foundation in 2003 to help push for better treatments. Money raised by the foundation was instrumental in the development of Procysbi, The Times said. Now the challenge is to get Procysbi, with its high price tag, covered by insurers. "It does seem extreme to have [the price] that high," Stack told The Times. "But as a community, our bottom line is getting better treatment for our children. And we know that this will change our kids' lives." ----- Ground Turkey Contains Potentially Harmful Bacteria Potentially dangerous bacteria was found in most samples of randomly tested ground turkey products sold at U.S. stores, and some of the bacteria were antibiotic-resistant, Consumer Reports has found. The group also discovered that turkey raised without antibiotics had much less antibiotic-resistant bacteria than turkey raised with antibiotics, CBS News reported. "Our findings strongly suggest that there is a direct relationship between the routine use of antibiotics in animal production and increased antibiotic resistance in bacteria on ground turkey. It's very concerning that antibiotics fed to turkeys are creating resistance to antibiotics used in human medicine," Dr. Urvashi Rangan, director of the food safety and sustainability group at Consumer Reports, said in a news release. "Humans don't consume antibiotics every day to prevent disease and neither should healthy animals." The group tested 257 kinds of raw ground turkey meat and patties for five contaminants that can cause illness and be fatal in some cases: enterococcus, E. coli, staphylococcus aureus, salmonella, and campylobacter, CBS News reported. Ninety percent of the samples tested had at least one of the bacteria, Consumer Reports found. ----- Rise in Caffeinated Food Products Could Threaten Children's Health Concerns about the increasing number of food products with added caffeine has prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take a closer look at their impact on children's health. The agency is already investigating the safety of caffeinated energy drinks and energy shots, which have been linked to reports of illness and death. In recent years, food makers have added caffeine to candy, nuts and other snack foods, the Associated Press reported. This week, Wrigley introduced a caffeinated gum called Alert Energy Gum. Each piece of gum contains about 40 milligrams of caffeine, equivalent to the amount in half a cup of coffee. Other examples of caffeinated food products include Jelly Belly "Extreme Sport Beans," which have 50 mg of caffeine in each 100-calorie pack, and trail mix, chips and other products from Arma Energy Snx. The FDA says it is closely watching the marketing of caffeinated foods and wants to know more about their safety. The only time the FDA explicitly approved the added use of caffeine in a food or drink was in the 1950s for colas, Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner of foods, told the AP. He said the current rush to add caffeine to a wide range of foods is "beyond anything FDA envisioned." He said the trend is "disturbing" and that the FDA is concerned about whether these products "have been adequately evaluated." The makers of caffeinated foods say they market their products to adults, but critics note that many of the products are appealing to children. Too much caffeine can be dangerous for children because they are less able to process it than adults, major medical associations warn. Caffeine has been linked to harmful effects on children's developing neurologic and cardiovascular systems, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The FDA will look at added caffeine in food products in its totality, Taylor told the AP. While one caffeinated product may not cause harm, the increasing number of caffeinated foods and beverages on the market could be a threat to children's health, he explained. ----- First Woman With Transplanted Womb is Pregnant A Turkish woman who was the first to successfully have a womb transplant from a donor is six weeks pregnancy, according to Akdeniz University Hospital. A hospital statement released Monday said doctors have monitored a fetal heartbeat and that the pregnancy is going well, the Associated Press reported. The 22-year-old mother, Derya Sert, was born without a womb and had one transplanted in August 2011. Using one of her own eggs, doctors placed an embryo into Sert's womb in March. If she has a successful birth, it would give hope to women who were born without a womb or lose it to disease, according to the AP. ----- Windpipe Implanted in Young Girl Doctors built and implanted a windpipe in a 30-month-old girl who was born without one. She is the youngest person ever to receive a bioengineered organ. The surgery, which took place April 9 at Children's Hospital of Illinois, is the first of its kind in the United States and the sixth such procedure to be performed worldwide, The New York Times reported. Hannah Warren was born without a windpipe (trachea), an extremely rare condition that is fatal in 99 percent of cases. Since she was born, the Korean-Canadian girl was in a newborn intensive care unit in a Korean hospital and breathed through a tube inserted in her mouth. Hannah is breathing largely on her own, although she's doing so through a hole in her neck, not through her mouth yet, pediatric surgeon Dr. Mark Holterman told The Times. "She's doing well," he said. "She had some complications from the surgery, but the trachea itself is doing great." ----- Hospitals Try New Methods to Reduce Infections U.S. hospitals are trying a wide range of new products in an attempt to reduce the number of infections among patients. These items include: machines that emit hydrogen peroxide or ultraviolet light; germ-resistant copper bed rails, call buttons and IV polls; and antimicrobial linens, curtains and wall paint, the Associated Press reported. However, there is no widely-accepted evidence that these products have prevented infections among hospital patients. In the U.S., about 1 in 20 patients pick up infections while in hospital. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says these hospital infections are linked to about 100,000 deaths a year and add as much as $30 billion a year to health care costs, the AP reported. ----- Outdoor Recess and Sunlight May Help Protect Kids From Nearsightedness FRIDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Being outdoors at recess and increased exposure to sunlight both reduce children's risk of nearsightedness (myopia), two new studies suggest. The first study, published in the May issue of the journal Ophthalmology, included nearly 350 students at two elementary schools in Taiwan. Students at one school had to spend recess outdoors for the 2009-2010 school year while students at the other school did not have to go outside for recess. Eye exams were given to students at both schools at the start and end of the school year. Compared to those at the control school, students at the school that required outdoor recess were far less likely to become nearsighted or to shift toward nearsightedness. The children at the school with mandatory outdoor recess spent a total of 80 minutes a day outdoors. Previously, many of them had spent recess indoors. Elementary schools should include frequent recess breaks and other outdoor activities in their daily schedules to help protect children's eye development and vision, the researchers said. "Because children spend a lot of time in school, a school-based intervention is a direct and practical way to tackle the increasing prevalence of myopia," study leader Dr. Pei-Chang Wu, of Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, in Taiwan, said in a journal news release. In another study published in the same issue of the journal, researchers concluded that increased exposure to sunlight slows the progression of nearsightedness in youngsters. It included nearly 250 Danish school children with myopia. The greater the children's amount of sunlight exposure, the slower the progression of their nearsightedness. "Our results indicate that exposure to daylight helps protect children from myopia," study leader Dr. Dongmei Cui, of Sun Yat-sen University in China, said in the news release. "This means that parents and others who manage children's time should encourage them to spend time outdoors daily. When that's impractical due to weather or other factors, use of daylight-spectrum indoor lights should be considered as a way to minimize myopia." ----- 'What's Bad for the Heart Also Bad for the Brain' THURSDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Heart disease risk factors can lead to a decline in brain function in both younger and older adults, Dutch researchers report. The new study included nearly 3,800 people, aged 35 to 82, who were checked for heart disease risk factors such as smoking, diabetes and high levels of "bad" cholesterol, and given tests to assess their memory and mental skills such as the ability to plan and reason and to begin and switch tasks. Those with the highest risk for heart disease did 50 percent worse on the mental tests than those with the lowest risk. Two heart disease risk factors -- smoking and diabetes -- were especially associated with poorer brain function, according to the study in the May 2 issue of the journal Stroke. The link between heart disease risk factors and reduced brain function was seen in all age groups, the investigators noted. "Young adults may think the consequences of smoking or being overweight are years down the road, but they aren't," study author Dr. Hanneke Joosten, a nephrology fellow at the University Medical Center in Groningen, the Netherlands, said in a journal news release. "Most people know the negative effects of heart risk factors such as heart attack, stroke and [kidney] impairment, but they do not realize it affects cognitive [mental] health. What's bad for the heart is also bad for the brain," Joosten added. She said doctors need to be aware of this link between heart disease risk factors and brain function decline, and more public action is needed to reduce heart disease risk factors. "Smoking cessation programs might not only prevent cancer, stroke and cardiovascular events, but also cognitive [mental] damage," Joosten said. The association between heart risk factors and poorer brain function seen in the study does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Obama Is Making Absolutely Certain That The Economic Disasters In Europe Will Be Repeated Here In The USA: Get ready for bank runs, capital controls, theft of your pension funds, economic collapse and a government armed to the teeth that wants to disarm you The Obama-adoring media doesn’t want you to make the connection that Obama’s policies mirror the exact same policies that destroyed the EU: big government, big debt, big spending, big taxes, big unions, big pensions, big entitlements, early retirement, free healthcare, green energy & high-speed rail. The non-fraudulent economic indicators prove that the Obama-led-economic-crisis caused by too much government, too much spending, too much taxing, too many government regulations & too many government employees with obscene salaries & pensions is just beginning in the USA. If too many Obama voting fools actually believe they deserve something for nothing, eventually, "everyone" lives in shared misery & malaise. Obama Is Making Absolutely Certain That The Economic Disasters In Europe Will Be Repeated Here In The USA: Get ready for bank runs, capital controls, theft of your pension funds, economic collapse and a government armed to the teeth that wants to disarm you    Get Ready For Bank Runs March 28, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/03/28/get-ready-for-bank-runs/ -- or read the text of it below. The media was wrong in pronouncing the economic crisis over in Europe. They are wrong in America, too. The real economic indicators — the ones not based on fraud, propaganda, deception or delusion — prove that the economic crisis caused by too much government, too much spending, too much taxing, too many government regulations and too many government employees with obscene salaries and pensions is just beginning. Get ready for bank runs, capital controls, theft of your pension funds, economic collapse and a government armed to the teeth that wants to disarm you: its citizens. Because what is happening now in Europe is a sign of things to come under Barack Obama. The media has told us for months that "everything is fine in Europe, a recovery is under way, the worst is over." Really? How’s that working out for you? The economic crisis and contagion in Europe that was supposedly "under control" are now spiraling out of control. There is desperation in the air. Fear and panic are everywhere. Think I’m exaggerating? Well, don’t take my word for it. A major bank executive stated publicly last week: "Only Jesus can save the EU now." Bank runs might be a sign that things are deteriorating, don’t you think? Well, they started in Cyprus last week as it became clear that Cyprus was bankrupt, insolvent and out of options. Just as I’ve predicted in dozens of commentaries over the past three years, a historic economic collapse is under way in the EU. The media and world leaders denied it, but it’s getting worse by the day. Do you think this can’t happen in the United States under Obama? Think again. Over the past three years in Europe we’ve heard political and leaders and economic experts recite the same lies over and over again: telling us to relax, government is smarter than you and we have it all under control. Recognize that theme? It’s the same theme we hear daily from Obama, his socialist lackeys and the Obama-adoring media here in the U.S. It’s how you keep the masses calm and prevent unrest, rioting and bank runs. Well, the Cyprus crisis proves that the worst isn’t over; it’s actually just beginning. More importantly, you need to understand how the EU "solved" the Cyprus crisis: by stealing the money out of the citizens’ personal bank accounts. The final decision is in. EU authorities are freezing any funds above 100,000 euros in personal bank accounts and stealing up to 40 percent to pay for the bailout. But worst of all, this is now the model for what’s to come all around the globe. It was announced just yesterday that this is exactly how the EU will bail out Italy, Spain and France, too: by stealing money directly out of citizens’ bank accounts. Well, I have news for the EU’s financial geniuses. They haven’t solved anything. This news will start a banking crisis. The falling dominoes will now accelerate. Tell me what sane citizen would keep more than 100,000 euros in his accounts any longer? Which means, starting at this moment, the wealthy of Europe are removing all their money from their bank accounts. And if no one has more than 100,000 euros in their bank accounts anymore, then the only choice for the next bailout will be raiding smaller bank accounts of average citizens — which was the original plan anyway. Guess what this does to the EU banking system? There will be panic, uncertainty and loss of confidence. Your money is certainly no longer safe in a bank account. Guess how the first Great Depression started? Exactly how this one is starting: with bank runs and loss of confidence in the banking system. And if bank runs spread throughout Europe, you can be sure the United States is next, as American bank account holders realize that our money is no longer safe from theft by government in a crisis. The Signs Of An EU Economic Collapse Are Everywhere: While the EU seizes bank accounts from citizens in Cyprus, Spain has already stolen the pensions of its citizens. Formerly respectable professionals in Spain and Greece are eating out of dumpsters. In Bulgaria citizens are so desperate they are setting themselves on fire. In Greece there is no money to heat homes, forcing desperate residents go out into the night to cut down trees in parks and national forests to use as firewood. We recently found out that Italy’s economic situation may be even worse off than pathetic, completely bankrupt Portugal. In Italy buses return to the station because there is no money to pay for gasoline. The Jobs Minister of France publicly slipped and called the country "completely bankrupt." Why is this not front-page news in the United States? Because the Obama-adoring media doesn’t want you to make the connection that Obama’s policies mirror the exact same policies that destroyed the EU: big government, big debt, big spending, big taxes, big unions, big pensions, big entitlements, early retirement, free healthcare, green energy and high-speed rail. The EU is the canary in the coal mine. Europe’s economic collapse proves that if everyone actually believes they deserve something for "nothing," and everyone either works for government or gets checks from government, and everyone thinks it is their right to have free healthcare, eventually the economy collapses and the country (or in this case, the continent) goes kaput. Eventually, everyone lives in shared misery and malaise. We will be reading about this disaster in the history books decades from now, shaking our heads, saying: "How could we have been this stupid to think that government had the answer or that government was too big to fail or that there was such a thing as a free lunch?" Now to put this all in perspective, the EU is America’s No. 1 trade partner, meaning our best customer is about to go broke. That’s just another hit on our economy. Secondly, the EU banking system will require a massive, record-setting bailout. Guess who will be on the hook to give them trillions of taxpayer dollars? The United States. And third, the EU economic plan that led to this disaster is nothing more than the Obama economic plan. They are mirror images. The EU just started a couple of decades sooner with its financial suicide. Up next: America. Because what happens in Europe doesn’t stay in Europe. It’s just a sneak peak at our future under Obama. Get ready for the bank runs. Get ready for a crisis that makes 2008 look like a walk in the park. I’m Wayne Allyn Root for PersonalLiberty. See you next week right back here. And may God bless America — because we will need all the help we can get! Marxist Obama Continues To Wreck America Deeper Into The State Of Decadence and Amorality That It Is Today: The deliberate devaluation of the currency in America is nothing less than undeclared war on the people by the government under the smokescreen of patriotism and benevolence "When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable & despises what is honorable, punishes virtue & rewards vice, encourages what is harmful & discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood & smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress & can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe." This quote could describe an America being wrecked by Obama. There is a direct connection between debauching of the currency & the moral & social breakdown of society. When people are forced into impoverishment by devaluation & depreciation of their money, not only will they be impoverished, but they are headed for social & moral breakdown & finally internal war & revolution Marxist Obama Continues To Wreck America Deeper Into The State Of Decadence and Amorality That It Is Today: The deliberate devaluation of the currency in America today is nothing less than undeclared war on the people by the government under the smokescreen of patriotism and benevolence   Social And Moral Breakdown April 22, 2013 by Bob Livingston -- Personal Liberty Digest "When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe." -- Frederic Bastiat What would cause a nation or a people to arrive at such a state of decadence and amorality as America has today? If we connect the dots, it is as clear as day. The above quote by Frederic Bastiat describes perfectly a society that has been undermined by the devaluation of its currency. Yes, there is a direct connection between debauching of the currency and the moral and social breakdown of society. When people are forced into impoverishment by devaluation and depreciation of their money, not only they will be impoverished, but they are headed for social and moral breakdown and finally internal war and revolution. The devaluation of the currency as in the United States today is nothing less than undeclared war between the government and the people. This is all under the umbrella of patriotism and benevolence. What the American people don't understand is that when the Federal Reserve creates trillions of dollars that it calls "quantitative easing," it does two things. No. 1: It dilutes the currency, thereby reducing the value of all currency in circulation. No. 2: It is transferring wealth to the government away from all dollar holders. This is stealth or silent warfare against the American people. This is serious because it leads to impoverishment of the middle class and finally to complete economic collapse. This is happening now!!! President Ronald Reagan said, "Government is not the solution, government is the problem." This puts the elected class all on the same side. They are all paid by the government, and they are all government employees. The paper money that we use is fiction, created by the banksters. The banksters all destroy the paper money by printing too much of it. Too much paper money destroys savings and undermines morality as it becomes worthless. The U.S. government is now creating and buying its own bonds. This is a hot air shenanigan that foretells that we are in the endgame. The whole U.S. government financial system is a charade. The United States may look like the unsinkable Titanic, but the signs of collapse are already visible to all sober Americans and to the world. The icebergs of revolution are everywhere. It is time and past time to prepare for survival. Nobody is going to hit you over the head to wake you up. Please look out and up and see the collapse coming. Monetary Insanity! The hard fact is that the central banks have concluded that to save the system it will be necessary to destroy it. This upside down statement makes all the sense in the world to a central banker. The truth is any fiat money by nature self-destructs. When paper money is overprinted, it simply self-destructs. This is not hard to understand. This further concludes that the final outcome of the expansion of the money supply is a lot of people with worthless paper money and suffering from general impoverishment. This is our near-term future. The system must collapse. Then why don't we all know it or see it happening? The answer is that it all happens gradually. The word "gradually" simply means that most people can't see the collapse coming or see it going on now. If the credit expansion is not stopped (and it won't be), we will have a crack-up boom or a massive flight into real values. This means an increase in the velocity (speed) of money. When this happens, it won't be long until the end. People will be rushing to spend their paper money as prices skyrocket. The last thing that the government or the politicians will ever tell the people is that the system is now in a state of collapse. And they will not utter a squeak that government debt will never be paid. Wealth Destruction -- Special Appeal! This is the time of the greatest transfer and destruction of wealth in the history of the world. This all swirls around the destruction of paper money and paper wealth. Many will take the right action, but most of the middle class and all the poor are directly headed for hard and impossible times. Some few who invest in farm land, food, energy and hard assets (silver and gold), especially silver, will survive and grow rich. None of this is new in history. All cultures and nations and people go through the same evolutionary process. Here is the pattern: They start with metal; and, as they prosper, they create paper money and debt. All collapse, and then there is a return to gold and silver or other metal. Right now, we are in the midst of the collapse of paper and credit and notional "value." Believe it or not, this destructive process will utterly destroy Warren Buffett's paper empire. He knows it, and he buys companies as his hard assets. Most people cannot see or understand this fiat paper world system that is now expiring with much anxiety. We saw this same collapse of currency in the Weimar German Republic that culminated in 1923. Most Germans did not have a clue what was happening. Most could not believe that their own government was collapsing their currency by over printing. (The same is happening now in the United States.) They did not relate skyrocketing prices to German currency destruction. Most were, therefore, impoverished. But those who had the perception to see the collapse eventually coming converted their paper money into gold and other hard assets. Believe it or not, some avoided the disastrous hardship by storing food and basic necessities. The current wealth destruction process and transfer of wealth will continue until the collapse of the fiat paper money and credit system is finished. Afterward, there will be a great reset of values based on silver and gold money. The cost of a loaf of bread will go back to a dime, but a silver dime. What will you do if you don't have a silver dime? The manipulators have driven down the price of gold and silver by dumping gold and silver paper with naked short selling. The talking heads who spread the Fed's propaganda message tell you that means the bull run in gold and silver is at an end. That is not supported by the evidence. People are buying gold and silver at an unprecedented rate. Both will break out as the system collapses. Take some of your paper "money" and buy -- if you can find it -- silver that the money creators can't print. Don't Blame Obama's Incompetency For America's Economic Crisis: Blame Obama's purposeful plan as a radical Marxist to overwhelm the system with debt, spending and entitlements in order to destroy America and kill the American dream If a Republican were President now, the media would be declaring that the President was stupid, insane or deliberately trying to destroy the country if he were causing what Obama is causing: 89 million able-bodied, working-age Americans not working; homelessness & poverty at all-time highs; the biggest drop in disposable income for America's workers in 54 years; 14.4 million Americans living in poverty "in the suburbs"; 50 million people on food stamps; food & gas prices going up dramatically; record numbers of middle-aged Americans raiding their retirement accounts out of desperation to survive; healthcare premiums increasing by $3,065 per family; the deficit increasing by over 50%; and "billions" of taxpayer dollars being spent on Obama's non-stop vacations Don't Blame Obama's Incompetency For America's Economic Crisis: Blame Obama's purposeful plan as a radical Marxist to overwhelm the system with debt, spending and entitlements in order to destroy America and kill the American dream   What If George W. Bush Were President? April 04, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/04/04/what-if-george-w-bush-were-president/ -- or read the text of it below. I'm Wayne Allyn Root for PersonalLiberty.com. And what a story I have to tell you today. As John Lennon might say, "Imagine with me." Imagine if George W. Bush (a Republican conservative) were presiding over 89 million able-bodied, working-age Americans who were not working, what would the media be saying, with a U6 unemployment rate (the government's most accurate measurement of joblessness) at 14.3 percent? Would the media quote the lower, but far less accurate and far more favorable, rate of 7.7 percent and declare that "things are improving?" What if the Labor Force Participation Rate was the lowest for men since 1948, when record-keeping first began? Would the media trumpet a "recovery?" Never in a million years. Imagine if a Republican like Bush were President, would the media quote the 7.7 percent rate but ignore the underlying numbers of 13.8 percent unemployment among black Americans or 25.1 percent among teens? Imagine if a white Republican President were presiding over 13.8 percent black unemployment versus 6.8 percent white unemployment, what would Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, (U.S. Senator) Barack Obama and other black leaders be screaming? Would they be leading a "million man march" on Washington, D.C.? Of course they would. Would black leaders blame this all on racism and in particular a racist white Republican President? Of course they would. Would they blame it all on conservative economic policies? Of course they would. Yet with a black President following big-tax, big-spend, big-entitlement, big-government policies, we hear not a word of anger or blame ¡ª and, of course, no mention of racism. If a Republican were President while homelessness reached the highest levels in New York City since the 1929 Great Depression, what would Obama's Marxist buddy Van Jones say? Would he blame it on low tax rates that favor "the rich?" Of course he would. Homelessness and poverty are now at all-time highs at a time of high tax rates and massive government spending. So why isn't Jones blaming high taxes and big government for record-setting poverty? Because Marxists don't blame Marxism. If a Republican President like Bush presided over the biggest drop in disposable income for America's workers in 54 years (since record-keeping began in 1959), what would the media say? Would they call the Republican President a dummy? An idiot? Out of touch? Would they make jokes about his incompetence and ignorance on "Saturday Night Live?" You're damn right they would. If a Republican President presided over an unimaginable 14.4 million Americans living in poverty in the suburbs, what would the media be saying? Who quoted this figure? The liberal Brookings Institute did last week. Poverty under Obama is exploding in the rich suburbs. If a pro-business Republican President presided over record numbers of suicides at the same time we were suffering the worst economic crisis since 1929, would the media blame the suicide rate on "harsh pro-business conservative economic policies?" You could bet a million dollars on it. Yet today they say nothing because their American idol, Obama, is President. If a Republican President presided over a country with almost 50 million people on food stamps, what would the champions of "the war on poverty" say? That's 20 percent of every eligible American adult getting a food stamp check. Compared to the "war on poverty," the Vietnam War was the biggest success in the history of war. If a pro-business, pro-oil drilling Republican presided over the doubling of gas prices, what would Democrats say? Would they say he's in cahoots with Big Oil against the interests of the American people? They already said it with Bush as President; yet with Obama as President and oil prices doubling, there are no protests, no marches. There's not a peep out of the left or consumer advocates. If food and gas prices both went up dramatically under a Republican President yet he claimed there was no sign of inflation, would liberals be up in arms and call the President a liar? Would they say the middle class is under attack? You can bet on it. Yet under Obama, not a word is mentioned. If a Republican President nominated a man for Treasury Secretary who held his money in the Cayman Islands in a building liberals called "the world's biggest tax scam," what would Senator Harry Reid say? We already know how Senator Reid viciously attacked Mitt Romney for the sin of having Cayman investments. Yet we hear stone silence from Reid and Democrats about Obama's choice for Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew. What if a Republican President sold guns to Mexican drug cartels that were then used to kill 300 Mexicans plus a U.S. border agent? What would the Democrat-controlled Senate demand a Watergate-like investigation? You can bet on it. What if a Republican President refused higher security for a U.S. ambassador and then, upon hearing he was under attack, refused to allow a rescue attempt and then left for the night and went to sleep? Would the media have a problem with the image of a Republican President sleeping while our ambassador and three American heroes were slaughtered, while waiting for help that never came? Somehow I think Geraldo Rivera would be up in arms. What if a Republican President named Bush was presiding over historic numbers of college graduates in default on student loans and record numbers of middle-aged Americans raiding their retirement accounts out of desperation to survive? Do you think the media would blame the President? What if in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a Republican President closed down his jobs council? That's too much to believe, right? The media would call him a rich, elitist, out-of-touch fool. He'd be lampooned in newspaper cartoons and skewered on "Saturday Night Live." Yet Obama did just that in January, and the media was silent. What if a Republican President in this economy with all the miserable stats that I just quoted with Americans in pain and suffering played golf with Tiger Woods at a luxury resort all weekend and refused media access while his wife hung out in Aspen, Colo., wearing designer dresses, spending billions of taxpayer dollars on non-stop vacations and all the security that goes with them, staying at Ritz Carltons and hanging out in Hawaii and Europe? What would the media say? What if the Vice President spent more than $400,000 per night of taxpayer money while in Paris and London while our soldiers die in Afghanistan? What would the media say? Lastly, what if a Republican President like Bush promised to cut the deficit in half in his first term, but instead increased it by more than 50 percent? What if that same President promised to cut healthcare premiums by $2,500 per family in his first term, but instead the premiums increased by $3,065 per family. The media would be in a feeding frenzy. So would Democrat politicians. So would poor Americans. But with Obama in charge, there's nothing. The silence is deafening. The man we have occupying the White House is either a joke; the biggest incompetent, ignorant fool to ever serve as our President; or a radical Marxist purposely trying to overwhelm the system with debt, spending and entitlements in order to destroy America, kill the American dream and wreck capitalism for good. Over the coming weeks, in a multipart series, I'll explain exactly what is happening and why, how this is in fact a purposeful attempt to destroy this great country with a plan Obama learned at Columbia University as my classmate. Yes, folks, this is a purposeful plan, because no one could possibly be this stupid. April 19, 2013 to April 26, 2013Health Highlights **Senate Proposal Would Give FDA Clear Authority Over Compounding Pharmacies. **Millions Being Donated for Boston Bombing Victims. **Mexican Cucumbers Linked to Salmonella Outbreak: FDA. **HIV Vaccine Study Halted. **One-Fourth of U.S. Teens Admit to Impaired Driving. **H7N9 Flu One of 'Most Lethal' Viruses So Far. **Study Identifies Riskiest Meats. **WTC Emergency Responders Have Higher Cancer Rate. **All Boston Bombing Wounded Expected to Survive. **NYC Proposal: Raise Minimum Age for Cigarette Purchases to 21. **Women Who Smoke May Have Higher Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Health Highlights (April 19, 2013 to April 26, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Senate Proposal Would Give FDA Clear Authority Over Compounding Pharmacies Clear authority over compounding pharmacies would be given to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under a Senate proposal. The FDA faced criticism that it didn't react quickly to close a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy linked to a meningitis outbreak last year that killed more than 50 people. In response, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the agency's legal authority over compounding pharmacies was unclear and asked for legislation to clarify its role, Bloomberg News reported. "This legislation is a significant step forward in protecting the public from unsafe compounded products," Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who leads the Senate health committee, said in a statement. "By clarifying FDA authority over high-risk compounding practices, this bill will enhance protections for patients taking compounded drugs and help prevent crises like last year's tragic meningitis outbreak." Under the proposal, compounding pharmacies would have to register with the FDA and list the products they've made, Bloomberg reported. [Comment: Should not the private sector also be given clear authority over government agencies that are harmful to the public?] ----- Millions Being Donated for Boston Bombing Victims Donations are pouring in as people hold fundraisers and set up online crowd-funding sites to help the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing pay for their medical expenses. One Boston city fund has already collected more than $23 million in donations from individuals and corporations, the Associated Press reported. But it's not clear if the donations, along with health insurance other sources, will be enough to cover the medical bills for the more than 260 people who were wounded in the attack. At least 15 victims lost limbs, and other injuries include head wounds and shrapnel-shredded tissue. The cost of leg amputation is at least $20,000, rehabilitation therapy for amputees is tens of thousands of dollars, and the cost of an artificial leg can range from $7,200 to as much as $90,000 , according to the AP. ----- Mexican Cucumbers Linked to Salmonella Outbreak: FDA A salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 73 people in 18 states has been linked to cucumbers from two Mexican growers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. The agency said that cucumbers from the two growers are being stopped at the border, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that all of the contaminated cucumbers are now off the market, USA Today reported. The first cases of the salmonella outbreak began in January and the last known case began April 6, according to Lola Russell, a spokeswoman for the CDC. She said no deaths have occurred in the outbreak, but 27 percent of people who became ill have been hospitalized. The tainted cucumbers were linked to Daniel Cardenas Izabal and Miracle Greenhouse of Culiacan, Mexico. The cucumbers were distributed in the U.S. by Tricar Sales of Rio Rico, Ariz., USA Today reported. ----- HIV Vaccine Study Halted A large study of an experimental HIV vaccine has been halted because the shots aren't preventing infection, the U.S. National Institutes of Health said Thursday. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The clinical trial included about 2,500 people, mostly gay men, in 19 cities. Half of the participants were given the vaccine developed by the NIH and half received placebo shots, the AP reported. A safety review found that slightly more people who had received the vaccine later became infected with HIV. The reasons for this aren't clear. While the vaccinations are being stopped, the NIH said it will continue to track the study participants' health, the AP reported. Numerous attempts to develop an HIV/AIDS vaccine have failed. ----- One-Fourth of U.S. Teens Admit to Impaired Driving A new survey finds that 23 percent of American teens say they have gotten behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol, marijuana or prescription drugs used illegally. It also found that 34 percent of those who drive under the influence of marijuana say it improves their driving, as do nearly 20 percent of those who drink and drive, USA Today reported. The survey of 1,708 students in grades 11 and 12 was conducted by Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and insurer Liberty Mutual. The percentage of teens who believe they can drive safely after drinking or using marijuana "seems high. But unfortunately, it's not surprising because teens think they're invincible and they thing nothing will happen to them. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a friend or someone in their school getting killed before the reality kind of hits them," Cathy Chase, of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told USA Today. ----- H7N9 Flu One of 'Most Lethal' Viruses So Far The virus causing the current bird flu outbreak in China is one of the "most lethal" flu viruses ever seen, according to World Health Organization officials. Health experts are especially concerned that the H7N9 virus jumps from birds to people more easily than the H5N1 virus that appeared in 2003 and has since killed 360 people worldwide, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's top influenza expert, said at a media briefing in Beijing, the Associated Press reported. Another cause for worry is that H7N9 infects birds without causing noticeable symptoms, which makes it difficult to track its spread. "This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far," said Fukuda, the AP reported. The H7N9 virus has infected more than 100 people in China. Most of them have become seriously ill and more than 20 have died. On Wednesday, Taiwan reported its first confirmed case of H7N9 bird flu in a man who became sick after returning from a visit to China. ----- Study Identifies Riskiest Meats Ground beef and chicken cause more foodborne illness-related hospitalizations than other meats, according to a new study. Chicken nuggets, ham and sausage pose the lowest risk, according to Center for Science in the Public Interest researchers who examined more than 33,000 cases of foodborne illness, the Associated Press reported. The analysis used more than 12 years of U.S. government data on outbreaks of salmonella, E. coli, listeria and other pathogens linked to specific meats. To identify the riskiest meats, the researchers ranked them based on which contamination was most likely to lead to hospitalization. Some meats may have caused more illnesses but were less likely to cause severe illness, the AP reported. ----- WTC Emergency Responders Have Higher Cancer Rate The cancer rate among World Trade Center emergency responders is 15 percent higher than in the general population, a new study finds. The analysis of data from nearly 21,000 people in the WTC Health Program from 2001 to 2008 found 575 cases of cancer, compared with the 499 normally expected to occur in that number of people, the New York Daily News reported. The increased risk of cancer among the 9/11 emergency responders was seen primarily in thyroid, prostate and blood cancers, according to the researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital's World Trade Center Health Program. The study was published online Tuesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. "Just seven years after the attack, our study has shown an increase in cancer even at this early stage," Dr. Jacqueline Moline, one of the study's authors, told the Daily News. She noted that cancers associated with toxic materials at the World Trade Center site take many years to develop. "The fact that we are seeing early increases in many types of cancers makes it all the more critical for us to be vigilant in our medical surveillance of anyone who had WTC exposure and to provide treatment for them if necessary," Moline said. ----- All Boston Bombing Wounded Expected to Survive All the wounded survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings are expected to survive, according to doctors. More than 180 people were injured in the blasts a week ago, and at least 14 of them lost all or part of a limb. Of the 51 who remained hospitalized on Monday, three are listed as critical and five are in serious condition, the Associated Press reported. The transit system police officer who nearly bled to death in a shootout with the bombing suspects is also in critical condition, but doctors say he is expected to recover. Three people died at the scene of the blasts, as did an MIT police officer who was shot by the suspects, the AP reported. ----- NYC Proposal: Raise Minimum Age for Cigarette Purchases to 21 A new proposal would forbid young people in New York City from buying cigarettes until they are age 21. The current minimum age is 18. It was not clear whether the proposal would make it illegal for people under 21 to possess cigarettes. The proposal was advanced by Dr. Thomas Farley, the city's health commissioner, and Christine Quinn, the City Council speaker, The New York Times reported. The move is the latest in the city's anti-smoking campaign that began soon after Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2001. Bans on smoking in restaurants and bars were recently expanded to cover parks, beaches, plazas and other public places. Smoking among young people in New York City has been declining, surveys suggest. Some experts say this is because many young people have been influenced by public health campaigns and never took up the habit, the Times reported. ----- Women Who Smoke May Have Higher Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis FRIDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Smokers and former smokers are at increased risk for rheumatoid arthritis, a new study says. Researchers analyzed data collected from 34,000 women, aged 54 to 89, in Sweden, 219 of whom had rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation in the joints, resulting in swelling, stiffness, pain and reduced joint function. It can also affect other parts of the body. The number of cigarettes smoked per day and the number of years a woman smoked both affected the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, according to the study, which was published April 22 in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy. Women who had smoked for up to 25 years were much more likely to develop the disease than those who never smoked. Even light smoking -- defined as one to seven cigarettes a day -- more than doubled the risk, said the researchers at the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, in Stockholm. Quitting smoking did lower the risk, which continued to decrease over time. For those who gave up smoking 15 years ago, the risk had fallen by a third. Their risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), however, was still much higher compared to women who had never smoked. Although the study tied smoking to an increased risk for rheumatoid arthritis in women, it didn't establish a cause-and effect relationship. "Stopping smoking is important for many health reasons, including the increased risk of RA for smokers," study leader Daniela Di Giuseppe said in a journal news release. "But the clearly increased risk of developing RA, even many years after giving up, is another reason to stop smoking as soon as possible, and highlight the importance of persuading women not to start at all." Proof That Obama Is Stark Raving Mad: The U.S. economy is now best described as a combination of debt, fraud & delusion. And the CEO who runs it, President Barack Obama, is absolutely stark raving mad. Wayne Allyn Root compares America to your household so that you can understand Obama’s Insanity!!: Guarantees the richest fat cats on Wall Street profits by taking $85 billion per month from mostly middle class taxpayers. Leads the government into lending itself money to pay the bills when it is broke. Grabs $100 billion from taxpayers so auto unions can maintain their obscene pensions while he gets a $100 million kick-back. Adds $4 trillion to the spending & debt to solve a debt crisis. Cuts a measly $80 billion out of a $3.5 trillion budget, with more than $16 trillion in debt. Claims that if you can’t find a job & quit looking, you are no longer counted as unemployed. Gives away money to the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt while the USA goes broke. Insanity!! Proof That Obama Is Stark Raving Mad: The U.S. economy is now best described as a combination of debt, fraud & delusion. And the CEO who runs it, President Barack Obama, is absolutely stark raving mad.   Proof That Obama Is Stark Raving Mad March 21, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/03/21/proof-that-obama-is-stark-raving-mad/ -- or read the text of it below. Our government-run public education system is very bad — so bad that generations of Americans educated in public schools don’t recognize idiots, economic illiterates, Ponzi schemes, frauds or Marxists when they see them. So I’m going to educate the masses with very simple examples that even a sixth-grader can understand. Let’s compare America to your household. That makes it very simple and easy to understand. Let’s say you make $50,000 per year, and you owe $250,000 in debt. You’re in deep trouble, right? One way or another, you are headed for bankruptcy court in the future. Then you receive a credit line in the mail for $250,000. Are you rich? Of course not. That new credit line or credit card is not "income." It’s a loan — to be paid back at high interest rates. You didn’t just gain $250,000. You just added $250,000 to your debt. You still make $50,000, but instead of owing $250,000 in debt, you now owe $500,000. You think you’re "saved." Actually, you’re twice as broke as before. Insanity. That’s exactly what Barack Obama is doing to the U.S. economy. He added $6 trillion in debt in only four years to "save" us from a terrible economy. Well, he didn’t save anyone. He just put all of us into much deeper debt. This debt will destroy the lives of our children and grandchildren. And the economy isn’t even better. It’s in shambles. If interest rates go up in the future, the entire U.S. economy will be destroyed by the debt. But there is one part of the economy thriving: the stock market. That keeps going up because Obama has guaranteed the richest fat cats on Wall Street profits by the billions — from you! Yes, you’re paying for the richest people on Wall Street to get rich. Obama is stealing $85 billion per month from the taxpayers — mostly the middle class — to buy bonds that no one else wants and to buy mortgages that no one else wants, which automatically makes the stock market go up. That $85 billion per month that the Fed is printing goes straight to the bottom line of the biggest companies publicly traded on Wall Street. They get rich. Their CEOs get rich. Their shareholders get rich. The banks and hedge funds get rich. And you’re stuck with the bill. Once again, those trillions of dollars printed by the Fed to make the stock market go up so Obama can act like the economy is getting better are not riches; they are debt. They are loans that need to be paid back by you, your children and grandchildren. Insanity. Even worse, can you imagine if the $250,000 credit line that came in the mail to "save" you, was issued by you? That’s exactly what’s happening under Obama. We are so broke, so indebted, so insolvent that no one wants to buy our bonds anymore. That’s why the United States, Europe and Japan buy 60 percent to 90 percent of their own bonds. Do you understand what this means? That’s like your being so broke, so in debt, that you lend yourself the money to pay the bills you can’t afford. Can you imagine if you owned a bank and gave yourself a $250,000 loan that no one else would give you because you are unqualified to handle more debt? You’d be destroying your own future, plus your own bank. You didn’t "save" yourself or your bank. You killed two birds with one loan. Insanity. How about Obama’s claim that he "saved" the auto industry. Once again, it’s a combination of pure fraud and pure delusion. He didn’t actually "save" anyone. He just grabbed about $100 billion from the taxpayers — that’s you — to redistribute to auto unions so their members could continue to get their obscene unsustainable pensions and then kick back $100 million or so to Obama’s Presidential campaign. It’s called "pay for play." It’s fraud, and someone should go to prison. And, of course, we now know that the loss to taxpayers is at least $25 billion and maybe much more. So whom did Obama "save?" I could save any industry in the country by stealing $25 billion from taxpayers and handing it to that industry. But the reality is: You’re out $25 billion, folks. That’s more debt for your kids. They’ll be paying the interest on that debt decades from now, and they didn’t even get a lousy car out of the deal. Insanity. What if your creditors agreed to a deal to restructure your debt, and they offered you the following deal: You owe us $250,000 and you can’t pay it back, so we’ll raise it to $500,000 and we’ll all agree things look better. Well that’s the "fiscal cliff" deal folks. To solve a debt crisis, we added $4 trillion to the spending and debt, and the President and Congress declared it a victory. Insanity. What if things got so bad that you finally agreed to cut spending to save your personal economy? So you cut $10 per week to try to repay your $250,000 debt. Well, that’s the sequester, folks. We cut a measly $80 billion out of a $3.5 trillion budget, with more than $16 trillion in debt. We accomplished nothing. Insanity. What if you were out of work for two years, and you got so discouraged that you decided to stop looking for a job and spend the rest of your life living off food stamps and disability; but because you’re not looking for a job anymore, you no longer consider yourself unemployed? That’s exactly how Obama can claim the unemployment rate is "improving." Insanity. Finally, here’s the most bizarre example of all. You are broke. Out of money. You can’t pay your bills. You still owe $250,000. Collection agencies are calling day and night. But you love the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt so much that you still write them a check for $25,000. That’s what Obama just did with your taxpayer money. Insanity. I hope it’s all clear now. The U.S. economy is now best described as a combination of debt, fraud and delusion. And the CEO who runs it, President Barack Obama, is absolutely stark raving mad. April 12, 2013 to April 19, 2013Health Highlights **U.S. Hospitals Told to Watch for H7N9 Bird Flu Cases. **Surgical Complications Profitable for Hospitals. **Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Common in Raw Meat. **Pet Hedgehogs Linked to Salmonella Outbreak. **FDA Should Have Been Tougher With Compounding Pharmacies. **U.S. Supreme Court Grapples With Gene Patent Questions. **FDA Announces Safety Reassessment of Diabetes Drug Avandia. **Louisiana Company Expands Meat Recall. **Closed Windows in Hospital Rooms May Raise Infection Risk. **Older Adults' Posture May Predict Future Disability. Health Highlights (April 12, 2013 to April 19, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: U.S. Hospitals Told to Watch for H7N9 Bird Flu Cases U.S. hospitals should be on the lookout for symptoms of H7N9 bird flu in people who have traveled to China or had contact with someone who's had the illness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those were among the measures for controlling bird flu and treating patients that were reviewed in a conference call the CDC held Thursday with health care professionals, according to agency spokesman Erin Burns, Bloomberg News reported. On Friday, the CDC issued interim guidance on the use of antiviral drugs to treat H7N9 infections. Burns described the recent CDC actions as "routine preparedness measures for an outbreak with pandemic potential." There have been 92 people infected with H7N9 bird flu in China and 17 of them have died, Bloomberg reported. The source of infection hasn't been identified and there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission of the virus, according to the CDC. No cases of H7N9 bird flu have been reported in the U.S. ----- Surgical Complications Profitable for Hospitals Surgical errors help boost hospitals' profits and some would end up losing money if they took better care of patients, according to a new study. The researchers explained that mistakes can add cash to hospitals' coffers because insurers pay them for the longer patient stays and extra care associated with surgical complications that could have been prevented, The New York Times reported. Altering the payment system so that poor care is not rewarded could help reduce surgical complication rates, said the study authors from the Boston Consulting Group, Harvard's schools of medicine and public health, and Texas Health Resources, a nonprofit hospital system. The team analyzed the records of more than 34,000 patients who had surgery in 2010 at one of 12 hospitals operated by Texas Health Resources. Of those, 1,820 had one or more preventable surgical complications, such as blood clots, pneumonia or infected incisions, The Times reported. The median length of stay for patients with these complications was 14 days, about four times longer than for patients without complications. Hospital revenue averaged $49,400 for a patient with complications and $18,900 for a patient without complications, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers said they are not suggested that hospitals are trying to make money by deliberately causing surgical complications or refusing to remedy the problem. But they said the current payment system makes it difficult for hospitals to make changes because improvements in patient care can end up costing them money, The Times reported. ----- Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Common in Raw Meat Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are present in a significant amount of raw meat sold in the United States, according to a Food and Drug Administration report. Tests conducted by the agency found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in 81 percent of raw ground turkey, 69 percent of pork chops, 55 percent of ground beef and 39 percent of chicken, CNN reported. In addition, there were significant amounts of salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria, which cause millions of cases of food poisoning a year in the U.S. Of the chicken samples tested, 53 percent had an antibiotic-resistant form of E. coli. In livestock, antibiotics are used to prevent disease and to boost growth. In 2011, nearly 30 million pounds of antibiotics were sold for use in meat and poultry, compared with nearly 8 million pounds for human use, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. "Antibiotic use in animals is out of hand," Dr. Gail Hansen, a veterinarian and senior officer for the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, told CNN. The campaign's goal is to curb the overuse of antibiotics in food production. ----- Pet Hedgehogs Linked to Salmonella Outbreak Pet hedgehogs have been identified as the cause of a salmonella outbreak that sickened 23 people in 9 states and led to one death, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The illnesses were reported between December 26, 2011 and March 5, 2013 and occurred in: Alabama (1), Idaho (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Michigan (3), Minnesota (3), Ohio (5), Oregon (1), and Washington (7). Thirty-five percent of people who became ill were hospitalized and one death was reported in Washington. Children age 10 and younger accounted for 39 percent of patients, the CDC said. Investigators linked the outbreak to contact with pet hedgehogs bought from a number of breeders in different states. The CDC said people should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water immediately after touching hedgehogs or anything in the area where the animals live and roam. Adults should supervise young children as they wash their hands. ----- FDA Should Have Been Tougher With Compounding Pharmacies The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should have taken stronger action against compounding pharmacies like the one linked to a meningitis outbreak last year, agency commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg admitted to Congress Tuesday. Because it had become overly concerned about avoiding lawsuits, the FDA did not control compounding pharmacies as effectively as it could have, Hamburg said at a hearing before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, The New York Times reported. "I think we allowed ourselves to be far too cautious because of fears of litigation that might further undermine our authority," she explained. "That should not happen. Public health should not be impeded by those kinds of legal regulatory ambiguities." Hamburg added: "We weren't as aggressive as we could have been, and I regret that," The Times reported. The commissioner also repeated concerns that the FDA still lacked the authority to force compounding pharmacies to follow tougher safety standards, but some committee members expressed doubts about that claim. In the outbreak last fall, more than 50 people died and 680 more became ill with fungal meningitis after receiving injections of a contaminated steroid made by the New England Compounding Center. ----- U.S. Supreme Court Grapples With Gene Patent Questions At a hearing Monday, members of the U.S. Supreme Court expressed doubts that a gene could be patented but also questioned if a decision to prohibit such patents would hinder medical and genetic research. The court was hearing arguments in a case involving patents held by Utah-based Myriad Genetics on genes linked with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The justices are being asked to consider whether isolated genes are "products of nature" that cannot be patented or "human-made inventions" that are eligible for patent protection, The New York Times reported. "Why would a company incur massive investment if it cannot patent?" asked Justice Antonin Scalia, while Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted that an isolated gene was "just nature sitting there." The justices attempted to simplify the difficult legal and scientific questions before them by using analogies such as the production of baseball bats, making chocolate chip cookies or finding plants with medicinal qualities, The Times reported. American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Christopher Hansen told the court that Myriad deserved credit for its work, but not a patent. "What exactly did Myriad invent?" Hansen asked. "The answer is nothing." Gregory Castanias, a lawyer for Myriad, argued that the genes patented by the company do not occur in nature and were isolated through research. The court's decision could have a major impact on scientific research and medical testing in the country. It may affect thousands of patented genes along with medicines, vaccines and genetically modified crops, The Times reported. ----- FDA Announces Safety Reassessment of Diabetes Drug Avandia A safety reassessment of the diabetes drug Avandia announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration comes three years after the agency limited the drug's sales due to cardiovascular risks. In a notice published in the Federal Register on Friday, the FDA said it plans to hold a two-day hearing of outside medical advisers in June to discuss the results of Duke University scientists' re-evaluation of earlier research on Avandia, the Wall Street Journal reported. The FDA did not say why it scheduled the hearing and said it is too early to know what options it will be considering. This rare move by the FDA is not expected to make Avandia more widely available to patients, according to WSJ. GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the drug, is not seeking to ease restrictions on sales of Avandia, according to a company spokeswoman. She noted that the company commissioned the Duke team's re-evaluation at the request of the FDA. ----- Louisiana Company Expands Meat Recall A recall of meat products due to possible bacterial contamination has been expanded by a Louisiana-based meat packing company, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. The recall by the Manda Packing Company now includes 468,000 pounds of roast beef, ham, turkey breast, tasso pork, ham shanks, hog headcheese, corned beef and pastrami, the Associated Press reported. The products, which were recalled due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, were shipped to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. No illnesses have been reported, according to the AP. ----- Closed Windows in Hospital Rooms May Raise Infection Risk FRIDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- Closed windows in large hospital wards may increase patients' risk of getting an infection, a new study suggests. British researchers used carbon dioxide as a tracer gas to simulate how airborne infections spread in a traditional hospital ward, which typically includes two rows of up to 30 beds. The carbon dioxide represented potentially infectious exhaled breath, and was released by popping carbon dioxide-filled balloons. Carbon dioxide detectors were placed where beds might be located in a functioning ward. "By measuring the concentration of the gas over time, we were able to quantify the exposure at each bed and therefore the potential risk to a patient in that bed," study team member Laura Pickin said in a University of Leeds news release. "We were also able to use the same data to measure the overall ventilation rate in the ward." When the windows were open, ventilation in the ward was generally good and the risk of airborne infection low. But the danger of infection increased fourfold when the windows were closed, according to the study in the current online issue of the Building and Environment Journal. "These wards are still in operation and, although they have often been subdivided into smaller areas with six to eight beds, their ventilation and structure is still fundamentally the same," lead investigator Cath Noakes, from the University of Leeds' School of Civil Engineering, said in the news release. With natural ventilation from windows, the wards are safe. But that changes when the windows are closed during the winter or permanently sealed to lower energy costs. "Some of these wards were designed by the Victorians, and our results show that they knew what they were doing. But there is a danger that we could be adapting our buildings to improve efficiency without thinking how it might affect patients," Noakes said. ----- Older Adults' Posture May Predict Future Disability FRIDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- The shape of an older person's spine may predict their future need for home assistance or admission to a nursing home, according to a new Japanese study. The findings appeared online recently in the Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences. The study included more than 800 people aged 65 and older in Japan, who underwent four types of spinal measurement. The researchers found that only one of the measurements was associated with becoming dependent on help for activities of daily living. These activities include basic self-care tasks such as bathing, feeding, using the toilet, dressing and getting in or out of a bed or chair. The measurement that predicted the need of assistance is called the "trunk angle of inclination." This is the angle between the true vertical and straight line from the first thoracic vertebra (near the head) to the first sacral vertebra (in the lower spine), the researchers said in a journal news release. Over four and a half years of follow-up, about 16 percent of the participants became dependent on help for basic daily activities. Those with the greatest angle of spinal inclination were about three and a half times more likely to become dependent on help for basic daily activities than those with the least spinal inclination, the researchers found. Although the study found an association between spinal angle and future disability in older adults, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Obama Loves To Over-Feed This Evil & Immoral Monster: Income Tax is not necessary as a source of government funds in America; it is used to cover-up the government's money creation fraud and to control people like puppets The vast wealth of governments comes from the creation of money, not from income tax. Governments don't need our income tax, but they use it to cover their money creation fraud -- the people must believe that their income taxes are necessary to support government. The Federal government creates modern money out of nothing & pays it into circulation to buy something; thus, government actually pays for nothing. It transfers wealth & production to itself for free. The purpose of the income tax is to conceal the fraud that massive wealth is being transferred to the government without payment. Though the income tax is not necessary as a source of government funds in a paper economy, it is used to incite class warfare & to control, manipulate, discriminate, favor & punish. Obama Loves To Over-Feed This Evil & Immoral Monster: Income Tax is not necessary as a source of government funds in America; it is used to cover-up the government's money creation fraud and to control people like puppets Income Tax: That Evil And Immoral Monster March 4, 2013 by Bob Livingston --- Personal Liberty Digest  Modern states all have paper currencies, a debt money system. All forms of government money represent debt. Modern governments would not and could not exist without both the power to create debt money and the income tax system. The purpose of modern paper currencies (all forms, including computer symbols) is to transfer wealth to the government without payment by the government. The Federal government creates modern "money" out of nothing and "pays" it into circulation for something. In other words, the government gets money (any amount of it) and passes it into the "economy" for goods and services. This is the same as saying that the government actually pays for nothing. It transfers wealth and production to itself for free. It pays not one penny. Why then the income tax? The purpose of the income tax is to conceal the fraud that massive wealth is being transferred to the government without payment. This cover-up conceals the fact that since the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln's "greenbacks," paper money is the means of financing all wars and all means and methods of suppressing human liberty. The vast wealth of governments comes from the creation of money, not from income tax. Why would governments need our income tax if they can create any amount of "money"? The answer is, of course, they don't need our income tax, but they have to have the income tax system to cover their money creation fraud. In other words, the people must believe that their income taxes are necessary to support government. All must pay their "fair share." So important is the income tax system as a cover-up that it is regulated by threat, coercion, mass brainwashing and a whole system of witchcraft called the tax code. Remember, governments have to conceal their greatest secret, their money machine. The income tax is not a Constitutional issue. It is a system of Phariseeism promoting general and widespread social depravity and spiritual immorality. It is indeed a spiritual deception. That governments print money is no state secret. Then why do so few question the meaning of the income tax? Little children are taught in school to pay income tax. All the propaganda says "pay your fair share." It is a complete and absolute brainwashing and so big as to defy inquiry. The system is inbred. Though the income tax is not necessary as a source of government funds in a paper economy, it is very important as a system of regulation. It promotes class warfare and privilege. The government and its politicians can discriminate or favor with the income tax system. The American people are victims of a massive entrapment scheme that has conned them out of billions of dollars, as well as millions of hours of recordkeeping and loss of freedom. Federal judges and U.S. attorneys have all conspired against human rights by failing to inform the people of the nature of income tax entrapment. This is a financial holocaust that is nothing less than organized crime against the people. What a masterpiece of cynicism and deceit. This conspiracy by the government against the American people is equal to and greater than any tyrant in the history of the world. Please do not forget the duplicity of your "elected representatives." They have betrayed you. One final word for those who mimic the "fair share" cliche as well as the misnomer that the Federal government needs your income taxes as government revenue: You do not understand monetary realism nor history of government finance. For a true education on monetary realism you should read Money, The Greatest Hoax on Earth by the great monetary genius Merrill Jenkins Sr., if you can get your hands on a copy. It is no longer in print, but is sometimes available at Amazon.com. There is also our reproduction of Jenkins' lectures in Money: The Single Greatest Lie in American History. How can the Internal Revenue Service trap millions of Americans into an enforceable contract and yet claim that it is "voluntary"? The point is that the income tax has to be understood before you sign a 1040. People sign 1040 income tax forms believing that they are "tax payers." The government wants very much for you to think of yourself as a "taxpayer." Has the propaganda succeeded? One very important fact: The U.S. monetary system as well as the world monetary system is a credit debt system. In other words, all U.S. "money" is credit money, which is debt. Is it possible to pay a tax debt (assuming you owed one) with debt? Not according to the U.S. Supreme Court in Don E. Williams v. Commissioner of the Internal Revenue. Federal Reserve notes (paper dollars) do not promise anything and are not redeemable in anything. The system works on confidence. Why then do we play this April game if it is not about paying income taxes? Remember that all modern "money" is debt. You do not "pay" your debts. You swap debt money for debt. So when you write a check to the IRS, you think that you are paying taxes simply because this process reduces the numbers in your bank account. Consequently, you have less "money" to spend. The "payment of income taxes" is not payment of anything, nor is it intended to be. It is a process of regulation to continually reduce the amount of your "money" in circulation. Your check to the IRS reduces your "money" numbers so that you have less to "spend." Without this regulation (paying income taxes to reduce the volume of money): Our "money" would become (be perceived as) worthless. The system would be revealed as the fraud that it is. People must believe that they are "taxpayers" and that their "fair share" goes to support government. They must never know that government creates its "money" for the purpose of transferring wealth to itself without payment. The so-called income tax system is a regulatory process that is absolutely essential with a debt money system. One cannot exist without the other. Lincoln started the first income tax along with his Lincoln greenback paper money. Lincoln did not free the slaves (a pretense). He made slaves of us all to the money machine. All modern wars were made possible with Lincoln's paper (debt) "money." But we do write symbols on checks "payable" to the IRS. What is happening? What we are actually doing is conforming to the regulation process by reducing the numbers in our "bank account." We are limiting our consumption. This process reduces our bidding against government for what we produced. If we were permitted to spend all of the "money" that we get, prices would go to the moon, the system would collapse as the worthless "money" became useless "money" and the fraud of modern money would be revealed, as John Maynard Keynes warned. So to slow the collapse, every means possible must be found to restrict the supply of spendable money in the hands of the people. Income tax is the big one. But individual retirement accounts, 401(k)s, buying government debt (Treasury bills, T. notes or T. bonds) and even population control are directly related to the control or regulation of the volume of money. Government gets services, production, materials and our labor with their created money for free. By all definitions, we are slaves to the money creators. Why should Americans fear terrorism? The money creators created terrorism and all other wars and conflicts. April 05, 2013 to April 12, 2013Health Highlights **Sweeping Anti-Abortion Bill Approved by Kansas Legislators. **Some Baby Foods Require Lead Warning. **Dengue Fever Much More Common Than Believed. **FDA Probing Problems With Robotic Surgery System. **Hospital Workers Becoming Desensitized To Constantly Beeping Monitoring Alarms Can Lead to Patient Deaths. **Large Rise in U.S. Nursing Home Costs. **Parents of Infants in Study Not Warned About Dangers Of Blindness Or Death: 91 babies became blind and 130 babies died. **French Study Casts Doubt on Bras' Benefits. **China Bird Flu Death Toll Rises to 10. **Important Court Date for Players' Legal Action Against NFL. **'Mobility Shoes' May Help Those With Arthritic Knees. Health Highlights (April 05, 2013 to April 12, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Sweeping Anti-Abortion Bill Approved by Kansas Legislators A sweeping anti-abortion bill has been approved by Kansas legislators and now goes to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback for approval. The bill declares that life begins "at fertilization," blocks tax breaks for abortion providers and bans abortions performed solely because of the baby's sex, the Associated Press reported. It also prohibits abortion providers from being involved in public school sex education classes and further clarifies the information the doctors must provide to patients seeking abortions. The governor is a strong opponent of abortion and is expected to sign the bill into law so that the new rules take effect July 1, the AP reported. "Personhood" measures in some other states also include the declaration that life begins at fertilization. These measures seek to revise a state's constitution to ban all abortions. None have been enacted, but North Dakota will have one on the ballot in 2014. ----- Some Baby Foods Require Lead Warning Some baby foods and juices sold in California should have to carry warning labels to alert consumers that they contain low amounts of lead, the Environmental Law Foundation says. A lawsuit launched by the group against the nation's largest baby food makers was scheduled for trial Monday. The foundation says the warning labels are required under California Proposition 65, the Associated Press reported. Lawyers for the food companies -- which include Gerber Products Co., Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. and Del Monte Foods -- say the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tested the products listed in the lawsuit and decided that lead levels were below the standards that required a warning. However, the companies do acknowledge that there is some lead in baby foods containing carrots, peaches, pears and sweet potatoes, as well as in grape juice and fruit cocktail, the AP reported. Lead exposure can damage a child's developing brain. ----- Dengue Fever Much More Common Than Believed There may be about 390 million cases of dengue fever worldwide each year, which is nearly four times higher than previously believed, a new study says. Prior estimates by the World Health Organization put the number of cases of the mosquito-borne tropical disease at 50 million to 100 million a year, the Associated Press reported. The study authors noted that most cases of dengue fever are mild and don't require medical treatment. Their findings were published online Sunday in the journal Nature. The new numbers came from analyzing more evidence than was used in previous estimates and by looking at other factors that influence dengue, explained Jeremy Farrar, one of the study authors and director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, the AP reported. ----- FDA Probing Problems With Robotic Surgery System There has been a huge increase in the use of a surgical robot called da Vinci, but health officials are investigating reports of a number of problems --including several deaths -- associated with the device. The robot was used in nearly 400,000 surgeries in the United States last year, triple the number compared to four years earlier, the Associated Press reported. The da Vinci is used in a number of procedures, including removal of gallbladders, wombs and prostates, heart valve repair, organ transplants and reducing stomach size. Surgeons control the robot while sitting at a computer screen. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports of problems with the da Vinci and the high cost of using the system. Those incidents include: a robotic hand that would not release tissue grasped during surgery; a woman who died when a blood vessel was nicked during a hysterectomy; and a man whose colon was perforated during prostate surgery, the AP reported. Some doctors say aggressive marketing and the technological appeal of the robot have helped increase its use and that it is time to take a closer look at the device. They contend that there is not enough proof that robotic surgery is at least as good or better than conventional surgeries. Proponents say patients who undergo robotic surgery sometimes have less bleeding and often leave hospital sooner than those who have conventional laparoscopic or open surgery, the AP reported. However, the FDA is looking into an increase in the number of reported problems involving the da Vinci system. At least five deaths are mentioned in reports filed since early last year. The da Vinci is the only FDA-approved robotic system for soft-tissue surgery. Other robotic devices are approved for other types of operations, including neurosurgery and orthopedic procedures, the AP reported. ----- Hospital Workers Becoming Desensitized To Constantly Beeping Monitoring Alarms Can Lead to Patient Deaths At least two dozen deaths occur each year on average in the United States due to hospital workers becoming desensitized to constantly beeping alarms from devices used to monitor the vital signs of critically ill patients, according to a hospital accrediting group. And the Joint Commission said it is likely that the number of such cases are vastly underreported, the Associated Press reported. The devices include those that monitor things such as blood pressure and heart rate. Some beep when they're not working and others do so when there is an emergency. All this can cause noise fatigue in medical staff and treatment delays that can endanger patients' lives, according to the commission. It's database contains reports of 80 deaths and 13 severe injuries associated with hospital alarms between January 2009 and June 2012. Hospitals voluntarily report these incidents to the commission, the AP reported. There is no standardization for what all the beeps on patient monitoring devices mean, noted Dr. Ana McKee, the commission's executive vice president and chief medical officer. ----- Large Rise in U.S. Nursing Home Costs The median annual cost of a private room in a nursing home in the United States rose 24 percent over the past five years, from $67,527 to $83,950, a new survey says. The price climbed 4 percent from last year to this year, according to Genworth's 2013 Cost of Care Survey, which is based on data from nearly 15,000 long-term care providers, CNN reported. The cost of a semi-private room at a nursing home has increased 23 percent over the past five years to a median of $75,405 a year. The cost of being in an assisted living facility also rose 23 percent and is now $41,400 a year. Prices are being pushed up by a number of factors, including food, building maintenance, insurance and labor costs, Bob Bua, vice president of Genworth, told CNN. ----- Parents of Infants in Study Not Warned About Dangers Of Blindness Or Death: 91 babies became blind and 130 babies died The parents of premature babies involved in a study examining how the babies were affected by different levels of oxygen were not warned that participating in the study could increase their infants' risk of blindness or death, according to the U.S. Office for Human Research Protections. In a letter to the University of Alabama, the office outlines what it said were violations of patients' rights. The university was the lead site for the study conducted between 2004 and 2009, The New York Times reported. Government officials said the university did not detail the risks in consent forms given to parents. Specifically, infants in the high-oxygen group had an increased risk of blindness and those in the low-oxygen group had a greater risk of death than if they had not taken part in the study. In the study, 91 of 509 infants in the high-oxygen group became blind and 130 of the 654 babies in the low-oxygen group died, The Times reported. A University of Alabama spokesman said the consent forms were written by researchers at another university participating in the study, but that they were approved by all 23 academic institutions involved in the study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. ----- French Study Casts Doubt on Bras' Benefits Women may be better off without bras, a French researcher suggests. Professor Jean-Denis Rouillon spent 15 years assessing the anatomy of 330 women, ages 18 to 35, and concluded that "medically, physiologically and anatomically" breasts gained no benefit from having their weight supported by bras, The New York Times reported. In fact, bras could be harmful in terms of posture and muscle tone, the sports scientist warned. He explained that wearing a bra means "supporting tissues will not grow and even they will wither and the breast will gradually degrade." However, Rouillon noted that these are preliminary findings and it is too early to advise all women to stop wearing their bras, The Times reported. ----- China Bird Flu Death Toll Rises to 10 Ten people in China have now died from the H7N9 bird flu virus and the number of human infections has increased to 38. The latest death was a 74-year-old man who died Thursday in Shanghai, city officials said. He was one of three new infections confirmed in Shanghai today. Two other new cases were reported in the neighboring province of Jiangsu, Bloomberg News reported. The official state news agency Xinhua said that China has enough flu medication to fight the H7N9 outbreak and is also working on a vaccine that it expects will be ready within seven months. Xinhua also said that police detained eight people in a number of provinces for spreading rumors on the Internet about the bird flu outbreak. The news agency said they are being detained for up to 10 days for fabricating posts and causing panic, Bloomberg reported. ----- Important Court Date for Players' Legal Action Against NFL A federal judge will hear arguments Tuesday on the NFL's motion to dismiss former players' legal action against the league. More than 4,000 players have filed more than 200 lawsuits against the NFL. A master complaint filed by a committee of lawyers representing the players alleges that the NFL "deliberately ignored and actively concealed" the risks of repetitive brain injuries and their long-term impact, including depression and dementia, USA Today reported. The players are seeking monetary damages and the creation of an NFL-funded, court-supervised monitoring system for all players. The hearing on the NFL's motion to dismiss the master complaint will be heard in Philadelphia by U.S. District Judge Anita Brody. She is not expected to make an immediate ruling. And after she rules, there will be appeals, USA Today reported. ----- 'Mobility Shoes' May Help Those With Arthritic Knees FRIDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) -- Special "mobility shoes" might ease the strain on the knees of people with knee arthritis, a small study has found. This type of flat, flexible footwear is designed to mimic the biomechanics of walking barefoot, researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago explained. The study was funded by the Arthritis Foundation and included 16 people with knee osteoarthritis who wore specially made mobility shoes six hours per day, six days a week. The patients were evaluated after six weeks, three months and six months. According to the researchers, long-term use of mobility shoes helped the patients adapt their gait (how they walk), which led to a reduction in what's known as "knee loading" -- the force placed on knees during daily activities. This reduction in knee loading continued even after the patients stopped wearing the mobility shoes, according to the study published in the April 10 online edition of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism. Arthritis experts were encouraged by the findings. "The data show convincing improvements in the 'knee adduction moment,' which is a measure of how the knee moves to the side as the foot strikes the ground," said Dr. Jose Rodriguez, chief of reconstruction arthroplasty at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "By diminishing these forces, the potential is a reduction in the progression of arthritis in the knee." He added that "the impressive part of the study was the fact that the biomechanical changes in gait pattern were also present using normal shoe wear at the end of the study, indicating a training effect." Another expert noted that getting the foot and knee to a more "natural" state is often productive. "Obviously the bare foot is the ultimate shock absorber and mobility footwear allows the foot to absorb the forces during ambulation in a much more natural fashion than other modes of footwear," explained Dr. Richard Iorio, professor and chief of adult reconstruction surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "There have been similar findings in the 'new running' movement, where distance runners are even going barefoot to avoid the injuries associated with shoes," Iorio added. "Anything that mechanically improves foot and ankle mechanics to minimize load on the knee will help an arthritic knee patient." Study author Dr. Najia Shakoor agreed. "Our investigation provides evidence that footwear choice may be an important consideration in managing knee osteoarthritis," she said in a journal news release. "There is much interest in biomechanical interventions, such as orthotic inserts, knee braces and footwear that aim to improve pain and delay osteoarthritis progression by decreasing impact on joints," Shakoor noted. Rodriguez did have a couple caveats to offer, however. Further study is needed to see if the benefits persist long-term after people switch back to normal footwear, and while the study "represents excellent science," it "needs to be repeated at a lab not associated with the design of the shoe," he said. Osteoarthritis, a painful swelling and stiffness in joints (including the hands, feet, knees or hips), affects over 27 million Americans over the age of 25, according to the American College of Rheumatology. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 16 percent of Americans aged 45 and older develop symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, which is often due to injury or "wear and tear" on the joint. The Crony Super-Rich Are In Bed With The Greatest Fraud Of All Time: Obama, The Crony Socialist. They Have Teamed Up To Destroy The Middle Class and Small Business To Socialize/Communize America and Create Obama’s Cradle-To-Grave Welfare State Obama’s goal is to create 2 classes of Americans: the super-rich [who support & contribute to Obama, who then rewards them with bribes, stimulus $, bailouts & government contracts] and the poor [who loyally vote for Obama to receive the handouts they need to survive]. Obama knows that the middle class & small business must be destroyed, and that the poor must be kept in their place dependent upon him. Obama is at war with small-business owners because they fund his political opposition; and Obama knows that small-business is where he must tax/steal more money since there aren’t enough of the super-rich to pay for all of his treacherous, tyrannical plans to destroy America and the American Dream. The Crony Super-Rich Are In Bed With The Greatest Fraud Of All Time: Obama, The Crony Socialist. They Have Teamed Up To Destroy The Middle Class and Small Business To Socialize/Communize America and Create Obama’s Cradle-To-Grave Welfare State Obama Teams Up With Big Business To Destroy Middle Class January 10, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/01/10/obama-teams-up-with-big-business-to-destroy-middle-class/ -- or read the text of it below. Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. Let’s get to the story of Obama, the ultimate crony socialist teaming up with big business to wipe out small business and the middle class. I’ve said it before; I’ll prove it again. President Barack Obama is a unique breed of socialist. He is a hybrid socialist/fascist. He understands that he needs "cover" to destroy America. He needs the support of famous billionaires like Warren Buffett and credible fat cat corporate CEOs like Jeffrey Immelt of GE to convince the masses that he is not out to destroy capitalism. He needs to show that rich people are on his side, that these rich guys agree with him that tax increases on the rich are "fair." And the rich fat cats of big business will be glad to help him, as long as they share in the spoils. They’ll be glad to pay an extra $100,000 a year in taxes as long as long as Obama spreads the wealth around – to them. As long as he hands them billion-dollar tax credits, stimulus, bailouts, government contracts, corporate welfare and loopholes big enough to drive an 18-wheeler through. That’s exactly what’s happening in America today. The super rich and the big corporations have teamed up with Obama and his socialist cabal to wipe out the middle class, upper middle class and small business. They’re doing it with taxes, rules, regulations and mandates. Obama claims they’re aimed at the rich, but in reality they are aimed squarely at the middle class, upper middle class and small business. Big business loves taxes, rules and regulations because they have the lobbyists and armies of lawyers and accountants to either avoid it, shelter it or deal with it all. But small business doesn’t. So the competition of big business gets put out of business. Obama, on the other hand, has many reasons for targeting small business. First, he knows that’s where the money is. That’s where he will get the bulk of his massive tax increases. There aren’t enough billionaires or $100 million men to pay for all of Obama’s plans. He needs trillions of dollars to create his cradle-to-grave welfare state. That’s where small business comes in. There are several million taxpayers in America who make $250,000 to $500,000 per year. Almost every one of them owns a business. I’m one of them. We are the target. These are the independent thinkers. These are the self-made capitalist evangelists. These are the stubborn, principled fiscal conservatives who despise Obama and his plans for equality, social justice and income redistribution. Small business makes up the heart of the resistance. Secondly, small-business owners fund Obama’s political opposition. We make most of the contributions that fund conservative candidates and causes. Small business will never sell out conservative fiscal principles. Never. So Obama is at war with small business. He can’t win without confiscating our money and getting us under his thumb. Besides, what does Obama care about a $250,000-per-year small-restaurant owner? That person is insignificant to him. But the CEO of a billion-dollar conglomerate is very significant to Obama. That company can write $100,000 or $1 million checks to Obama’s campaign or his inauguration or the Democratic National Committee or an Obama-supporting PAC. And that Fortune 500 company has teams of lawyers and lobbyists, all willing to write big fat checks. The ground has shifted in America. There used to be a team fighting for conservative fiscal principles. Wal-Mart, Wall Street, big banks and most of corporate America partnered with small business to support capitalism, conservative candidates and causes. Today, there’s been a sea change. A divorce. A "War of the Roses." Big business and corporate America have sold out to Obama. They couldn’t care less about small business, or capitalism or conservative fiscal values. They aren’t capitalists anymore; they are crony capitalists. And they are in bed with Obama, the world’s biggest crony socialist. It started with the bailouts and stimulus. Big business begged, lobbied and received billions of dollars. Small business got the shaft. All we got only the bill. It’s our kids and grandkids who will still be paying the interest on bailouts and wasted stimulus generations from now. Wall Street cheered as the stock market soared. But for small business down on Main Street, it’s been a Great Depression for four years under Obama. Small business is dying. The irony is that small business creates most of the jobs. Since the first day of the Ronald Reagan Presidency, about 40 million jobs have been created in America. The entire net of 40 million jobs was created by small business. But small business owners don’t have lobbyists or connected Washington, D.C. law firms. We can’t afford to each give millions of dollars to politicians, so we get shafted. Look around the room. If you can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you. Small business is the odd man out. We are the sucker. We are the target of Obama and his socialist cabal and now his newest partners in crime: big business. Then came Fed policies. Obama orders the Fed to print trillions of fake dollars to keep the economy afloat. Where does it all go? To big business. To banks. To Wall Street. To publicly traded multinational companies. None of it has ever reached Main Street. Then came Obamacare. I never in a million years imagined big business would support Obama’s big government, nanny state healthcare scheme. Back in the 1980s, big business teamed with small business to stop Bill and Hillary Clinton’s attempt to socialize medicine and put government in charge of the entire healthcare system. Not this time. This time, big business took Obama’s side. Health insurance and Big Pharma were bribed with billions of dollars in new revenues sent their way. The rest of big business went along with Obama because he promised them lower corporate taxes. Then came the coup de grace: the so-called "fiscal cliff" crisis. Small-business owners pay their taxes as individuals. They own Subchapter S and LLC corporations that pass all income down to the individual small-business owner. The lawyers and lobbyists of big business saw an opening. The goal was simple: Ask small-business owners who file individual taxes (mom-and-pop stores that create all the new jobs) to pay dramatically higher taxes and lose valuable deductions (like charitable and mortgage deductions), so that big corporations (many of which move jobs offshore and keep billions of dollars of profits parked offshore too) could dramatically reduce their taxes. The Wall Street Journal reported on groups like the Business Roundtable (made up of 150 corporate titans) and the RATE Coalition (AT&T, Ford, Lockheed Martin, Home Depot) publicly endorsing and blessing big tax hikes on mom-and-pop America. The $625 billion tax increase passed. Big business didn’t get their corporate tax cut… yet. But boy did they get goodies: $40 billion in crony capitalism payoffs. The new tax bill gives away $78 million in tax breaks to benefit NASCAR, $62 million in tax credits for companies operating in American Samoa, $222 million of tax rebates to rum companies, $430 million in tax rebates for Hollywood film producers, $12 billion (with a "B") in tax credits for wind power phonies like GE, $2.2 billion to renewable diesel companies, $650 million to manufacturers of energy-efficient appliances and $222 million in accelerated tax depreciation for businesses located on Indian reservations. Many of these companies will pay no taxes at all because of these rebates and credits. Mom-and-pop small businesses just had their income redistributed to Big Business. Billion-dollar companies ripped off small businesses on Main Street under the guise of a "fiscal cliff." If we were on a cliff, how could we afford to give $430 million to Hollywood film producers? This was the greatest swindle since Bernie Madoff. I predict this was only the start of Obama’s payoff to corporate America. I guarantee you that Obama told the corporate lobbyists that he’ll give them $40 billion in tax credit gifts now. So be patient and wait for 2013, when we will implement serious "tax reform." That’s code words for fleecing small business and middle America again. This means even higher taxes and more loss of deductions for individuals, in return for "tax reform" that dramatically cuts corporate tax rates. Anyone want to bet? It’s all part of the Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven plan. Build an alliance with big business to fund your plan to overwhelm the system and socialize America. Obama’s big government, socialist agenda isn’t aimed at the super rich. That’s just a head fake to cover the truth. That’s just the propaganda he uses to sell his con game to the masses. Obama’s destructive agenda is aimed squarely at you: entrepreneurs, small-business owners and the middle class. Obama’s goal is to create two classes of Americans: the super rich (who support and contribute to Obama, who then rewards them with bribes, stimulus, bailouts and government contracts) and the poor (who loyally vote for Obama to receive the handouts they need to survive). In Obama’s view of America, the middle class and small business must be destroyed, and the poor must be kept in their place (that place is hopeless, helpless and dependent on him). The cat is out of the bag. The crony capitalists are in bed with the greatest fraud of all time: Obama, the crony socialist. It’s now every man for himself. That’s my commentary for today. Bad things are happening in America under Obama. If you are middle class, upper middle class or a business owner, your livelihood and quality of life are in danger. Your children’s future is in danger. The American Dream is on life support. I’ll see you next week. Same time, same place. Right here at PersonalLiberty.com. God Bless. "Average" Government Employees Are The True Privileged Class That Is Straining Taxpayers To The Breaking Point and Bankrupting The U.S. Economy With Their Outrageously Rich and Excessive Retirement Plans Watch this video as Wayne Allyn Root reports on the true 1 percent: government employees. This is the privileged class that is straining taxpayers to the breaking point and bankrupting the U.S. economy. Will you retire with $5 million to $10 million? "Average" government employees are doing it every day. "Average" Government Employees Are The True Privileged Class That Is Straining Taxpayers To The Breaking Point and Bankrupting The U.S. Economy With Their Outrageously Rich and Excessive Retirement Plans Watch this video as Wayne Allyn Root reports on the true 1 percent: government employees. This is the privileged class that is straining taxpayers to the breaking point and bankrupting the U.S. economy. Will you retire with $5 million to $10 million? "Average" government employees are doing it every day. Click here to watch this video and to understand the greatest scam since Bernie Madoff: http://personalliberty.com/2012/03/01/government-employees-the-true-1/ March 29, 2013 to April 05, 2013Health Highlights **3 Million Lbs of Frozen Pizza, Other Snacks Recalled. **Sixth Person Dies of H7N9 Bird Flu; U.S. Begins Work on Vaccine. **Walgreen Clinics Will Offer Chronic Disease Care. **Novartis Loses Cancer Drug Patent Fight in India. **Balloon Treatment for MS Ineffective. **New Research May Help Lead to HIV/AIDS Vaccine. **H7N9 Bird Flu Virus Could be Hard to Track. **New Plan Would Eradicate Polio by 2018. **Less Salt, More Potassium = Millions of Lives Saved. **Brisk Walking Equals Running for Heart Health: Distance rather than speed reaps the benefits. **Experimental Vaccine Shows Promise for Ovarian Cancer. Health Highlights (March 29, 2013 to April 05, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: 3 Million Lbs of Frozen Pizza, Other Snacks Recalled Possible E. coli contamination has prompted Rich Products Corp. of Buffalo to expand a recall to include about 3 million pounds of frozen pizza, mozzarella bites, Philly cheese steaks and other snack products. The recall involves all products made at the company's plant in Waycross, Ga. The products have best buy dates from Jan. 1, 2013 through Sept. 29, 2014, NBCNews.com reported. The foods may be contaminated with E. coli O121, a strain that can be just as dangerous as the better-known E. coli O157:H7, which is frequently involved in outbreaks caused by hamburger. This latest recall expands on a March 28 recall of about 196,000 pounds of Farm Rich brand frozen chicken quesadillas and other frozen mini meals and snack items that may have been contaminated with E. coli O121, NBCNews.com reported. So far, 24 people in 15 states have become ill after eating those products, including 7 who have been hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ----- Sixth Person Dies of H7N9 Bird Flu; U.S. Begins Work on Vaccine A sixth death from the H7N9 bird flu strain was announced by Chinese officials Friday and authorities in the city of Shanghai have killed all poultry at a market where the virus was detected in pigeons being sold for meat. The poultry slaughter is the first so far as the Chinese government tries to deal with the virus that has infected 16 people along the eastern seaboard. They are the first known H7N9 infections in people, the Associated Press reported. Officials believe that people are being infected through direct contact with fowl and say there is no evidence that the virus is spreading between people. In the United States, health officials have started to make a seed vaccine against the H7N9 bird flu strain. It is being made "only as a precaution," according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman, but a CDC virologist said the agency was "fairly worried" about the new virus, The New York Times reported. It will take at least a month to create the seed vaccine. It will then be tested in ferrets. After receiving the vaccine and given time to produce antibodies, the ferrets will be infected with the H7N9 virus. It will then take a few days to see if they get sick. "If everything works smoothly the first time, we could theoretically have it ready to send to manufacturers within four weeks," Michael Shaw, associate laboratory director for the CDC's influenza division, told The Times. "But some things, like ferrets, you can't speed up." By the time the seed vaccine is ready, the CDC will have a better idea of how dangerous the new H7N9 virus is, according to agency spokesman Tom Skinner. It is still not clear how deadly the virus is "because we may be seeing only the serious cases, the ones who go to hospitals," Shaw said. The number of mild cases that may have gone unreported will be known only by testing for antibodies in blood samples from a large number of people, he explained. The fact that the virus has been found in pigeons is unusual. "It's clearly not making the pigeons ill, since no one's seen large numbers of pigeons dying. Pigeons usually aren't tested. And this could make control harder. Chickens are easy to round up," Shaw told The Times. Preliminary tests suggest that the H7N9 virus is susceptible to the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, the World Health Organization said. ----- Walgreen Clinics Will Offer Chronic Disease Care Chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma have been added to the types of health issues seen at Walgreen drugstore clinics. The company said Thursday that most of its 370 in-store Take Care Clinics will diagnose, treat and monitor patients with certain chronic illnesses that are typically handled by doctors, the Associated Press reported. A few years ago, most CVS Caremark Corp. MinuteClinics began handling chronic conditions. Drugstore clinics are run by nurse practitioners or physician assistants. They have become increasingly popular as a convenient way for patients to get care when their regular doctor is unavailable, the AP reported. ----- Novartis Loses Cancer Drug Patent Fight in India Swiss drug maker Novartis AG's attempt to patent an updated version of its cancer drug Glivec was rejected Monday by India's Supreme Court. Health activists said the decision ensures that poor patients worldwide will continue to have access to cheap versions of lifesaving medicines, the Associated Press reported. Glivec, which is known as Gleevec outside of India and Europe, is mainly used to treat leukemia. Indian generic drug maker Cipla makes a version of Glivec that sells for less than a tenth of the original drug's selling price, the AP reported. ----- Balloon Treatment for MS Ineffective A controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis did not help patients and may actually have worsened brain lesions associated with the disease, according to the findings of a small clinical trial. University at Buffalo researchers tested the "liberation therapy," which involves the use of balloons to widen veins in the head and neck. The therapy is based on the unproven theory that narrowed veins cause multiple sclerosis by preventing blood from draining out of the brain properly, The New York Times reported. In the study, 10 patients underwent the balloon procedure while 10 other patients had a "sham" procedure in which doctors did not actually use balloons. The patients were monitored for six months. The two groups of patients had no significant differences in symptoms or in quality of life. In a few cases, brain lesions associated with multiple sclerosis actually seemed to worsen after balloon treatment, The Times reported. The findings were presented last month at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. The clinical trial was small and the results need to be confirmed by further research, said study leader Dr. Adnan Siddiqui. In recent years, about 30,000 patients worldwide have been treated at clinics offering the balloon treatment, The Times reported. ----- New Research May Help Lead to HIV/AIDS Vaccine In what may be an important advance in efforts to develop an HIV vaccine, scientists have analyzed one person's immune response to the virus to determine how a series of mutations created an antibody that can conquer many strains of HIV, which is the virus that causes AIDS. The team examined numerous sequential samples of blood from an African man. The samples were collected from shortly after he was infected with HIV until about two years later, when his immune system began to produce "broadly neutralizing antibodies" against HIV, The New York Times reported. The antibodies produced by the man's immune system were able to defeat about 55 percent of all known HIV strains, according to the study published online in the journal Nature. While an HIV vaccine still remains far off, this research could prove important in attempts to reach that goal. "The beauty of this is that it's a big clue as to the sequential steps the virus and the antibody take as they evolve," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which financed the research, The Times reported. Experts reacted cautiously to the study. The findings are "a road map to vaccine development, yes -- but it's like one of those maps of the world from the year 1400. We still don't know how to turn this into a vaccine," Dr. Louis Picker, an HIV vaccine specialist at Oregon Health & Science University, told The Times. It's not clear if one patient's immune process could be applied to others, noted Dr. Joseph McCune III, head of experimental medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. One major reason why efforts to create an HIV vaccine have so far failed is because the virus mutates so rapidly. Flu viruses mutate so often that flu vaccines must be reformulated every year. In one day, HIV mutates as much as flu viruses do in a year, The Times reported. Worldwide, 34 million have HIV and 2.5 million are newly infected each year, including 50,000 in the United States. ----- H7N9 Bird Flu Virus Could be Hard to Track The H7N9 bird flu virus that recently killed two people and sickened five others in China could prove hard to track because it might be able to spread among poultry without causing any symptoms, scientists say. They also noted that the virus, which previously infected only birds, appears to have mutated in a way that allows it to more easily infect other animals. This includes pigs, which could serve as hosts that spread the virus more widely among humans, the Associated Press reported. The findings from the scientists at several research institutions around the world are preliminary and further research is required to gain a full understanding of the H7N9 virus causing human deaths and illnesses in China. While they try to learn more about the virus, the scientists recommended that Chinese veterinary officials conduct widespread testing of animals and birds in affected regions in order to detect and eliminate the virus before it becomes widespread, the AP reported. ----- New Plan Would Eradicate Polio by 2018 About $5.5 billion is needed for a new global plan to end most cases of polio by late next year and eradicate the disease by 2018, health officials say. However, they acknowledge that it may be difficult to secure the funding in these tough economic times. The money is needed for vaccinations as well as the monitoring required to ensure that the paralyzing disease has been eliminated, the Associated Press reported. Under the plan, the long-used oral vaccine would be replaced by a more expensive but safer injection version. Last year, there were 223 cases of polio worldwide, a historic low. This means it is an ideal time for an "endgame" strategy against polio, Dr. Rebecca Martin of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the AP. ----- Less Salt, More Potassium = Millions of Lives Saved THURSDAY, April 4 (HealthDay News) -- Reducing dietary salt intake and boosting levels of potassium would prevent millions of deaths from heart disease and stroke worldwide each year, according to three new studies. The new studies, which reviewed prior research, were published online April 4 in the BMJ. One study examined the findings of 34 clinical trials involving more than 3,000 adults and found that a modest reduction in salt intake led to significant decreases in blood pressure, leading to a reduced risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure. Similar findings were reported in another study that reviewed 56 previous studies. It found that reducing salt consumption led to lower blood pressure and a decreased risk of stroke and fatal heart disease in adults. There was also evidence that reduced salt intake lowered blood pressure in children. A third study analyzed data from 33 clinical trials that involved more than 128,000 people and found that increased potassium intake reduced blood pressure in adults and reduced their risk of stroke by 24 percent. Higher potassium intake may also benefit children, but more research is needed, the study authors said. Potassium is found in most fresh fruits and vegetables and in legumes, such as beans and peas. The World Health Organization has set a global goal to reduce dietary salt intake to 5 to 6 grams (about one teaspoon) per day by 2025. However, the study researchers and some other experts recommend a further reduction to 3 grams per day. ----- Brisk Walking Equals Running for Heart Health: Distance rather than speed reaps the benefits By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, April 4 (HealthDay News) -- Brisk walking is as good as running for reducing blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes risk -- three key players in the development of heart disease, a new study finds. It's a matter of how far you walk or run, not how long, said Paul Williams, a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. "Both of these activities reduce risk factors, and if you expend the same amount of energy you get the same benefit," Williams said. The key was the more people walked or ran each week, the more their health improved, he said. The findings suggest "there is now some choice in the exercise you want to do," he said. Some people find running more convenient, others prefer walking, especially people just starting to exercise, he noted. The advantage of running is you can cover twice as much ground in the same amount of time as you would walking, Williams pointed out. Williams is referring to brisk walking, however. "Walking for exercise. It's not a mosey kind of thing, but actually walking for exercise," he explained. For the study, published online April 4 in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, Williams and Dr. Paul Thompson, a cardiologist at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, collected data from the National Runners' Health Study and the National Walkers' Health Study. More than 33,000 runners and nearly 16,000 walkers were involved. The runners and walkers were 18 to 80 years old, but mostly in their 40s and 50s, the study authors noted. Over six years, both running and walking led to similar reductions in risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, and perhaps even heart disease, the researchers found. Specifically, Williams and Thompson found: Running reduced the risk of high blood pressure 4.2 percent and walking reduced the risk 7.2 percent. Running reduced the risk for high cholesterol 4.3 percent and walking lowered the risk 7 percent. Running lowered the risk for diabetes 12.1 percent and walking reduced the risk 12.3 percent. Running decreased the risk of heart disease 4.5 percent and walking reduced the risk 9.3 percent. Other research using data from the walkers' and runners' studies found that for weight loss, running beats walking. That study appears in the April issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. ----- Experimental Vaccine Shows Promise for Ovarian Cancer By Randy Dotinga, HealthDay Reporter SATURDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- A novel but preliminary new treatment for ovarian cancer has apparently produced complete remission for one patient with an advanced form of the disease, researchers are reporting. The promising results of a phase 1 clinical trial for the immunotherapy approach also showed that seven other women had no measurable disease at the end of the trial, the researchers added. Their results are scheduled to be presented Saturday at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Ovarian cancer is fairly rare -- an estimated 1.38 percent of females born today will be diagnosed with the condition -- but it's an especially deadly form of cancer because it is usually diagnosed in an advanced stage. The new treatment uses a personalized vaccine to try to teach the body's immune system how to fight off tumors. Researchers took bits of tumor and blood from women with stage 3 or 4 ovarian cancer and created individualized vaccines, said study lead author Lana Kandalaft, director of clinical development and operations at the Ovarian Cancer Research Center in the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "Each patient's tumor is unique like a fingerprint," she added. "We're trying to rewire the immune system to target the tumor." Once the immune system has learned how to more effectively fight the cancer, the researchers isolate immune cells called dendritic cells, coax them to multiply, then put them back into the body to strengthen it. The research is only in the first of three stages that are required before drugs can be sold in the United States. The first-phase studies aren't designed to determine if the drugs actually work, but are instead supposed to analyze whether they're safe. This study, funded in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, found signs of improvement in 19 out of 31 patients. All 19 developed an anti-tumor immune response. Of those, eight had no measurable disease and are on maintenance vaccine therapy. And one of the eight, whose cancer recurred several times, has been in remission for 45 months, the study authors said. The researchers added a further step for 11 patients who responded to the vaccine treatment but still had residual disease. They removed immune cells called T cells from patients' blood, stimulated and expanded the cells in the laboratory, and then reinjected them into the patients. Of the 11 patients, seven had stable disease and one had a complete response, the investigators found. Both treatments were given in conjunction with bevacizumab, a drug that controls blood vessel growth. Side effects were mild, Kandalaft said. As for cost, she believes that it will be cheaper than some existing cancer drugs that cost $75,000 to $100,000 for a regimen. The next step is to continue research into the treatment, she added. A second study being presented at the meeting focused on an experimental drug to treat women whose ovarian cancer has developed resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. The cancer inevitably gets worse in patients when chemotherapy no longer works. The drug, being developed by the Genentech pharmaceutical company, is designed to deliver a kind of poison to cancer cells without being too toxic to the patient. Researchers led by Dr. Joyce Liu, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, found that five patients out of 44 responded at least partially to the treatment. However, many who took the treatment suffered from several types of side effects. A researcher who was not involved in the studies said the treatments all appear promising, although preliminary, and show how medicine is moving toward alternatives to chemotherapy. "This is where we have to start. This is the future," said Dr. Linda Duska, a gynecologist at the University of Virginia. Obamacare’s Real Costs: America Destroying Obamacare will cause unemployment numbers to skyrocket, force workers with cut-back hours to try to find multiple part-time jobs, hit even the poor with $258 billion in new taxes, cause insurance premiums to skyrocket, and create doctor shortages Obamacare’s devastating financial effects can be seen in the rising costs of health insurance, layoffs, cuts in employment hours, rising prices & looming tax hikes. Obamacare will send unemployment numbers skyrocketing & force workers — who find their hours cut back below the “full-time” threshold of 30 hours — to try to find multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet. Or they’ll give up working altogether & join the rising numbers of wards of the state. Obamacare new taxes [$258 billion] will kick in beginning in 2013, most of which will hit both the “so-called rich” and “the poor” either directly or indirectly. More Obamacare new taxes hit in 2014. Obama-voting-fools ='s misery/suffering for all. Obamacare’s Real Costs: America Destroying Obamacare will cause unemployment numbers to skyrocket, force workers with cut-back hours to try to find multiple part-time jobs, hit even the poor with $258 billion in new taxes, cause insurance premiums to skyrocket, and create doctor shortages.   November 19, 2012 by Bob Livingston  [A Really, Really Big Obama Lie Among Many Really, Really Big Obama Lies]: "The Obama Care Health Care Reform Plan or Health Care For America Plan will cost the average American around $70."–obamacarefacts.com First of all, allow me to disabuse you of the notion that Obamacare has anything to do with "health" care. Obamacare is not about health. It’s not about lowering the cost of health insurance. And it’s not about ensuring that everyone is insured. It is about locking more Americans into the clutches of the Big Pharma/Medical Industrial complex, providing more customers for Big Insurance and confiscating more wealth from individuals and businesses. The American healthcare system should properly be called "sickcare." It’s a subtle and esoteric system of population control with prescription drugs issued at the public expense by the drug cartel — the conglomerate of pharmaceutical houses. They commit population control under the pretense of "healthcare" and make people pay for it. And this medical cartel has no legal liability. It is forced — or at least deceptive — medication. And most doctors don’t have a clue. They write prescriptions based on falsified data and kickbacks — from speaker fees and ghostwriting glowing medical reviews — without regard to whether their patients will benefit. Health costs nothing. Sickness care has us in bankruptcy. If the medical establishment, insurance companies and Obamacare writers wanted Americans to be healthy, they’d promote healthy eating, healthy lifestyles, vitamin D supplementation, natural supplements and alternative health choices rather than toxin-laden vaccinations, body-destroying cancer treatment drugs, harmful symptom-rather-than-cause-attacking heart, statin and diabetes drugs, and carcinogen- and GMO-laced processed foods. Now Obamacare’s devastating financial effects are coming to the fore. They can be seen in the rising costs of health insurance, layoffs, cuts in employment hours, rising prices and looming tax hikes. Obamacare will send unemployment numbers skyrocketing and force workers — who find their hours cut back below the "full-time" threshold of 30 hours — to try to find multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet. Or they’ll give up working altogether and join the rising numbers of wards of the state: 49.7 million in poverty, non-farm employment at 2005 levels, 46.7 million on food stamps and 9 million leaving the workforce and joining the disability roles. The Congressional Budget Office predicts Obamacare will cost 800,000 jobs by 2020-2021. It will be much worse than that. With jobless numbers already high and manufacturing and mid-level white collar professional service jobs leaving the United States never to return, most new jobs come in the healthcare, social assistance (ambulatory healthcare services) and food service industries (waiting tables and tending bar). But the medical device and food service industries are being hit hardest by Obamacare, as business owners seek ways to remain profitable and competitive once the provisions kick in. During the International Franchise Association convention in Washington, D.C., in September, franchisers learned just how hard Obamacare would hit them. David Barr, a Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken franchiser, told the group how Obamacare will cut his profits and probably theirs as well — in half. Their only choice is to slash employee hours so they aren’t eligible for company-paid health insurance or stop offering insurance and pay the $2,000 per employee fine. Barr has 23 stores with 421 employees, 109 of whom are full-time. Of those, he provides health insurance to 30. His total cost is $129,000 per year and his employees pay $995. Under Obamacare, he’ll have to provide health insurance for all 109 full-time employees at a cost of $444,000 per year. The $315,000 increase is more than half his annual profit, after expenses. If he chose the fine instead, his healthcare costs would still increase by $89,000 per year. Darden Foods, the world’s largest casual dining company — it includes Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse — was one of the first to announce it would be limiting worker hours to avoid healthcare requirements. Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter said the cost of his pizzas will rise between 11 and 14 cents and worker hours will be reduced. He expects the law to cost his company between $5 billion and $8 billion annually. In July, McDonalds Chief Financial Officer Peter Benson said Obamacare will cost his company $420 million in new healthcare costs even though the company received a waiver from the Administration of Barack Obama. His menu prices will increase as a result. Florida-based restaurant owner John Metz, who owns 40 Denny’s restaurants and the Hurricane Grill & Wings franchise, said last week he would be tacking a 5 percent Obamacare surcharge on his meals and reduce employee hours. He says it is "the only alternative. I’ve got to pass the cost to the customer." Look for other restaurants faced with a choice of becoming unprofitable by absorbing the costs or uncompetitive by raising their menu prices if they insure their employees and pass the cost to consumers to also cut worker hours. Wal-Mart recently raised its health insurance premiums as much as 36 percent, putting coverage out of the reach of many of its employees. Its executives say employee hours will be cut. Likewise, the Kroger grocery chain is also reducing employee hours. Other companies that have announced Obamacare layoffs include: Welch Allyn: A medical diagnostic equipment manufacturer, Welch Allyn will lay off 250 employees, or 10 percent of its workforce, over the next three years because of the Medical Device Tax mandated by the law. Dana Holding Corp.: A global auto parts manufacturer, Dana Holding Corp. will cut its workforce of 25,500, citing $24 million in additional healthcare expenses over the next six years. Stryker: One of the biggest medical device manufacturers in the world, Stryker will close its Orchard Park, N.Y., facility, eliminating 96 jobs in December. The company will also eliminate about 5 percent of its remaining workforce — about 1,170 workers. Boston Scientific: CEO Ray Elliot recently announced that Obamacare taxes will force him to lay off between 1,200 and 1,400 workers and shift investments and jobs to China. Medtronic: The medical device maker cut 500 jobs this past summer and will eliminate another 500 in 2013 because of Obamacare taxes. Smith & Nephew: 770 layoffs. Abbott Laboratories: 700 layoffs. Covidien: 595 layoffs. Kinetic Concepts: 427 layoffs. St. Jude Medical: 300 layoffs. Hill-Rom: 200 layoffs. And then there are the looming taxes. The undocumented alien and chronic White House liar (see the ever changing Benghazi narrative, among others) has repeated ad nauseam that he will not raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 ($125,000 or $200,000 or whatever his story is today). But here are some Obamacare taxes kicking in beginning in 2013, most of which will hit both the "so-called rich" and the poor either directly or indirectly. The Obamacare Medical Device Tax is a $20 billion tax increase. Obamacare imposes a new 2.3 percent excise tax on gross sales — whether the company makes a profit or not. This will increase the cost of medical devices like pacemakers, prosthetics and wheelchairs. The Obamacare "Special Needs Kids Tax" is a $13 billion tax increase. It hits the 30 million to 35 million Americans using a work-based Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to pay for basic medical needs by having money removed from their paychecks before taxes, which reduces their taxable income and helps them save on their tax bill. It faces a new cap of $2,500 (currently the accounts have no cap). There are 7 million families in American with special needs children who need care that far exceeds the $2,500, many of them the working poor. The Obamacare Surtax on Investment Income is a $123 billion tax increase. This is a new 3.8 percentage point surtax on investment income earned in households making $250,000 or more ($200,000 for single filer). This will increase the tax on capital gains from 15 percent to 23.8 percent. Capital gains include profits on the sale of a home. In other words, when you sell your house for more than you paid for it, which all homeowners hope to do, you will pay 23.8 percent on the value difference when you sell. It also includes gains made on savings and retirement accounts. The rate paid on dividend income increases from 15 percent to 43.3 percent, as does the rate on other investment income. The Obamacare "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deductions is a $15.2 billion tax increase. Currently, Americans facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction if expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. The "haircut" raises the threshold to 10 percent. This will most harm those near retirement age and those with modest incomes but high medical bills — like those with special needs children or dealing with catastrophic illness. The Obamacare Payroll Tax Hike is $86.8 billion tax increase. The Medicare payroll tax rate on individuals earning $200,000 ($250,000 for couples) will see their payroll tax increase from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent. This is a direct marginal income tax hike on small-business owners, who are liable for self-employment tax. And even more Obamacare taxes kick hit in 2014. The bottom line for the average family, according to Forbes.com, is an additional annual cost of $1,261 for the average family, or a diversion of 2.5 percent of the average household’s income in taxes alone. And this doesn’t factor in the additional costs resulting from rising food and product costs and loss of income due to worker hour reductions and job losses. Obamacare sycophants glommed on to the progressive, government-growing, insurance industry-profiting healthcare reform effort largely because they believed Big Insurance was screwing them over by raising premiums and not paying for certain conditions. Yet those hated insurance companies wrote the law and made sure that those who disdained health insurance — either because they were young and felt they didn’t need it or were financially able to go without it — were forced into the plan, ensuring Big Insurance a whole host of new customers, guaranteeing themselves a large profit and a government treasury to make sure the bills were paid. And those sycophants are just delighted with that outcome. But if they thought they were drawing the short straw when corporate profits were on the line, wait until they see what they get now that the sociopaths in the dysfunctional government bureaucracy are involved. March 22, 2013 to March 29, 2013Health Highlights **OneTouch Verio IQ Blood Glucose Meters Recalled. **Brand-Name, Generic Drug Makers' Case Goes to Court. **Missing Vial of Virus No Threat. **North Dakota Governor Signs Abortion Law: Makes abortion illegal once a fetal heartbeat is detectable. **Early Number Knowledge Key to Future Math Skills. **Two More Deaths From SARS-Like Virus. **Breastfeeding for 6 Months Cuts Mother's Risk of Cancer Death. **Most Restaurants' Kids' Meals Still Unhealthy. **Tulsa Dentist's Patients Told to Get Tested for Hepatitis, HIV. **NYC Appeals Ruling on Supersized Sugary-Drink Ban. **More Dietary Fiber Might Help Thwart Stroke. **Antihistamine Meds May Raise Risk for Diarrheal Illness. **FDA Approves 1st in New Class of Type 2 Diabetes Drugs. Health Highlights (March 22, 2013 to March 29, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: OneTouch Verio IQ Blood Glucose Meters Recalled All OneTouch Verio IQ blood glucose meters in the United States are being recalled and replaced because of problems that can lead to incorrect treatment or delay proper treatment, Lifescan, Inc. announced Monday. At extremely high blood glucose levels (1,024 milligrams per deciliter and above), the meters will not provide a warning and will shut off, said Lifescan, a unit of Johnson & Johnson. While the likelihood of experiencing a blood glucose level of 1,025 mg/dL or higher is remote, this level of blood glucose is a serious and potentially fatal health risk that requires immediate medical attention. Patients with a OneTouch Verio IQ meter should contact LifeScan customer service at 1-800-717-0276 to make arrangements to receive a replacement meter at no charge, the company said. As long as they are aware of this problem with the device, patients with a OneTouch Verio IQ meter can continue to use them to test their blood glucose levels, according to LifeScan. However, if the meter unexpectedly turns itself off during testing, this could be a sign of an extremely blood sugar level that requires immediate medical attention. ----- Brand-Name, Generic Drug Makers' Case Goes to Court The question of whether a brand-name drug company can pay a generic drug maker to keep a generic drug off the market is being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. The case pits the federal government against brand-name and generic drug companies, who want to be able to arrange these types of deals. But antitrust regulations forbid it and the government's stance against such pacts was most recently upheld by a federal appeals court, The New York Times reported. However, at least three other federal appeals courts have previously said such agreements are legal when made under the settlement of a patent infringement lawsuit. The Supreme Court will hear the case Monday and is expected to issue a ruling later this year. It's decision could have an effect on the wallets of nearly every American, the Times reported. ----- Missing Vial of Virus No Threat A vial containing a virus that can cause hemorrhagic fever disappeared from a Texas research facility last Wednesday, but there's no reason to believe that there's a threat to the public, according to officials. They suspect that the vial containing the Guanarito virus was destroyed during the lab's cleaning process, and added that the investigation is continuing, the Associated Press reported. There was no breach in security at the Galveston National Laboratory and no indication of wrongdoing, the University of Texas Medical Branch said Saturday. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was immediately notified after the vial's absence was noticed. The virus is native to Venezuela and is transmitted only through contact with Venezuelan rats, according to the medical branch. Officials don't believe the virus can survive in U.S. rodents or be transmitted from person-to-person, the AP reported. ----- North Dakota Governor Signs Abortion Law: Makes abortion illegal once a fetal heartbeat is detectable The governor of North Dakota approved a set of bills on Tuesday that enacts a law that essentially bans most abortions. The most restrictive portion of the package, which is expected to be challenged in court, makes abortion illegal once a fetal heartbeat is "detectable," the New York Times reported. Fetal heartbeats can be heard via ultrasound as early as the sixth week of pregnancy, the newspaper added. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, a Republican, signed a total of three bills passed by the Republican-controlled North Dakota legislature, but legal experts have asserted that the package violates the basic tenets of Roe v. Wade, the historical ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that found abortions could be performed until the fetus would theoretically be able to survive outside the womb, roughly 24 weeks into a pregnancy. "Although the likelihood of this measure surviving a court challenge remains in question, this bill is nevertheless a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v. Wade," Dalrymple said in a statement. The three bills are scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, unless a legal challenge is filed, the Times reported. The Center for Reproductive Rights, in New York City, promptly condemned the new laws and said it would file a challenge, according to the Times. The signings follow passage last week of a proposed amendment to the North Dakota Constitution that would claim life begins at conception. The so-called "personhood measure" will go on the ballot next year. Such measures have previously been voted down in Mississippi and Colorado, the Times reported. Measures to ban abortions when fetal heartbeats are detected are under consideration in several other states, including Kansas and Ohio, the Times reported. Groups including National Right to Life, Americans United for Life and the Roman Catholic Church have not supported fetal heartbeat proposals, saying they could be counterproductive unless the makeup of the Supreme Court changed dramatically. ----- Early Number Knowledge Key to Future Math Skills There appears to be a link between children's understanding of numbers in the first grade and their ability to do everyday calculations when they're older, a new study finds. Researchers tested 180 seventh-graders in the Columbia, Mo. school system and found that those who did worse on a test of core math skills needed to function as adults were the same children who'd had the poorest number knowledge when they started first grade, the Associated Press reported. "The gap they started with, they don't close it," said study leader Dr. David Geary, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Missouri. "They're not catching up" to their peers whose number skills were better in the first grade. The differences between the students when they were in the first grade were not explained by factors such as IQ and attention span, the AP reported. The findings show that what Geary calls "number system knowledge" is a basic skill that students continually build on and is much more than just the ability to count. This knowledge includes capabilities such as understanding magnitude -- that 34 is bigger than 23 -- and that numbers represent different quantities, that three dots is the same as the numeral "3" or the word "three." Geary and his colleagues will continue to track the children into high school. This research isn't only about trying to improve students' math abilities, it's about ensuring they have the basic math skills required in adulthood. For example, knowing how much change the cashier should hand back, how to calculate a tip in a restaurant, or how to do the fractions to double a recipe. About 1 in 5 U.S. adults lack the math abilities expected of a middle-school student. These adults have trouble with everyday math tasks, which puts many types of jobs beyond their reach, according to the AP. "It's not just, can you do well in school? It's how well can you do in your life," said Dr. Kathy Mann Koepke of the National Institutes of Health. "We are in the midst of math all the time." The NIH is providing funding for the study. ----- Two More Deaths From SARS-Like Virus Two more people have died from a SARS-like virus that was first identified last fall. The World Health Organization said the recent deaths in Germany and Britain bring to 11 the number of people killed by the new virus, while 6 others have been infected and survived, ABC News reported. One of the latest deaths included a 73-year-old man from the United Arab Emirates who died in Munich after being flown there for treatment. The other victim was a U.K. resident who traveled to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia before falling ill, the WHO said. There is concern that the SARS-like virus could come to North America. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials have told state and local health departments to watch for suspicious illnesses in people who have recently been in the Middle East, ABC News reported. Between November 2002 and July 2003, the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus infected about 8,100 people worldwide, resulting in 774 deaths. ----- Breastfeeding for 6 Months Cuts Mother's Risk of Cancer Death Mothers who breastfeed for at least six months have a 10 percent lower risk of dying from cancer and a 17 percent lower risk of dying from circulatory disease, according to a new study. Researchers examined the habits of nearly 380,000 people in nine European countries and found that those who followed World Cancer Research Fund advice on cancer-prevention lifestyles had about a one-third lower risk of death from several major diseases, The Telegraph in the U.K. reported. Along with advising women to breastfeed exclusively for at least six months, the recommendations direct people to: be as lean as possible without being underweight; get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day; limit consumption of sugary drinks, salty foods, processed foods and red meat; eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and legumes; not smoke; and limit alcoholic drinks to two a day for men and one a day for women. People who most closely followed these recommendations were 50 percent less likely to die from respiratory disease, 44 percent less likely to die from circulatory disease, and 20 percent less likely to die of cancer, compared with those who followed few or none of the suggestions, The Telegraph reported. The specific tips associated with the greatest reduction in the risk of death from those diseases were being as lean as possible without being underweight (22 percent lower risk) and eating lots of vegetables, fruits and legumes (21 percent lower risk), according to the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Limiting alcohol consumption had the most impact on the risk of cancer death, reducing it by 21 percent. This is the first study to show a strong link between the WCRF recommendations and a reduced risk of death, said study leader Dr. Teresa Norat, of Imperial College London in the U.K., The Telegraph reported. "This study demonstrates in real terms the value of the ... recommendations in preventing deaths from a range of common diseases, not just cancer," said Dr. Panagiota Mitrou, the deputy head of science at WCRF. ----- Most Restaurants' Kids' Meals Still Unhealthy Too many kids' meals served at major chain restaurants in the United States still contain too much salt and fat and too many calories, according to a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The consumer advocacy group analyzed thousands of kids' meals and found that fried chicken fingers and nuggets, french fries and sodas are the most common items offered to youngsters, USA Today reported. Some children's meals contain more than 1,000 calories. Federal government dietary guidelines recommend that children ages 4 to 10 eat 1,200 to 2,200 calories for the entire day. "This is really disappointing," Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for CSPI, told USA Today. "Restaurants should be doing better." She noted that there has not been much improvement since the group did a similar study in 2008. ----- Tulsa Dentist's Patients Told to Get Tested for Hepatitis, HIV About 7,000 patients of an Oklahoma dentist are being told to get tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Health officials made the announcement Thursday after learning that instruments at W. Scott Harrington's clinics in Tulsa and suburban Owasso weren't properly cleaned, even though the dentist knew that several of his patients had infectious diseases, the Associated Press reported. An investigation was launched after officials received a complaint against Harrington. "It's uncertain how long those practices have been in place," Kaitlin Snider, a spokeswoman for the Tulsa Health Department, told the AP. "He's been practicing for 36 years." She said letters offering free testing would be sent Friday to 7,000 patients who went to the dentist's two clinics since 2007. Harrington has closed his practice and his case will go before the state dental board on April 19. He could lose his license. ----- NYC Appeals Ruling on Supersized Sugary-Drink Ban New York City has filed an appeal in an attempt to get its ban on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks reinstated. The first-of-its-kind rule to prohibit many eateries from selling larger than 16-ounce servings of sugary beverages was struck down by a Manhattan judge on March 11, the day before the ban was to take effect, the Associated Press reported. City officials say the ban on supersized sugary drinks will help fight obesity. Beverage companies and other opponents say the law is unfair because it would exempt some high-calorie drinks and certain retailers, including convenience stores and supermarkets. Opponents also say the city's Board of Health exceeded its authority in passing the ban, the AP reported. ----- More Dietary Fiber Might Help Thwart Stroke By Alan Mozes, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- Eating more fiber-rich foods appears to lower stroke risk, according to a new British study. For every 7-gram bump in daily fiber consumption, an individual's risk for experiencing an initial stroke appears to plummet 7 percent, the investigators concluded after analyzing 20-plus years of research. "This is important because most people in the U.S. do not eat enough fiber-rich foods," said study co-author Victoria Burley, from the Center for Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of Leeds in England. "Total dietary fiber intake should be 25 to 30 grams a day from food, but on average people in the U.S. are getting only half this amount," Burley said. Most people would have little trouble increasing overall fiber intake by 7 grams a day, the team concluded. A wide range of everyday foods -- for example, a serving of whole-wheat pasta plus a piece of fruit and a standard serving of tomatoes -- would enable people to reach this goal, the authors said. The finding builds on prior evidence that has indicated consumption of plant-based dietary fiber -- including fruits, nuts, vegetables and whole grains -- may curb key factors that raise stroke risk, such as high blood pressure and elevated levels of so-called "bad" (LDL) cholesterol. Strokes occur when a clot blocks a blood vessel to the brain or when a blood vessel bleeds into the brain. Stroke and other brain-based blood vessel diseases are collectively the world's second-leading killer, causing more than 6 million deaths annually and leaving large numbers of people with lasting disability....... ----- Antihistamine Meds May Raise Risk for Diarrheal Illness FRIDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who take antihistamines to reduce stomach acid are at increased risk for infection with Clostridium difficile, a common cause of diarrhea, a new study finds. Researchers reviewed the findings of 33 previous studies that looked at C. difficile and antihistamines used to suppress stomach acid. People who took over-the-counter antihistamine drugs did not have a significantly increased risk of C. difficile infection. However, a clear link existed between histamine 2 receptor antagonists -- a specific class of antihistamines -- and C. difficile infection. The risk for people on these drugs -- also known as H2 blockers -- was greatest for hospitalized patients receiving antibiotics, said the researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The study was published online March 27 in the journal PLoS One. "It's not clear why these antihistamines increase the risk of C. difficile infection, because gastric acid does not affect C. difficile spores," senior author Dr. Larry Baddour, an infectious diseases expert, said in a Mayo Clinic news release. "However, it may be that vegetative forms of C. difficile, which are normally killed by stomach acid, survive due to use of stomach acid suppressors and cause infection." The researchers said their findings highlight the need for careful use of histamine 2 receptor antagonists in hospitalized patients, and suggest that reducing the use of these drugs could significantly lower the risk of C. difficile infections. Although the study tied use of these drugs to higher risk of diarrheal illness, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. ----- FDA Approves 1st in New Class of Type 2 Diabetes Drugs FRIDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- The first in a new class of type 2 diabetes drugs was approved Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Invokana (canaglifozin) tablets are to be taken, in tandem with a healthy diet and exercise, to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes. Invokana belongs to a class of drugs called sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. It works by blocking the reabsorption of glucose (sugar) by the kidney and increasing glucose excretions in urine, the FDA said in a news release. About 24 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, and it accounts for more than 90 percent of diabetes cases diagnosed in the United States, the FDA said. If blood sugar levels are not carefully controlled, there is an increased risk for serious complications, including heart disease, blindness, and nerve and kidney damage, the agency added. Invokana should not be used by people with type 1 diabetes or people with type 2 diabetes who have increased ketones in their blood or urine (diabetic ketoacidosis), severe kidney disease, kidney failure or who are on dialysis, the FDA said. The most common side effects of Invokana are vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract infections. It may also cause dizziness and fainting.......... Proof Of Obama's U.S. Police State & Escalated Government Oppression Is Being Hidden By The Government-Controlled Mainstream Media From The Ignorant, Dumbed-Down American People Today, the rule of law is what the 1% (the government) says it is. The government holds the police power & the military power. Its main purpose is to be the silent force to contain the population. The population in the United States is well-armed. That fact does not escape the 1%. That is why the 1% is so eager to find a basis upon which to justify disarming the people. The armed populace is all that stands between the people & full-blown tyranny. The elite behind the scenes count on the ignorance of the American people — who have been dumbed down with the government-controlled mainstream media, drugs, tobacco, alcohol, debauchery, a craze for national sports, instant gratification, debt, and no rule of law — to ignore the oppression as they advance their agenda to confiscate all the world’s wealth & enslave.... Proof Of Obama's U.S. Police State & Escalated Government Oppression Is Being Hidden By The Government-Controlled Mainstream Media From The Ignorant, Dumbed-Down American People   Today, the rule of law is what the 1% (the government) says it is. The government holds the police power & the military power. Its main purpose is to be the silent force to contain the population. The population in the United States is well-armed. That fact does not escape the 1%. That is why the 1% is so eager to find a basis upon which to justify disarming the people. The armed populace is all that stands between the people & full-blown tyranny. The elite behind the scenes count on the ignorance of the American people — who have been dumbed down with the government-controlled mainstream media, drugs, tobacco, alcohol, debauchery, a craze for national sports, instant gratification, debt, and no rule of law — to ignore the oppression as they advance their agenda to confiscate all the world’s wealth & enslave the populace. How long will it continue before the push-back commences?!   Proof Of A U.S. Police State February 11, 2013 by Bob Livingston -- Personal Liberty Digest   America has fast descended into a police state. The trouble is that we want to believe in the rule of law and the system that alleges to support and enforce it. But when reality collides with illusion, it is too late. No matter how bad things seem, we always think that times will get better and that government will do the right thing. Only a few people left Germany in the early 1930s. They could clearly see the evolving tyranny. Many who stayed thought that things would not get so bad or that times would get better. They suffered from normalcy bias, a form of cognitive dissonance. They paid. The wisdom today is in being able to see what is happening and having the vision to discern what is going to happen. Sorry. Anyone who still believes in the illusion of the rule of law will not see reality until it’s too late to do what is necessary to survive and keep their assets. Today, the rule of law is what the 1 percent (the government) says it is. The government holds the police power and the military power. Its main purpose is to be the silent force to contain the population. The population in the United States is well-armed. That fact does not escape the 1 percent. That is why the 1 percent is so eager to find a basis upon which to justify disarming the people. The armed populace is all that stands between the people and full-blown tyranny. We have entered the last days of the fiat regime. It is evidenced by a falling confidence in government and the government’s stepped-up oppression of the people. This fact continues to be hidden by the mainstream media, which is under the control of the government. The vast majority refuse to see or admit the regime is failing and descending into totalitarianism. They cite the fact that Americans are free to worship, free to travel, free to work, free to express themselves and free to vote as evidence that America remains free. But there are many signs that America is not far removed from tyranny seen in the former Soviet Union and the depths of Mao-ruled Chinese empire. The state, meaning the apparatus of government, is "the system" that controls the American people. Most people foolishly believe that they control the political system through elections. Little do they know that the government and the corporate state own and control the state and, through it, the people. This fact is kept invisible through constant conditioning of the public mind. There has never been any more sophisticated propaganda than in the United States today. No serious issues are ever discussed on national media. The nature of government and the nature of people put them at natural enmity. Everything that the government is and has, it must extract from the people. It takes so much that it cannot disclose how much. The state and all that it has comes from the production and savings of the people by taxation and inflation. If there is constant enmity and actually silent war between the State and the people, why is there no physical conflict? The answer is because of constant deceptive propaganda and the fact that the process is gradual over a long period of time. Gradualism clouds reality. Gradualism fogs the mind and suppresses rebellion. Rulers know this. The elected elites know the proper code words to use to deceive the unthinking populace. Any and every law, no matter how oppressive, can be sold to the people by invoking these words. The Constitutionality of these laws does not matter and is not discussed. The court system does not help. All major legal decisions since the United States became a nation have been in favor of the government. The Internet has thrown a wrench into the cogs that run the government propaganda machine and suppress the people. Information is now available that was once hidden or manipulated in favor of the state. The wall of propaganda has been breached. This has thrown the elites off their game. Where they preferred to continue with their glacial march toward full-blown tyranny, an awakening populace has recognized the stepped-up oppression and has begun to push back. The physical conflict that had been so long avoided seems almost inevitable. It’s obvious the American regime is preparing for it: President Barack Obama’s regime has invented "legal" grounds to justify assassinating American citizens with drones. So far, three Americans have been executed without trial, including a 16-year-old from Colorado. This is mission creep far beyond what little George W. Bush began and Congress enabled with the false "war on terror" and the 4th Amendment-nullifying USA Patriot Act of 2001 (since extended). 2009 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Jim Garrow, Ph.D., who is noted for his work saving thousands of babies in China from certain death through the country’s one-child policy, claims in a Facebook post that a military member and "hero" who everyone would recognize confided in him that Obama is using as a litmus test of military leadership that involves their willingness to fire on U.S. citizens and is removing those who say they will not. The Department of Homeland Security has ordered another 21.6 million bullets to add to the 1.6 billion it has bought in the last year. Before the order, DHS had more than enough bullets to shoot every U.S. citizen four times and keep hundreds of millions of rounds in reserve. For perspective, during the height of the Iraq war, U.S. soldiers were using 5.5 million rounds per month. The immigration reform legislation currently under discussion would place many more drones into U.S. airspace to spy on citizens along the border and within the 100 mile border zone over which DHS claims jurisdiction. It also calls for biometric ID cards maintained by the government at considerable expense — and no doubt wrought with considerable problems and shortcomings — that would be necessary to secure employment and perform other interactions with government functionaries and bureaucracies. Police officers are teaming with National Guard and other U.S. military units to carry out training exercises that resemble military invasions on U.S. soil in violation of Posse Comitatus. The Obama regime aided by a complicit Congress passed into law just more than one year ago the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which gives the regime the power to arrest and indefinitely detain American citizens without habeas corpus. The surveillance state is growing more intrusive by the day. Police now have have scanners that can peer beneath our clothes and in our cars and homes on street corners and in mobile units. Cameras and audio recording devices are everywhere. High Schools students are being required to carry microchipped cards that record their whereabouts and to submit hair samples for mandatory drug testing. Lawyers are being arrested for informing people of their rights. Police officers are accompanying electric workers to enforce installation of so-called "smart meters" on houses that have the capability of spying on homeowners and supplying the state with terabytes of data on day-to-day activities. This opens the homeowner up to abuse from state enforcers and identity theft from thieves. The elite behind the scenes count on the ignorance of the American people — who have been dumbed down with drugs, tobacco, alcohol, debauchery, a craze for national sports, instant gratification, debt and no rule of law — to ignore these and the many other loses of freedoms as they advance their agenda to confiscate all the world’s wealth and enslave the populace. How long will it continue before the push-back commences? March 15, 2013 to March 22, 2013Health Highlights **Obama's Bioethics Panel Gives Cautious OK to Testing Anthrax Vaccine in Children!? **North Dakota Measure Would Ban Abortions in the State. **New Lethal Meningitis Strain Affecting Homosexual Men. **Georgia Compounding Pharmacy Recalls all Sterile Products. **Some 'Male Enhancement' Products Can Be Risky. **Axe Body Spray Not Welcome at Pa. High School. **New NFL Rule Meant to Reduce Head and Neck Injuries. **Children Getting Into Medicines Or Receiving The Wrong Dose a Major Problem. **British Public Supports Use of 3 People's DNA to Create Baby. **Virus-Based Melanoma Drug Shows Promise. **Doctors Urge FDA to Take Action on Energy Drinks. **ProtiDiet High Protein Bars Recalled. **Scientists Develop New Liver Preservation Device. Health Highlights (March 15, 2013 to March 22, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Obama's Bioethics Panel Gives Cautious OK to Testing Anthrax Vaccine in Children!? Children should be allowed to take part in clinical trials for vaccines and other treatments to protect against bioterrorism attacks only if there is "minimal risk" that is no worse than a checkup at a doctor's office, according to a report by the President's Bioethics Commission. "Research involving children is ethically distinct from research on adults," said commission chairwoman Amy Gutmann, USA Today reported. She noted that, morally and legally, children cannot give consent to volunteer for medical experiments. However, biodefense officials say that without testing these treatments on children, doctors won't know if they are giving safe or effective doses of them to youngsters in the event of a bioterrorism attack, such as one involving anthrax. The federal government has large stockpiles of treatments for biological, chemical, radiation or nuclear attacks, but "a high percentage of them haven't been tested at all for how they should be given to children," said Steven Krug, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' disaster preparedness advisory council, USA Today reported. Among its recommendations, the commission said children should only be included in clinical trials of bioterrorism treatments if previous studies have shown a lack of serious side effects in animals and adults. In addition, testing should first be done on older teens ages 16-17, who more closely resemble adults, before testing is conducted on younger children. The commission also said money should be set aside to compensate children and teens who suffer side effects from the clinical trials, USA Today reported. [Will Obama volunteer his children?]  ----- North Dakota Measure Would Ban Abortions in the State North Dakota is about to become the epicenter of the national debate on abortion. On Friday, state lawmakers adopted a resolution to let voters decide whether the state Constitution should be changed to assert that life begins at conception. If voters approve the measure, which will appear on next year's ballot, it would essentially ban abortions in the state, The New York Times reported. Friday's action by lawmakers comes a week after the Republican-controlled Legislature approved legislation outlawing abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which could be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, the Times reported. Abortion-rights advocates have vowed to challenge the measure, saying it violates the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that allows abortions until a fetus is considered viable, typically at about 24 weeks. North Dakota state Senator Margaret Sitte, a Republican and a sponsor of Friday's measure, said she hoped it would bring an end to abortions in her state, the newspaper reported. "I'm hoping that it will be a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade," she said. ----- New Lethal Meningitis Strain Affecting Homosexual Men Twenty-two cases of a unique and particularly lethal strain of bacterial meningitis that affects only men have been reported in New York City since 2010, health officials say. Seven men have died of the new disease, which kills one out of three patients instead of the one out of five who die from other strains of meningitis, and officials are growing increasingly concerned about it, The New York Times reported. Many of the men with this strain of meningitis were infected during anonymous sexual encounters with other men they met at bars or parties or through Internet chat rooms or digital apps. This makes it nearly impossible to trace the path of infection, according to authorities. "It's been sort of marching through the community in a way that makes us very scared," said Dr. Jay Varma, the deputy commissioner for disease control at the city's health department, The Times reported. A health department warning issued this month recommends the standard meningitis vaccination for "men, regardless of HIV status, who regularly have intimate contact with other men through a website, digital application or at a bar or party." ----- Georgia Compounding Pharmacy Recalls all Sterile Products A Georgia compounding pharmacy has recalled all of its sterile products due to concerns about possible contamination. On Monday, Clinical Specialties Compounding Pharmacy of Augusta recalled shipments of the cancer drug Avastin, which is used off-label to treat an age-related eye disease called macular degeneration, USA Today reported. That recall came after reports that five patients developed serious eye infections after receiving injections of Avastin that the pharmacy had repackaged into single-use syringes, from vials labeled as sterile. On Thursday, the pharmacy expanded the recall to include all of its sterile products, USA Today reported. This is the second recall by a compounding pharmacy this week. On Monday, concerns about mold contamination prompted Med Prep Consulting of New Jersey to recall all products compounded at its facility. Late last year, a nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis was linked to contaminated steroid injections distributed by a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts. ----- Some 'Male Enhancement' Products Can Be Risky They claim to be all herbal, but three "male enhancement" products sold online contain hidden prescription drug ingredients and could be harmful, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. The agency said the three products -- Rocket-It Man, Libido Sexual Enhancer and Stiff Days -- contain compounds similar to the active ingredient in the erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra and Cialis, NBC News reported. This ingredient may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs, such as nitroglycerin, and may cause blood pressure to fall to dangerous levels, the FDA said. Nitrates are often taken by men with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease. The FDA said anyone who has these products should throw them away, and that anyone who has suffered negative side effects after taking the products should consult a doctor as soon as possible, NBC News reported. ----- Axe Body Spray Not Welcome at Pa. High School Students and staff at a Bethlehem, Pa. high school have been asked to stop using Axe Body Spray after a teen suffered a serious allergic reaction to the fragrance and is now being home schooled. "The purpose of this posting is to make all parents, staff and students aware of a medical issue involving a Freedom High School student having an extreme allergy to Axe Body Spray. This allergy is potentially life threatening for this student," said a statement posted this week on the school's website, CBS News/Associated Press reported. "My request to all Freedom Family members is that we take into consideration this student's allergy to Axe Body Spray and refrain from using it as your cologne or fragrance of choice while attending Freedom High School," the statement urged. Rosa Silk told a TV station that the student who suffered the reaction was her son, 15-year-old Brandon Silk. Over a period of nine days, his throat closed up three times after breathing in the smell of Axe Body Spray and he had to be rushed to the hospital, CBS/AP reported. ----- New NFL Rule Meant to Reduce Head and Neck Injuries In an effort to reduce head and neck injuries, a new NFL rule will prohibit runners and defenders from lowering their heads and striking a hard blow with the crown of their helmets when they are outside the tackle box. Breaking the rule will result in a 15-yard penalty from the location of the infraction, The New York Times reported. NFL owners passed the rule Wednesday by a vote of 31 to 1. The lone holdout was Mike Brown of the Cincinnati Bengals. Along with improving the safety of professional players, another consideration in adopting the new rule was to change the message to younger players about making big hits at any cost, according to those involved in the discussions that led to the new regulation, The Times reported. ----- Children Getting Into Medicines Or Receiving The Wrong Dose a Major Problem Each year in the United States, there are about 500,000 cases of children who get into medicines or receive the wrong dose, according to Safe Kids Worldwide report released Wednesday. The group found that each minute of the day, a poison control center receives a call about a potential medicine poisoning involving a child age 5 and younger. Every eight minutes, a child with medicine poisoning arrives at an emergency department, CBS News reported. The numbers have increased 30 percent over the last decade and this rise is likely due to the increased amount of medications at home, according to Safe Kids Worldwide. The group noted that eight out of 10 adults said they took at least one medicine or vitamin in the past week, and three out of 10 said they took five or more. Ibuprofen is the medication that kids are most likely to get into, according to the report. "Ask any parent, and they will tell you they store medicine where children can't get them," Kate Carr, president and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide, said in a news release, CBS News reported. "But they might not be thinking of pills stored in purses, vitamins left on counter tops or a diaper rash remedy near a changing table." The report was released to coincide with National Poison Prevention Week, March 17-23. ----- British Public Supports Use of 3 People's DNA to Create Baby There is wide public support for in vitro fertilization methods that use DNA from three people in order to create a baby for couples at risk of passing potentially fatal genetic diseases to their children, according to Britain's fertility regulator. The agency also said there is no evidence indicating that these techniques are unsafe, but added that further research is required, the Associated Press reported. A public discussion about the issue was launched by Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority after a request from the government. "Although some people have concerns about the safety of these techniques, we found that they trust the scientific experts and the regulator to know when it is appropriate to make them available to patients," authority chair Lisa Jardine said in a news release, the AP reported. The agency will forward its findings to the government, which would require Parliamentary approval to make these techniques legal. Critics say there are already safe methods -- such as egg donation -- that can help couples avoid passing serious health problems to their children, the AP reported. ----- Virus-Based Melanoma Drug Shows Promise For the first time, a cancer drug based on a tumor-killing virus has been successful in a late-stage study. The drug, called talimogene laherparepvec (TVEC), was tested in a phase 3 clinical trial that included patients with advanced melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer. Sixteen percent of the patients who received the drug had significant shrinkage of their tumors that lasted at least six months, compared with 2 percent of those in a control group, The New York Times reported. Drug maker Amgen said TVEC had met the primary goal of the clinical trial. However, the company said that while people taking TVEC were living longer, it was too soon to determine if the drug had improved survival. That question may be answered later this year. TVEC was developed by modifying the herpes simplex virus (which causes cold sores) so that it replicates in fast-growing cancer cells but not in healthy ones. It also contains an implanted protein that stimulates the immune system, The Times reported. Amgen did not say if it planned to use the clinical trial results to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for TVEC, which is injected directly into skin tumors. Efforts to develop this type of approach to cancer treatment -- called oncolytic viruses -- have been ongoing for years and other companies are also trying to create these types of drugs. While these new findings that an oncolytic virus was effective, TVEC might not prove that successful as a melanoma drug, according to Dr. Antoni Ribas, a melanoma specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles. One reason is that only about one-third of advanced melanoma patients have tumors on or near the skin that can be injected, while others have tumors that spread to places such as the brain or liver, Ribas told The Times. He also noted that two important drugs for melanoma were approved in 2011, raising the level of expectations for new treatments. ----- Doctors Urge FDA to Take Action on Energy Drinks The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should take action to protect children and teens from the possible risks of consuming large amounts of caffeine contained in energy drinks, says a group of 18 doctors, public health experts and researchers. In their letter to the FDA, the group said energy drink makers have failed to prove that the ingredients used in their products are safe. Because of this, the group said the FDA should limit caffeine content in the beverages and force makers to include caffeine content on product labels, The New York Times reported. "There is evidence in the published scientific literature that the caffeine levels in energy drinks pose serious potential health risks," the group's letter said. The letter also noted that energy drink manufacturers aggressively market their products to teens and urge them to consume the drinks quickly, The Times reported. Energy drink makers insist their products are safe. ---- ProtiDiet High Protein Bars Recalled Certain batches of ProtiDiet High Protein Chocolate Dream Bars have been recalled due to possible salmonella contamination, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. The recalled bars were sold via the Internet and distributed in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. They were sold in 210 gram (7.4 oz.) packages, 7 bars per package, bearing UPC 6 21498 42238 1, lot code CR 18 13B, and Best Before date of 2015-08, the FDA said. Consumers with these products should throw them out or return them to the place of purchase. To date, there have been no reports of illnesses associated with the bars, made by Pro-Amino International, Inc., Quebec, Canada. ----- Scientists Develop New Liver Preservation Device A device that preserves human livers outside the body for up to 24 hours has been developed by British scientists. It could help improve liver transplant success and shorten transplant waiting lists. The current method of keeping donated livers cool in a kind of icebox slows their metabolism but doesn't fully stop them deteriorating. Livers can be preserved for a maximum of 20 hours this way, but surgeons prefer not to use livers older than 14 hours because they lose function, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new device, developed by Oxford University scientists, is meant to simulate the environment inside the human body. It keeps livers at body temperature and provides them with an abundance of oxygenated blood cells. While in the device, livers continue to burn sugar and produce bile as they would inside the body. The device was used to store livers used in two transplants performed last month at King's College Hospital in London. Both liver recipients are recovering well, the Oxford scientists and transplant surgeons said at a news conference Friday, WSJ reported. Further study of the device is needed, said the scientists, who are planning a clinical trial to compare the outcomes of liver transplant patients who receive livers preserved in the new device or using the standard icebox method. By keeping livers functioning longer, the device would allow the organs to be transported over longer distances to reach recipients, and would also give doctors more time to study donated livers to see whether they are suitable for a particular patient, which could increase the success rates of transplant surgery, said device co-inventor Peter Friend, a professor of transplantation at Oxford, WSJ reported. The extra preservation time offered by the device could also give doctors time to use drugs and other methods to repair damaged livers, making more livers useful for transplantation, Friend said. Obama’s Sequestration Ponzi Scheme Isn’t The Threat: The Greatest Threat To The Future Of America Is Obama The reality is we have an economic crisis bordering on a total collapse because of specific Obama policies. He spends too much. He taxes too much. He wastes our money on green energy. The first quarter is "a total disaster" because Obama raised income taxes on the rich & payroll taxes on the middle class. When you tax people, they have less money to spend. At the same time, everyone is getting hit with rocketing gas prices while Obama wastes your money on solar energy scams, on wind energy scams, on electric cars that no one wants to buy & on fraudulent biofuel standards that are impossible to obtain. Obama declares oil-rich lands off-limits to drilling, his policies drive coal out of business, and gas & energy prices are skyrocketing. The economy is in meltdown because of Obama’s policies. In response, he parties at billion-dollar resorts on Valentine’s weekend & gets golf lessons Obama’s Sequestration Ponzi Scheme Isn’t The Threat: The Greatest Threat To The Future Of America Is Obama   February 21, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Sequestration Ponzi Scheme Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/02/21/sequestration-ponzi-scheme/ -- or read the text of it below. Don’t panic about the so-called "sequestration." It’s just another President Barack Obama scam. There are many more things to panic about that are more important than sequestration. The economy is in free fall. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Wal-Mart calls its sales to start 2013 "a total disaster." Now those are things to panic about. But, hey, the President is on the job. Our fearless leader, Obama, is just back from a swing State (you know, the kind of place where you work on your golf swing). He was consulting on the economy with Tiger Woods and Butch Harmon, while Michelle Obama was playing in Aspen, Colo. You wouldn’t accept this storyline if it was a fictional movie script. Too unrealistic. This country under Obama is becoming one big scam. A Ponzi scheme. Obama is the guy running the Ponzi, playing the role of Bernie Madoff. But the mainstream media are certainly playing the role of his accomplice. Exhibit A is the so-called "sequestration." It was the Obama Administration that gave us sequestration. Even Bob Woodward, the famous investigative journalist, said: "The sequester was Obama’s idea." Now Obama gets back from his tough golf weekend with Tiger and claims sequestration is the end of the world. Funny, Obama never mentioned it was his idea. He never mentioned that the specific Obama lackey who created the idea was Jack Lew, who, Obama has just nominated to become Treasury Secretary. That’s right: Sequestration is such a bad idea, causing such an economic crisis, that Obama is rewarding the guy who thought it up by putting him in charge of the entire U.S. economy. Where are the screaming headlines in the mainstream media pointing out that Obama is the world’s biggest hypocrite? To make this "Saturday Night Live" skit even funnier, Obama — the man of the working people, the man of the middle class — picked a tax cheat, Tim Geithner, as his first-term Treasury Secretary. Then for his second term he picked Lew, who invests his money in a Cayman Islands fund housed in the building that Obama has called "the largest tax scam in the world." With guys like that in charge of the economy and our tax system, it sure sounds like a Ponzi scheme to me. Obama also claimed that the sequestration cuts will cause job losses among police officers, firefighters and teachers. Why aren’t the media pointing out that police officers, firefighters and teachers are hired on the local and State level. Oops, Obama is caught in another fabrication. It’s all part of the big scam that is the Obama economy. And, by the way, aren’t there other government employees besides police officers, firefighters and teachers? Shouldn’t the media point out that to bring up only those three classes of employees is complete deception, like a con man selling his con? Did you know the average government janitor is paid $600,000 more over his lifetime than a janitor working in the private sector? Why doesn’t Obama mention janitors when we talk about cutting government spending? It’s because the image of a government janitor or meat inspector would not bring tears to voters’ eyes. It wouldn’t sell his Ponzi scheme. The media say nothing. Why don’t the media point out that Obama spent us into bankruptcy by adding almost $6 trillion to the national debt in only four years? If anyone loses his job, it’s not because of the minuscule $85 billion sequestration. That’s a spit in the ocean. It’s because of the $6 trillion of reckless spending over the past four years. Obama is the one to blame for people losing their jobs. Why don’t the media point that out? Their silence makes them accomplices in the Ponzi scheme. Why aren’t they pointing out that the economy is in shambles, gas prices have risen 32 days in a row, Wal-Mart executives are calling sales to start the year "a total disaster"  – that’s a quote — while Obama, a Democrat who supposedly cares about poor people and working-class people, golfs with Tiger Woods in Florida, works on his golf swing with Butch Harmon and parties at billion-dollar resorts on Valentine’s weekend with the world’s most notorious womanizer, with the press denied access and with his wife on a separate vacation in Aspen? Do you think the media would be silent about all this if the Presidential couple partying in Florida and Aspen were Ronald and Nancy Reagan? The reality is we have an economic crisis bordering on a total collapse because of specific Obama policies. He spends too much. He taxes too much. He wastes our money on green energy. It isn’t working. The chickens are coming home to roost. The first quarter is "a total disaster" because Obama raised income taxes on the rich and payroll taxes on the middle class. When you tax people, they have less money to spend. At the same time, everyone is getting hit with rocketing gas prices while Obama wastes your money on solar energy scams, on wind energy scams, on electric cars that no one wants to buy and on fraudulent biofuel standards that are impossible to obtain. Obama declares millions of acres of oil-rich lands off-limits to drilling. His Environmental Protection Agency policies drive coal out of business. And we wonder why gas and energy prices are skyrocketing? The economy is in meltdown because of Obama’s policies. In response, he spends his weekends consulting with Tiger Woods and Butch Harmon. Yet the media say nothing. It’s just another day in Obamageddon. The sequestration isn’t the threat, folks. The greatest threat to the future of America is Obama. March 08, 2013 to March 15, 2013Health Highlights **Quick Treatment Can 'Functionally Cure' Some HIV Patients. **FDA Probing Reports of Pancreas Problems Caused by Diabetes Drugs. **Cancer Drugs May be Effective Against Tapeworms. **Nutrition Experts Rally in Support of NYC Drinks Ban. **Another Death From SARS-Like Virus in Saudi Arabia. **Obamacare's Mandatory Menu Calorie Count Labeling Is A 'Thorny' Issue. **NYC Ban on Large Sugary Drinks Shot Down by State Judge. **Sanofi Under Investigation Over Plavix. **With Certain Strokes, Effects Can Persist a Decade Later. **Avoiding Scary Situations May Leave Children More Anxious. **Skies Not-So-Friendly for Passengers With Nut Allergies. **Phones, Texting May Be as Dangerous as Alcohol for Drivers. Health Highlights (March 08, 2013 to March 15, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Quick Treatment Can 'Functionally Cure' Some HIV Patients Immediate treatment may "functionally cure" about 10 percent of people with early-stage HIV infection, according to a new study. Researchers in France looked at 14 people who started treatment within 10 weeks of being infected with HIV. They took antiretroviral drugs for an average of three years and then stopped taking the medications, but have since shown no signs of HIV resurgence, BBC News reported. "They still have HIV, it is not eradication of HIV, it is a kind of remission of the infection," explained Dr. Asier Saez-Cirion, from the Institute Pasteur in Paris. He said 5 to 15 percent of HIV patients who start treatment early may be functionally cured, which means they no longer require drugs, BBC News reported. The study appears in the journal PLoS Pathogens. Recently, U.S. doctors reported that an HIV-infected baby girl was effectively cured after very early treatment. ----- FDA Probing Reports of Pancreas Problems Caused by Diabetes Drugs Reports that a group of new diabetes drugs may increase the risk of pancreas problems are being investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA says unpublished results from a group of researchers show that samples of pancreas tissue taken from a small number of patients taking the drugs showed signs of inflammation and of cellular changes that often precede cancer, the Associated Press reported. The agency said it is seeking more information and has not reached any conclusions. Patients should continue taking the medications until they consult with their doctor, officials advised. The medicines under review mimic a natural hormone that the body produces to break down sugar after a meal. The drugs include Amylin's Byetta, Merck's Januvia, Novo Nordisk's Victoza, among others, the AP reported. ----- Cancer Drugs May be Effective Against Tapeworms Some cancer drugs may provide an effective treatment for tapeworm infection, a new study says. Researchers worked out and analyzed the genetic codes of four species of tapeworm and then looked for similarities between the parasites and humans. The investigators discovered that some existing drugs could work on tapeworms, BBC News reported. The study was published in the journal Nature. "We mined the (tapeworm) genome for targets," Dr. Matthew Berriman, from the Sanger Institute in the U.K., told BBC News. "At the top of the list are the tapeworm equivalent of the targets for cancer drugs." Tapeworm infections can be fatal or cause complications such as epilepsy and blindness. Current drugs used to treat the infections are often ineffective. ----- Nutrition Experts Rally in Support of NYC Drinks Ban New York City's proposed ban on supersized sugary drinks may have been derailed by a judge, but many nutrition experts say such measures are needed to curb Americans' consumption of such beverages. The ban was a good idea, according to Dr. Walter Willett, a nutrition expert at the Harvard School of Public health. "It is the role of a health department to protect the public from these hazards," he told NBC News. "There is really very clear evidence now that soft drinks are related to weight gain and obesity and, most certainly, diabetes," Willett said. "We are in the midst of an epidemic of diabetes and obesity. The evidence is very clear that soda consumption has a role in the epidemic." "Kids are eating their weight in sugar every year. And sodas, energy drinks and sports drinks are the No. 1 source of sugar in kids' diets," nutritionist Deborah Kennedy, CEO of Build Healthy Kids and co-author of "Beat Sugar Addiction Now! For Kids," told NBC News. When he was New York City's health commissioner, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden called for an extra tax on sugary drinks, saying that a 1 cent per-ounce tax would cut consumption by 10 percent. Soft drinks are "liquid candy" and should be labeled with health warnings, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, NBC News reported. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said New York City will appeal State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling Jr.'s ruling against the ban on supersized sugary drinks. ------ Another Death From SARS-Like Virus in Saudi Arabia A 39-year-old man in Saudi Arabia is the latest victim of a SARS-like virus, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. The agency said the man developed symptoms on Feb. 24, was hospitalized four days later, and died March 2, Agence France-Presse reported. Including the latest victim, 15 cases of the SARS-like coronavirus have been reported in the Middle East and Britain and there have been nine deaths. The cases in Britain involved a family with a member who had visited the Middle East and Pakistan. "The WHO is currently working with international experts and countries where cases have been reported to assess the situation and review recommendations for surveillance and monitoring," the agency said. In 2003, a SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic killed more than 800 people worldwide. One of the major ways that the new virus is different from SARS is that is causes rapid kidney failure, AFP reported. ----- Obamacare's Mandatory Menu Calorie Count Labeling Is A 'Thorny' Issue The process of writing a new law for including calories on menus "has gotten extremely thorny" as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tries to determine which businesses should be covered by it, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg says. Under the 2010 health care law, restaurants and other businesses that serve prepared food will be required to have calorie counts on menus and in vending machines. The FDA issued proposed rules in 2011, but a final version has been delayed due to strong opposition from some sectors, the Associated Press reported. The restaurant industry has accepted the concept and helped to write the new rules, but supermarkets, convenience stores and other businesses that sell prepared food are putting up a fight. Menu labeling has become one of the FDAs most challenging issues, Hamburg told the AP. While calorie counts on menus in some types of stores might make sense on paper, "in practice it really would be very hard," she said. The FDA has said the final rules are due this spring. ----- NYC Ban on Large Sugary Drinks Shot Down by State Judge A ban on the sale of large sugary drinks in New York City that was set to start Tuesday was instead shelved after a state Supreme Court judge ruled that city officials were not allowed to enforce regulations that are "fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences." According to the New York Post, the move was a huge setback for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has made public health issues a clarion call during his administration. In the ruling, New York Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling wrote that, "The simple reading of the rule leads to the earlier acknowledged uneven enforcement even within a particular city block, much less the city as a whole... the loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the state[d] purpose of the rule." Earlier Monday, city officials had explained the reasoning behind the ban. "The obesity epidemic has led to massive increases in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, which can result in blindness, kidney failure, amputations and more," Deputy Mayo Marc LaVorgna told the Post . "One in three adult New Yorkers now either has diabetes or a condition known as pre-diabetes, a state where blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetes and the person is at risk for developing diabetes in the future." Bloomberg had predicted that the ban would have been widely accepted. Under the ban, selling any sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces would have resulted in a $200 fine. The fines would not have gone into effect until June. ----- Sanofi Under Investigation Over Plavix Sanofi's disclosures to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about its widely used blood thinner Plavix are being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department, the Associated Press reported Monday. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, the French drug company said it had learned in June about the probe, which focuses on differing responses to the drug, the AP reported. Sanofi said it is cooperating with the investigation. It jointly markets Plavix with Bristol-Myers Squibb. In June 2010, the FDA warned that certain patients with a genetic variation can't metabolize Plavix, putting them at increased risk for heart attack and stroke, the AP reported. ----- With Certain Strokes, Effects Can Persist a Decade Later FRIDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who suffer a specific type of stroke often have lasting problems with mobility, normal daily activities and depression even 10 years later, according to a new study. Effects of this life-threatening type of stroke, known as subarachnoid hemorrhage, point to a need for "survivorship care plans," Swedish researchers say. Led by Ann-Christin von Vogelsang at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, the researchers conducted a follow-up assessment of more than 200 patients who survived subarachnoid hemorrhage. These strokes are triggered by a ruptured aneurysm -- when a weak spot in one of the blood vessels supplying the brain breaks. The study was published in the March issue of the journal Neurosurgery. Participants, whose average age was 61, consisted of 154 women and 63 men. Most had surgery to treat their condition. A decade after suffering a stroke, 30 percent of the patients considered themselves to be fully recovered. All of the patients also were asked about health-related quality of life: mobility, self-care, usual activities, anxiety or depression, and pain or discomfort. Their responses were compared to similar people who didn't have a stroke. Stroke survivors had significantly more trouble in all categories of quality of life, except for pain, according to a journal news release. Not surprisingly, people with more severe disabilities had greater reductions in quality of life and considered themselves not fully recovered, the researchers said. Similarly, those with other underlying conditions also had more significant difficulties 10 years after suffering a stroke. Overall quality of life on a 100-point scale was 78 for members of the general population compared with 71 for the stroke patients. The study authors said people who survive a subarachnoid hemorrhage are at greater risk for lower quality of life and more health problems in addition to physical disability and depression. "The implications for health care from our study are that aneurysmal [subarachnoid hemorrhage] patients need to be followed up and that support needs to be provided long term after the onset," the researchers said in the news release. They concluded that long-term care plans, like those used to help cancer survivors, could provide follow-up support and help stroke patients manage unrealistic expectations for their recovery. "A survivorship care plan aims to inform the patient of long-term effects, to identify psychosocial resources in their community, and to provide guidance on follow-up care, prevention and health maintenance," the researchers said. Recent findings suggest that improvement can still occur in these patients more than a decade later, the release noted, with quality of life an important factor in long-term recovery. ----- Avoiding Scary Situations May Leave Children More Anxious THURSDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- Children who avoid scary situations are more likely to have anxiety, according to researchers who developed a new way to assess avoidance behavior in youngsters. The Mayo Clinic study included more than 800 children, aged 7 to 18, and used two eight-question surveys, one for parents and one for children. The parents' survey asks about their children's tendencies to avoid scary situations. For example: "When your child is scared or worried about something, does he or she ask to do it later?" The children's survey asks them to describe their avoidance habits. For example: "When I feel scared or worried about something, I try not to go near it." Children who tried to avoid scary situations at the start of the study were more likely than other children to have anxiety a year later, according to the study published online March 4 in the journal Behavior Therapy. "This new approach may enable us to identify kids who are at risk for an anxiety disorder," study lead author Stephen Whiteside, a pediatric psychologist with the Mayo Clinic Children's Center, said in a Mayo news release. "And further, because cognitive behavior therapy focuses on decreasing avoidance behaviors, our approach may also provide a means to evaluate whether current treatment strategies work [the way] we think they do," he added. Whiteside said 25 children with anxiety underwent counseling that slowly exposed them to situations that caused fears. This led to a decline in their avoidance scores. "Kids who avoid fearful situations don't have the opportunity to face their fears and don't learn that their fears are manageable," Whiteside explained. ----- Skies Not-So-Friendly for Passengers With Nut Allergies FRIDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- For most passengers, airline travel is safer than ever these days. But for people with peanut or tree-nut allergies, a routine flight can end in disaster. Many airlines still serve peanuts and tree nuts, or snacks and meals that contain these products, which can cause severe reactions in allergic travelers. An international online survey completed by 3,200 passengers revealed that 349 had suffered an allergic reaction during an airline flight, according to a new study. Although the risk of an in-flight reaction is small, "it's hard to imagine a more helpless situation than having a reaction while you're at 35,000 feet in an airplane," lead study author Dr. Matthew Greenhawt, of the Food Allergy Center at the University of Michigan, said in a university news release. "This study identifies some things passengers can do to reduce their anxiety," Greenhawt said. "We want them to fly. It can help improve their quality of life." Passengers who took certain precautions were much less likely to have suffered an allergic reaction while flying, the study authors found. These measures included: Requesting any type of allergy-related accommodation Requesting a peanut/tree nut-free meal Cleaning their tray table with a sanitizing wipe Avoiding use of airline pillows and blankets Requesting a peanut/tree nut-free buffer zone Requesting that other passengers not eat products with peanuts or tree nuts Not eating airline-provided food The study was published in the March issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology-In Practice. "Flying with a peanut/tree nut allergy is equal parts frustrating and frightening for allergic passengers," said Greenhawt. These passenger-initiated behaviors may help concerned patients planning to fly commercially, he added. Another finding of the study was that a common and effective treatment for severe allergic reactions -- epinephrine -- is underused on airline flights. Only 13 percent of the passengers who suffered an allergic reaction received epinephrine. "Despite that 98 percent of passengers had a personal source of epinephrine available, epinephrine was underused to treat a reaction," Greenhawt said. "Flight crews were not always readily alerted to reactions when they occurred [50 percent of cases], but interestingly, when they were notified, it was associated with a higher odds that epinephrine was used to treat the reaction." He said he hopes the findings inspire airlines to consider how they could work with passengers to reduce risk. Perhaps one solution is to train crew to be more proactive, Greenhawt concluded. ----- Phones, Texting May Be as Dangerous as Alcohol for Drivers FRIDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- Hands-free phone conversations or texting while driving are as dangerous as getting behind the wheel after having too much to drink, a small new study finds. The study included 12 university students who took two driving-simulation tests -- once after consuming alcohol and once while using headphones and a microphone to simulate a hands-free system. People who were habitual drinkers or had never consumed alcohol were not included in the study. The participants, who had driving licenses, had to maintain their vehicle's position in the center of the left lane at a speed of between 40 and 50 miles per hour, and brake every time a truck appeared. Researchers from Australia and Spain found that when having a phone conversation that required a lot of attention or when answering a text message, the participants' levels of distraction were equal to the effects of having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) that was above the legal level in both countries (0.5 grams per liter). "When the conversation using the hands-free was simple, the effects were comparable to a BAC level of 0.04 grams per liter," study co-author Sumie Leung Shuk Man, a researcher at the University of Barcelona, said in a news release from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology. [How does the hands-free phone conversation by a driver differ in risk from a driver talking to passengers in a car?] "However, when more attention was required, their alcohol-level analogue shot up to 0.7 grams per liter, which is above the legal limit in both countries yet below in other countries, like the United States or United Kingdom, where up to 0.8 grams per liter is allowed. When answering text messages, the rate stood at 1 gram per liter, which is illegal in all of these countries," Leung Shuk Man said. "Our results suggest that the use of hands-free devices could also put drivers at risk," Leung Shuk Man said. "Although they should be allowed, they require more research to determine how they should be regulated and, of course, the thorough knowledge that national authorities should have regarding their pros and cons." The Facts Prove That Guns Save Lives: Obama Must Agree Because He Spends $60,000 A Year To Send His Children To A School That Has 9 Armed Guards: Wonder why he believes Gun-Free School Zones are good enough for everyone else’s children?! Americans defend themselves from violent criminals 2.5 million times each year; banning guns would leave 2.5 million Americans defenseless from criminals who have no problem acquiring guns illegally. Americans use guns to frighten intruders away from a home break-in about 500,000 times annually. Armed citizens shoot criminals more than twice as often as police each year. Each year about 200,000 women use a gun to defend themselves from a sexual crime or abuse. 57% of polled felons agreed that criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than running into the police. 69% of polled felons knew of fellow criminals who had been scared off or captured by an armed victim. Burglars in the USA are far less apt to enter occupied homes than foreign... The Facts Prove That Guns Save Lives: Obama Must Agree Because He Spends $60,000 A Year To Send His Children To A School That Has 9 Armed Guards: Wonder why he believes Gun-Free School Zones are good enough for everyone else’s children?!   December 27, 2012 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest  Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. Happy Holidays to all my readers. My message is pretty simple this week: Don’t believe the hype from liberals or the media (I know I repeat myself). The fact is: GUNS SAVE LIVES. Not only do liberals lie… they always come to the wrong conclusion, and usually come up with the wrong solution, in response to every crisis. As an example, we don’t have a "fiscal cliff" crisis because of a tax problem in America. What we have is a spending problem — Obama is a spending addict. Obama criticized Bush for adding $4 trillion to the debt in eight years. Yet Obama added just under $6 trillion in four years. He is on track to add $12 trillion to our debt by the end of his second term– three times more than Bush. And Obama has produced four consecutive trillion dollar plus deficits for the first time in history. Obama is the biggest spender of any politician in world history. What does this have to do with guns? It’s the same story. Every time there’s a crisis politicians learn the wrong lesson… come up with the wrong solution… and always use the crisis as a reason to take away our freedoms and grow government bigger. Take the debt crisis: Obama wants to raise taxes, so we lose our economic freedom, and government grows bigger… while we add more debt to solve a debt crisis. That should work out well! Take 9/11 — Bush spent billions on the formation of Homeland Security, hundreds of thousands of expensive new government employees, started two wars, and took many of our civil rights away. Take global warming — Obama wants to tax us to death, double our electric bills, take away our freedoms, and put government in charge of business. Take the health care crisis — Obama passed Obamacare to raise our taxes, grow government, unionize healthcare workers, and put government in charge of our health. The same story holds true with the gun control issue spurred by the tragic Newtown school shooting. The liberal politicians and media are using Rahm Emanuel’s famous saying, "Never let a crisis go to waste." They are trying to turn a terrible tragedy into a gun problem. Their solution is to try to demonize and ban guns. But the Newtown tragedy wasn’t a gun problem; it was a mental illness problem. Thank goodness the American public has more common sense than the politicians and media big shots. The latest Rasmussen poll is out following the Newtown tragedy. While 27 percent think stricter gun control laws are the solution… a dominant 48 percent believe the answer is more action to treat mental health issues. It is obvious that many Americans feel in their gut what the statistics I’m about to share with you prove — that guns do much more than kill (in the wrong hands). More often than not, they save lives and prevent violence. Here are a few proven facts that are too often missing from the gun debate (Thanks to Gun Owners of America and ZeroHedge.com for these statistics): Based on a 2000 study, Americans use guns to defend themselves from crime and violence 989,883 times annually. Banning guns would leave about 1,000,000 Americans defenseless from criminals who have no problem acquiring guns illegally. A nationwide survey of almost 5,000 households found that over a five-year period 3.5 percent of households had a member who used a gun to protect themselves, their family, or their property. This also adds up to about the same 1,000,000 incidents annually. The Clinton Justice Department identified 1.5 million cases per year of citizens using guns to defend themselves. Another survey found that Americans use guns to frighten intruders away from a home break-in about 500,000 times annually. Armed citizens shoot criminals more than twice as often as police each year (1,527 to 606). Each year about 200,000 women use a gun to defend themselves from a sexual crime or abuse. The Carter Justice Department found that of more than 32,000 attempted rapes, 32 percent were actually committed. But when a woman was armed with a gun or knife, only 3 percent of the attempted rapes were actually successful. Newer studies all point towards a figure of 2.5 million — that’s the new number for how many times Americans defend themselves from violent criminals each year. 2.5 million. Guns save lives. Now that we’ve polled the citizens, how about we see what the felons have to say: A survey of male felons in 11 State prisons across the USA found that 34 percent had been scared off, wounded or captured by an armed victim of their crime. 40 percent of felons made a decision not to commit a crime because they feared the potential victim had a gun. 69 percent of felons knew other fellow criminals who had been scared off or captured by an armed victim. 57 percent of felons polled agreed that "criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police." Statistical comparisons with other countries show that burglars in the United States are far less apt to enter an occupied home than their foreign counterparts who live in countries where fewer civilians own firearms. These facts (and many more too voluminous to show here) prove that guns — in the right hands — defend citizens, families and children. In short, guns save lives. By the way… it’s important to note that Barack Obama wants to disarm schools… create "gun free zones." Yet he spends $60,000 per year to send his precious daughters to exclusive Sidwell Friends School — which has? Drumroll please… ARMED guards. An armed security force of nine to be precise. And David Gregory of NBC News sends his child there too. Armed guards are necessary for their children. But not yours. And Michael Moore has armed bodyguards. While he condemns guns. But for me, it’s always been a personal and emotional argument, even more than a factual one. I’m a proud Jewish American. Over six million of my fellow Jews were enslaved, starved, tortured, and then slaughtered by Adolph Hitler. Before it could happen, in 1938, Hitler banned gun ownership for Jews. That act on Nov. 11, 1938 was the beginning of the end for German Jews. Millions of Jews were left defenseless from that day forward. Just like the criminals in the studies above, who were far less likely to break into a home or attack a victim, if they feared the victim was armed; Hitler only started his murderous genocide after first ensuring his victims were disarmed, defenseless and helpless. But why should that surprise anyone. Virtually every dictator in history has started his murderous reign by disarming the population. The communist leaders of China recently issued a statement in response to our Newtown, Conn., tragedy. They said that Obama must disarm the American people. I wonder why they’re so interested in our people being disarmed? What do you think they have in mind? I’m a member of both the NRA (National Rifle Association) and JPFO (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership). Will I support reasonable gun control? Of course. Should we ensure that mentally ill people cannot purchase guns? Of course. Should we enforce current gun laws? Of course. But should we move to ban guns, thereby leaving the law-abiding citizens defenseless and helpless? Never. Not in America. Should government and law enforcement be the only ones legally able to carry guns? Never. Not in America. Should government be allowed to take away guns from honest, law-abiding homeowners, business owners, and citizens like me? Only when you pry them from my cold, dead hands. Thomas Jefferson put it best: "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."* I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. See you next week, same time, same place. Happy New Year. Stay safe and stay vigilant. God Bless. March 01, 2013 to March 08, 2013Health Highlights **Bumble Bee Foods Recalls Tuna Products. **Arkansas Legislature Passes Strictest Abortion Law in U.S. **New Infections Occurring 6 Months After Tainted Drug Outbreak Began. **Petition To Remove Yellow Dyes from Kraft Mac & Cheese. **FDA Panel Says Bone Drug Should No Longer Be Used for Osteoporosis. **Candy Industry Exec Speaks Out Against Obesity. **Army Still Struggling with PTSD Diagnosis, Treatment. **Abdominal 'Chemo Bath' May Extend Survival in Ovarian Cancer Patients. **Does Chewing Gum Give Your Brain an Edge? Health Highlights (March 01, 2013 to March 08, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Bumble Bee Foods Recalls Tuna Products Certain batches of Bumble Bee 5-ounce Chunk White Albacore and Chunk Light Tuna products are being recalled because the cans have loose seals that could lead to contamination or spoilage, the company says. "There have been no consumer reports of illnesses attributed to these products, but because we've identified an issue with seal tightness, we're voluntarily recalling products to ensure the highest margin of safety and quality," Steve Mavity, senior vice president of technical services and corporate quality assurance, said in a Bumble Bee Foods news release. The products were distributed to stores nationwide between Jan. 17 and Feb. 28, 2013. Consumers who bought the products should throw them in the garbage, the company said. For full details about the products included in this recall, head to the FDA. ----- Arkansas Legislature Passes Strictest Abortion Law in U.S. Opponents say they'll fight Arkansas lawmakers' move to impose a near-ban on abortion from the 12th week of pregnancy onward, which would be the most restrictive abortion law in the country. The Republican-dominated House voted 56-33 on Wednesday to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's veto. A day earlier, the Senate voted to do the same, the Associated Press reported. Unless a lawsuit or court action halts it, the 12-week ban would take effect this summer. Women who have abortions after 12 weeks would not be prosecuted, but doctors who perform abortions after 12 weeks could have their medical licenses revoked. Less than a week ago, the state Legislature overrode a veto of a separate bill banning most abortions in the 20th week of pregnancy. That bill took effect immediately, the AP reported. Beebe said both measures will end up wasting taxpayers' money with the state defending them in court, where they are likely to be defeated. He noted that both bans are unconstitutional and contradict the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion until the point when a fetus can viably survive outside the womb, generally considered to be at 22 to 24 weeks. Opponents immediately announced their intention to fight the new abortion restrictions. The 12-week ban includes exemptions for rape, incest, the life of the mother and deadly fetal disorders. The 20-week ban includes all of the same exemptions, except for fetal disorders, the AP reported. ----- New Infections Occurring 6 Months After Tainted Drug Outbreak Began Some people who originally tested clear are becoming sick nearly six months after the start of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak in the United States linked to contaminated steroid injections. This raises concerns that the incubation period for illness may be longer than believed, NBC News reported. The outbreak has killed 48 and sickened more than 700, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of new patients has slowed dramatically, but two or three people each week are still being diagnosed with infections from the mold-tainted steroids, which were given to treat pain. Some of the new patients previously had MRIs or lumbar punctures that showed they were free of infection. These infections are not as severe as meningitis, but experts say they are still cause for concern, NBC News reported. This week, CDC officials issued a health alert urging health professionals to keep alert for new infections, even in patients who show only minor symptoms, or none at all. "We are seeing some patients with very long incubation periods," said Dr. Tom Chiller, associate director for epidemiological science in the CDC's division of foodborne, waterborne and environmental diseases, NBC News reported. "We expect to see people getting infections months after their injections." The tainted doses of the drug methylprednisolone were prepared by the New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Mass., which is now closed. Nearly 14,000 people in 23 states were exposed to the contaminated drugs. ----- Petition To Remove Yellow Dyes from Kraft Mac & Cheese Two women have started a petition to have yellow dye 5 and yellow dye 6 taken out of Kraft's Mac & Cheese sold in the United States. The petroleum-based dyes add nothing to the product's flavor and may be dangerous to children's health, according to Lisa Leake and Vani Hari. They said the food colorings have been associated with hyperactivity in children, allergies, migraine, and perhaps cancer, ABC News reported. The women discovered that Kraft uses natural beta carotene and paprika to make almost the same color in the Mac & Cheese it sells in the U.K. and want Kraft to sell that additive-free version in the U.S. Their petition on Change.org has 25,000 signatures so far and the number is growing, ABC News reported. The petition notes that the yellow dyes have been banned in some countries, including Austria and Norway, and are being phased out in the U.K. In an email to ABCNews.com, Kraft spokesperson Lynne Galia said: "We carefully follow the laws and regulations in the countries where our products are sold. So in the U.S., we only use colors that are approved and deemed safe for food use by the Food and Drug Administration." The company knows that some Americans "prefer foods without certain ingredients" and provides at least 14 other Mac & Cheese products that have natural food colors and no added colors, Galia said. ----- FDA Panel Says Bone Drug Should No Longer Be Used for Osteoporosis A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted on Tuesday to recommend that an inhalable osteoporosis drug no longer be used by women because recent research has suggested it might raise the risk of cancer. In a 12-9 vote, the panel said the risks of Miacalcin and Fortical outweigh the benefits, according to the Associated Press. Novartis makes Miacalcin and Upsher-Smith makes Fortical. Both medications are sold as nasal sprays. Last July, the European Medicines Agency ruled that the drugs should no longer be used to treat bone loss because of the cancer risk, the AP reported. While some of the panelists said the drugs provide a viable alternative for women who cannot tolerate taking bisphosophonates for osteoporosis, other members were not convinced it was a good idea to recommend continued use of the drugs, the AP reported. "I think the cancer risk seems to be low, but it tips the balance for this drug, which has very little evidence of efficacy," said Amy Whitaker, a professor at the University of Chicago. According to the AP, prescriptions for the medications have plummeted in recent years amid safety concerns. Between 2006 and 2011 the number of U.S. patients receiving the drugs fell 51 percent, to 205,000. ----- Candy Industry Exec Speaks Out Against Obesity Candy makers need to develop ways to tackle the childhood obesity crisis before they are forced to by the government, the president of Mars Chocolate in North America reportedly urged in a speech at last week's National Confectioners Association meeting in Miami. According to ABC News, the candy trade publication Confectionary News reported that Debra Sandler said: "If we don't [act], I worry that someone else will do it for us. ... We need the whole industry to step up. ... We are not judged by the leaders of the category but by those who do not take responsibility for change." Candy accounts for only 2 percent of calories in the average American diet, but candy makers shouldn't use that as an excuse to avoid the issue, Sandler warned. She said candy makers need to do things such as reformulate recipes to lower their products' calorie levels and improve nutrition, and display calorie content more prominently on the front of packaging. Sandler's remarks were praised by anti-obesity campaigners. "Mars has been making an effort to be more responsible in how they market candy. It's good to see them calling on their colleagues to do the same," said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told ABC News. The watchdog group has often criticized large food companies. Each year, Americans consume more than 7.7 billion pounds of candy a year, or about 25 pounds per person, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. About 60 percent of that is chocolate. ----- Army Still Struggling with PTSD Diagnosis, Treatment The U.S. Army still has difficulty diagnosing and treating soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, even though it has more than doubled the number of military and civilian behavioral health workers over the past five years, according to an Army report. It says that incompatible training and guidelines, confusing paperwork, and incompatible data systems are among the stumbling blocks, the Associated Press reported. The Army has made progress in some areas, including reducing how long it takes soldiers to get a disability evaluation and publishing a guide to the process, the report said. It's an important issue, as suicide deaths outnumber combat deaths among soldiers, according to the AP. Last year, the Army had 183 suicides among active-duty soldiers, up from 167 in 2011. The U.S. military as a whole had 350 suicides in 2012, compared with 301 the year before. ----- Abdominal 'Chemo Bath' May Extend Survival in Ovarian Cancer Patients By Denise Mann, HealthDay Reporter SATURDAY, March 9 (HealthDay News) -- Women with advanced ovarian cancer who receive intense chemotherapy directly into their stomach area may live at least one year longer than women who receive standard intravenous chemotherapy, a new study says. But this survival edge may come at the expense of more side effects. "The long-term benefits are pretty significant," said study author Dr. Devansu Tewari, director of gynecologic oncology at the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, in Orange County. "There is no study of ovarian cancer treatments that has shown a greater survival advantage." Intraperitoneal chemotherapy involves bathing the abdominal area with chemotherapy agents. By contrast, intravenous (IV) chemotherapy is delivered throughout the body via the bloodstream. The U.S. National Cancer Institute currently recommends intraperitoneal therapy for women with ovarian cancer who have had successful surgery to remove the tumor. The 10-year follow-up data from two studies of nearly 900 women with advanced ovarian cancer will be presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, in Los Angeles. In 2013, more than 22,000 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and more than 14,000 will die from the disease, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. There are no early screening tests for ovarian cancer, which is why it is often diagnosed when the cancer has already spread outside of the ovaries. For this reason, survival rates tend to be very low. In the new study, women who received the intraperitoneal treatment were 17 percent more likely to survive longer than those who got IV chemotherapy. On average, women in the intraperitoneal group survived for more than five years, while those who received IV chemotherapy survived for about four years, the study found. But survival benefits aside, intraperitoneal chemotherapy does confer a greater risk of side effects -- such as abdominal pain and numbness in the hands and feet -- and not all women can tolerate this high concentration of cancer-killing drugs. The drugs are also absorbed more slowly, providing more exposure to the medicine. The same properties that make the intraperitoneal therapy more effective likely play a role in causing more side effects, the researchers said. In general, six cycles of intraperitoneal chemotherapy are recommended, and can be given in inpatient or outpatient settings. The more cycles the women completed, the greater their survival advantage, the study showed. After five years, close to 60 percent of women who completed five or six cycles of intraperitoneal therapy were still alive, compared with 33 percent of those who completed three or four cycles and 18 percent of those who completed one or two cycles. Women can switch back to IV chemotherapy if the side effects prove too harsh. Still, the researchers said, some intraperitoneal chemotherapy is better than none. Younger and healthier women were among the most likely to complete the regimen. "If after surgery all of the visible cancer has been removed and there is no cancer that is greater than 1 centimeter left in any one area, a woman is an immediate candidate [for intraperitoneal chemotherapy]," Tewari said. "If someone is older and in good shape and handled the operation well, they are also candidates." Growing numbers of doctors and women with ovarian cancer are opting for intraperitoneal therapy, she said. And it may offer even greater benefits when paired with some of the newer therapies for ovarian cancer that are moving through the drug development pipeline. "Its use can and should increase," said Tewari, who also is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. Dr. Jubilee Brown, a spokeswoman for the Society of Gynecologic Oncology and an associate professor of gynecologic oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said the new findings are exciting. "This is long-term follow-up data that confirms what we expected," Brown said. "We have been waiting for years to determine if the results are short-lived or if we see it years later, and now we know that we see the survival benefit 10 years out." "Doctors are used to giving IV chemotherapy, so this is a new skill set in terms of giving the drugs," she said. "It comes with different equipment and patient instructions and side effects. As individual physicians and centers become more comfortable and confident with learning how to manage the side effects, its use will increase." ----- Does Chewing Gum Give Your Brain an Edge? FRIDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- That wad of gum you're chewing may be more than a breath-freshener -- it might also boost your powers of concentration, a small new study suggests. According to British investigators, prior research has found that the act of chewing gum could boost concentration when doing sight-related memory tasks. Their new study looked at the effects of chewing gum during a hearing-related memory test. The experiment included 38 people who were split into two groups, each of which performed a 30-minute task that involved listening to a list of numbers from one to nine read aloud in a random order. The participants were scored on how accurately and quickly they were able to detect a sequence of odd-even-odd numbers, such as seven-two-one. One group chewed gum while doing the task. Overall, participants who chewed gum had quicker reaction times and more accurate results than those who didn't chew gum. This was especially true toward the end of the task, according to the study, which was published March 8 in the British Journal of Psychology. "Interestingly, participants who didn't chew gum performed slightly better at the beginning of the task but were overtaken by the end," Kate Morgan, of Cardiff University, said in a journal news release. "This suggests that chewing gum helps us focus on tasks that require continuous monitoring over a longer amount of time." Have The American People Been "Obama-Governed & Media-Propagandized Into Cowering Wimps" As They Allow The Obama Regime To Make War On Them, Neuter Them Into Conformity, And Lead Them Into Enslavement? Many people see the chaos & feel the economic oppression, but they refuse to believe the cause. Yet it is laid bare for all to see that the Obama government itself is the source & cause of the collapse of America. By refusing to look, we are sanctioning our own enslavement. The illusion of government & so-called democracy is only organized crime run by the psychopathic politicians & bureaucrats. We are square in the middle of decadence masquerading as civilization. The Obama regime imposes social & economic oppression by: escalating food & energy prices, escalating taxes & regulations, decaying the infrastructure, impoverishing the middle class, reducing seniors & pensioners to a very low standard of living, transferring wealth from the people to the elite & the government, and......... Have The American People Been "Obama-Governed & Media-Propagandized Into Cowering Wimps" As They Allow The Obama Regime To Make War On Them, Neuter Them Into Conformity, And Lead Them Into Enslavement? Many people see the chaos & feel the economic oppression, but they refuse to believe the cause. Yet it is laid bare for all to see that the Obama government itself is the source & cause of the collapse of America. By refusing to look, we are sanctioning our own enslavement. The illusion of government & so-called democracy is only organized crime run by the psychopathic politicians & bureaucrats. We are square in the middle of decadence masquerading as civilization. The Obama regime imposes social & economic oppression by: escalating food & energy prices, escalating taxes & regulations, decaying the infrastructure, impoverishing the middle class, reducing seniors & pensioners to a very low standard of living, transferring wealth from the people to the elite & the government, and neutering citizens into conformity. Yet far too many tightly shut their eyes & minds to this oppression as the warnings of it are being assaulted by the major media with propaganda, lies, taunts & personal attacks. The Failing American Regime February 4, 2013 by Bob Livingston -- Personal Liberty Digest As regimes collapse, they step up oppression of their subjects. Because the collapse is gradual, so is the increased oppression. Gradualism and stealth are key components to the success of the elites and their stepped up oppression of the people. The coming collapse will reveal the fact that the illusion of government and so-called democracy is only organized crime run by the psychopathic politicians and bureaucrats. They have run and ruined the world with mass deception and manipulation with fiat currency. How is it that not everyone knows about this? Many people see the chaos and feel the economic oppression, but they refuse to believe the cause. Yet it is laid bare for all to see. By refusing to look, we are sanctioning our own enslavement. We are square in the middle of decadence masquerading as civilization. Social and economic oppression is closing in, but we accept it under all manner of rationalization and government propaganda. We have horrible "security checks" at airports, train stations, sporting events and even at highway checkpoints. Every day there is reduced personal freedom; and increasing numbers of directives, executive orders and regulations are signed as if into law under the guise of "keeping us safe." Food and energy prices are rising, but government statisticians say they are not a part of the cost of living. Infrastructure is fast deteriorating. The standard of living for the middle class is declining. Regulations and high taxes are oppressive. The late Haile Selassie, religious leader of Ethiopia, said: "Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph." One big reason for inaction among those who are beginning to wake up is that most people of privilege continue to live comfortably and would rather risk their own destruction than temporarily surrender any of their advantages. And many people believe that if they don’t see a lightning strike, there is no risk. This means that we should not expect a great tsunami of oppressive tyranny, but rather a slow seepage of oppressive laws and regulations from within that come by slow gradualism and imperceptible treason. Today, 75 percent of government "finance" is pure credit expansion. With this chicanery, the government makes war on the market economy. It makes war on the American people and impoverishes the middle class. It has reduced seniors and pensioners to a very low standard of living, driving them toward eventually becoming beggars rummaging through garbage cans. There was a 1.7 percent Social Security raise that began in January. The typical retiree will get between $12 and $24 more per month. At the same time, the banks are getting trillions of dollars from quantitative easing (QE3 to infinity) government printing presses. When you read that the Federal Reserve is financing the U.S. government deficit, you are not seeing legitimate accounting. You are looking square at fiat witchcraft. It’s a total illusion. This means that we are seeing the collapse now. There is no such thing as Federal Reserve financing. The Federal Reserve cannot produce substance as money or financing. But it can use the fiat system of "money creation" to transfer wealth from the people to the elite and the government. This is precisely why the elite are trying to keep their system going. Fiat money creation is a monopoly of the government/banker alliance. As the system collapses, more and more fiat is created, which transfers more and more wealth to the government and the bankers/elite. They will continue until there is final collapse. The elites know the collapse is coming (they have known this for some time), and they have been steadily and stealthily making preparations to handle it. The USA Patriot Act of 2001 established in Section 364 of the Act the "Uniform Protection Authority For Federal Reserve." This conferred domestic policing powers to the 12 privately owned Federal Reserve banks. This section reads: Law enforcement officers designated or authorized by the Board or a reserve bank under paragraph (1) or (2) are authorized while on duty to carry firearms and make arrests without warrants for any offense against the United States committed in their presence…Such officers shall have access to law enforcement information that may be necessary for the protection of the property or personnel of the Board or a reserve bank. The system has its own police academies for training, its own uniforms, patches, badges, uniforms, weapons, vehicles and ultraConstitutional arrest powers. Called FRLEOs (Federal Reserve Law Enforcement Officers), they are employed by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C, and are considered by law to be Federal government employees. But the Federal Reserve banks, determined by settled law in the case of Lewis v. United States, are private corporations. The Federal Reserve banks consider FRLEOs to be their own private employees. The chicanery of funny (phony) money funds a huge military machine mostly to protect government against the American people, who are heavily armed. Beyond FRLEOs, the Department of Homeland Security has been ramping up its security forces. In recent months, it has purchased 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition — enough to shoot each American citizen four times and keep rounds in reserve. It has its own armored vehicles and heavily armed soldiers. The DHS propaganda machine tells us the 1.6 billion rounds are for target practice. But the rounds purchased are mostly the more expensive hollow points – and, therefore, it is irrational to purchase them for practice — that are banned from warfare by the Geneva Convention. U.S. military are now partnering with DHS and local law enforcement in urban training drills over America’s cities large and small. These are occurring almost monthly now. One recent training exercise in Miami — the third one over that city in the last 18 months — frightened those leaving the Miami Heat game and those traveling on public transportation. During the exercise, black helicopters streaked through the night sky firing "blank" rounds over the city. Soldiers rappelled out of helicopters onto city streets. The "official" story is that military was training to "ensure that military personnel are able to operate in urban areas and to focus on preparations for overseas deployment. It also serves as a mandatory training certification requirement." It has now become almost routine for National Guard troops to conduct drills — often unannounced — in downtown areas of major and mid-sized cities, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. Taken together, this is a police state in every sense of the word. There is now in the United States an army of law enforcers, and it comes in layer upon layer. This can mean only that criminal politics is afraid of the American people. The global economy is a train wreck waiting to happen. Leading politicians, economists and journalists, all without exception, fail to see (or choose to deny and hide) the coming crash, which will be far worse than the one in 2008. The one coming just ahead is far more calamitous. This time, the crash will have serious political ramifications. The very important thing about the coming crash is the direct link between what we use as money and liberty, honesty and morality. It’s in the money — the blood of the economy. Government itself is the source and cause of the collapse of the system. After all, it is government that creates fiat and then devalues it to zero. The political order is self-destructing. Are we as individuals ready to survive as we go through the great collapse just ahead? One thing more: Don’t miss the connection that government is all about funding and saving the banks, not the American people, as evidenced by the paltry 1.7 percent Social Security raise. The government is stimulating the banks, not the economy. Money and capital are going into hiding. America has been neutered into conformity. Some of us have warned — for years, we have warned — of what is coming. Yet, like Noah warning of the coming flood, our warnings have been and are being rebuffed with catcalls and ad hominems. We now see our predictions coming to fruition. Yet there are still many with eyes tightly shut. We await the deluge. Feb. 22, 2013 to March 01, 2013Health Highlights **FDA Report Questions Use of Salmon Hormone to Treat Osteoporosis. **Chocolate-Covered Marshmallow Eggs Recalled for Salmonella Threat. **Medicare Pays Billions for Poor Nursing Home Care. **All Pediatric Trials of Sensipar Shut Down Following Patient Death. **Teen Driver Deaths Rose in First Half of 2012. **More Men Going Into Nursing. **Sports Whistles a Threat to Hearing. **FDA Approves Stivarga to Treat Rare Intestinal Tumors. **Many Feel Unwell After Watching 3-D Movies. **Asthma Drug Eases Itching from Chronic Hives. **Doctor Performs Bloodless Lung Transplants. **Tattoos Can Pose Health Hazards, Doctor Warns. Health Highlights (Feb. 22, 2013 to March 01, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: FDA Report Questions Use of Salmon Hormone to Treat Osteoporosis A salmon hormone used to treat osteoporosis in post-menopausal women may not reduce the risk of bone fractures enough to outweigh its cancer risks, according to a report by U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff. It said that three studies of oral, injectable and nasal calcitonin-salmon drugs showed unreliable or disappointing results. Additional research showed that the drugs posed a "plausible" cancer risk, Bloomberg News reported. FDA advisers are scheduled to meet next week to decide if sales of calcitonin-salmon drugs should be halted in the United States. Last year, the European Medicines Agency said that the drugs should not be used to treat osteoporosis. "This lack of effectiveness when combined with the potential for a cancer risk associated with calcitonin salmon therapy raises concerns about the overall risk and benefit assessment," FDA staff said, Bloomberg reported. ----- Chocolate-Covered Marshmallow Eggs Recalled for Salmonella Threat Zachary Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Eggs are being recalled due to the possible risk of salmonella contamination, according to Zachary Confections, Inc. The voluntary recall was announced Feb. 27 after a routine test revealed the potential for salmonella contamination in a sample of the product, the company said. The recalled candies are packaged in 5-ounce white egg crates with purple, green and yellow lettering. They have code dates of D3245D, D3145E, F3145E, D3245E and a Best Buy date of 02/14/14. The code dates and Best Buy date are located on the side panel of the product packaging next to the Unit UPC bar code label. The recalled candies were distributed to some retail stores in sections of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. No other Zachary Confections products are involved in this recall. The company said it has not received any reports of illnesses associated with the recalled candies. Anyone with the recalled products should destroy them or return them to the place of purchase, the company said. For more information, call Zachary Confections at 765-654-8356. Production of the candies has been halted while the company and the FDA investigate the source of the potential problem. ------ Medicare Pays Billions for Poor Nursing Home Care Nursing homes that failed to meet quality of care standards received $5.1 billion in payments from Medicare in 2009, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general. In some cases, the failure to meet those standards resulted in dangerous and neglectful conditions for patients, the Associated Press reported. The investigators estimated that for every one in three times a patient was admitted to a nursing home that year, they ended up in facilities that did not meet the basic care requirements stipulated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In one out of five nursing home stays, patients' health issues weren't addressed in their care plans. In other cases, patients received therapy they didn't require. The investigators said this benefited the nursing homes financially because they were reimbursed at a higher rate by Medicare, the AP said. "These findings raise concerns about what Medicare is paying for," according to the Office of Inspector General's report. It was based on medical records from 190 patient stays at nursing homes in 42 states. The stays lasted at least three weeks. That sample represents about 1.1 million patient stays at nursing homes nationwide in 2009, the most recent year for which data was available, the AP reported. The investigators recommended that CMS tie Medicare payments to nursing homes' abilities to meet basic care requirements, and also said the agency needs to tighten its regulations and improve its oversight. CMS agreed that it should consider linking payments to the quality of care provided at nursing homes, and also said that it is reviewing its regulations to improve enforcement at the facilities. "Medicare has made significant changes to the way we pay providers thanks to the health care law, to reward better quality care," Medicare spokesman Brian Cook said in a statement to AP. "We are taking steps to make sure these facilities have the resources to improve the quality of their care, and make sure Medicare is paying for the quality of care that beneficiaries are entitled to." ----- All Pediatric Trials of Sensipar Shut Down Following Patient Death U.S. health officials said Tuesday that they have halted all clinical trials testing the use of the drug Sensipar in children following the death of a teen patient in one of the trials. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a statement that it has not concluded whether the drug, made by Amgen Inc., played a role in the 14-year-old's death. The agency has approved the use of Sensipar to treat an overactive parathyroid gland, which can lead to brittle bones, kidney stones and abdominal pain. It has been used since 2004 to treat symptoms of chronic kidney disease and parathyroid cancer. Amgen Inc. had been studying the drug to see if it might work in children, according to the Associated Press. In a statement, the company said that it "is working as rapidly as possible to understand the circumstances of what happened." The drug is known to lower calcium levels, sometimes to dangerous levels, the AP reported. The FDA said in its statement that patients' calcium levels should be monitored monthly, checking for symptoms of calcium deficiency, including cramping, convulsions and burning or prickling sensations. Calcium supplementation should be given if levels drop too low, the agency added. The most common side effects of the drug in adults include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. ----- Teen Driver Deaths Rose in First Half of 2012 The number of 16- and 17-year-old drivers killed in the United States was 19 percent higher in the first six months of 2012 than in the first half of 2011, according to a new Governors Highway Safety Association report. That percentage rise in young teen driver deaths was more than double the 8 percent increase in overall traffic deaths during the same period, USA Today reported. During the first half of 2012, 240 16- and 17-year-old drivers died, up from 202 deaths a year earlier. Deaths of 16-year-old drivers rose 24 percent to 107 while deaths of 17-year-old drivers increased 15 percent to 133. In 2011, there was a 3 percent rise in the number of 16- and 17-year-old drivers who died, ending 8 straight years of declines, USA Today reported. ----- More Men Going Into Nursing A growing number of American men are going into the nursing profession, a new study says. It found that the proportion of male registered nurses more than tripled between 1970 and 2011, increasing from 2.7 percent to 9.6 percent, USA Today reported. Over the same period, the proportion of male licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses rose from 3.9 percent to 8.1 percent. This group of nurses works under the direction of doctors and registered nurses. While women account for 91 percent of the nursing workforce, male nurses make more money, the study found. In 2011, male nurses had an average annual income of $60,700 a year, compared with $51,100 for female nurses, USA Today reported. "A predicted shortage has led to recruiting and retraining efforts to increase the pool of nurses," study author Liana Christin Landivar, a sociologist in the Census Bureau's Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch, said in a news release. "These efforts have included recruiting men into nursing." ----- Sports Whistles a Threat to Hearing Whistles may damage referees' hearing, a new study says. Researchers surveyed 321 sports officials with the Michigan High School Athletic Association and found that nearly half of them reported ringing in the ears (tinnitus) after officiating, The New York Times reported. Ringing in the ears often goes away but can become permanent if there is repeated exposure to loud noises. Tinnitus can also be a sign of hearing loss. "Sports officiating cannot be ruled out as a promoter of early hearing impairment," wrote the authors of the study published in the January issue of The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. Whistle volumes range from 104 to 116 decibels at the ear, which means that referees exceed the safe daily noise dose in just 5 to 90 seconds of overall time blowing their whistles during a game, The Times reported. ----- FDA Approves Stivarga to Treat Rare Intestinal Tumors The approved use of the drug Stivarga (regorafenib) has been expanded to include treatment of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) that cannot be surgically removed and don't respond to the drugs Gleevec (imatinib) and Sutent (sunitinib), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday. According to the American Cancer Society, GISTs are uncommon tumors that begin on the wall of the intestinal tract. The decision was based on a study of 199 patients. It found that treatment with Stivarga increased progression-free survival by an average of 3.9 months, compared to placebo. The most common side effects in patients taking Stivarga were weakness and fatigue, hand-foot syndrome, diarrhea, loss of appetite, high blood pressure, mouth sores, infection, changes in voice volume or quality, pain, weight loss, stomach pain, rash, fever and nausea, the FDA said. Serious side effects occurred in less than one percent of patients and included liver damage, severe bleeding, blistering and peeling of skin, very high blood pressures requiring emergency treatment, heart attacks and holes in the intestines. The FDA approves Stivarga in September 2012 to treat colorectal cancer. ----- Many Feel Unwell After Watching 3-D Movies More than 55 percent of people who watched a 3-D movie said it made them feel unwell, according to a new study. These people had at least one physical complaint after watching a 3-D movie. The most common complaints were headache or tired eyes. But nearly 11 percent of the moviegoers said they felt like they might throw up, NBC News reported. The study was published in the journal PLoS One. "I was surprised by the relatively high proportion of people who reported symptoms after a 3-D movie," said study author Angelo Solimini, an adjunct professor and research scientist in hygiene and public health at Sapienza University of Rome, NBC News reported. ----- Asthma Drug Eases Itching from Chronic Hives The asthma drug Xolair (omalizumab) shows promise in relieving itchiness in patients with chronic hives who aren't helped by traditional antihistamine treatment. In a phase 3 clinical trial, a monthly injection of Xolair significantly reduced hives and itchiness in these patients, according to a study published online in the The New England Journal of Medicine. "This is the magic bullet that patients have been waiting for for the last 40 years," said study lead author Dr. Marcus Maurer, a professor of dermatology and allergy at Charit-Universitatsmedizin in Berlin, The New York Times reported. Maurer has received consulting fees from several drug companies, including Genentech and Novartis, which paid for the study. The study results are encouraging, according to Dr. Jonathan Bernstein, a professor of medicine and an allergy specialist at the University of Cincinnati, who was not involved in the study. "The drug is not a cure, but it will advance our ability to manage these patients," he told the Times. ----- Doctor Performs Bloodless Lung Transplants Bloodless lung transplants being performed by an American doctor hint at a possible new way of performing surgery in the future. Dr. Scott Scheinin, of The Methodist Hospital in Houston, said a growing body of research led him to believe that blood transfusions often pose unnecessary risks and should be avoided when possible, even in complicated cases, The New York Times reported. By choosing patients with low odds of complications, he felt he could operate almost as safely without blood transfusions as with it. Some patients refuse blood transfusions due to religious beliefs or for other reasons. The first so-called bloodless lung transplant was conducted in 1996 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. So far, 11 so-called bloodless lung transplants have been attempted at Methodist over three years, the Times reported. Hospital officials were initially reluctant to approve this type of procedure. "My job is to push risk away, so I wasn't really excited about it. But the numbers were very convincing," Dr. A. Osama Gaber, the hospital's director of transplantation, told The Times. ----- Tattoos Can Pose Health Hazards, Doctor Warns FRIDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- Tattoos have become increasingly popular in the United States in recent years, but along with that comes a rise in problems such as allergic reactions and infections, an expert says. More than one-third of Americans aged 18 to 25 report getting a tattoo, according to the Pew Research Center. But if you're thinking about getting "inked," there are some things to consider before you head to the tattoo parlor. "Since tattoos are not regulated in any way, there are many unknowns that could pose potential problems for consumers in terms of the inks and tools used," Dr. Michi Shinohara, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Washington in Seattle, said in an American Academy of Dermatology news release. "It is especially important for consumers to be aware of the potential risks, report any problem that develops to the tattoo artist and see a board-certified dermatologist for proper diagnosis and treatment," Shinohara added. Tattooing inks have changed a great deal over the years and many modern tattoo inks contain organic azo dyes with plastic-based pigments that are also used industrially in printing, textiles and car paint. Many unknowns exist about how these new tattoo inks interact with the skin and within the body. Allergic reaction to the tattoo pigments is one of the most common problems associated with tattooing. Infections also can pose a serious threat to health. Along with localized bacterial infections, there have been reports of people being infected with syphilis and hepatitis B and C due to non-sterile tattooing practices, Shinohara said. Skin cancer is another potential risk associated with tattoos because they can make it hard to detect cancer-related changes in moles. If you get a tattoo, make sure it's not placed over an existing mole. A tattoo can also cause a reaction that creates a bump that resembles a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. Because it is hard to distinguish from skin cancer, the bump could lead to potentially unnecessary and expensive skin cancer treatment, including surgery, Shinohara said. She offered the following advice for people who want to get a tattoo: Go to a professional tattoo parlor and to a tattoo artist who is licensed according to state requirements. Insist on seeing tattoo equipment in sterile packaging. Tell the tattoo artist if you have a reaction. If a problem lasts more than one to two weeks, see a dermatologist. People with a chronic skin condition such as psoriasis, eczema or a tendency toward keloid scarring should check with a dermatologist before getting a tattoo. Do not get a tattoo over a mole. Doing so will make it more difficult to diagnose a problem if the mole changes in the future.   Obama’s Inauguration Day Should Be Declared A National Day Of Mourning: Obama Is No Robin Hood; He Is A Robbing Hood That Robs/Taxes Average Americans In Order To Give Huge Payoffs To The Super-Rich During An Economy Collapse That Is Factually Far Worse Than Most Americans Understand Obama’s massive spending & debt has reduced the average American’s net worth down a whopping 40% while Obama’s $625 billion tax increase includes $40 billion in payoffs to his super-rich cronies [example: tax rebates of $430 million to Hollywood film producers; many companies will pay no taxes at all because of Obama’s rebates & credits]. Under Obama we are experiencing unimaginable economic wreckage, crisis and collapse from coast to coast. None of this is a coincidence. This is a cold, calculated plan by Obama to collapse the U.S. economy, damage or bankrupt business owners (particularly small business) and destroy America and the American Dream. And, sadly, it’s working. Obama’s Inauguration Day Should Be Declared A National Day Of Mourning: Obama Is No Robin Hood; He Is A Robbing Hood That Robs/Taxes Average Americans In Order To Give Huge Payoffs To The Super-Rich During An Economy Collapse That Is Factually Far Worse Than Most Americans Understand *** "The $625 billion tax increase passed. Big business didn’t get their corporate tax cut… yet. But boy did they get goodies: $40 billion in crony capitalism payoffs. The new tax bill gives away $78 million in tax breaks to benefit NASCAR, $62 million in tax credits for companies operating in American Samoa, $222 million of tax rebates to rum companies, $430 million in tax rebates for Hollywood film producers, $12 billion (with a "B") in tax credits for wind power phonies like GE, $2.2 billion to renewable diesel companies, $650 million to manufacturers of energy-efficient appliances and $222 million in accelerated tax depreciation for businesses located on Indian reservations. Many of these companies will pay no taxes at all because of these rebates and credits." -- from Obama Teams Up With Big Business To Destroy Middle Class --January 10, 2013 by Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest January 17, 2013 -- By Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest A National Day of Mourning Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/01/17/a-national-day-of-mourning/ -- or read the text of it below. Hello. I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. Barack Obama’s Inauguration Day is coming up next week. Despite what the Obama-adoring, Kool-Aid drinking liberal mainstream media tell you, Obama’s inauguration is not a celebration. If the media were honest, we’d declare it a "national day of mourning." Our economy under Obama is in shambles. Things are not getting better; they are getting worse by the day. Now we have four more years of more of the same. Will we survive? We are already in an Obama Great Depression, and I have the facts to prove it — facts the mainstream media refuse to disclose. I’m about to give them to you. The key to understanding all this is to study the real facts and statistics. You know, the kind not manufactured out of thin air or manipulated by Obama, the government or the media. Facts are facts. The facts below clearly indicate that the economic collapse is far worse than most Americans understand yet. Judge for yourselves: Obama is the biggest spender of any politician in world history. Not to be outdone, Tim Geithner is the biggest-spending Treasury Secretary in history ($13.6 trillion). Under Obama, the national debt has increased by 50 percent. Obama is on track to add $12 trillion to the national debt: a staggering three times more than George W. Bush added in his eight years as President: In only the past 16 months, the Obama Administration added $2.1 trillion to the national debt, which is why we need the debt ceiling raised again. Under Obama, the national debt now exceeds the entire output of the U.S. economy. Obama is not only the first President in history to produce four consecutive years of deficits above $1 trillion, but those four years’ worth of deficits are more than produced by all other Presidents in history combined. The national debt is increasing by a mind-boggling $3 million dollars per minute. What did we get for all that spending and massive debt? The U.S. credit rating has been downgraded for the first time in our history. With Obama’s re-election, get ready for more credit downgrades to come. The net worth of the average American is down a whopping 40 percent. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, household income has fallen for all four years under Obama. It’s down a startling $4,000 per family since Obama became President. The housing collapse is now deeper than at the peak of the Great Depression. Unemployment was more than 8 percent for an unimaginable 43 consecutive months. That’s more months of unemployment above the 8 percent level than during all the Presidencies from Harry Truman’s to the younger Bush’s combined. According to economist John Williams of shadowstats.com, if you factored in all of the short-term discouraged workers, all of the long-term discouraged workers and all of those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment, the real unemployment rate would be more than 20 percent, which is higher than it was for a majority of the years during the Great Depression. The employment rate under Obama has been less than 59 percent for 39 months in a row. That means less than 59 percent of those capable of working are actually employed. So how can the jobless rate reported by the government (and mainstream media) be improving? Since Obama has been President, more than 8.5 million Americans have dropped out of the workforce. The Labor Force Participation Rate among men is the lowest since 1948 (just after World War II). In 1950, 80 percent of all working-age men had a job versus today with only 65 percent working. The average unemployed worker has been unemployed for 40 weeks. At the peak of the deep recession of the early 1980s, with unemployment close to 11 percent, the average length of unemployment at its highest was only 21 weeks. If you gathered together all of the unemployed people in America in one place, they would constitute the 68th largest country in the world. The United States has roughly the same number of jobs today as it had in 2000, but the population is well more than 30 million people larger. To get to a civilian employment-to-population ratio equal to that in 2000, we would have to gain some 18 million jobs. Back in 1980, fewer than 30 percent of all jobs in the United States were low-income jobs. Today, more than 40 percent of all jobs in the United States are low-income jobs. Fifty-three percent of all college graduates in America under age 25 are either unemployed or under-employed. Black unemployment is at 14 percent. When did you hear that trumpeted in the media during the Presidential election? Obama received more than 99 percent of the black female vote, yet his first term produced horrendous damage to African-Americans. A record 47.7 million Americans are now on food stamps. Under Obama, we have added more than 16 million Americans to the food stamp rolls. That’s an increase of a stunning 50 percent in just four years. Under Obama, the growth of Americans on food stamps is 75 times greater than job growth. Forty years ago, one out of 50 Americans received food stamps. Today, it is one out of 6.5. Forty-three percent of all immigrants who have been in the United States for 20 years or longer are on welfare. In 1965, one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, about one out of every six Americans is on Medicaid. Medicare alone faces an unfunded liability of almost $40 trillion dollars. That’s more than $328,000 per U.S. household. The number of Americans now on disability (a record 11 million) is larger than the population of New York City, as well as the population of 39 of the 50 States. Since Obama became President, 5.5 million have joined the ranks — most of them after their unemployment benefits ran out. Now they get an income and free healthcare for life. More than 100 million Americans (almost one out of every three Americans) are getting some form of welfare. That does not include Social Security or Medicare. About 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in poverty or are defined as low-income. It is being projected that about 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18. For the first time in history, more than 1 million public school students are homeless. Total student loan debt is now more than $1 trillion, with defaults at record levels. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, in the third quarter of 1980 under the failed Presidency of Jimmy Carter, there were 76,885 delinquent mortgages. Shockingly, in the second quarter of 2012 under Obama, there were 3,107,247 delinquent mortgages. Obama says real estate is in "recovery." Yet in one city, in one month, $120 million of commercial real estate went into default. This isn’t an isolated instance; it’s happening across America. The commercial real estate collapse is just starting. Does this sound like a "recovery" to you? New business start-ups are at the lowest level in 30 years. In the World Economic Forum’s rank of global competitiveness, the United States has fallen four years in a row under Obama. The United States also joins Ireland as the only advanced economies in the world to have lost economic freedom the past five years in a row. The government reports that banks are doing better. Yet Bank of America just reported more than $64 billion worth of delinquent mortgages (more than six months late). None of these have even entered foreclosure yet. That’s more than half of the market cap of BofA. Obama denies he’s a socialist. He says he merely wants to move America towards the European model of social capitalism. Then you realize Europe is a bankrupt welfare state, with an all-time record 11.8 percent unemployment and 24.4 percent youth unemployment across the Eurozone. Twenty-six million Europeans are unemployed. Greece and Spain both have more than 26 percent unemployment and more than 50 percent youth unemployment. Something is very wrong. Well, if the bankruptcy of America is the goal, don’t look now, but it’s happening. Apple, Inc. (the iPhone company) has more cash in the bank than the U.S. government. Maybe the U.S. government should start selling something that people actually want. But Apple isn’t alone. Twenty-nine different companies have more cash in the bank than the U.S. government. One of three residents in Obama’s home State of Illinois lives in poverty. Soon that will be you. We are experiencing unimaginable economic wreckage, crisis and collapse from coast to coast. None of this is a coincidence. This is a cold, calculated plan to collapse the U.S. economy, damage or bankrupt business owners (particularly small business) and destroy capitalism. And it’s working. So don’t get out the party hats and balloons too quickly for Obama’s inauguration. Instead, we should all be wearing black… to represent a national day of mourning for America. I’m Wayne Allyn Root for PersonalLiberty.com. See you next week. Same time, same place. God Bless America. Feb. 15, 2013 to Feb. 22, 2013Health Highlights **New Breast Cancer Drug Approved by FDA. **4 Indicted in Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak. **Medical Groups Warn About Unnecessary Tests and Treatments. **New Silicone-Gel Breast Implant Approved by FDA. **Special K Red Berries Cereal Recalled Due to Risk of Glass Fragments. **New Leprosy Test Quick and Inexpensive. **Prescription Painkillers Behind Many Overdose Deaths. **U.K. Hospital Patient With SARS-Like Coronavirus Dies. **Drug Companies Helping Anti-Doping Agency. Health Highlights (Feb. 15, 2013 to Feb. 22, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: New Breast Cancer Drug Approved by FDA A new drug for late-stage breast cancer has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Genentech's Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine) is for use in patients with HER2-positive, late-stage breast cancer who were previously treated with another anti-HER2 drug called Herceptin (trastuzmab) and a class of chemotherapy drugs called taxanes, which are commonly used to treat breast cancer. "Kadcyla is trastuzumab connected to a drug called DM1 that interferes with cancer cell growth," Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an FDA news relase. "Kadcyla delivers the drug to the cancer site to shrink the tumor, slow disease progression and prolong survival. It is the fourth approved drug that targets the HER2 protein," he explained. The FDA's approval of the drug was based on a study of 991 patients. Kadcyla carries a boxed warning that it can cause liver and heart problems and even death. It can also cause life-threatening birth defects, the agency said. ----- 4 Indicted in Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak Four former employees of a Virginia-based peanut company linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak in the United States have been indicted by a federal grand jury. The outbreak -- traced to a peanut processing plant in Georgia -- killed nine people and sickened hundreds and led to one of the largest recalls in the nation's history. The 76-count indictment charges the former employees of Peanut Corp. of America with conspiracy, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and other offenses related to contaminated or misbranded food, the Associated Press reported. Those facing the charges are company owner Stewart Parnell, his brother and company vice president Michael Parnell, Georgia plant manager Samuel Lightsey and Georgia plant quality assurance manager Mary Wilkerson. FDA inspectors found numerous problems at the plant in Blakely, Ga., including mold and roaches. The company went bankrupt after the recall, the AP reported. ----- Medical Groups Warn About Unnecessary Tests and Treatments Dozens of types of tests and treatments are too often recommended by doctors when patients don't need them, according to a warning issued Thursday by a coalition of leading medical groups in the United States. This unnecessary care wastes time and money and sometimes causes harm to patients, according to the organizations that represent more than 350,000 doctors, the Associated Press reported. The Choosing Wisely Coalition said patients need to ask their doctors, "Do I really need that?" The coalition was formed by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation. Too many people "think that more is better, that more treatment, more testing somehow results in better health care," Dr. Glen Stream, former president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, told the AP. "That really is not true." The academy contributed to this year's list of 90 examples of potentially needless care, which adds to 45 examples included on last year's list. Among the newly-added warnings: Don't screen for a clogged neck artery in healthy people with no stroke signs. It could lead to risky surgery for a blockage that would cause no harm. Don't try feeding tubes in people with advanced dementia. Helping them eat is a better approach. Don't routinely give heartburn medicine to infants with reflux. This treatment hasn't been proven effective in babies and could cause side effects. Don't prescribe opioid painkillers for migraines except as a last resort. Opioids can carry the risk of addiction and can actually worsen migraines. Instead, use more migraine-specific drugs. Don't induce labor if a pregnant woman misses her due date and both mother and baby are doing fine. ----- New Silicone-Gel Breast Implant Approved by FDA A new silicone-gel breast implant for women 22 years and older has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency said that Allergan's Natrelle 410 implant contains silicone gel that is firmer than the company's older Natrelle models, the Associated Press reported. The approval was based on data from 941 women collected over seven years. Allergan's studies did not compare the safety of the new implant with that of the older models. "The data we reviewed showed a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness," said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, the FDA's medical device director, the AP reported. "We will be looking at the results from post-approval studies that will focus on their long-term safety and effectiveness." Silicone-gel implants were banned by the FDA in 1992 due to fears they could cause illnesses such as cancer and lupus. But the ban was lifted in 2006 after research ruled out most of the health concerns. ----- Special K Red Berries Cereal Recalled Due to Risk of Glass Fragments Three sizes of Special K Red Berries cereal are being recalled in the United States because they may contain glass fragments, the Kellogg Company says. There have not been any reports of injuries associated with the products, according to the company. The packages included in the voluntary recall include: 11.2 ounce packages, with a UPC Proof of Purchase Code: 38000 5992. Better if Used Before: DEC 02 2013 KNC 105 00:13 through DEC 02 2013 KNC 105 02:30 37.0 ounce packages with a UPC Proof of Purchase Code: 38000 20940. Better if Used Before Date: NOV 30 2013 KNB 107 17:31 through NOV 30 2013 KNB 107 20:05 22.4 ounce twin pack with a UPC Proof of Purchase Code: 38000 78356. Better if Used Before Date: Nov 30 2013 KNA 105 07:00 through NOV 30 2013 KNA 105 08:51 and Better if Used Before Date: NOV 30 2013 KNB 105 15:00 through NOV 30 2013 KNB 105 17:05 Kellogg says the recall does not include other package sizes or packages with the letter codes KXA, KXB or KXC. Consumers with the recalled packages should not eat the cereal and should contact Kellogg at 1-800-962-1413 to get a replacement coupon, the company said. ----- New Leprosy Test Quick and Inexpensive A quick and inexpensive new test for leprosy can detect infections as much as a year before symptoms appear, researchers say. This improves the chances that patients can be diagnosed and treated before they become permanently disabled or disfigured, The New York Times reported. The test, which will cost $1 or less, provides results in less than 10 minutes and is far simpler than the current method of diagnosing leprosy, which involves cutting open nodules and looking for bacteria under a microscope. "It works like a pregnancy test and requires just one drop of blood," Malcolm Duthie, who led the test's development at the Infectious Disease Research Institute in Seattle, told The Times. "I can teach anyone to use it." Each year, about 250,000 people worldwide get leprosy. It's most common in Brazil, India, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Between 150 to 250 cases of leprosy are diagnosed in the United States each year, mostly in immigrants. ----- Prescription Painkillers Behind Many Overdose Deaths Prescription opioid painkillers are responsible for almost three of every four medication overdose deaths, a new government report shows. The troubling statistic, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is based on data gathered by researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the results reflect overdose deaths that occurred in 2010, the findings come at a time when federal health officials are weighing ways to stem the abuse of these powerful prescription medications. "The big picture is that this is a big problem that has gotten much worse quickly," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden told the Associated Press Tuesday. The actual number of overdose deaths also continued to rise. In 2010, there were 38,329 drug overdose deaths nationwide. Nearly 60 percent of all overdose deaths were linked to accidental overdoses of various prescription medications, the report found. Opioid painkillers -- which include OxyContin and Vicodin -- were the biggest problem, contributing to 75 percent of medication overdose deaths. Another type of medication that fueled the trend was anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium, contributing to almost 30 percent of overdose deaths. A government panel of drug safety experts recommended that Vicodin and dozens of other medicines be subjected to the same restrictions as other narcotics such as oxycodone and morphine. At the same time, hospitals have been establishing tougher restrictions on painkiller prescriptions and refills, the AP reported. ----- U.K. Hospital Patient With SARS-Like Coronavirus Dies A patient infected with a SARS-like coronavirus has died, according to officials at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England. The hospital said the patient was also being treated for "a long-term, complex and unrelated health problem" and already had a weakened immune system, the Associated Press reported. Twelve people worldwide have been diagnosed with the SARS-like coronavirus and six of them have died. Most people infected with the virus -- first identified last year in the Middle East -- had traveled to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Pakistan. However, it's believed that the latest victim caught the virus from a relative in Britain, where there have been four confirmed cases, the AP reported. A SARS outbreak in 2003 killed about 800 people worldwide. ----- Drug Companies Helping Anti-Doping Agency A number of drug companies are helping the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) develop tests to detect illegal use of their products by athletes. Two large firms -- Roche and GlaxoSmithKline -- have started evaluating every new drug candidate for its potential to be abused by athletes and have promised to share information about these medicines with WADA, The New York Times reported. Several other smaller drug makers have provided WADA with information about specific drugs. Until recently, drug makers paid little attention to how their products could be abused by athletes, according to David Howman, director general of WADA. Previously, drug companies "felt that any publicity in relation to anti-doping control would be negative," he told The Times. "But what they discovered is the opposite happened." Is Obama Smarter Than A Communist As He Abandons Capitalism for Communism While Formerly Communist Countries Abandon Communism For Capitalism? Smarter only if Obama’s goal is to destroy America with "internal-Communism" since "external-Communism" failed to do so Russia & Cuba have learned that communism/socialism does not work. Cuba is slashing more than 1 million government jobs, cutting entitlements, encouraging more private sector entrepreneurship, giving more power to private companies, reducing state spending, & phasing out their version of food stamps. The current President of Russia has admitted that communism/socialism made the soviet economy totally uncompetitive & cost the country dearly. Meanwhile, Obama is doing & saying the exact opposite in America. And while many formerly Communist countries have slashed tax rates to a low% flat-tax that applies to everyone, Obama keeps raising taxes just as these failed formerly Communist countries used to do. Is Obama Smarter Than A Communist As He Abandons Capitalism for Communism While Formerly Communist Countries Abandon Communism For Capitalism? Smarter only if Obama’s goal is to destroy America with "internal-Communism" since "external-Communism" failed to do so   January 24, 2013 -- By Wayne Allyn Root -- Personal Liberty Digest Is Obama Smarter Than A Communist? Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2013/01/24/is-obama-smarter-than-a-communist-2/ -- or read the text of it below. Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. You know that famous TV show "Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" Well that show has inspired me to ask: "Is Obama smarter than a communist?" Many socialist and communist leaders seem to have learned a lesson that Obama has not. Remember when Obama said, "I just want to spread the wealth around"? If income redistribution works, if tax-and-spend is a model for America, why are Greece and Spain bankrupt basket cases threatening to bring down the entire European Union? Greece and Spain have both been led by Socialist Party politicians. They both have big taxes, big spending, big unions, big governments — just like Obama wants. Yet both Greece and Spain have unemployment rates above 26 percent and youth unemployment above 56 percent. With that record of devastating failure, why did Obama just raise U.S. income tax rates to the levels of Greece and Spain? Greece’s income tax rate is 40 percent. Spain’s top rate ranges from 40 percent to 50 percent. In America we just raised the top rate to about 40 percent, plus add in Obamacare taxes, plus add in State and local taxes, and, of course, Obama took away deductions, too. Can you even imagine? We chose to emulate Greece and Spain right at the moment of disaster, at the moment of devastation, at the moment of 26 percent and 56 percent unemployment — right as they are headed into economic oblivion. With Obama’s re-election we chose Greece and Spain. By the way, with high income taxes and value added taxes (a national sales tax), why are Greece and Spain both bankrupt and insolvent? Why would Obama want higher taxes for America, when Greece and Spain prove the model doesn’t work? Each country is going through a national nightmare. Thousands of trees are missing… because citizens can no longer afford to pay for electricity or fuel to heat their homes, so each night they go into parks and forests to cut down trees for firewood. Families are digging through dumpsters for food. Government employees go unpaid for months. This is what socialism and high taxes get you. And we chose Obama for another four years? Maybe we should check whether American voters are as smart as a 5th grader. All those Greek voters elected socialist politicians because they promised fat pensions, free healthcare and lavish early retirement. Does that sound familiar? Now, they face unimaginable poverty for years to come. This proves that when politicians promise chocolate cake with no calories, they should be put in prison for fraud. Cuba has been a Marxist state since before I was born. Its leader, Raul Castro, is a proud communist. Yet Cuba recently passed the most sweeping reforms in its history. Castro is slashing more than 1 million government jobs, cutting entitlements, encouraging more private sector entrepreneurship, giving more power to private companies and reducing state spending. One of the trademark features of Cuba’s socialist system — the universal monthly food ration — will be phased out. Castro said the ration given all Cubans since 1963 had become an "unsupportable burden" for Cuba’s bankrupt and crumbling government. So get this: A Cuban communist leader is cutting 1 million government jobs and eliminating Cuba’s version of food stamps. Meanwhile, Obama keeps adding government jobs and food stamp use is setting all-time records in America; 47.7 million Americans are on food stamps. Tell me again: Who’s the communist and who’s the capitalist? Even Russia’s Vladimir Putin (then serving as prime minister) seemed to have learned a common 5th grade history lesson on socialism, when during a 2008 speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he stated: "In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state role absolute… In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly." Putin and Castro have learned their lessons from experience. But Obama? It sounds like he needs to attend re-education camp. Or at least do over the 5th grade. Obama just raised our income tax rates to 40 percent and eliminated deductions; and, of course, he’s already passed a raft of new Obamacare taxes. He wants to take the cap off Social Security taxes and add a VAT tax (national sales tax). Add it up. Under Obama, Americans could soon have a tax rate above 70 percent. Not the super rich. These rates will apply to small business owners. Now contrast those taxes with today’s tax rates in formerly Communist countries: Russia: 13 percent flat tax. Bulgaria: 10 percent flat tax. Georgia: 15 percent flat tax. Romania: 16 percent flat tax. Czech Republic: 15 percent flat tax. Albania: 10 percent flat tax. Kazakhstan: 10 percent flat tax. Lithuania: 15 percent flat tax. Slovakia: 19 percent flat tax. Bosnia: 10 percent flat tax. Serbia: 12 percent flat tax. Hungary: 16 percent flat tax. Estonia: 21 percent flat tax. So ask yourself again, "Is Obama smarter than a communist?" Looking at those tax rates, it would be easy to mistake the United States under Obama for a socialist country. While the big-tax, big-spend, big-government economies of Europe are floundering, examine how the low-tax model is performing around the world. Hong Kong, with its 15 percent flat tax and no capital gains tax, has 3.3 percent unemployment. That’s down in the 4thquarter of last year from 3.4 percent in the quarter before that. Singapore has a tax of 3 percent to 20 percent, with unemployment at a remarkable 1.9 percent. Obviously, high taxes kill jobs. Case closed. Obama must have missed that 5th grade lesson. So I’ll ask the question again: Is Obama smarter than a communist? Perhaps someone should sit Obama down with all these communist and ex-communist leaders and get him educated. Fast. Before the U.S. economic collapse is beyond repair. Before the America we know and love is gone forever. Feb. 08, 2013 to Feb. 15, 2013Health Highlights **Glass Fragments Spur Recall of Lean Cuisine Products. **Britain Identifies World's 10th Case of Virus Linked to SARS. **Surgical Mesh Makers Sued by Thousands of Women. **Carbonated Malt Beverage Must List Alcohol Content on Can. **Monster Beverage Corp. Will Add Caffeine Content to Energy Drink Labels. **The Drug Proscar Won't Boost Prostate Cancer Survival. **Many Skiers Who Tear ACLs Can Avoid Surgery, Expert Says. **Water-Tubing Injuries on the Rise. **Alcohol Blamed for 1 in Every 30 Cancer Deaths: Research suggests that even a little drinking can raise odds for malignancy. Health Highlights (Feb. 08, 2013 to Feb. 15, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Glass Fragments Spur Recall of Lean Cuisine Products Reports of glass fragments in some Lean Cuisine ravioli dinners has prompted Nestle Co. to recall certain lots of the product, according to a company press release posted Friday. The voluntary recall of Lean Cuisine Culinary Collection Mushroom Mezzaluna Ravioli comes after three consumers reported they "found small fragments of glass in the ravioli portion of the entree," Nestle said in the news release. The company added that no injuries were reported by consumers. The recall involves products with two production codes: 2311587812 and 2312587812, both carrying "best before dates" of DEC 2013. Since these lots of the product were produced early last November, Nestle believes few remain on store shelves. However, the company is asking consumers hat they check their freezers for the recalled products. If the recalled meal is found, consumers should not eat it but instead contact Nestle Consumer Services at 866-586-9424 or leancuisine@casupport.com for a replacement coupon, the company said in the news release, which was posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website. ------ Britain Identifies World's 10th Case of Virus Linked to SARS British health officials say they have identified the world's tenth known case of a viral infection that appears related to the SARS virus. All of the prior cases of this emerging coronavirus have been located in the Middle East, the Associated Press reported. However, the World Health Organization said in 2012 that the virus is probably more widespread. The latest case arose in a British resident who had been in the Middle East and Pakistan, the AP said. The patient is currently being treated in the intensive care unit of a Manchester hospital, according to a statement released Monday by Britain's Health Protection Agency. Coronaviruses include pathogens that can cause the common cold and SARS, an infection that emerged in 2003 and killed 800 people worldwide. So far, patients with the new virus have typically experienced acute breathing difficulties and kidney failure. There is no proof as of yet that the infection spreads easily between people, and experts suspect humans are catching it from animals such as camels or bats, the AP said. ----- Surgical Mesh Makers Sued by Thousands of Women Lawsuits filed by thousands of women allegedly harmed by surgical mesh implanted in their pelvic region will start being heard this year by a U.S. federal court in West Virginia. More than 6,000 federal lawsuits have been filed against vaginal-mesh manufacturers by women who claim the porous, plastic implants have caused them severe pain and suffering, the Associated Press reported. Most had the mesh inserted to treat weak pelvic muscles, which can cause a prolapsed uterus, meaning the uterus slips down into the vaginal canal. The mesh received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for pelvic organ prolapse in 2002. Similar mesh products had been used for decades in other surgeries, including hernia repair. Based on those earlier implants, the FDA approved the pelvic mesh without requiring the tests normally needed for new devices, according to the AP. In 2008, the FDA acknowledged problems with the pelvic mesh, and in 2011 it said as many as 10 percent of women were experiencing trouble within 12 months of implantation. In some cases, the mesh shifted, eroded or led to infections, the news agency reported. Besides the 6,000-plus cases consolidated in West Virginia, state courts have received thousands of similar lawsuits. Last July, a case against vaginal-mesh maker C.R. Bard resulted in a $5.5. million award to a California woman. ----- Carbonated Malt Beverage Must List Alcohol Content on Can The maker of a carbonated alcoholic drink that is popular on college campuses will now be required to disclose exactly how much alcohol is in each container, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday. The new labeling is part of a settlement over deceptive marketing charges that were filed by the FTC against Phusion Products and its "Four Loko" drinks, the Associated Press reported. The Chicago-based company will have to put the new labeling on its flavored malt beverages that contain more than two servings of alcohol per container. And it will have to redesign the containers that contain more than 2 1/2 servings of alcohol in a way that will allow the container to be resealed so some of the drink can be saved for later consumption, the wire service reported. The FTC had claimed that the company suggested in advertising that its 23.5-ounce can of Four Loko was equal to two beers when the cans were really equal to four or five beers, according to the AP. "We share a common interest with the FTC in providing consumers with information and packaging options to help them make informed, responsible decisions," company co-founder Jaisen Freeman said in a statement. In 2010, several college students in New Jersey and Washington state were hospitalized in connection with drinking Four Loko drinks, which also had caffeine in them at the time. The company has since removed caffeine from its Four Loko products, but it kept the high amounts of alcohol, the AP said. ----- Monster Beverage Corp. Will Add Caffeine Content to Energy Drink Labels Monster Beverage Corp. says it is revising product labeling so that its energy drinks are no longer classified as dietary supplements, and the new labeling will include information on the drinks' caffeine content. The new labeling is required by U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines for traditional drink products. The move comes as energy drink makers face increasing pressure to alert consumers to possible dangers of overconsumption of caffeine, CBS/Associated Press reported. Lawmakers have pressed the FDA to examine the safety of caffeine levels in energy drinks. Monster's CEO told industry tracker Beverage Digest that product labeling for its energy drinks will switch from "Supplement Facts" to "Nutrition Facts," CBS/AP said. Manufacturers of such drinks are currently allowed to categorize them as either a dietary supplement or a traditional drink. Once a product is classified as a traditional drink, companies are then restricted to using ingredients that are approved food additives or "generally recognized as safe," Elizabeth Campbell, a senior adviser at EAS Consulting Group, specialists in FDA affairs, told CBS/AP. Accurate label information on energy drinks' caffeine content is thought to be important to safeguard consumers' health. A recent Consumer Reports investigation found that caffeine levels varied widely from brand to brand, leaving consumers with little guidance on whether they were drinking more caffeine than was good for them. In October 2012, the FDA investigated five deaths and one heart attack linked to Monster Energy Drinks dating back to 2004, CBS/AP reported. ----- The Drug Proscar Won't Boost Prostate Cancer Survival By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Men with prostate cancer taking the drug finasteride (Proscar) don't survive longer than similar men not taking the drug, a new study finds. Although Proscar is touted to reduce the odds of being diagnosed with prostate cancer, once diagnosed, men do not appear to gain a benefit from the drug, researchers say. However, they don't face lowered survival from the drug, a researcher added. "There is no evidence that finasteride is worse than placebo, in terms of overall survival," said lead author Phyllis Goodman, a biostatistician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle. "If you are inclined to give finasteride to prevent cancer, survival shouldn't be a reason not to do it," she said. "You may not be improving survival in the long run, but you are avoiding having to deal with a diagnosis of prostate cancer." Based on the new finding, one expert doesn't recommend men take Proscar. "This lessens the importance of finasteride, because if you wanted to use it as a preventive measure you hope the death rate would go down," said Dr. Anthony D'Amico, chief of genitourinary radiation oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston. One problem with the study is that it deals with overall deaths -- not deaths specifically caused by prostate cancer. So it's hard to tell how effective Proscar really is, D'Amico said. "Without a survival improvement it's hard to justify using the drug," he said. "Let me see what the cancer-specific survival looks like and then we can decide if it's appropriate at all." The results of the study were presented Thursday at the annual Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Fla. The data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. For the U.S. National Cancer Institute-funded study, researchers collected data on deaths of men taking Proscar or an inactive placebo who were located in a Social Security database of deaths. The investigators found that among 18,000 men who had been taking Proscar for seven years, there were more than 5,000 deaths. Of these, 2,584 deaths were among men taking Proscar and 2,544 deaths were among men taking placebo. Over 15 years of follow-up, the survival rate was 78 percent for men in both groups, the study found. Although men suffering from the most aggressive prostate cancers saw no benefit from Proscar, men with less aggressive cancer taking the drug did have a significant survival advantage, compared to men receiving placebo, the researchers found. In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed a black-box warning on Proscar for a slight but statistically significant risk that its use could cause aggressive prostate cancer. The drug has several side effects including impotence and loss of interest in sex. In the new study, the bottom line for the researchers is that "finasteride administration for seven years does not appear to affect mortality but significantly reduces the risk of a prostate cancer diagnosis." Another expert gave his perspective on the drug. "At this point, I think that the data is showing that the drug may not be of any significance to patients," said Dr. Louis Kavoussi, chairman of urology at North Shore-LIJ Arthur Smith Institute for Urology in New Hyde Park, N.Y. However, Proscar may slow the progression of prostate cancer, he said. "There are individuals who may benefit from being put on this drug and may rest a little bit easier at night knowing that it may not have a negative outcome on their long-term survival," Kavoussi said. ----- Many Skiers Who Tear ACLs Can Avoid Surgery, Expert Says FRIDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- About one-quarter of recreational downhill skiers who suffer anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries can recover without surgery, according to a new study that outlines how to identify these patients. The ACL is the main, stabilizing ligament of the knee joint. The researchers looked at 63 people who suffered a first-time skiing ACL tear and found that two tests conducted six to 12 weeks after the injury could identify patients who would recover without surgery. The tests involve physical manipulation of the knee by a doctor. "Some patients who tear their ACL while skiing can get away without surgery. Their ligament heals by itself, they will have stable knees and they will be able to do whatever they want, including skiing," study leader Dr. Robert Marx, an orthopedic surgeon in the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, said in a hospital news release. "It is a huge deal to avoid surgery," he added. "For people who are 40 and over and who have less muscle mass, it takes a long time to recover, sometimes a year." He said identifying patients who can heal without an operation reduces health costs and recovery time. ACL tears from skiing are often less traumatic than those that occur while playing sports that involve pivoting, such as soccer or football, Marx noted. The study is published online in the journal Knee Surgery Sports Traumatology Arthroscopy. "Patients who tear their ACL during recreational skiing should not rush to schedule surgery right after their injury," Marx advised. "They should wait and be reevaluated at six to 12 weeks unless there is some other obvious reason to do surgery like a displaced meniscal tear or other ligament injuries. Most recreational skiers don't have those, and they may be able to avoid surgery if they wait and get re-evaluated." ----- Water-Tubing Injuries on the Rise FRIDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Water-tubing injuries in the United States increased by nearly 250 percent over 19 years, a new study finds. The number of injuries rose from less than 2,100 in 1991 to more than 7,200 in 2009, according to researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. More than 83 percent of the injuries occurred during summer months, which means that more than 65 tubing-related injuries are treated daily in U.S. emergency departments during the summer, the study authors said. In water tubing, people ride on an inner tube that's pulled by a boat. The activity has become increasingly popular over the years. "Water-tubing can be a fun and exciting activity," study co-author Lara McKenzie said in a hospital news release. "However, the increasing number of injuries is concerning and results from a participant's position on the water tube, lack of directional control, velocity and the number of riders per water tube." The areas of the body most frequently injured during tubing were the head (27 percent) and arms and legs (24 percent). Sprains and strains (27 percent) and soft-tissue injuries (20 percent) were the most common types of injury. Meanwhile, the most common causes of injury were impact with the water (49 percent) and contact with another person who was water-tubing (16 percent). Children and teens were more likely than adults to suffer head injuries and to be injured as a result of contact with another person. Adults were more likely than children and teens to injure their knees, suffer sprains or strains, and to be injured as a result of water impact. The higher number of head injuries among children and teens may be because they're more likely than adults to have multiple riders on a single tube, according to the study, which was published in the February issue of the Journal of Physical Activity & Health. "Following basic safety guidelines, such as sticking to the manufacturer's recommendations for the number of riders per water tube; being responsible while riding the water tube and while operating the boat; and always wearing a personal flotation device can help prevent water-tubing-related injuries," McKenzie said. ----- Alcohol Blamed for 1 in Every 30 Cancer Deaths: Research suggests that even a little drinking can raise odds for malignancy By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- For anyone who still thinks that drinking does not contribute to cancer, a new report finds that alcohol is to blame for one in every 30 cancer deaths each year in the United States. The connection is even more pronounced with breast cancer, with 15 percent of those deaths related to alcohol consumption, the researchers added. And don't think that drinking in moderation will help, because 30 percent of all alcohol-related cancer deaths are linked to drinking 1.5 drinks or less a day, the report found. Alcohol is a cancer-causing agent that's in "plain sight," but people just don't see it, said study author Dr. David Nelson, director of the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. "As expected, people who are higher alcohol users were at higher risk, but there was really no safe level of alcohol use," he stressed. Moderate drinking has been associated with heart benefits, Nelson noted. "But, in the broader context of all the issues and all the problems that alcohol is related to, alcohol causes 10 times as many deaths as it prevents," he said. The best thing people who believe they are at risk for cancer can do is reduce their alcohol consumption, Nelson said. "From a cancer prevention perspective, the less you drink, the lower your risk of an alcohol-related cancer and, obviously, if one doesn't drink at all then that's the lowest risk," he said. The report was published online Feb. 14 in the American Journal of Public Health. To determine the risks related to drinking and cancer, Nelson's team compiled data from a variety of sources, including the 2009 Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System, the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the 2009-2010 National Alcohol Survey. Along with breast cancer in women, cancers of the mouth, throat and esophagus were also common causes of alcohol-related cancer deaths in men, accounting for about 6,000 deaths each year. Each alcohol-related cancer death accounted for an average of 18 years of potential life lost, the researchers added. Previous studies have shown drinking is a risk factor for cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, rectum and, in women, breast cancer, the researchers noted. According to the American Cancer Society, it's not entirely clear how alcohol might raise cancer risk. Alcohol might act as a chemical irritant to sensitive cells, impeding their DNA repair, or damage cells in other ways. It might also act as a "solvent" for other carcinogens, such as those found in tobacco smoke, helping those chemicals enter into cells more easily. Or alcohol might affect levels of key hormones such as estrogen, upping odds for breast cancer. One expert says the findings in this study are consistent with what has been shown before. "Nobody is recommending that if you do not drink to start drinking for any reason," said Susan Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology at the cancer society. "If you do drink, limit your consumption." Gapstur did point out that smoking is a much more powerful factor in cancer deaths than alcohol. Although some 20,000 cancer deaths can be attributed to alcohol each year, more than 100,000 cancer deaths are caused by smoking, she said. To strike a balance between the cancer risk of drinking and its possible benefit in preventing heart disease, Gapstur suggested talking with your doctor about the risks and benefits of drinking. In An Economy Where People Are Miserable and Suffering, Obama Flaunts His $7 Million Vacation and His Big Pay Increases to Congress Right In Our Faces, While Increasing Taxes That Will Hit Every Wage Earner in America: Obama wants you to clearly understand that a good Progressive [Communist, Marxist, Socialist] never-ever suffers while he taxes/takes/steals your hard-earned money to ensure that you do indeed suffer The new legislation raises income taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, death taxes & payroll taxes. The payroll tax increase, which will rise from 4.2% to 6.2%, will hit every wage earner in America. So every person earning $50,000 a year or more will pay an additional $1,000 in payroll taxes. So much for the myth that only “millionaires & billionaires” will have to ante up to help pay for Obama’s additional spending. In An Economy Where People Are Miserable and Suffering, Obama Flaunts His $7 Million Vacation and His Big Pay Increases to Congress Right In Our Faces, While Increasing Taxes That Will Hit Every Wage Earner in America: Obama wants you to clearly understand that a good Progressive [Communist, Marxist, Socialist] never-ever suffers while he taxes/takes/steals your hard-earned money to ensure that you do indeed suffer   January 04, 2013, By Chip Wood -- Personal Liberty Digest   Congress Sticks It To Us Again Happy New Year, everyone! Weren’t you inspired to see how our elected representatives worked late into the night, even on New Year’s Eve, to keep this country from plunging over the fiscal cliff? And what a great deal they got for us! Taxes are guaranteed to go up for the vast majority of Americans. Spending cuts will be postponed. Government is going to get bigger. So will the deficit. Barack Obama can gloat that he forced Republicans to accept higher taxes. In fact, an anonymous "official close to the talks" told FOX News’ Ed Henry that getting the GOP to break their tax pledge is "one of the most consequential policy achievements of the last couple of decades." My, doesn’t that make you feel better? Conservatives in the House made a last-ditch effort to include some mandatory spending cuts in the legislation. But that effort failed when Democratic leaders in the Senate said they would refuse to consider any changes in the legislation they had approved the night before. When the final tally was taken, the measure passed the House 257-167, with about a third of the Republicans voting in favor of it. The margin of approval was even bigger in the Senate, where it passed by a vote of 89-8. Among the tiny minority that voted nay were such Tea Party favorites as Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). And even though everyone is sick of all the politicking and posturing, we’re going to go through all of it again over the next couple of months. That’s when we run smack into the debt ceiling, have to deal with mandatory budget cuts and are supposed to come up with some sort of budget for the next fiscal year. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner added fuel to the fire when he said last week that the United States would reach its debt limit on Dec. 31 and, thus, presumably run out of money. But then he piously proclaimed that he could use some "extraordinary measures" to find the funds to keep government going for another couple of months. So the rhetoric to raise the debt ceiling from $16.394 trillion, where it is now, will get a lot hotter between now and March 1. There is no rest for the wicked — or for the big spenders in Washington. In a classic example of premature congratulations, the stock market celebrated the new accord. The Washington Post reported: "The Dow soared 308 points, or 2.4%, on Wednesday, the biggest point to start a year in history, after posting the biggest ever year-end point gain of 166 points on Monday." But don’t expect the euphoria to last for long, as the realities of what this new agreement does and doesn’t do begin to strike home. Just how bad is this Frankenstein’s monster? The bill is packed with pork for many of the Administration’s pet projects, including subsidies for plug-in electric vehicles, special deductions for film and television productions, a $12.1 billion tax credit for wind energy and even first-time home buyers in the District of Columbia. Numerous subsidies, tax credits and other goodies are buried in the legislation. You can be sure that the more we learn about what’s in the bill, the less we will like it. Although Barack Obama campaigned on promises to raise taxes for anyone making more than $200,000 a year and couples earning $250,000, the final legislation raised the base a bit higher. The new limit is families and small-business owners earning $450,000 a year. They will see their personal income tax rate go from 35 percent to 41 percent. But that’s a fraction of the hit that income from investments will take. Thrifty seniors who lived within their means all of their lives will see the taxes on their investments go up dramatically, while the incentive for anyone to invest in productive businesses will go down. That’s because taxes on dividends and capital gains will go from 15 percent to 23.8 percent. (The final number includes an Obamacare investment income surtax of 3.8 percent.) In addition to those higher tax rates, couples earning $300,000 or more a year will see their deductions and exemptions phased out. The more they earn, they less they will be able to deduct. One of the few pieces of good news in the measure is that the estate tax won’t be quite as bad as was feared. If we had gone over the fiscal cliff, the death tax would have been 55 percent on all estates worth $1 million or more. The new number is 40 percent for estates valued at $5 million. But there is another tax increase that will hit every wage earner in America. That is the payroll tax collected for Social Security, which will rise from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. This is because a temporary reduction in payroll taxes that Congress approved two years ago, ostensibly to help stimulate the economy, expired on Jan. 1. So every person earning $50,000 a year or more will pay an additional $1,000 in payroll taxes. So much for the myth that only "millionaires and billionaires" will have to ante up to help pay for Obama’s additional spending. Taken all together, the Congressional Budget Office says this compromise legislation will add $4 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. And even that estimate assumes that the budget cuts required by sequestration actually do take effect this year. I wouldn’t bet on it. Although the sequestration cuts were supposed to begin on Jan. 1, the fiscal cliff compromise kicked that can down the road for another two months. The bottom line is that this legislation raises income taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, death taxes and payroll taxes. It is a huge victory for Obama and his big-spending buddies in Congress and a big setback for everyone who believes that Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. In effect, we’ve given some chronic alcoholics the keys to the liquor cabinets. And now we hope they will somehow sober up? Don’t count on it. Until next time, keep some powder dry. –Chip Wood Feb. 01, 2013 to Feb. 07, 2013Health Highlights **Several States Considering Assisted Suicide Bills. **Pubic Hair Grooming Injuries on the Rise. **Opponents Want Delay in Implementation of NYC Sugary Drink Rule. **U.S. Leads World in Plastic Surgery. **New Study May Improve Understanding of Panic Attacks. **NFL, GE Partnership Seeks to Improve Concussion Detection, Prevention. **Skeleton Found Beneath Parking Lot is King Richard III. **Type 1 Diabetes Up 70% in Children. **Bedbugs: Easy to Attract, Hard to Eliminate. **Study Found Lower Legal Drinking Age Raises Chances of Binge Drinking Later. **One in Every 12 Stroke Survivors Contemplates Suicide. Health Highlights (Feb. 01, 2013 to Feb. 07, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Several States Considering Assisted Suicide Bills Bills to make physician-assisted suicide legal are being considered in a number of states as the issue becomes more prominent due to the growing number of baby boomers facing end-of-life issues. Proponents say there is strong public support for permitting doctors to prescribe medications to enable terminally ill people who are mentally competent to end their lives, the Associated Press reported. A number of groups, including the national organization Compassion & Choice, have been working to promote right-to-die laws. The states considering bills legalizing assisted suicide are Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont. In addition, bills related to the issue are under consideration in Arizona, Montana, New Hampshire and New York, the AP reported. Right-to-die laws were passed in Oregon and Washington after voter referendums. ----- Pubic Hair Grooming Injuries on the Rise Pubic hair grooming injuries are sending an increasing number of Americans to emergency departments, according to a new study. The number of such visits rose five-fold between 2002 and 2010, when there were an estimated 2,500 pubic hair grooming mishaps involving cuts, burns, rashes, gashes and other problems that required emergency medical care. However, this figure represents only people who sought medical help and the actual number of pubic hair grooming injuries is likely much higher, said study author Dr. Allison Glass, a clinical researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. Shaving razors caused 83 percent of the injuries, followed by scissors at 22 percent and hot wax at 1.4 percent, according to the study in the journal Urology. About 57 percent of the injuries occurred in women and 43 percent in men. The study said that 70 to 88 percent of young women in the U.S. partially or fully remove their pubic hair, along with 58 to 78 percent of men. ----- Opponents Want Delay in Implementation of NYC Sugary Drink Rule Groups fighting New York City's ban on the sale of supersized, sugary drinks have asked a judge to stop it from taking effect next month. In the request filed Friday in a Manhattan court, opponents asked that enforcement of the measure be put on hold until there's a ruling in their lawsuit to scrap the new law altogether, the Associated Press reported. Opponents of the rule include the beverage industry, restaurant owners and other types of business. They say they shouldn't be burdened with the expenses of complying with the rule before it's clear whether it will survive a court challenge. Enforcement of the measure is scheduled to begin March 12. It bars restaurants and other food outlets from selling sugary beverages in cups or containers larger than 16 ounces, the AP reported. ----- U.S. Leads World in Plastic Surgery The United States leads the world in the number of plastic surgery procedures, a new survey finds. It found that there were 6.3 million surgeries and 8.3 million non-surgical procedures (such as chemical peels, laser hair removal and Botox injections) performed by plastic surgeons around the world in 2011, USA Today reported. Just over 31 percent, or 3.1 million procedures, were done in the U.S., according to the survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. Brazil was a close second to the U.S. However, rates by population were highest in South Korea, Greece and Italy, where more than 10 procedures were performed for every 1,000 people, USA Today reported. Breast augmentation was the leading type of plastic surgery in the U.S., while liposuction (fat removal) led the way worldwide. The U.S. has the most plastic surgeons at 5,950, followed by Brazil (5,024), and China (2,000). The United Kingdom and Canada have only 450 and 425, respectively. ----- New Study May Improve Understanding of Panic Attacks A moment of fear experienced by a woman who previously could not feel afraid may help scientists learn more about panic attacks, according to researchers. A rare illness had damaged the woman's amygdala, a part of the brain that processes fear. As a result, no external threats -- such as spiders, snakes, horror movies or risk of violence -- scared the woman, The New York Times reported. However, she suffered a panic attack during an experiment in which she inhaled carbon dioxide through a mask in amounts that weren't harmful but created a brief feeling of suffocation, according to the study in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Two other women -- identical twins with amygdala damage similar to the first woman's -- also felt intense fear when they took part in the same experiment. The findings support the theory that while the amygdala is central to fear generated by external threats, there is a different brain path that triggers fear in response to internal bodily experiences such as a heart attack, Antonio Demasio, of the University of Southern California, told The Times. "I think it's a very interesting and important result," said Damasio, who was not involved in this study but has worked with the first woman in the study. ----- NFL, GE Partnership Seeks to Improve Concussion Detection, Prevention The NFL will partner with General Electric to promote development of new imaging technology that would detect concussions, and also work together to encourage the creation of new materials for helmets to better protect the brain. The four-year program is expected to begin in March and will receive at least $50 million from the NFL and GE, The New York Times reported. New technologies from the collaboration could appear within a few years, according to experts. "If they were to be putting more focus on technology for concussion management, that's obviously a good thing," Stefan Duma, an instructor at the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences and creator of the STAR helmet ratings system, told The Times. "I would expect that to bear fruits. We're definitely not 10 years away. I would expect in a two- to five-year window you could have some real advances in imaging's ability to see concussions. Helmets are the same way," Duma said. This is the latest of a number of efforts by the NFL to deal with growing concerns about player concussions. ----- Skeleton Found Beneath Parking Lot is King Richard III A skeleton found beneath a parking lot in Leicester is that of English king Richard III, who was killed in battle in 1485. University of Leicester researchers said DNA from the bones matched that of Canadian descendants of the king's family. "Beyond reasonable doubt it's Richard," lead archaeologist Richard Buckley said at a press conference, BBC News reported. The skeleton had 10 battles wounds, including eight to the skull, that were inflicted around the time of death. Two of the skull wounds were potentially fatal. The researchers also said that the bones were those of a man in his late 20s or early 30s. Richard was 32 when he died. The skeleton will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral. ----- Type 1 Diabetes Up 70% in Children By Serena Gordon, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have documented a startling rise in the rate of type 1 diabetes in one city: Diagnoses in kids younger than 5 jumped by 70 percent between 1985 and 2004 in Philadelphia. Overall, the rate of type 1 diabetes in children aged 14 and younger climbed by nearly 30 percent during that time period, according to the study. "We have demonstrated a significant increase of type 1 diabetes over time, particularly in children under the age of 5 years old," said study author Terri Lipman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia. "Whatever is driving the increase of type 1 diabetes in general, it appears the youngest children are the most susceptible," said Lipman. Results of the study were published online recently in the journal Diabetes Care. With type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin, and patients need insulin injections to survive. It usually begins earlier in life than type 2 diabetes, which is much more common and may or may not require insulin therapy. Type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, whereas in type 1 an environmental trigger causes the body's immune system to mistakenly attack the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, eventually destroying them. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, if current trends continue, the rates of type 1 will increase by 23 percent by 2050. The United States isn't the only country experiencing this growth in type 1. "Whether you look at Europe, Canada, Australia or the U.S., type 1 diabetes in youth is increasing. And some of the largest increases are in the youngest age group," said Dr. Richard Insel, chief scientific officer for JDRF (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). What isn't clear is what specifically is driving this increase. Numerous theories abound, but none has yet been proven. Because the incidence is increasing so rapidly, Lipman and Insel said it must be in the environment. "Obviously it's something in the environment that has changed the threshold for this disease. Where we see the fastest growing rates of type 1 diabetes is in areas of rapid modernization, like in Eastern Europe, around the fall of the Iron Curtain," said Insel. Lipman and her colleagues began collecting data on Philadelphia-area children and their rates of type 1 diabetes in 1985. Of 322,998 children 14 years old and younger living in the city between 2000 and 2004, the researchers said 277 children were newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Overall, this represents a 29 percent increase in the rate of newly diagnosed type 1, according to the study. When they broke the data down by age groups, they saw a surprising 70 percent increase in the rate of type 1 in children up to age 4. The other striking finding was that in white and Hispanic children, the incidence of type 1 diabetes jumped dramatically from the 1995 to 1999 study period to the 2000 to 2004 period. The rates of type 1 went up 27 percent in Hispanic kids and 48 percent in white children in that short time period. The incidence of type 1 in black children actually dropped slightly between the 1995 and 2000 study periods, but overall rose 2.3 percent a year from the 1985 study time period to the 2000 time period. And when the researchers looked at only young black children -- those 5 and younger -- they saw a threefold increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes between the 1985 and 2000 study periods. It can be difficult to diagnose type 1 diabetes in the youngest children because they can't always talk about how they're feeling. Extreme thirst and frequent urination are two common signs of untreated type 1 diabetes. Lipman said that if your child is suddenly extremely fussy, soaking more diapers than normal, can't seem to get enough to drink, the pediatrician should test for diabetes. Likewise, if your child is dehydrated, the pediatrician should check for type 1 diabetes. A child who's 3, 4, or 5 years old -- or even older -- and toilet-trained who suddenly starts having urinary accidents or wetting the bed should be evaluated for type 1 diabetes. Lipman added that the initial evaluation for type 1 consists of checking the urine for sugar, so it's a painless test. Insel added that children with undiagnosed type 1 may also have a fruity smell on their breath, and they may breathe heavily. He said sometimes they're misdiagnosed as having a breathing disorder. ----- Bedbugs: Easy to Attract, Hard to Eliminate FRIDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Death, taxes ... and bedbugs? Infestations of bedbugs are on the rise in the United States and elsewhere, and while people are "bedbug magnets," the tiny pests are hard to detect, an expert says. One in five Americans has had a bedbug infestation in their home or knows someone who has encountered bedbugs, according to the National Pest Management Association. You may not have seen any in your home, but that doesn't mean they're not there, said Dr. Jorge Parada, medical director of the infection control program at Loyola University Health System in Maywood, Ill. "Look closely because bedbugs are very hard to see," Parada said in a university news release. "Bedbugs love to hide in the cracks and crevices associated with mattresses, cushions, bed frames and other structures. They are rarely seen out in the open or on the resting surface of beds or chairs." "Bedbugs are champions of hide-and-seek. It is not uncommon to miss the bedbugs altogether, so also look for telltale signs of bedbug infestation," he added. "These may be suspected if specks of blood or feces are found on the linens, mattresses or behind wallpaper." "Bedbugs are sometimes described as appearing like an apple seed," Parada said. Adult bedbugs range in size from five to seven millimeters (less than one-quarter of an inch), while juveniles may be as small as 1.5 mm (one-sixteenth of an inch). "With feeding, they enlarge, or engorge, with blood," Parada said. "The adults turn from more brown to more red in color, while the translucent nymphs may become bright red." Bedbugs typically bite at night on exposed areas of skin such as the face, neck, hands and arms. The bite itself is painless and can look like other insect bites. "Clues that can suggest the presence of bedbugs include finding red, itchy bites upon awakening -- especially if the bites line up in a row on the skin," Parada said. "However, while some people develop a bite reaction immediately, others may take two to three days before a reaction becomes noticeable, and not all people react to bites." He noted that a bedbug bite can look like a tiny puncture wound without a surrounding reaction, and can easily be missed. Thirty percent of people living in bedbug-infested homes don't report bites or skin reactions. However, "other people have exuberant reactions, with large, red, raised and itchy welts," Parada said. "This is especially true if one becomes sensitized to bedbug bites, so that with repeated bites there may be an exaggerated reaction to the bite." Eliminating bedbugs is not something you can do yourself. "Bedbugs are notoriously difficult to eradicate and there is good reason to get professional help from qualified pest professionals with expertise in treating bed bugs," Parada advised. ----- Study Found Lower Legal Drinking Age Raises Chances of Binge Drinking Later FRIDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who grew up in states where it was legal to drink alcohol before age 21 are more likely to be binge drinkers, a new study indicates. Researchers analyzed the long-term drinking behavior of more than 39,000 people who began drinking in the 1970s, when the legal drinking age in some states was as low as 18. Compared to people from states where the legal drinking age was 21, those from states with lower drinking ages were not more likely to consume more alcohol overall or to drink more frequently. They were, however, more likely to drink heavily when they did drink. For example, men who grew up in states with a legal drinking age lower than 21 were 19 percent more likely to binge drink more than once per month. Among men who didn't go to college, the likelihood of binge drinking more than once a month was 31 percent higher. Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks during a single drinking session for a man and four or more drinks for a woman. "It wasn't just that lower minimum drinking ages had a negative impact on people when they were young," study author Andrew Plunk, a postdoctoral research fellow in psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in a school news release. "Even decades later, the ability to legally purchase alcohol before age 21 was associated with more frequent binge drinking." The findings, published online Feb. 6 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, should be a warning to people who want to lower the legal drinking age, the researchers said. "Binge drinking on college campuses is a very serious problem," Plunk says. "But it's also important not to completely forget about young people who aren't on college campuses. In our study, they had the greatest risk of suffering the long-term consequences linked to lower drinking ages." ----- One in Every 12 Stroke Survivors Contemplates Suicide THURSDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- About one in 12 stroke survivors in the United States thinks about suicide or wishes that they were dead, a new study indicates. The findings suggest that it might be a good idea to regularly screen stroke survivors for depression and suicidal thoughts, the researchers said. The investigators analyzed data from the 2005 to 2010 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and found that nearly 8 percent of stroke survivors reported suicidal thoughts, compared with about 6 percent of heart attack survivors, 5 percent of diabetes patients and 4 percent of cancer patients. The proportion of stroke survivors who thought about suicide was surprising, compared to patients with other health issues, noted study lead author Dr. Amytis Towfighi, an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and chair of neurology at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. Stroke survivors who had more severe depression, were younger, had higher body mass index (a measurement of body fat), had less education, and were poorer, single or women were more likely to have suicidal thoughts, according to the study presented Thursday at the American Stroke Association annual meeting, in Honolulu. Seventeen percent of the people who'd had a stroke also had depression, which is the most common mental health complication in stroke survivors, the study authors noted. "Given the high prevalence of suicidal thoughts among stroke survivors, perhaps regular screening for suicidal ideation, in addition to depression, is warranted," Towfighi said in an American Heart Association news release. Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. There are about 7 million adult stroke survivors in the United States, according to the American Stroke Association. No Time To Disarm America: Gun-Free-Zones, such as schools & many State & Federal properties, have become magnets for crazed gunmen The cowardly mind-set of a man willing to kill at random seeks out the weakest or most unassuming targets imaginable: moviegoers in a darkened theater, attendees at a political rally, mall shoppers or schoolchildren. In 2008, the Harrold Independent School District in Texas made an addition to its $100,000 state-of-the-art security system because administrators feared an armed intruder could do much damage in the 20 minutes it could take police to arrive. Feeling students & staff would be safer if on-site, trained staff members were equipped to handle a crisis at a moment’s notice, they decided to allow teachers to train and carry firearms to school. “We’re the first responders. We have to be,” David Thweatt said. “We don’t have 5 minutes. We don’t have 10 minutes. We would have had 20 minutes of hell” if attackers had targeted the school. No Time To Disarm America: Gun-Free-Zones, such as schools & many State & Federal properties, have become magnets for crazed gunmen   December 18, 2012 by Brandon Smith Personal Liberty Digest -- In the wake of the terrible tragedy that occurred last week at a Connecticut elementary school, the opinions have begun following in from both sides of the gun control debate. The debate is sure to become increasingly fallacious and nasty in coming months as people on both sides make ridiculous claims to support their case. President Barack Obama spoke over the weekend at a memorial service for the 26 victims of Adam Lanza’s horrifying shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School. His speech, some people (gun-control advocates, no doubt) gushed, was akin to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Here is part of the President’s speech: We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law—no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. But that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this. If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town, from the grief that has visited Tucson, and Aurora, and Oak Creek, and Newtown, and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that—then surely we have an obligation to try. In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens—from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators—in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. Because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom? The President is prepared to "use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens" to prevent further tragedies like what occurred in Connecticut. Because, he asserted, Americans must protect the children. The President’s words are strong, and combined with his past positions there is little doubt that his plan involves launching anything less than a full on assault on Americans’ right to own semi-automatic weapons. In a USA Today column last week, Glenn Reynolds channeled famed author and renowned gun activist William S. Burroughs in describing what the government’s most likely course of action will be: "After a shooting spree," author William Burroughs once said, "they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it." Burroughs continued: "I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military." Many Americans disagree with Burroughs’ opinion and are pushing for police and military personnel to be society’s sole armed protectors. And in gun-free zones, such as schools and many State and Federal properties, they are. Those places have also become magnets for crazed gunmen. The cowardly mind-set of a man willing to kill at random — despite the anti-hero persona mainstream media seek to affix to these individuals — doesn’t lend itself well to ballsy attacks on rooms filled with armed men. Instead, they seek out the weakest or most unassuming targets imaginable: moviegoers in a darkened theater, attendees at a political rally, mall shoppers or schoolchildren. And no matter what utopia the American left believes we inhabit, laws banning (and the all-out confiscation of) even every firearm manufactured will not stop the killing. Those capable of murder believe themselves to be far superior to any laws of man. Perhaps a better option would involve a lessening of gun laws and an American realization that it is not up to the police, but to the citizen to ensure his own safety. Speculation is reckless, but it is very tempting to fantasize about how Friday morning may have turned out differently if the school had been full of armed and trained teachers with easy access to firearms. "Guns in schools, the horror," liberal Americans might say. They may even venture to believe that frustrated armed teachers could be dangerous to students, though that seems very unlikely given the stories of teacher heroism coming from Connecticut where those educators likely wished they had tools at their disposal to better protect themselves and their students. In 2008, the isolated Harrold Independent School District in Texas made an addition to its $100,000 state-of-the-art security system because administrators feared an armed intruder could do much damage in the 20 minutes it could take police to arrive. Feeling students and staff would be safer if on-site, trained staff members were equipped to handle a crisis at a moment’s notice, they decided to allow teachers to train and carry firearms to school. In the years since, no gun has been brandished and no student hurt by an armed teacher. In fact, reports indicate that the students really didn’t have much at all to say about the policy. But the school district’s superintendent David Thweatt made a good point in 2009, a year after the policy went into place. "We’re the first responders. We have to be," Thweatt said. "We don’t have 5 minutes. We don’t have 10 minutes. We would have had 20 minutes of hell" if attackers had targeted the school. Despite the President’s opinions, it is no time for gun rights activists to back off on the fight to keep and bear all legal firearms. We are all our own first responders and the protectors of those in our care who cannot defend themselves. Jan. 25, 2013 to Feb. 01, 2013Health Highlights **Lawsuit Claims The Antidepressant Zoloft Not Effective. **Triaminic, Theraflu Cough/Cold Syrups Recalled Due to Safety Cap Problems. **U.S. Government IRS Ruling Means No Financial Help for Millions Unable to Afford Family Health Coverage Offered By Employer. **Hartz Mountain Jerky Dog Treats Recalled. **EPA Seeks To Ban 12 D-Con Mouse and Rat Poison Products. **FDA OKs Drug to Treat Rare Cholesterol Disorder. **FDA Issues Warning on Unapproved Flu Product. **Ground Beef Linked to Salmonella Outbreak. **Petition Leads to Removal of Ingredient From Gatorade. **Energy Drinks, Such As Red Bull and Rockstar, Pose Risks to Teens. **Flu Still Widespread but Easing in Some States: 45 children have died from flu this season; seniors also especially vulnerable. Health Highlights (Jan. 25, 2013 to Feb. 01, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Lawsuit Claims The Antidepressant Zoloft Not Effective A lawsuit claiming that the antidepressant Zoloft is ineffective is being described as frivolous by drug maker Pfizer Inc. and psychiatric experts. Plaintiff Laura A. Plumlee says Zoloft didn't help her during three years of treatment. The lawsuit alleges that the antidepressant is not more effective than a dummy pill and that patients who took the drug should be reimbursed for their costs, the Associated Press reported. Pfizer says clinical studies and the experience of millions of patients and their doctors prove that Zoloft is effective in treating depression. A number of experts agree. The lawsuit's claims are "ridiculous" and without merit, Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association, told the AP. Drug companies frequently face lawsuits charging that their drugs harmed patients, they hid medicine risks from the public, they marketed drugs for unapproved uses, and other issues. However, experts believe that a lawsuit claiming that patients should get their money back because a drug doesn't work might be a first. ----- Triaminic, Theraflu Cough/Cold Syrups Recalled Due to Safety Cap Problems About 2.3 million units of Triaminic and Theraflu cold and cough syrups have been recalled by Novartis Consumer Health Inc. due to potential problems with the child-resistant caps. Some of the caps may be faulty and a child can remove them even with the tamper-evident plastic seal still in place, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The agency said there have been four cases of children opening the caps and accidentally consuming the medication. One of the children required medical attention. Eight other children were able to open the caps but did not consume the syrup, ABC News reported. The recall includes six kinds of Theraflu Warming Relief syrups and 18 kinds of Triaminic syrups. The syrups contain acetaminophen, which can cause liver injury or liver failure if consumed in large amounts, Henry Spiller, a toxicologist and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center, told ABC News. Some of the syrups also contain the antihistamine diphenhydramine, which can cause seizures or heart rhythm problems after an overdose. ----- U.S. Government IRS Ruling Means No Financial Help for Millions Unable to Afford Family Health Coverage Offered By Employer A strict definition of affordable health insurance adopted Wednesday by the U.S. government means that there will be no financial assistance for millions of Americans with moderate incomes who aren't able to afford family coverage offered by employers. The Internal Revenue Service said it will look at the cost of coverage only for an individual, not a family, when deciding if an employer's health plan is affordable, The New York Times reported. Under the policy decision, employer-sponsored insurance for an individual is not affordable if a worker's share of the premium is more than 9.5 percent of the worker's household income. "This is bad news for kids," Jocelyn Guyer, an executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, told The Times. "We can see kids falling through the cracks. [Workers] will lack access to affordable employer-based family coverage and still be locked out of tax credits to help them buy coverage for their kids in the marketplaces, or exchanges, being established in every state." ----- Hartz Mountain Jerky Dog Treats Recalled About 20,000 chicken jerky pet treats in the United States are being recalled by the Hartz Mountain Corp., after company tests discovered trace amounts of antibiotic residue in the products. The recalled includes Hartz Chicken Chews and Hartz Oinkies Pig Skin Twists Wrapped with Chicken for dogs. Antibiotic residue was found in about one-third of the treats tested, but the company recalled all the treats as a precaution, NBC News reported. This follows other companies' recalls of pet treats due to the presence of antibiotic residue. Nestle recalled its Waggin' Train and Canyon Creek Ranch brand dog treats, Del Monte withdrew its Milo's Kitchen Chicken Jerky and Chicken Grillers home-style dog treats, Publix pulled its private brand Chicken Tenders Dog Chew Treats from store shelves, and IMS Pet Industries Inc. recalled its Cadet Brand Chicken Jerky Treats. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the antibiotic residue in the treats poses no threat to human or pet health. The agency also said the issue is not related to an ongoing investigation into reports of 500 deaths and more than 2,700 illnesses in dogs and cats that ate chicken jerky pet treats made in China, NBC News reported. ----- EPA Seeks To Ban 12 D-Con Mouse and Rat Poison Products In a move designed to prevent thousands of children from being accidentally exposed to rodent poison each year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it is moving to ban the sale of 12 d-Con brand mouse and rat poison products produced by Reckitt Benckiser Inc. The products do not comply with current EPA safety standards, the agency said. Each year, about 10,000 U.S. children are accidentally exposed to mouse and rat baits, and the EPA has been working with companies to ensure that products are both effective and safe to use around children. Reckitt Benckiser is the only company that has refused to adopt federal safety standards for all of its consumer mouse and rat poison products, the EPA said. "Moving forward to ban these products will prevent completely avoidable risks to children," James Jones, acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in an agency news release. ----- FDA OKs Drug to Treat Rare Cholesterol Disorder A new drug that treats a rare inherited disorder that causes extremely high cholesterol levels and heart attacks by age 30 was approved Tuesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The disease is called homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) and affects only a few hundred people in the U.S. Left untreated, people with HoFH can develop levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol that are about 10 times higher than what is considered desirable, The New York Times reported. The drug Kynamro (mipomersen) works by inhibiting the action of a gene -- apolipoprotein B -- involved in the formation of particles that carry cholesterol in the blood. Kynamro is injected once a week. A clinical trial of the drug found that it lowered LDL cholesterol levels by an average of nearly 25 percent. The FDA said the label for Kynamro will carry a boxed warning about potential liver damage. Other side effects include flu-like symptoms and injection-site reactions, The Times reported. Kynamro was invented by Isis Pharmaceuticals and will be marketed by Sanofi's Genzyme division. Last month, the FDA approved Aegerion Pharmaceuticals' once-a-day pill called Juxtapid for treatment of patients with HoFH. ----- FDA Issues Warning on Unapproved Flu Product A Florida company has been sent a warning letter about marketing an untested inhaled formula as a flu remedy, federal officials say. Flu and Cold Defense LLC is making misleading and unproven claims about its GermBullet inhaler, according to the letter issued by the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, the Associated Press reported. The company's website states that "an FDA recognized virology lab" tested the product and "confirmed that it has the potential capability to kill cold and flu viruses." Ads describe the product as "proprietary blend of 11 organic botanicals." The FDA said the GermBullet inhaler has never been reviewed as safe and effective and that the company is violating drug safety regulations. The letter, dated Jan. 24, was posted on the FDA's website Tuesday. The company was given 15 business days to correct its claims, the AP reported. The GermBullet is sold online through retailers such as CVS.com and at a few small pharmacies and natural food stores in Florida. ----- Ground Beef Linked to Salmonella Outbreak Sixteen people in five states have become ill after eating salmonella-tainted ground beef, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. There have been nine reported cases of illness in Michigan, three in Wisconsin, two in Illinois and one each in Arizona and Iowa. Of the those who became sick, 53 percent have been hospitalized. There have been no deaths. Investigators have determined that the likely cause of the outbreak is salmonella-contaminated ground beef produced by Jouni Meats, Inc. and Gab Halal Foods, the CDC said. On Jan. 24, Jouni Meats recalled about 500 pounds of ground beef products. On Jan. 25, Gab Halal Foods recalled about 550 pounds of ground beef products. Consumers should not eat recalled ground beef products. Instead, throw out any remaining ground beef or return it to the place of purchase, the CDC said. ----- Petition Leads to Removal of Ingredient From Gatorade As a result of a consumer campaign, PepsiCo said it will no longer use brominated vegetable oil in citrus versions of its Gatorade sports drink. Research has suggested that the ingredient may have possible health side effects, including neurological disorders and altered thyroid hormones, The New York Times reported. Gatorade spokeswoman Molly Carter said the company has been testing alternatives to brominated vegetable oil for about a year "due to customer feedback." PepsiCo responded to a petition signed by more than 200,000 people who wanted brominated vegetable oil eliminated from Gatorade. The petition was started on Change.org by Sarah Kavanagh, 15, of Hattiesburg, Miss. She became concerned about the ingredient after reading about it online, The Times reported. ----- Energy Drinks, Such As Red Bull and Rockstar, Pose Risks to Teens By Randy Dotinga, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- A new report warns that popular energy drinks such as Red Bull and Rockstar pose potential hazards to teens, especially when mixed with alcohol. The report, published in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics in Review, summarizes existing research and concludes that the caffeine-laden beverages can cause rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, obesity and other medical problems in teens. Combined with alcohol, the potential harms can be severe, the authors noted. "I don't think there is any sensationalism going on here. These drinks can be dangerous for teens," said review lead author Dr. Kwabena Blankson, a U.S. Air Force major and an adolescent medicine specialist at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va. "They contain too much caffeine and other additives that we don't know enough about. Healthy eating, exercise and adequate sleep are better ways to get energy." Doctors and parents need to "intelligently speak to teenagers about why energy drinks may not be safe," Blankson said. "They need to ask teens if they are drinking energy drinks and suggest healthy alternatives." Surveys suggest that as many as half of young people consume these unregulated beverages, often in search of a hefty dose of caffeine to help them wake up, stay awake or get a "buzz." Sixteen-ounce cans of Red Bull, Monster Energy Assault and Rockstar hold about 160 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, according to the report. However, a much smaller container of the drink Cocaine -- briefly banned in 2007 -- delivers 280 mg in just 8.4 ounces. By contrast, a typical cup of coffee packs a caffeine punch of about 100 mg. Too much caffeine, Blankson said, "can have troubling side effects." More than 100 milligrams of caffeine a day is considered unhealthy for teens, he noted. Energy drinks are often served cold and sometimes with ice, making them easier to chug than hot coffee. And many contain additives such as sugar, ginseng and guarana, which enhance the effect of caffeine, the researchers explained. "We don't know what these additives do to the body after periods of extended use," Blankson said. Moreover, young people often mix energy drinks and alcoholic beverages, or buy energy drinks that contain alcohol. One-quarter of students surveyed at 10 North Carolina universities said they had consumed energy drinks mixed with alcohol in the past month, the report noted. And 23 university students in New Jersey and nine in Washington state were hospitalized in 2010 after drinking an energy drink spiked with alcohol. U.S. health officials have sounded alarms about energy drinks as well. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently reported that hospital visits related to the drinks doubled, to almost 21,000, between 2007 and 2011. About 42 percent of cases also included drug or alcohol use, the agency said. According to the latest report, one unnamed 23.5-ounce alcoholic energy drink packs the booze of a six-pack of beer and the caffeine of five cups of coffee. The American Beverage Association, which counts energy drink companies among its members, took issue with the report. "This paper contains misinformation about energy drinks and does nothing to address the very serious problem of underage drinking and excessive alcohol consumption among young adults," the ABA said in a statement released Thursday. "Contrary to the misperception perpetuated by this paper, most mainstream energy drinks contain only about half the amount of caffeine of a similar size cup of coffeehouse coffee," the ABA added. The association also noted that it has issued a recommendation to all energy drink companies that they state on the label exactly how much caffeine is contained in each drink, and that the beverage is not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women and people who are sensitive to caffeine. While Blankson's report doesn't call for banning the drinks, "as a doctor who cares for adolescents, I can't tell them or their parents that these products are safe," he said. "I can't even tell them for sure how much caffeine is in some of these drinks, since many don't include that information on the label." Dr. Sean Patrick Nordt, director of the section of toxicology at University of Southern California, offered a milder perspective on the danger of the drinks, saying they appear to be "relatively safe," especially if someone only drinks one or two. Still, he said, they are potentially dangerous to some people and "should be viewed as more like medication than beverages." In particular, he said, they shouldn't be combined with alcohol, illegal drugs or drugs. Flu Still Widespread but Easing in Some States: 45 children have died from flu this season; seniors also especially vulnerable By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Continuing a trend that emerged late last month, flu activity remains high across the United States but there are reports that the number of infections may be leveling off in some regions of the country, federal health officials reported Friday. For the week ending Jan. 26, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that: Twenty-four states and New York City were reporting high levels of flu activity (Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming). Thirteen states and the District of Columbia were reporting moderate flu activity (Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia). Four states were experiencing low activity (Kentucky, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin), and nine states were experiencing minimal activity (Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee). The flu season, which got an early start in November in southeastern states, appeared to be easing somewhat in the South, Southeast, New England and the Midwest regions of the country. But infections were rising in the West. Hospitalizations and deaths -- key indicators of a flu season's severity -- increased again during the week ending Jan. 26. People 65 and older and young children are being hit especially hard this flu season. Forty-five children have died from the flu this season, with eight deaths reported last week, the CDC said. There's no system to report adult deaths from flu, but the agency said the number of deaths remains higher than the threshold used to declare a flu epidemic. The predominant strain of circulating flu this season continues to be influenza A H3N2, which typically poses bigger problems for young children and the elderly, according to the CDC. But, predominant strains can vary across states and regions of the country, the agency noted. The 45 pediatric deaths so far compare to 153 deaths reported during the 2003-04 season, which was another H3N2 season, the agency said. An estimated 36,000 people die from the flu and its complications in a typical season, according to the CDC. From 1976 to 2006, estimates of flu-associated deaths in the United States ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people. Flu season usually peaks in late January or early February. The best defense against the flu remains the flu vaccine and it's not too late to get vaccinated, the CDC said. The agency recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older get vaccinated. This year's vaccine appears to be well matched for the circulating flu strains, the CDC said. A recent report put the vaccine's effectiveness at 62 percent. No vaccine is 100 percent effective. But if flu strikes, vaccination often results in milder illness, the agency said. People can visit this U.S. government website to see where vaccine is available in their area. As of Jan. 25, 134.2 million doses of flu vaccine had been distributed to vaccine providers in the United States for the 2012-2013 season. Two antiviral medications, Tamiflu and Relenza, can reduce flu symptoms and the course of the disease. To be effective, however, they must be started within 48 hours after symptoms appear. Flu symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, head and body aches, and runny nose. People at particular risk for flu and its complications are pregnant women, those 65 and older and anyone with a chronic illness. The CDC urges these people to get the flu vaccine, which is available as an injection or nasal spray and in a stronger dose for seniors. Calls For Gun Control "Not" About The Children: It’s about stealing liberty & acquiring more power It’s “not” all about the children; Bloomberg, Schumer, Emanuel, Feinstein, Reid & Warner are statist totalitarians. They’re playing on emotions to advance their agenda. They don’t care about children. If they cared about children, they’d be weeping over the thousands of children that Obama has killed with drone strikes & air raids in 4 countries. If they cared about children, they’d be outraged that 2,000 babies are aborted every day in America, many on the verge of being born. If they cared about children, they would oppose (CAFE) standards that have made cars lighter - and, therefore, deadlier - and mandated air bags that have caused the deaths of thousands of children & adults in car crashes. These politicians don’t care about children. All they care about is stealing liberty & acquiring more power. If a few kids die along the way, well… never let a crisis go to waste; eh, Rahm Emanuel? Calls For Gun Control "Not" About The Children: It’s about stealing liberty & acquiring more power   December 19, 2012 by Bob Livingston   Personal Liberty Digest -- On Saturday, a couple advocating gun control held vigil in front of the White House. "It’s for the children." That, in essence, is the crux of the new impetus to institute stricter gun laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last week. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Chuck Schumer, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Senator Diane Feinstein —  even pro-gun Senators Harry Reid and Mark Warner — are now turning to more gun laws as the answer. It’s all about the children. That’s what they say. And looking at the faces of the children taken from us, it’s emotionally easy to agree with them. After all, who can understand such a heinous act as taking a rifle into a school and gunning down a bunch of 6-year-olds? But who are Bloomberg, Schumer, Emanuel, Feinstein, Reid and Warner? They are statist totalitarians. They’re playing on emotions — the emotions of a grieving populace — to advance their agenda. They don’t care about children. They’re disingenuous. How do I know? If they cared about children, they’d be weeping over the thousands of children that President Barack Obama has killed with drone strikes and air raids in Pakistan, Libya, Syria and Africa. If they cared about children, they’d be outraged that 2,000 babies are aborted every day in America, many on the verge of being born. If they cared about children, they would oppose corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards that have made automobiles lighter — and, therefore, deadlier — and mandated air bags that have caused the deaths of thousands of children and adults in car crashes. Politicians don’t care about children. All they care about is stealing liberty and acquiring more power. If a few kids die along the way, well… never let a crisis go to waste; eh, Rahm Emanuel?   Don’t Be A Fool and Fall For The Media’s Biased Distortion Of The NRA Proposal For Armed Guards In Schools: Take Some Time To Read It and Think About It and It Makes A Lot Of Sense. Aren’t Our Children and Grandchildren Worth It? How have our nation's priorities gotten so far out of order? Think about it. We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. American airports, office buildings, power plants, courthouses — even sports stadiums — are all protected by armed security. We care about the President, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents. Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by armed Capitol Police officers. Yet when it comes to the most beloved, innocent & vulnerable members of the American family — our children — we as a society leave them utterly defenseless, and the monsters & predators of this world know it and exploit it. That must change now! Gun-Free School Zones tell every insane killer that schools are their safest place to murder. Don’t Be A Fool and Fall For The Media’s Biased Distortion Of The NRA Proposal For Armed Guards In Schools: Take Some Time To Read It and Think About It and It Makes A Lot Of Sense. Aren’t Our Children and Grandchildren Worth It? NRA NRA Press Conference December 21, 2012   WAYNE LAPIERRE The National Rifle Association's 4 million mothers, fathers, sons and daughters join the nation in horror, outrage, grief and earnest prayer for the families of Newtown, Connecticut ... who suffered such incomprehensible loss as a result of this unspeakable crime. Out of respect for those grieving families, and until the facts are known, the NRA has refrained from comment. While some have tried to exploit tragedy for political gain, we have remained respectfully silent. Now, we must speak ... for the safety of our nation's children. Because for all the noise and anger directed at us over the past week, no one — nobody — has addressed the most important, pressing and immediate question we face: How do we protect our children right now, starting today, in a way that we know works? The only way to answer that question is to face up to the truth. Politicians pass laws for Gun-Free School Zones. They issue press releases bragging about them. They post signs advertising them. And in so doing, they tell every insane killer in America that schools are their safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk. How have our nation's priorities gotten so far out of order? Think about it. We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. American airports, office buildings, power plants, courthouses — even sports stadiums — are all protected by armed security. We care about the President, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents. Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by armed Capitol Police officers. Yet when it comes to the most beloved, innocent and vulnerable members of the American family — our children — we as a society leave them utterly defenseless, and the monsters and predators of this world know it and exploit it. That must change now! The truth is that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters — people so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons that no sane person can possibly ever comprehend them. They walk among us every day. And does anybody really believe that the next Adam Lanza isn't planning his attack on a school he's already identified at this very moment? How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame — from a national media machine that rewards them with the wall-to-wall attention and sense of identity that they crave — while provoking others to try to make their mark? A dozen more killers? A hundred? More? How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation's refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill? And the fact is, that wouldn't even begin to address the much larger and more lethal criminal class: Killers, robbers, rapists and drug gang members who have spread like cancer in every community in this country. Meanwhile, federal gun prosecutions have decreased by 40% — to the lowest levels in a decade. So now, due to a declining willingness to prosecute dangerous criminals, violent crime is increasing again for the first time in 19 years! Add another hurricane, terrorist attack or some other natural or man-made disaster, and you've got a recipe for a national nightmare of violence and victimization. And here's another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal: There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people. Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: it’s called Kindergarten Killers. It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it? Then there’s the blood-soaked slasher films like "American Psycho" and "Natural Born Killers" that are aired like propaganda loops on "Splatterdays" and every day, and a thousand music videos that portray life as a joke and murder as a way of life. And then they have the nerve to call it "entertainment." But is that what it really is? Isn't fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography? In a race to the bottom, media conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate and offend every standard of civilized society by bringing an ever-more-toxic mix of reckless behavior and criminal cruelty into our homes — every minute of every day of every month of every year. A child growing up in America witnesses 16,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the time he or she reaches the ripe old age of 18. And throughout it all, too many in our national media ... their corporate owners ... and their stockholders ... act as silent enablers, if not complicit co-conspirators. Rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonize lawful gun owners, amplify their cries for more laws and fill the national debate with misinformation and dishonest thinking that only delay meaningful action and all but guarantee that the next atrocity is only a news cycle away. The media call semi-automatic firearms "machine guns" — they claim these civilian semi-automatic firearms are used by the military, and they tell us that the .223 round is one of the most powerful rifle calibers ... when all of these claims are factually untrue. They don't know what they're talking about! Worse, they perpetuate the dangerous notion that one more gun ban — or one more law imposed on peaceful, lawful people — will protect us where 20,000 others have failed! As brave, heroic and self-sacrificing as those teachers were in those classrooms, and as prompt, professional and well-trained as those police were when they responded, they were unable — through no fault of their own — to stop it. As parents, we do everything we can to keep our children safe. It is now time for us to assume responsibility for their safety at school. The only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Would you rather have your 911 call bring a good guy with a gun from a mile away ... or a minute away? Now, I can imagine the shocking headlines you'll print tomorrow morning: "More guns," you'll claim, "are the NRA's answer to everything!" Your implication will be that guns are evil and have no place in society, much less in our schools. But since when did the word "gun" automatically become a bad word? A gun in the hands of a Secret Service agent protecting the President isn't a bad word. A gun in the hands of a soldier protecting the United States isn't a bad word. And when you hear the glass breaking in your living room at 3 a.m. and call 911, you won't be able to pray hard enough for a gun in the hands of a good guy to get there fast enough to protect you. So why is the idea of a gun good when it's used to protect our President or our country or our police, but bad when it's used to protect our children in their schools? They're our kids. They're our responsibility. And it's not just our duty to protect them — it's our right to protect them. You know, five years ago, after the Virginia Tech tragedy, when I said we should put armed security in every school, the media called me crazy. But what if, when Adam Lanza started shooting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday, he had been confronted by qualified, armed security? Will you at least admit it's possible that 26 innocent lives might have been spared? Is that so abhorrent to you that you would rather continue to risk the alternative? Is the press and political class here in Washington so consumed by fear and hatred of the NRA and America’s gun owners that you're willing to accept a world where real resistance to evil monsters is a lone, unarmed school principal left to surrender her life to shield the children in her care? No one — regardless of personal political prejudice — has the right to impose that sacrifice. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no national, one-size-fits-all solution to protecting our children. But do know this President zeroed out school emergency planning grants in last year's budget, and scrapped "Secure Our Schools" policing grants in next year's budget. With all the foreign aid, with all the money in the federal budget, we can’t afford to put a police officer in every school? Even if they did that, politicians have no business — and no authority — denying us the right, the ability, or the moral imperative to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm. Now, the National Rifle Association knows that there are millions of qualified active and retired police; active, reserve and retired military; security professionals; certified firefighters and rescue personnel; and an extraordinary corps of patriotic, trained qualified citizens to join with local school officials and police in devising a protection plan for every school. We can deploy them to protect our kids now. We can immediately make America's schools safer — relying on the brave men and women of America’s police force. The budget of our local police departments are strained and resources are limited, but their dedication and courage are second to none and they can be deployed right now. I call on Congress today to act immediately, to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every school — and to do it now, to make sure that blanket of safety is in place when our children return to school in January. Before Congress reconvenes, before we engage in any lengthy debate over legislation, regulation or anything else, as soon as our kids return to school after the holiday break, we need to have every single school in America immediately deploy a protection program proven to work — and by that I mean armed security. Right now, today, every school in the United States should plan meetings with parents, school administrators, teachers and local authorities — and draw upon every resource available — to erect a cordon of protection around our kids right now. Every school will have a different solution based on its own unique situation. Every school in America needs to immediately identify, dedicate and deploy the resources necessary to put these security forces in place right now. And the National Rifle Association, as America's preeminent trainer of law enforcement and security personnel for the past 50 years, is ready, willing and uniquely qualified to help. Our training programs are the most advanced in the world. That expertise must be brought to bear to protect our schools and our children now. We did it for the nation's defense industries and military installations during World War II, and we'll do it for our schools today. The NRA is going to bring all of its knowledge, dedication and resources to develop a model National School Shield Emergency Response Program for every school that wants it. From armed security to building design and access control to information technology to student and teacher training, this multi-faceted program will be developed by the very best experts in their fields. Former Congressman Asa Hutchinson will lead this effort as National Director of the National School Shield Program, with a budget provided by the NRA of whatever scope the task requires. His experience as a U.S. Attorney, Director of the Drug Enforcement Agency and Undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security will give him the knowledge and expertise to hire the most knowledgeable and credentialed experts available anywhere, to get this program up and running from the first day forward. If we truly cherish our kids more than our money or our celebrities, we must give them the greatest level of protection possible and the security that is only available with a properly trained — armed — good guy. Under Asa’s leadership, our team of security experts will make this the best program in the world for protecting our children at school, and we will make that program available to every school in America free of charge. That's a plan of action that can, and will, make a real, positive and indisputable difference in the safety of our children — starting right now. There'll be time for talk and debate later. This is the time, this is the day for decisive action. We can't wait for the next unspeakable crime to happen before we act. We can't lose precious time debating legislation that won’t work. We mustn't allow politics or personal prejudice to divide us. We must act now. For the sake of the safety of every child in America, I call on every parent, every teacher, every school administrator and every law enforcement officer in this country to join us in the National School Shield Program and protect our children with the only line of positive defense that's tested and proven to work. And now, to tell you more about the program, I'd like to introduce the head of that effort — a former U.S. congressman, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas and former administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Honorable Asa Hutchinson. Thank you, Wayne. ASA HUTCHINSON One of the first responsibilities I learned at Homeland Security was the importance of protecting our nation’s critical infrastructure, and there is nothing more critical to our nation’s well being than our children’s safety. They are this country’s future and her most precious resource. We all understand that our children should be safe in school, but it is also essential that the parents have confidence in that safety. As a result of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, that confidence has been shattered. Assurance of school safety must be restored with a sense of urgency. That is why I am grateful that the NRA has asked me to lead a team of security experts to assist our schools, parents and communities. I took this assignment on one condition: That my team of experts will be independent and will be guided solely by what are the best security solutions for the safety of our children while at school. Even though we are just starting this process, I envision this initiative will have two key elements: First, it would be based on a model security plan — a comprehensive strategy for school security based on the latest, most up-to-date technical information from the foremost experts in their fields. This model security plan will serve as a template — a set of best practices, principles and guidelines that every school in America can tweak, if needed, and tailor to their own set of circumstances. Every school and community is different, but this model security plan will allow every school to choose among its various components to develop a school safety strategy that fits their own unique situation, whether it's a large urban school, a small rural school or anything in between. Armed, trained, qualified school security personnel will be one element of that plan, but by no means the only element. If a school decides for whatever reason that it doesn't want or need armed security personnel, that of course is a decision to be made by parents at the local level. The second point I want to make is that this will be a program that doesn't depend on massive funding from local authorities or the federal government. Instead, it'll make use of local volunteers serving in their own communities. In my home state of Arkansas, my son was a volunteer with a local group called "Watchdog Dads," who volunteer their time at schools to patrol playgrounds and provide a measure of added security. Whether they're retired police, retired military or rescue personnel, I think there are people in every community in this country, who would be happy to serve, if only someone asked them and gave them the training and certification to do so. The National Rifle Association is the natural, obvious choice to sponsor this program. Their gun safety, marksmanship and hunter education programs have set the standard for well over a century. Over the past 25 years, their Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program has taught over 26 million kids that real guns aren't toys and, today, child gun accidents are at the lowest levels ever recorded. School safety is a complex issue with no simple, single solution. But I believe trained, qualified, armed security is one key component among many that can provide the first line of deterrence as well as the last line of defense. And I welcome the opportunity to serve in this vital, potentially lifesaving effort. Thank you very much.   Jan. 18, 2013 to Jan. 25, 2013Health Highlights **Smokers Face Large Health Insurance Penalties Under Obamacare: Wonder how big government will control your lifestyle behaviors with future Obamacare penalties? **New Medical Robot Approved by FDA. **At Least 1 in 5 Infected During Swine Flu Pandemic. **NYC Sugary Drink Rule Challenged in Court. **NFL Sued by Junior Seau's Family. **Petition to Reclassify Marijuana Rejected by Appeals Court. **Drug Co. Analysis Predicted High Failure Rate for Hip Implant. **Study Will Test Drug for Alzheimer's Prevention. **FDA Approves 3 New Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes. **People Overestimate the Happiness New Purchases Will Bring. Health Highlights (Jan. 18, 2013 to Jan. 25, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Smokers Face Large Health Insurance Penalties Under Obamacare: Wonder how big government will control your lifestyle behaviors with future Obamacare penalties? Tobacco penalties in the Affordable Care Act could mean that millions of smokers could be unable to afford health insurance, experts warn. Starting Jan. 1, 2014, the act allows health insurances to charge 50 percent higher premiums for smokers buying individual policies, the Associated Press reported. That means that the penalty could be as much as nearly $4,250 more per year for a 55-year-old smoker and as much as nearly $5,100 for a 60-year-old smoker. Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties. Workers with company plans would not be hit with the tobacco penalties if they joined programs to help them quit smoking, the AP reported. Nearly one in five U.S. adults smokes. The rate is higher among low-income Americans, who are also more likely to have jobs that don't provide health insurance and would therefore have to buy individual insurance. ----- New Medical Robot Approved by FDA A self-guided rolling robot that can connect doctors with patients anywhere in the world has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The RP-VITA Remote Presence Robot is equipped with its own stethoscope and can be connected to equipment such as an ultrasound. When connected to a hospital's server, the robot can show MRIs, CT scans and X-rays to doctors in distant locations, the Boston Herald reported. The robot, a joint effort by iRobot and InTough Health, is the first FDA-approved remote presence system that includes independent navigation. It will enable remote physician-patient consultations and ensure that doctors have the information they need to take immediate action. "Eighty percent of victims of stroke, for example, the third leading cause of death, have blockages that need to be treated in the first three hours by a drug to save the patient from dying, but there's a shortage of stroke neurologists," Yulun Wang, CEO of California-based InTouch Health, told the Herald. "By using these robots, you can extend the reach of these specialists to the 5,000 to 6,000 hospitals in the United States," Wang said. ----- At Least 1 in 5 Infected During Swine Flu Pandemic Between 20 and 27 percent of people worldwide were infected with H1N1 swine flu during the 2009 pandemic, a new study suggests. The death rate among infected people was less than 0.02 percent, however. The highest rate of infection was in children, with 47 percent of those aged 5 to 19 showing signs of having caught the virus, according to the analysis of data from 19 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, China and India. The rate of infection was lower in seniors, at only 11 percent of people aged 65 and older, according to the study in the journal Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. While these findings are based on data from 19 countries, the researchers believe infection rates were similar in countries where data was not available. The study was an international collaboration led by the World Health Organization and Imperial College London in the U.K. "Knowing the proportion of the population infected in different age groups and the proportion of those infected who died will help public health decision-makers plan for and respond to pandemics," study senior author Dr. Anthony Mounts, of the World Health Organization, said in an Imperial College London news release. "This information will be used to quantify severity and develop mathematical models to predict how flu outbreaks spread and what effect different interventions may have," he explained. ----- NYC Sugary Drink Rule Challenged in Court New York City's limit on the size of sugary drinks is reasonable and necessary, and the health board has the authority to enact it, a lawyer for the city's health department said in court Wednesday. The rule was implemented because there is an obesity epidemic in the United States and there's scientific proof that sugary drinks are a major contributor to the problem, Thomas Merrill, the city health department's chief lawyer, told Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling, the Associated Press reported. The limit on sugary drinks is being challenged by the American Beverage Association and other opponents. A lawyer for the association told the judge that the rule is an "extraordinary infringement" on consumer choice. Critics are also questioning the racial fairness of the regulation -- saying that it will unduly harm minority businesses and "freedom of choice in low-income communities" -- as well as the health board's power to approve the rule, the AP reported. The measure, which did not go before city council, was approved by the city Board of Health in September and is scheduled to take effect March 12. The rule forbids restaurants, bars, move theaters and other outlets from selling high-sugar beverages in containers bigger than 16 ounces. ----- NFL Sued by Junior Seau's Family The NFL is being sued by the family of former linebacker Junior Seau, who say his suicide was the result of a brain disease caused by hits to the head he suffered during his football career. In the wrongful death lawsuit filed Wednesday, Seau's family accuses the NFL of "acts of omission" that hid the dangers that players faced due to repeated blows to the head, the Associated Press reported. The lawsuit says Junior Seau developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) as a result of head injuries. Seau was 43 when he died of a self-inflicted gunshot in May 2012. Tests conducted after his death revealed that he had CTE, it was recently revealed. "We were saddened to learn that Junior, a loving father and teammate, suffered from CTE," Seau's family said in a statement released to the AP. "While Junior always expected to have aches and pains from his playing days, none of us ever fathomed that he would suffer a debilitating brain disease that would cause him to leave us too soon. "We know this lawsuit will not bring back Junior. But it will send a message that the NFL needs to care for its former players, acknowledge its decades of deception on the issue of head injuries and player safety, and make the game safer for future generations." The Seaus are also suing football helmet maker Riddell Inc., accusing the company of negligence in the "design, testing, assembly, manufacture, marketing, and engineering of the helmets" used by NFL players, the AP reported. The helmets were unreasonably dangerous and unsafe, according to the lawsuit filed in the California Superior Court in San Diego. The NFL has consistently denied allegations similar to those in the Seau family's lawsuit. More than 3,800 players have sued the NFL over head injuries in at least 175 cases, the AP reported. More than 100 of the concussion lawsuits have been brought together in Philadelphia. ----- Petition to Reclassify Marijuana Rejected by Appeals Court A petition to reclassify marijuana from its current status in the United States as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use was rejected Tuesday by a federal appeals court. The petition was submitted by several individuals and three medical marijuana groups, the Associated Press reported. In 2011, a petition to change marijuana's classification was rejected by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Tuesday's appeals court ruling came a few months after Colorado and Washington state legalized marijuana for recreational use. In his majority opinion Tuesday, Judge Harry Edwards noted that the issue wasn't whether marijuana may have some medical benefits, but rather whether the DEA's decision to reject the petition was "arbitrary and capricious," the AP reported. The appeals court concluded that this was not the case. ---- Drug Co. Analysis Predicted High Failure Rate for Hip Implant An internal Johnson & Johnson analysis revealed that the company believed that an all-metal hip implant would fail within five years in nearly 40 percent of patients who received the device. The company recalled the Articular Surface Replacement in mid-2010. The analysis was conducted in 2011 but never released, according to newly disclosed court documents, The New York Times reported. At the same time it was conducting the analysis, Johnson & Johnson was publicly playing down a British implant registry's similar findings about the hip implant's early failure rate. The analysis also indicates that the device is likely to fail prematurely over the next few years in thousands more patients in addition to those who have already undergone surgery to replace it, the Times reported. The analysis is among hundreds of internal Johnson & Johnson documents expected to be made public as the first of more than 10,000 lawsuits over the all-metal hip implant prepares to go to trail this week. ----- Study Will Test Drug for Alzheimer's Prevention An experimental drug called solanezumab will be used in a large U.S. government-funded study that will assess if it's possible to prevent Alzheimer's disease in seniors at high risk for the brain disorder. Previous research found that the drug -- which is meant to help clear the amyloid plaques that are a main cause of Alzheimer's -- did not help patients with moderate to severe disease, the Associated Press reported. However, solanezumab did show some promise in people with milder Alzheimer's and researchers believe it might help this group of patients. "The hope is we can catch people before they decline," Dr. Reisa Sperling, who is director of the Alzheimer's center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and will help lead the new study, told the AP. The clinical trial will include 1,000 people ages 70 to 85 whose brain scans reveal plaques but who do not yet show any signs of dementia. The patients will receive monthly infusions of either solanezumab or a placebo for three years. The main objective of the study will be to slow the rate of the patients' mental decline. Sperling said the research will be conducted at 50 locations in the U.S. and possibly others in Australia, Europe and Canada, the AP reported. Solanezumab is an Eli Lilly & Co. drug. About five million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's, which is the most common type of dementia. Current medicines can easy symptoms, but there is no known cure. ----- FDA Approves 3 New Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes FRIDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Friday approved three new medications to help people battle type 2 diabetes. All three drugs contain a new active ingredient, alogliptin, either alone or in combination with other, previously approved medications. The newly approved drugs include Nesina (alogliptin), Kazano (alogliptin plus metformin) and Oseni (alogliptin plus pioglitazone), the FDA said in a news release. "Controlling blood sugar levels is very important in the overall treatment and care of diabetes," Dr. Mary Parks, director of the Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the statement. "Alogliptin helps stimulate the release of insulin after a meal, which leads to better blood sugar control." More than 24 million people in the United States are currently affected by type 2 diabetes, which is closely linked with obesity. In the type 2 form of the disease, people gradually develop resistance to insulin or fail to produce enough of the hormone, resulting in rising blood sugar levels. That can lead to other health problems, such as heart disease, vision problems and neural or kidney dysfunction. The FDA urges that the new medications be used in combination with a healthy diet and exercise to help bring diabetes under control. All of the drugs underwent study either as stand-alone products or used alongside standard diabetes medications such as sulfonyureas or insulin. In the case of Nesina, the drug showed safety and effectiveness across 14 clinical trials, involving more than 8,500 patients, according to the FDA. The most common side effects included stuffy or runny nose, headache, and upper respiratory tract infections. Kazano's safety and effectiveness were tested in four clinical trials involving more than 2,500 patients. Side effects included those seen with Nesina, as well as diarrhea, high blood pressure and back pain, the FDA said. The agency is also requesting that a "boxed warning" be included on Kazano's labeling, highlighting the potential risk of lactic acidosis (lactic acid buildup in the blood), which can occur in products containing metformin. Oseni was studied in four clinical trials involving more than 1,500 patients, the FDA noted. Side effects were similar to those seen with Nesina, as well as back pain. Oseni's labeling will also carry a boxed warning, this time cautioning users about the risk for heart failure that accompanies drugs containing pioglitazone. The drugs will also be subject to what are known as "post-marketing studies," aimed at spotting any emerging risks. For example, studies looking at heart and liver issues are mandated for Nesina, while studies focused on potential liver and pancreas problems are mandated for both Kazano and Oseni, the FDA said. All three drugs are distributed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals America Inc., of Deerfield, Ill. ----- People Overestimate the Happiness New Purchases Will Bring By Amy Norton, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- They say money can't buy happiness, and a new study suggests that's true for even the most materialistic. Instead, the study found, these folks seem to be happiest right before they buy a coveted item. Once they have the purchase in hand, their joy fades quickly. The findings may not be all that surprising, experts say. But the notion that you're a lot happier before a big buy than after -- particularly if you're on the more materialistic side -- had not been "empirically tested" before, said Brent McFerran, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who was not involved in the new research. In real life, you might be able to think of times when you've anticipated an important purchase, then felt let down after buying it. But whether you learn from that, and stop putting so much stock in "stuff" is another matter, McFerran said. "With big purchases, we're not making them that often," McFerran said. So you might not remember that last car did not actually bring you lasting joy. "Or," McFerran said, "you might think, just because that car didn't make me happy doesn't mean this flat-screen TV won't. For some of us, there's always this hope -- a belief in 'retail therapy.'" But based on the new findings, recently reported online in the Journal of Consumer Research, that therapy does not have lasting effects. For the study, Marsha Richins, a professor of marketing at the University of Missouri in Columbia, surveyed 329 undergraduates on three separate occasions. In the first survey, the students were asked about an important purchase they expected to make during that semester; the later surveys asked them how they felt after the buy. Richins also separated the group into those with "high" or "low" materialism -- based on how much the students said they valued possessions in their lives. It turned out that the highly materialistic students were more happy and excited than their peers shortly before buying their desired item. That changed quickly in the weeks afterward, however, Richins found. In a separate survey -- this one of 180 U.S. consumers -- Richins found some hints as to why materialistic people get so excited pre-purchase: They tend to believe that the car, flat screen or laptop will somehow transform their lives for the better. People with low levels of materialism were less prone to believing purchases could have wide-reaching effects on their lives -- even if they really wanted that car or TV. But before those folks get too smug, other research suggests that, on average, everyone expects a bit too much from the things they buy, said Tom Meyvis, an associate professor of marketing at the NYU Stern School of Business, in New York City. And it's not only the cars and electronics, according to Meyvis. People also expect too much of the puppy they adopt, or the vacation they take -- even though, Meyvis noted, it often turns out that "vacations aren't that great." "People tend to overestimate how much events and experiences will affect their happiness in the long run," Meyvis said. "In the long term, it doesn't matter. You go back to your baseline level of happiness." The problem is, people typically don't learn that. If you believe that things or experiences will make you happier in your life, that belief tends to be "sticky," Meyvis noted. And you may selectively remember that one time that a new car did make you feel better for a while. So what to do? Both Meyvis and McFerran suggested putting more thought into your purchases -- at least the big ones. Notice if you want an item because you think it's going to make you happier, and then try to remember the last time you believed that, and how it turned out. "If you're aware of this, maybe you'll consider things more deeply," McFerran said, "And that might stem some purchases." Our Most Dangerous Enemy: Voters helping Obama create a dictatorship because they are so addicted to “the redistribution-of-wealth” [the theft of others’ hard-earned income through excessive taxes] culture As President Barack Obama and others on the far left know full well, a dictatorship is precisely what unsustainable debt and a collapsed economy can lead to. One of the surest ways to bring about a dictatorship is through runaway inflation which is caused by massive increases in the money supply in a frantic effort to continue paying for unsustainable government programs. Ultimately, people become panicked, and anarchy and chaos result. The government then “has no choice” [the choice Obama created] but to resort to strong-armed totalitarian measures to “restore order.” Our Most Dangerous Enemy: Voters helping Obama create a dictatorship because they are so addicted to “the redistribution-of-wealth” [the theft of others’ hard-earned income through excessive taxes] culture   Personal Liberty Digest: June 07, 2011 -- The question of Constitutionality increasingly appears to be off the table when it comes to debating major fiscal issues. While some conservative commentators are on the right side of most issues, they are careful to stay "in bounds." The last thing in the world any political pundit wants is to be seen as an extremist by his colleagues. Recently, I watched a panel of think-tank experts debate how best to solve our country’s fiscal problems. What caught my attention was that no one — not even the free-enterprise spokesmen from the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation and the Free Enterprise Institute — so much as alluded to the unConstitutionality of any of the myriad government programs that have caused these problems. What does this mean? Simply that the far left in this country has, for all practical purposes, already succeeded in fundamentally transforming America, regardless of who the next President is. The problem is that even though many conservatives are experts when it comes to debating the factual side of fiscal issues, they seem to accept — by default — the false premise that government transfer-of-wealth programs are Constitutional. At least one motivating force behind this sad situation is pragmatism. For example, both Dick Morris and Donald Trump have opined that Republicans are committing suicide with Paul Ryan’s proposed plan to overhaul Medicare. And they could very well be right. Morris is a strategy genius when it comes to elections, so it’s no surprise that his opinion is based on what he believes is necessary to win the next election. I get it. But if conservatives fear that Ryan’s addressing the single biggest fiscal problem facing the U.S. will result in re-electing a Marxist President, it says a lot about the decline of America as a virtuous nation. More to the point, it means most voters are so addicted to our redistribution-of-wealth culture that they will vote against anyone who dares to threaten that culture. Thus, the question of Constitutionality increasingly appears to be off the table when it comes to debating major fiscal issues such as the deficit, the debt ceiling, unfunded Medicare and Social Security liabilities, and redistribution-of-wealth programs ranging from unemployment benefits to food stamps. I was again reminded of this while watching another recent debate on the aforementioned Medicare issue, this one between Ryan and Democrat Chris Van Hollen. These two men know the numbers on Medicare inside and out, but Ryan’s approach to solving the Medicare crisis is based on free-market solutions, while Van Hollen believes in government solutions. I have great respect for Ryan, but I was disappointed that he didn’t address the question of whether Medicare is even Constitutional. It’s as though the default position in every debate is that the program being discussed is Constitutional — even if it’s not. Put another way, regardless of how conservative any particular participant may be, political debates are almost always based on the false premise that the Constitution is irrelevant. And as polling numbers regarding Ryan’s Medicare proposal demonstrate, more than half the nation’s voters agree with that false premise. But there’s another subject that is avoided even more than the question of Constitutionality. In fact, it is virtually never mentioned by politicians or commentators. The subject I am referring to is dictatorship. Even if some members of Congress are knowledgeable enough about world history to be concerned about the dangers of a dictatorship befalling the U.S., they dare not mention the word out loud for fear of being labeled an alarmist or conspiracy nut. And yet, as President Barack Obama and others on the far left know full well, that is precisely what unsustainable debt and a collapsed economy can lead to. One of the surest ways to bring about a dictatorship is through runaway inflation, which is caused by massive increases in the money supply (popularly referred to inside the Beltway as "quantitative easing") in a frantic effort to continue paying for unsustainable government programs. Ultimately, people become panicked, and anarchy and chaos result. The government then "has no choice" but to resort to strong-armed totalitarian measures to "restore order." When pundits and politicians say things like "Barack Obama will have no choice but to start dramatically cutting back on spending," "the President is going to have to come to grips with the reality that market forces always prevail," etc., they ignore the fact that a dictatorship can override reality with an iron fist. For example, under a dictatorship, oil prices can be whatever the dictator (or oligarchy) wants them to be. And anyone can own a house if the government mandates that others give it to him free of charge. Just about anything is possible through the use of force. Roll your eyes if you wish, but do yourself a favor and stay alert for a possible drastic change in the American way of life as we continue to move briskly down the road to financial ruin. Do not be deluded into believing America is immune to the same consequences that have destroyed so many other nations. Having said this, I hasten to add that Obama and his progressive allies are not our biggest threat. In fact, they would be as hapless as were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels if it were not for the avarice of benefit-addicted voters who have no desire to compete in the free market for their livelihoods. With this in mind, I would argue it isn’t so much that people get the government they deserve. Rather, they get the government that reflects their own values. If a majority of Americans are willing to ignore the Constitution and demand that their transfer-of-wealth largess remain intact no matter how obvious the cataclysmic long-term consequences may be, they will vote for politicians they believe are most likely to keep the government redistribution-of-wealth machine well-oiled and running. Thus, instead of complaining about corrupt politicians, Americans need to take a good look in the mirror and start thinking long and hard about their own tainted morals, as well as what kind of nation they want to leave their children and grandchildren. While the far left is certainly an enemy of freedom, if Americans are willing to look in the mirror, they might just recognize that (to put a twist on comic-strip character Pogo’s famous quotation) the most dangerous enemy is us. –Robert Ringer Jan. 11, 2013 to Jan. 18, 2013Health Highlights **U.S. Lawmakers Seek Information From Energy Drink Companies. **New Rules for All-Metal Hip Implants Proposed by FDA. **Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice Health Claims Barred by FTC. **Eleven Infected at U.S. Biological Labs Between 2004 and 2010. **FDA Sends Warning Letter to Medical Device Maker. **Obesity Issue Addressed in New Coca-Cola Ad. **Test Home for Radon Gas: EPA. **Armstrong Admits to Doping, But Details Lacking. **Your Genetic Secrets May Not Be as Safe as You Think. **Uncontrolled Risk Factors Put Stroke Survivors in Danger. Health Highlights (Jan. 11, 2013 to Jan. 18, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: U.S. Lawmakers Seek Information From Energy Drink Companies Companies that sell caffeinated energy drinks are being asked to provide information about their products' ingredients and any studies they've conducted into the products' risks and benefits to children and young people. The request was made in letters sent by three Democratic lawmakers to 14 marketers of the beverages, The New York Times reported. The letters were sent by Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Recipients of the letters included Monster Beverage, Rockstar, Red Bull, and the makers of 5-Hour Energy (Living Essentials), Amp (PepsiCo), NOS (Coca-Cola), and Venom Energy (Dr. Pepper Snapple). Among other things, the lawmakers asked the companies to specify the total amount of caffeine in their energy drinks. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug started investigating the safety of energy drinks after reports of deaths and injuries potentially associated with the beverages. A federal report released last week said that the number of annual emergency department visits involved the drinks doubled from 2007 to 2011, The Times reported. ----- New Rules for All-Metal Hip Implants Proposed by FDA Makers of artificial hips with all-metal components would have to prove the devices are safe and effective under new rules proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This proof would be required in order to continue selling current all-metal hip implants or to obtain FDA approval for new all-metal designs, The New York Times reported. About 500,000 people in the U.S. have received all-metal hip implants, in which the ball and cup component is made from a metallic alloy. However, many of these implants are failing early and thousands of patients have had to undergo costly and painful operations to replace the devices. In addition, hundreds of patients may have suffered severe tissue and bone damage after all-metal hip implants released tiny particles of debris. Some of those patients have been left disabled, The Times reported. ----- Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice Health Claims Barred by FTC The makers of Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice are not allowed to make any claim that the drink is effective in curing or treating health conditions such as heart disease and prostate cancer, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday. In a 5-0 ruling, the FTC upheld an administrative law judge's decision that the makers of the beverage deceptively advertised their products. The commission also said that food companies making specific claims about the health benefits of their products will have to provide evidence from randomized clinical trials, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a statement, Pom Wonderful said it "categorically rejects the FTC's assertion that our advertisements made any misleading disease treatment or other health claims." The company also said the FTC was ignoring millions of dollars of scientific research and history on the benefits of pomegranate juice, WSJ reported. ----- Eleven Infected at U.S. Biological Labs Between 2004 and 2010 At least 11 staff members at U.S. biological laboratories were infected with dangerous pathogens between 2004 and 2010, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. None of the infected workers died. The CDC said the infection rate of 1.6 per 100,000 workers was far lower than the rate of general occupational illnesses in scientific and research sites, the Associated Press reported. "If you look at the report as a whole, it's a success story," report co-author Robbin Weyant told the AP. Weyant oversees CDC regulation of about 70 "select agents and toxins" considered a severe threat to human, animal or plant health. "We have about 10,000 people a year working in these laboratories. To have such a small number of confirmed infections over nearly a decade, I think, is quite good," Weyant said. The report was published in the January issue of the journal Applied Biosafety. ----- FDA Sends Warning Letter to Medical Device Maker Problems with manufacturing and quality control at a California plant where medical device maker St. Jude Medical makes implantable heart defibrillators are outlined in a warning letter sent to the company by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company said it is working to correct the problems at the plant. The FDA will not approve any new product lines at the plant until the problems are corrected, but is not asking St. Jude to recall any products, the Associated Press reported. The company also said that it was allowed to continue making and shipping products from the plant. During an October examination of the plant, FDA inspectors identified inconsistencies in the production and documentation of defibrillators, which are implanted in the chest to correct heart rhythm problems, the AP reported. ----- Obesity Issue Addressed in New Coca-Cola Ad Coca-Cola will begin airing a two-minute television ad on Monday addressing the issue of obesity. The ad by the world's leading beverage maker will appear during the highest rated shows on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. It will note that weight gain is the result of consuming too many calories from all types of food and drink, not just soda, the Associated Press reported. It will also highlight Coca-Cola's record of providing drinks with fewer calories. The Atlanta-based company said the ad campaign is the first in a number of obesity-related initiatives over the next year, such as providing more diet choices at soda fountains, the AP reported. ----- Test Home for Radon Gas: EPA Americans can reduce their risk of lung cancer by testing their homes for radon gas, the Environmental Protection Agency says. "Testing for radon is one of the easiest and smartest things people can do to protect their homes and families from this serious health risk," Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, said Monday in an agency news release. "Addressing high radon levels greatly reduces exposure to the second leading cause of lung cancer." Each year, 21,000 Americans die from radon-related lung cancer. Radon gas occurs naturally from the decay of uranium in the soil and can accumulate to dangerous levels inside homes, schools, workplaces and other buildings. Exposure to elevated levels of the colorless, odorless gas is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. As part of National Radon Action Month, the EPA says that all buildings with or without basements should be tested for radon. Affordable do-it-yourself radon test kits are available online and at home improvement and hardware stores. People can also hire qualified radon testers. Action should be taken if radon levels are at or above 4 picoCurries per liter. Have the work done by a qualified radon-reduction contraction, the EPA says. ----- Armstrong Admits to Doping, But Details Lacking After years of denying allegations that he doped, disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey that he did use performance enhancing drugs. In his admission made during an interview broadcast Thursday, Armstrong said he used a cocktail of drugs -- including testosterone, cortisone, human growth hormone and the blood booster EPO -- for most of his cycling career, The New York Times reported. He said his doping program was simple and conservative, even though the United States Anti-Doping Agency said its evidence shows that the doping scheme on Armstrong's Tour de France-winning teams was "the most sophisticated, organized and professionalized" in the history of cycling. Armstrong, 41, also denied the anti-doping agency's charge that he was the kingpin of the doping programs on his cycling teams, and he did not provide any details about his doping. The fallen cycling hero showed little contrition when asked about the people he called liars and tried to discredit when they went public with allegations about his doping, The Times reported. These include former team masseuse Emma O'Reilly and former teammate Frankie Andreu and his wife Betsy. Armstrong had called O'Reilly a prostitute and an alcoholic and had said that Betsy Andreu was crazy. At one point, Armstrong said he had been a bully his entire life, but contradicted himself a minute later by saying that he became a bully after he survived cancer and resumed his cycling career, The Times reported. He also initially claimed that he never failed a drug test. But after being pressed by Winfrey, Armstrong admitted that he received a backdated prescription from a team doctor after he tested positive for cortisone at the 1999 Tour de France. Armstrong did not do what many hoped for: he did not apologize directly to all the fans, cancer survivors and other people he deceived. He never looked into the camera and said, without qualification, "I'm sorry," The Times reported. People close to Armstrong say the interview was his first step in trying to get the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to reduce his lifetime ban from Olympic sports. Armstrong had been trying to establish himself in triathlon after retiring from competitive cycling. While Armstrong's admission in the interview is "a step in the right direction," he needs to provide details about his doping activities to officials, said Travis Tygart, the chief executive anti-doping Agency. "Anything he says on TV would have no impact whatsoever under the rules on his lifetime suspension," Tygart told The Times. ----- Your Genetic Secrets May Not Be as Safe as You Think By Lisa Esposito, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- When people submit personal genetic material for scientific research they expect to remain anonymous, but a new study demonstrates that the privacy of male volunteers in particular could be breached. In a report that appears in the Jan. 18 issue of the journal Science, researchers say they were able to determine the identities of nearly 50 people who had undergone genome sequencing. Only males could be directly identified because the scientists used information found only on the Y chromosome. The first step was going online and pulling up the anonymous but unique information. "Right now in genomics, we have databases that are publicly available and they contain thousands of genomes -- but without explicit identifiers, without the name and the surname of the person," explained study author Yaniv Erlich. "What we've shown is that you can take a genome from this publicly available database for research, and analyze the Y chromosome in this genome if this is a male." That may be possible for Erlich -- a distinguished fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research -- but what about someone without specialized knowledge? "You need some skills to do that," he said. "There are available tools that you can use, but you need to know what to do. It's not like a layperson can start tomorrow doing this research. Surely there is some learning curve." But, he added, "You don't need a lab, just a computer with Internet connection." The next step involved genetic genealogy sites -- such as Family Tree DNA -- that allow people to search for their ancestors. "So we analyze the Y chromosome, and then you can take this data and go to a different database of recreational genetic genealogy," Erlich said. "And some of these databases, they have a search engine where you can plug these Y chromosome markers in search for matches." And if the anonymous genome specimen donor is related to anyone on the ancestor search site -- voila, the last name appears. "And it wouldn't have to be their brothers," Erlich said. "We found it could be your second cousin, once removed. It can be even larger than that. It can propagate quite far on your family tree -- this connection between a surname and the Y chromosome." Women -- who only have X chromosomes and who rarely pass their surnames on through generations -- cannot be directly identified with this method. Even though researchers had uncovered the last name, another step remained. "There are tens of thousands of people in the U.S. with [the same] surname," Erlich said. But, he noted that HIPAA [the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] privacy rules allow participants' ages and state to be posted on research databases. Once age, state and name are all revealed, he said, the possibilities narrow to about 12 people. Internet search tools and other public information can further allow a user to pinpoint an individual. "If you look at the genomes of someone, you can see predisposition for certain [medical] conditions, but maybe this is not the most sensitive information," Erlich said. For instance, he noted, evidence of non-paternity within a family could be revealed. Medical insurers aren't allowed to deny coverage based on genetic data, he said, but life insurers are not prevented from doing so. Laura Lyman Rodriguez, director of the Office of Policy, Communications and Education in the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute, discussed the balance between protecting privacy and advancing science and health. "Tightening security or locking down data is not always the best answer," said Rodriguez, who co-wrote an editorial accompanying the study. Genomic databases provide a huge, vastly improved pool of knowledge for scientists everywhere, she said. With the Human Genome Project, it was decided to put all information "into the public domain within 24 hours of it being produced," she explained. "So it wasn't then only a benefit to those trying to complete mapping the genome and the production of the sequence itself, but also to begin using it to understand biology, which can then improve health; to look at what genes might be contributing to disease." Rodriguez and Erlich emphasized both the importance of sharing public data and the need for full disclosure to research participants. "We want to be open and transparent with the participants. We want to tell them the benefits -- and I'm not diminishing the benefits," Erlich said. "We want to tell them the risks. And we are very open and clear about the risks: You might be identified. It's about autonomy. It's about empowering these people who take this and form their decision." Rodriguez said the study highlights the need to stay on top of privacy issues. "There are privacy protections in place for participants and we just need to make sure that those remain up to date with the technology and methods and information available to the public, so that they remain as robust as we want them to be and the public wants them to be," she said. ----- Uncontrolled Risk Factors Put Stroke Survivors in Danger FRIDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- People who survive a type of stroke called a subarachnoid hemorrhage still have a higher risk of death, particularly if they continue to smoke and do not keep their blood pressure and cholesterol levels low, a new study warns. A subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel just outside the brain bursts and the area between the brain and skull fills with blood. The study included 233 people in Finland who were alive one year after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage. They were followed for an average of nearly nine years. During that time, 88 (about 38 percent) of the patients died. The death rate for the subarachnoid hemorrhage patients was about twice that of the general population. The increased risk of death among subarachnoid hemorrhage patients was solely due to problems with the blood circulation in the brain, such as stroke or internal bleeding. The risk of death was particularly high among patients who smoked and had high blood pressure and cholesterol levels before the subarachnoid hemorrhage. The risk of death among subarachnoid hemorrhage survivors was 31 people per 1,000 person-years higher than among people in the general population who did not smoke and low blood pressure and cholesterol levels, the University of Helsinki researchers found. "In other words, if 20 out of 100 nonsmokers with low blood pressure and cholesterol would die within the next 10 years, the figure for (subarachnoid hemorrhage) survivors would be 51," study author and neurosurgeon Miikka Korja said in a university news release. The findings show that it "is particularly important for subarachnoid hemorrhage survivors to refrain from smoking and to take care of their blood pressure and cholesterol levels; apart from age, these are the primary factors behind the increased risk of mortality," Korja concluded. The study was published online Jan. 9 in the journal Neurology. “A Fool’s Paradise Is A Wise Man’s Hell.” Shame On The Fools Who Rushed In To Re-Elect Marxist Obama So That We All Can Continue To Suffer With His Treacherous, Disguised Destruction of America and The American Dream. The Obama voting fools have bought into Obama’s socialist, marxist -- and dare we say, communist -- principles; they just don’t give a damn if they live off of and/or enhance their lifestyles at the expense and demise of their over-taxed-hard-working neighbors, friends and fellow countrymen. Too easily the earners become leeches and the free become slaves when promised that someone else will do the hard work for them, that someone else will take the big risks for them, and that someone else will earn the big over-taxed money for them. [Today, about 10% of the American population pays for roughly 75% of income taxes]. Or we could say that the Obama voting fools are adults acting exactly like little children that are still dependent upon mommy and daddy. “A Fool’s Paradise Is A Wise Man’s Hell.” Shame On The Fools Who Rushed In To Re-Elect Marxist Obama So That We All Can Continue To Suffer With His Treacherous, Disguised Destruction of America and The American Dream.   By William Shildt November 07, 2012 -- Of course, it wasn’t just the fools that were fooled by Obama that helped re-elect him. There were also the fools that don’t care if they are being fooled by Obama; these fools just wanted Obama re-elected for their own selfish interests, and they said to hell with their country as long as they get their share of the money that others earn with their hard work and risks. They’ve bought into Obama’s socialist, marxist -- and dare we say, communist -- principles; they just don’t give a damn if they live off of and/or enhance their lifestyles at the expense and demise of their over-taxed-hard-working neighbors, friends and fellow countrymen. There are basically two types of fools in the crowd that don’t care if they’re being fooled by Obama. The first type of this don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool are the fools that have allowed themselves to become dependent upon government handouts [government handouts meaning government tax money that in reality is hard-earned money taken [stolen] from over-taxed hard-working people]. And unfortunately, there are more of this type of don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fools than you may think. Almost 50% of Americans who could be and should be paying federal income taxes do not pay federal income taxes; 49.1% of American households receive some form of direct benefits from the federal government; 91 million Americans are dependent on the government in some way; 60% of Americans now receive more benefits from the federal government than they pay in taxes; and only 63% of the working-age, civilian population in the U.S. has a job -- an all-time low.  That’s why most of these don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fools voted for Obama along with his higher taxes, free-ride healthcare and communist principles; after all, it’s easier in many of these fools’ minds for them to take someone else’s hard-earned over-taxed money than to learn how to earn it for themselves. The second type of don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool crowd are the government employees and big union members. They’re totally supported by the over-taxed-hard-working-earners and most of them just don’t give a damn whose money pays for their big salaries, lush benefits, and rich retirement pensions [a rich retirement pension means a retired government employee gets paid a significant income for not-working by the money of over-taxed-hard-working-earners  who typically retire with no retirement pension whatsoever]. Most of the government employees and big union members simply don’t give a damn if they live large or larger on the over-taxed-hard-working-earners that they force to live small and smaller. You see, this type of don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool government employee and big union crowd wants to reap [steal] the just rewards of those over-taxed-hard-working-hard-earning American-Dream-Risk-Takers that they envy and despise; and they want to do this without ever taking any risks whatsoever in their no-risk guaranteed for life government jobs. Problem is that the two types of don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool crowd will eventually start to significantly outnumber the over-taxed-hard-working-hard-earning American-Dream-Risk-Takers; and they will because the over-taxed-hard-working hard-earning American-Dream-Risk-Takers will eventually give up. They will give up simply because they will grow weary of working hard and taking risks only to have such a large percentage of their overtaxed earnings being stolen by the government to help support the don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool crowd. Today, about ten percent [10%] of the American population pays for roughly 75% of income taxes.  The over-taxed-hard-working-hard-earning American-Dream-Risk-Takers not only will give up, but too many of them will join the free-ride don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool crowd. And when enough of them do that, there simply won’t be enough money from the depleted over-taxed-hard-working-hard-earning American-Dream-Risk-Takers to support the government handout, government employee, and big union crowds. That’s why communist countries such as the USSR failed and that’s why good old American capitalism is helping to revive that country that was doomed by the don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool crowd that supported communist leaders like Obama. A past conversation with a former neighbor sadly foretells the coming death of America, the death of the American Dream, and the death of the over-taxed-hard-working-hard-earning American-Dream-Risk-Taker. That former neighbor and his spouse are both government employees. One day in discussing the local government, he expressed to me that he just didn’t give a damn what the government might do to detrimentally change the neighborhood as long as he got his fair share of the wealth that Obama was spreading around. At that point I reminded him that Obama’s give-away-wealth was not really wealth coming directly from the government; that Obama’s give-away wealth was really money taken [stolen] from over-taxed-hard-working-hard-earning Americans and American-Dream-Risk-Takers. That they included people such as his neighbors, friends and relatives. That the government really doesn’t give money away by first earning it itself; that they let the taxpayers earn it and then they take [steal] it away with overtaxation. That they then use that money to manipulate and control the don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool crowd’s behavior, such as voting. And guess what, he said he knew all of that; but he still wanted his fair share of the wealth. And there you have your typical don’t-care-if-I’m-being-fooled-fool in the form of a government employee. He demands his fair share of someone else’s money even when it's not fair. Now you know why Obama is getting away with his treacherous, disguised plan to destroy America and the American Dream. The Obama voting fools, such as my former neighbor, are out there actually cheering and celebrating their political and economic enslavement under Obama. Too easily the earners become leeches and the free become slaves when promised that someone else will do the hard work for them, that someone else will take the big risks for them, and that someone else will earn the big over-taxed money for them. Or we could say that the Obama voting fools are adults acting exactly like little children that are still dependent upon mommy and daddy. Shame not only on those who did not know that they were being fooled twice in the last two elections by Obama. But also a huge and disgraceful shame on those who voted twice for Obama and are members of the Don’t-Care-If-I’m-Being-Fooled-Fool crowd. Their votes will come back to haunt them, their children, their grandchildren, and their grandchildren’s children. Unfortunately, the votes of these fools will also haunt the non-fools [and their descendants] who did not vote for Obama. "A fool's paradise is a wise man's hell." -- Thomas Fuller.  Jan. 04, 2013 to Jan. 11, 2013Health Highlights **Obama's Obamacare Causes Many Americans, Including Small Businesses, To Face Double-Digit Increases In Health Insurance Premiums. **FDA Should Approve New Diabetes Drug: Expert Panel. **Medical E-Records Haven't Provided Predicted Cost-Savings. **Major League Baseball to Widen Drug-Testing Program. **Chicken Jerky Dog Treats Recalled. **Device Sucks Food From Stomach, Helps People Lose Weight. **Fisher-Price Sleepers Recalled Due to Mold Problem. **Microwaves Extend Bread Life. **DASH, Weight Watchers Best Diets Overall. **U.S. Supreme Court Refuses Case Challenging Stem Cell Funding. **Prescription Painkillers Trail Only Marijuana in Abuse Rates. Health Highlights (Jan. 04, 2013 to Jan. 11, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Obama's Obamacare Causes Many Americans, Including Small Businesses, To Face Double-Digit Increases In Health Insurance Premiums  Some Americans are facing double-digit increases in health insurance premiums, even though one of the main objectives of the Obama administration's health care law was to curtail rapid boosts in insurance costs. Those most likely to face large premium hikes include small businesses and people who do not have work-provided insurance and must buy it on their own, The New York Times reported. In California, some insurers are seeking rate increases of between 20 and 26 percent for some policy holders. In other states, including Florida and Ohio, insurers have been allowed to raise rates by at least 20 percent for some customers. These increases can amount to several hundred dollars a month, according to The Times. ----- FDA Should Approve New Diabetes Drug: Expert Panel Approval of a new diabetes drug called canagliflozin was recommended Thursday by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel, but several members of the committee had concerns about potentially serious risks associated with the drug. Johnson & Johnson's canagliflozin is one of a new group of drugs that lowers blood pressure by causing blood sugar to be excreted in the urine. Many current diabetes drugs work by affecting the supply or use of insulin, The New York Times reported. The drug would be taken once a day by adults with type 2 diabetes. The advisory panel's recommendation was based on clinical trials or more than 10,000 patients worldwide showing that canagliflozin improved blood sugar levels, lowered blood pressure, and led to weight loss. However, some panel members raised concerns about potential stroke and other cardiovascular risks associated with the drug and its use in patients with impaired kidney function, The Times reported. The FDA typically follows the recommendations of its advisory panels. ----- Medical E-Records Haven't Provided Predicted Cost-Savings The switch to electronic health records in the United States has not yet resulted in hoped-for cost savings or major improvements in efficiency or patient care, according to a new analysis by the RAND Corporation. In 2005, RAND predicted that widespread use of electronic medical records could save the U.S. health care system at least $81 billion a year. RAND's new study says that figure was overstated, The New York Times reported. The new analysis did not put a dollar figure on how much electronic medical records have helped or hindered efforts to reduce health care costs. "We've not achieved the productivity and quality benefits that are unquestionably there for the taking," said Dr. Arthur Kellermann, one of the authors of the new RAND analysis published in this month's edition of the journal Health Affairs. The findings add to concerns about the costs of electronic health record systems and the push for their rapid adoption, The Times reported. ----- Major League Baseball to Widen Drug-Testing Program Major League Baseball, along with its players union, announced Thursday that they had reached a deal on expansion of the sport's drug-testing program. According to the league, blood testing for muscle-enhancing human growth hormone (HGH) will now be conducted in-season, and a new test aimed at catching players who are dosing up on testosterone will also be used, The New York Times reported. Prior to the new agreement, HGH testing was performed only during spring training and the off-season. The move comes a day after players such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens -- each embroiled in drug-doping scandals -- failed to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame because they could not reach the 75 percent of votes from members necessary for induction. According to the Times, Major League Baseball is now outpacing the National Football League in its monitoring of potential doping infractions by players. ----- Chicken Jerky Dog Treats Recalled Several popular brands of chicken jerky dog treats are being recalled because they may be contaminated with unapproved antibiotics. Waggin' Train and Canyon Creek Ranch brand dog treats have been recalled by Nestle Purina PetCare Co., and Chicken Jerky and Chicken Grillers home-style dog treats have been recalled by Milo's Kitchen, which is owned by Del Monte Corp. NBC News reported. The voluntary recalls were announced after New York state agriculture officials said they detected trace amounts of residual poultry antibiotics in several lots of each of the brands of the jerky treat products. Four of the antibiotics detected in the treats are not approved for use in poultry in the U.S., and one is approved for use in poultry in the U.S., but is limited to nearly undetectable levels in the finished product, an official told NBC News. The antibiotics are approved in China, where most of the treats are made, and in other countries, according to statements released by the companies. The detection of the antibiotics in the chicken jerky dog treats does "not raise health concerns" and the issue is "highly unlikely" to be related to reports of pet illnesses and deaths linked to jerky treats dating back to 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a statement released Wednesday. ----- Device Sucks Food From Stomach, Helps People Lose Weight A new device that sucks food out of the stomach can help obese people lose weight, according to the inventors of the appliance. People wait 20 minutes after eating, then use the AspireAssist to empty 30 percent of their stomach contents into the toilet through a tube attached to a port implanted on the outside of the abdomen, ABC News reported. Removing the food prevents absorption of calories, which leads to weight loss, according to the inventors. A one-year trial of 24 obese people found that they lost an average of 49 percent of their excess weight (about 45 pounds) when using the device. AspireAssist has been available in some parts of Europe since 2011. It's currently undergoing trials in the United States but has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, ABC News reported. ----- Fisher-Price Sleepers Recalled Due to Mold Problem About 800,00 Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleepers are being recalled by Fisher-Price due to a problem that could expose infants to mold, which can cause respiratory illnesses and other health problems. Mold can develop between the sleeper's hard plastic frame and removable seat cushion if the sleeper remains wet/moist or is not regularly cleaned. Fisher-Price has received 600 reports of mold on the sleepers and 16 people have reported that their infants received treatment for respiratory issues, coughs and hives after sleeping in the product, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The sleepers were sold at stores across the U.S. and online since September 2009. Consumers with these sleepers should check for mold under the removable seat cushion. The presence of mold is indicated by dark brown, gray or black spots. If there is mold, consumers should immediately stop using the sleeper and contact Fisher-Price for cleaning instructions or further help, the CPSC said. For more information, phone Fisher-Price at 1-800-432-5437 or go to the company's website. ------ Microwaves Extend Bread Life Bombarding bread with microwaves for about 10 seconds will keep the bread mold-free for 60 days, according to a Texas company that developed the new technology. The microwaves kill mold spores, Don Stull, chief executive officer of MicroZap Inc., told the Associated Press. He said the process could eliminate the need for bakers to use preservatives and ingredients to mask the preservatives' flavor. The technology could also increase bread's shelf life and reduce food waste, according to Stull. Mold develops on unrefrigerated bread in plastic packaging after 10 days, so the new technology may prove useful in bread storage and transportation. But it may not do much to protect your bread once you get it home, an expert said. There are thousands of airborne mold spores everywhere and once "you open (the bag of bread), all bets are off," Ruth MacDonald, professor and chair of food science and human nutrition at Iowa State University, told the AP. ----- DASH, Weight Watchers Best Diets Overall The DASH diet is the best overall diet, beating out 28 others, including Jenny Craig, Slim-Fast and Atkins, according to the Best Diets 2013 ranking released by U.S. News & World Report. Weight Watchers was rated the best of 12 commercial diet programs marketed to the public, and the Mediterranean diet was judged to be the best plant-based diet. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) wasn't created to help people lose weight, but rather to fight high blood pressure, according to U.S. News & World Report. The diets were scored by a panel of experts based on short- and long-term weight loss, how easy they are to follow, potential health risks, how well they conform to current nutrition standards, and their ability to prevent and control diabetes and heart disease. ----- U.S. Supreme Court Refuses Case Challenging Stem Cell Funding A challenge to the Obama administration's funding for research using human embryonic stem cells will not be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a one-line written order released Monday, the court backed an appeals-court ruling supporting National Institutes of Health funding guidelines for research involving the stem cells, the Wall Street Journal reported. In 2010, a federal trial judge ruled against funding for the research. But an appeals court later reinstated the funding, ruling in favor of the government on two separate occasions. Supporters of the research say it could lead to new treatments for a wide range of diseases, while opponents question the morality of using embryos, which are destroyed in the process to retrieve the stem cells, WSJ reported. ----- Prescription Painkillers Trail Only Marijuana in Abuse Rates By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Prescription painkillers are second only to marijuana when it comes to drug abuse, a new government report claims. Some 22 million Americans have misused prescription painkillers since 2002, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). "Any time you have 2 percent of the population using medications like this there is a lot to do, but we are doing a lot with a combination of putting tighter controls on who can get these drugs and public education," said Peter Delany, director of SAMHSA's Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. Also, programs such as the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, which allows doctors to track patients who may be getting painkillers from several sources, has helped get a handle on the problem, he added. And although the misuse of prescription painkillers has remained fairly constant over the past few years, the real consequence of the problem is the number of people seeking treatment, he said. "The number of people seeking treatment has come on faster than we thought," Delany said. "The number of people going for treatment for prescription pain drug use has quadrupled from 2004 to 2010 and we have seen a similar increase in what's going on in the emergency room." In 2009, there were nearly 425,000 emergency department visits involving non-medical or inappropriate use of narcotic painkillers and an estimated 15,600 deaths involving these drugs, according to Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, deputy director for regulatory programs at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which is part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Some people are concerned that by cracking down on prescription drug abuse, patients who need these pain medications will not be able to get them. Delany said these concerns must be taken into account as solutions to the problem are crafted and implemented. On Wednesday, the FDA proposed guidelines for drug makers for testing and evaluating new formulations of these drugs that make them harder to abuse by making them more difficult to tamper with so that abusers can "get high." In the SAMHSA report, the abuse of narcotic pain relievers varied state to state; pooled data from 2010 and 2011 found that rates of abuse for those aged 12 or older ranged from 3.6 percent in Iowa to 6.4 percent in Oregon. Seven of the states with the highest rates of narcotic painkiller abuse were in the West -- Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. Four of the states with the lowest rates were in the Midwest -- Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota -- and four were in the South -- Florida, Georgia, Maryland and North Carolina, according to the report. Abuse of these drugs decreased in Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and West Virginia. The report is based on data from the SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which is a survey of approximately 67,500 people across the United States. "The public health community has begun to recognize the scope of the epidemic," said Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, co-director of the Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore. Alexander noted that the problem is partially the result of trying to correct another problem, namely, the under-use of narcotic painkillers to manage pain in those who need it. "One of the factors that has contributed to the epidemic are well-intentioned efforts to try to improve the identification and treatment of patients with pain," he said. Another factor is the heavy marketing of narcotic painkillers by drug makers, Alexander said. In addition, doctors may be dispensing more pills in a prescription than a patient needs, he added. "There is abuse and deception in every step of the pipeline, from warehouse robberies to pharmacy holdups down to theft from people's medicine cabinets, so it's a very complex problem," Alexander said. Another expert, Leo Beletsky, an assistant professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University School of Law & Bouve College of Health Sciences in Boston, is concerned that government efforts to curb narcotic painkiller abuse may go too far. "Government officials have championed a number of solutions drawn primarily from the drug enforcement playbook, such as prescription monitoring programs, prosecutions of doctors accused of over-prescribing, and pill mill raids," Beletsky said. Focusing only on drug supply is short-sighted and dangerous, he noted. "First, it may unduly restrict legitimate patient access to effective pain care and, second, recent data suggests that cutting patients with substance abuse problems off prescription opioid medications may actually push them towards injecting heroin," Beletsky said. "In other words, as we craft solutions to address prescription drug misuse, we must be extremely careful to avoid causing more harm than good," Beletsky added. Along with actions to restrict supply, the answer to this problem must include wider access to substance abuse services, drug treatment, counseling and other investments in the scientifically proven ways to address substance abuse, Beletsky explained. Why Are Obama, Democrats Economically Illiterate?: Government employees live large on the $$ of those they force to live small The people who live in a government world have the same basic income year after year. They know zero about economics or the risks of using their own $$ to run a business on a budget (or go broke & lose everything). In their world, government takes care of you, hands you a check, protects your job for life and allows you to retire early on a $100,000 pension. Their economy is just fine. They are blissfully ignorant & protected from the harsh reality of the real world. Who protects them? Obama & Democratic politicians like him. No wonder they vote for Obama, idolize him & ignore reality to protect him. Their jobs & incomes depend on his benevolence & bribery. But soon, when government announces there is no money to keep paying for 21 million government employees or the bloated pensions of millions of retired government employees, their story will change radically. Why Are Obama, Democrats Economically Illiterate?: Government employees live large on the $$ of those they force to live small  July 26, 2012 by Wayne Allyn Root  Watch the video here: http://personalliberty.com/2012/07/26/why-are-obama-democrats-economically-illiterate/?eiid=  -- or read the text of it below. Welcome to Personal Liberty. I’m Wayne Allyn Root. My commentary today is about the economic ignorance gap between conservatives, capitalists and the dunces on the left. Good old John Edwards was actually right about one thing. He said there were two Americas. Under Obama, the John Edwards fantasy has come true. The first America is represented by those who work in the government sector (who almost always support Obama and vote Democrat) and who think the private sector is doing just fine. The second America is represented by private-sector entrepreneurs, small-business owners and job creators (who almost always support conservative candidates and causes) who know the terrible truth: The economy is in horrible shape. The difference is due to economic ignorance. To save America, we must ignore those in the government sector and start listening to those in the private sector who are living at "ground zero." They are the experts. They have "boots on the ground." They understand firsthand what Obama’s policies have created: complete economic collapse. The dirty secret rarely discussed or explained by the media is this gap between what Americans on the right think of the economy versus what those on the left think. See the polls. Democrats think the economy is in recovery with a bright future. Republicans think the economy is in horrible shape and worsening. How could two groups look at the same economy and see things so differently? Why don’t the media discuss this disparity? The simple truth is the media don’t like the answer. The truth is Democrats who so want to support their President are either delusional or, more likely, ignorant of basic economics. Let’s call them economically illiterate. Quite frankly, it’s hard to blame them. Most Democrats I know work for big government, a big union, a big corporation or the media. They don’t sell anything. They don’t own a business or work on commission. They are paid for just showing up, never based on performance or profits. They don’t know about budgets, profits or losses. They get a safe paycheck every week and have a pretty much guaranteed job for life and a pension when they retire. They are nice people, but they don’t have a clue about what’s really going on, because they don’t sell things on Main Street. Nor do they have any of their own money at risk. Nor do they notice or care if their employer (the government) bleeds billions of dollars in losses. They can see only as far as their own weekly paycheck. Most Democrats simply punch a clock and get paid week in and week out — the same as last year and five years ago and 10 years ago. As a matter of fact, they get automatic raises every year if they work for government. As long as they still have their job (which 99 percent of government employees do), their lives are pretty much untouched by the economic tragedy around us. No one is saying they are bad people. They aren’t. But they sure aren’t experts on how you create jobs or turn around an economy. The private sector is a completely different story. Most of my friends who are Republican, conservative or Libertarian either work for themselves or get paid based on commission or performance (real estate brokers, stockbrokers, insurance brokers, mortgage brokers). They all know that the United States is in total economic collapse and headed for a Greece-like disaster. They know because their incomes are down by 20 percent, 30 percent, 50 percent and more. The private sector is devastated from coast to coast. We are all shell-shocked. We’ve never seen anything like this in our lifetimes. So there you have it. The economic ignorance gap explained. When you want to fix a clogged drain, you don’t call an economist; you call a plumber. When you want to solve a murder, call a police detective. Put out a fire? Call a fireman. You want to learn math? Call a teacher. You want bread? Call a baker. Now, I can’t do any of those things. So calling me would be a big mistake. That’s why we shouldn’t listen to plumbers or bakers or teachers or government employees (even the ones who are heroes) when we want to save our economy or create jobs. You call a job creator. Call a businessman or businesswoman. But don’t call Obama, a community organizer. Don’t call any Democratic politician. You’ll get a Great Depression. Look around. The people who live in a government world have the same basic income year after year. They know zero about economics or the risks of using their own money to run a business on a budget (or go broke and lose everything). In their world, government takes care of you, hands you a check, protects your job for life and allows you to retire early on a $100,000 pension. Their economy is just fine. They are blissfully ignorant and protected from the harsh reality of the real world. Who protects them? Who is their guardian against the realities and harshness of life in the real world? Obama and Democratic politicians like him. No wonder they vote for Obama, idolize him and ignore reality to protect him. Their jobs and incomes depend on his benevolence and bribery. The same goes for members of the media. New York Times columnist and economist Paul Krugman is Exhibit A. Paul Krugman — like most government employees — thinks the answer to the bankruptcy of America due to binge spending by government, is more binge spending by government. They give you Nobel Prizes for that? What’s the category: delusion? Like Krugman, the economic knowledge of Obama’s supporters comes from books. Unfortunately, the books were written by Karl Marx. Then there’s the rest of us, struggling in Obama’s America. Those of us in the private sector, who risk our own money, run our own businesses or are paid based on performance are being decimated, watching as our life’s work is melting away. Forget about paying ourselves; we’re struggling to keep our doors open, make payroll and, now, pay for Obamacare. It’s that bad. Oh, did I forget to mention that we are being hounded and harassed by the IRS like never before in history. How can anyone run a business and create jobs in an environment like this? How about some examples? A Wisconsin flag seller just filed for bankruptcy. In Obama’s economy a patriot can’t make a living selling America flags. Next we’ll hear that Bible sellers are going out of business, too. The ESPN Zone restaurant chain went out of business. Under Obama, you can’t make a living anymore selling cheap food and overpriced beer. Even Vegas is in trouble. The only casinos making money are those whose revenues are mostly from Macao. Their Vegas operations are dying, but they make so much money in China it doesn’t matter anymore. And then there’s the NFL. The richest sport in the world can’t fill stadium seats anymore. Watch any sports event nowadays, and you’ll see wide swaths of empty seats. You can’t sell anything in Obama’s America — not even tickets to popular sports events. Think these are isolated examples? Last week we heard that U.S. manufacturing activity plummeted to the lowest level in 3 years. Then, a few days ago, we got another horrendous jobs report with only 80,000 jobs created in the whole country. This all proves what I’ve been saying for 3 1/2 years: Obama’s toxic ideas have produced a slow-motion economic collapse. Just like in Europe, add together a toxic stew of big taxes, big spending, demonization of business owners, too many government rules and regulations, union intimidation, IRS intimidation, billions wasted on green energy, billions more on high speed rail that no one wants to ride and lawyers trying to sue us all out of business (if the unions, government regulations and IRS haven’t already succeeded), and you get economic disaster. It’s all happening right now, right in front of our eyes. It’s pretty simple to connect the dots. So the economic ignorance gap tells it all. Anyone who makes a living by selling something, anything at all, is in deep trouble. They see an ever worsening disaster under Obama — up close and personal. They fear for the survival of their businesses and they are terrified for the future of America. These are the people we ought to be listening to. The private sector is in distress. We see and feel this Obama Great Depression deepening. The Democrats who tell pollsters "everything is fine" may be nice people, but they are economically ignorant. Dunces. Put them in the corner with a dunce hat. Worse, their gravy train is based on stealing money from Peter (taxpayers) to pay Paul (themselves). So they aren’t just ignorant; they are biased. They have a rooting interest for an economy based on spending more so their gravy train continues. No wonder they think things are just fine. But soon, when government announces there is no money to keep paying for 21 million government employees or the bloated pensions of millions of retired government employees, their story will change radically. Don’t believe me? Just ask a government employee in Greece what the end feels like. Obama’s supporters will soon get a dose of economic reality. I’m Wayne Allyn Root for PersonalLiberty.com. See you next week, same time, same place. God bless. –Wayne Allyn Root Privileged, Pampered Government Employees On Lush Government Pensions, Funded By Hard Working Taxpayers With No Pensions, Will Threaten The American Dream and Wipe Away Our Quality Of Life: America is doomed if we don’t dramatically reform public pensions today Government employees with average jobs are guaranteed $4 million, $5 million or more with pensions for their retirement years; and most of them retire much, much earlier than the normal retirement ages. Meanwhile, the majority of hard working taxpayers, who are paying for these lush retirements, have no pensions and are relegated to living poorly in retirement because of the excessive government taxes they pay during their working years to fund lush government pensions and that severely deplete their possible savings for retirement. Public sector unions are the real threat to our Nation’s future. Government employee pensions will threaten the American dream and wipe away our quality of life. America is doomed if we don’t......... Privileged, Pampered Government Employees On Lush Government Pensions, Funded By Hard Working Taxpayers With No Pensions, Will Threaten The American Dream and Wipe Away Our Quality Of Life: America is doomed if we don’t dramatically reform public pensions today   June 14, 2012 Video by Wayne Allyn Root   Personal Liberty Digest -- June 14, 2012 -- Government employees with average jobs are guaranteed $4 million, $5 million or more with pensions for their retirement years; and most of them retire much, much earlier than the normal retirement ages. Meanwhile, the majority of hard working taxpayers, who are paying for these lush retirements, have no pensions and are relegated to living poorly in retirement because of the excessive government taxes that they pay during their working years to fund lush government pensions and that severely deplete their possible savings for retirement. Public sector unions are the real threat to our Nation’s future. Government employee pensions will threaten the American dream and wipe away our quality of life. America is doomed if we don’t dramatically reform public pensions today. The private sector is strapped, and the public sector is sitting pretty. Private sector taxpayers are angry. We won’t take it anymore. That’s why Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker won last week. Click here to watch the video: http://personalliberty.com/2012/06/14/why-public-employee-unions-lost-big-in-wisconsin-california/?eiid= Is America Now Officially A Banana Republic: One of those corrupt places where treacherous leaders like Obama control the media and the election outcomes Why is the media silent about: Romney won every State requiring voter photo ID; Obama won in closely contested States that require no voter ID; large urban voting precincts where Romney got zero or one vote; Democrats suppressed military voting that was very strong for Romney; the Federal Government’s response to Hurricane Sandy was pathetic & embarrassing & was Obama’s Hurricane Katrina; jobless claims rose by a staggering 78,000 for just the first week after the election; the Government reporting “real unemployment” is 14.6%; Obama claims he supports oil drilling & 2 days after the election he pushes to close 1.6 million acres of Federal land slated for oil shale development; Obama’s secret tape about his love for the central tenant of communism; Libya & the disaster with 4 brave Americans dying because of Obama’s inhumane inaction. Is America Now Officially A Banana Republic: One of those corrupt places where treacherous leaders like Obama control the media and the election outcomes   Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2012/11/22/is-america-now-officially-a-banana-republic/ -- or read the text of it below.  Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. Barack Obama’s election, the events leading up to it and the way the media have treated Obama certainly seem to indicate that America has officially become a Banana Republic. You know, one of those places where leaders control the media and the election outcomes, too. For example, take the election results. Not a word in the mainstream media about massive voting irregularities. Not a word mentioned that Mitt Romney won every State requiring voter photo ID, or that Obama won in closely contested States that require no voter ID, like Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada, Colorado and Pennsylvania. Was there voter fraud? We don’t know. You’d think an investigative reporter somewhere might be interested in this story? Amazingly, the media say nothing. Or how about the impossible fact that in 59 voting precincts in Philadelphia, Romney got zero votes? Statistically impossible. Yet it happened in 59 precincts in one city and nine precincts in Cleveland. And in urban voting precincts in Florida, Illinois and Colorado (States wide open for fraud), Romney got zero votes. In many other inner-city precincts it was 100-1, 450-1, 315-1. This just isn’t possible. Yet the media say nothing. Or what about the historic correlation between voter enthusiasm and winning? In 2008, Obama had all the enthusiasm. Not surprisingly, he won. This time around, polls proved that conservatives had a huge edge in enthusiasm and intensity. The tables had reversed. Romney rallies attracted 20,000 and 30,000 enthusiastic fans, while Obama rallies attracted embarrassingly low numbers. On a personal level, I had reports from hundreds of friends and fans who excitedly reported three- to four-hour lines to vote in suburban conservative and Christian areas across this country. Yet we are told Romney had about 2 million fewer votes than John McCain received in 2008. Impossible. In multiple States there were reports of electronic voting changing Romney votes to Obama votes. Something certainly appears off. Someone should at least be investigating. Yet still the media say nothing. Polls showed military members supported Romney by landslide numbers. So Democrats actively suppressed military voting, doing everything in their power to make it extremely difficult for soldiers to cast a vote. The media say nothing. By the way, none of this may have affected the election results. Romney may have had literally no support from blacks, Latinos, women or college students in many areas of the country. Maybe there was no ballot box stuffing in urban precincts. Maybe Obama’s supporters didn’t vote multiple times with no voter ID required. Maybe the military really didn’t care to vote. But shouldn’t the media be mentioning the controversy? Isn’t it their job to investigate and prove it wrong? Yet the media say nothing. Hurricane Sandy decimates New York and New Jersey. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response is pathetic, embarrassing, close to criminal. No food or water for days. No power for weeks. FEMA did not pre-position the most basic of supplies — like bottled water. They were completely unprepared, incompetent, invisible. This was Obama’s Hurricane Katrina. Yet while Bush was vilified, blamed and called "racist," the media praised Obama, never blamed him; and 15 percent of voters call his response significant in their decision to vote for him on Election Day. Then there’s Benghazi, Libya and the U.S. Consulate disaster. President Obama was warned that our Libyan consulate faced an attack on 9/11. He did nothing. The consulate asked for beefed up security. He did nothing. Four brave Americans died — including our ambassador. Obama’s Administration lackeys watched in real time (with drones filming it all from above) from the comfort of the White House Situation Room. They did nothing. SEAL teams begged for permission to rescue our boys. Obama ordered them to stand down. He not only left them behind, he watched them being murdered. Yet the media say nothing.  Then he covered it all up. CIA Chief General Petraeus reported to Obama, declaring it a terrorist attack. But that reference to terrorism was removed. Obama, Hillary Clinton and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice spent two weeks falsely blaming a YouTube video. Obama referred to the YouTube video four times in a speech at the United Nations two weeks after the attack. This was clearly a cover-up to save Obama’s re-election. This is Watergate with four dead bodies. The media say nothing. Days before the election, out of nowhere, the Obama Labor Department extrapolated that 873,000 new part-time jobs were created in one month. This "miracle" allowed unemployment to miraculously dip below 8 percent after 43 consecutive months. Perfect timing for a politician trained in Chicago fraud politics. The media say nothing. But now that the election is over, the Department of Labor reports new jobless claims rose by a staggering 78,000 for just the first week after election, while The Wall Street Journal reports capital spending by America’s corporations has literally collapsed. I guess the perfectly timed one-month recovery is officially over. Any investigative reporter who reported on this fraud would win journalism awards. Yet no one in the media seems to want the job. The Bureau of Labor & Statistics reports "real unemployment" (called U6) is 14.6 percent. Have you ever heard the media using the 14.6 percent real unemployment number and tying it to Obama? Or did you hear that food stamp growth was faster in Obama’s first term than job growth? During the campaign, the media mysteriously said nothing about those damning statistics. Obama promised to cut the deficit in half; instead, he doubled it, increased the debt by a mind-numbing $5 trillion and presided over the first credit downgrade in U.S. history. Obama’s 43 consecutive months of unemployment above 8 percent was more than all the months over 8 percent from Presidents Harry Truman to George W. Bush combined. Did you ever hear the media mention that fact? During the campaign, the media said nothing.  How about Obama’s secret tape about his love for "income redistribution" (the central tenant of socialism)? The media repeatedly pounded Romney’s 47 percent tape into every voter’s subconscious, but mysteriously ignored Obama’s tape for the entire campaign. During the Presidential debates, Obama lied repeatedly. The biggest whopper was his claim he supported oil drilling. Facts proved drilling permits were down 60 percent under Obama. Two days after the election, Obama issued a plan to close 1.6 million acres of Federal land in the West originally slated for oil shale development. Still the media say nothing. The media never mention Obama’s schedule. We are in a Great Depression II. Our economy is in the worst crisis since 1929. And Obama’s entire year 2012 was filled with golf, basketball, fundraising, campaign rallies and "morning zoo" media appearances. How is there any time left to deal with the economy? Well, there’s not. Obama’s Jobs Task Force has not found the time to meet in almost a year. The media say nothing. Nothing to see folks. There is no story. Just move along. The story I’ve just told you could be expected in Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea or Zimbabwe. I would never have guessed in America that the mainstream media would take their marching orders directly from the President. It sure appears that we are now officially living in a Banana Republic. I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. See you right back here next week. Same time, same place. God Bless. Dec. 28, 2012 to Jan. 04, 2013Health Highlights **U.S. Whooping Cough Cases Highest in More Than 50 Years. **FDA Sends Warning to Cantaloupe Farm Behind Salmonella Outbreak. **Makers of Brand-Name Opioid Painkillers Fight New Generics. **Four Retailers Recall 'Nap Nanny' Recliners Tied to 5 Infant Deaths. **Flu Cases Rise Across U.S., Severe Season Feared. **Low Vitamin D in Early Pregnancy Tied to Lower Birth Weight. **Experts Challenge Americans to Reduce Salt Intake. **People Underestimate How Much They Might Change in the Future: No matter the age, people thought they were already the person they'd remain for rest of their lives. Health Highlights (Dec. 28, 2012 to Jan. 04, 2013) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: U.S. Whooping Cough Cases Highest in More Than 50 Years Almost 42,000 cases of whooping cough were reported in the United States last year, the most since 1955, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the final tally could climb even higher, perhaps reaching 50,000 when all the CDC data is in, the Associated Press reported. On a positive note, deaths from the bacterial infection dropped to 18 for the year, probably because of better diagnosis and treatment during outbreaks, experts told the news agency. The severity of whooping cough (pertussis) varies over periods of several years, and experts said it was particularly virulent in 2012. Also, the current whooping cough vaccine has a shorter lifespan than an earlier version, which could help explain the rise in cases. Anyone can get whopping cough, but it is especially dangerous and potentially deadly in infants. ----- FDA Sends Warning to Cantaloupe Farm Behind Salmonella Outbreak The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent a warning letter to the cantaloupe farm tied to a deadly salmonella outbreak last year. The outbreak sickened at least 260 people across 24 states, killing three people in Kentucky, CBS/AP reported, and the FDA has now warned Chamberlain Farms of Owensville, Ind., to fix unsanitary conditions at its facilities. According to the FDA, investigators found "accumulated organic material" on conveyors and algae-filled standing water on floors at Chamberlain Farms. Bird droppings were discovered on rafters directly above food products, the FDA added. According to the FDA letter, "allowing birds to roost in your packing facility could allow them to defecate directly on to food products during conveyance, grading and sorting," CBS/AP reported. In August, the salmonella outbreak caused federal health officials to warn consumers away from cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana, and a DNA test later confirmed Chamberlain Farms as the source. The farm voluntarily recalled its watermelons from the market last September, CBS/AP reported. ----- Makers of Brand-Name Opioid Painkillers Fight New Generics As the makers of generic versions of opioid painkillers prepare to bring their cheaper products to market this month, the companies that produce brand-name versions of these powerful medications continue to fight the effort. According to a report published in The New York Times, both Purdue Pharma and Endo Pharmaceuticals have introduced tamper-resistant versions of Oxycontin and Opana that are difficult to crush or melt, so it's harder for people to abuse the drugs. Both companies claim the move was motivated by concerns for public safety, and the companies have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require the same tamper-resistant design from the generic drug makers. So far, their efforts have been stymied. Last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Endo that would have kept generic versions of its drug, Opana, from going on sale in January. In court papers, the FDA said the lawsuit was a "thinly veiled attempt [by Endo] to maintain its market share and block generic competition," the Times reported. Dr. Douglas C. Throckmorton, deputy director of regulatory programs at the FDA, told the Times that a guidance is expected to be issued this month that would detail what kind of data would be required to show that a tamper-resistant design would make an opioid painkiller more difficult to abuse. "We understand the value in developing appropriate abuse-resistant technology, and we want to find a way of incentivizing that," Throckmorton said. "But we also understand the value of generics for patients." One recent study, funded by Purdue Pharma and published in the Journal of Pain, did find that the number of people treated at drug-abuse clinics who said they had abused Oxycontin fell significantly following the introduction of the tamper-resistant version of the painkiller. One expert told the Times that the issue is complicated. "I think it is great that the industry is creating innovative strategies," said Dr. Daniel Alford, a professor at the Boston University School of Medicine. "But these drugs are expensive." He also noted that the labeling of any potentially dangerous drug as being safer could eventually lead to other safety problems. ----- Four Retailers Recall 'Nap Nanny' Recliners Tied to 5 Infant Deaths The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced Thursday that four major retailers are joining in a voluntary recall of the Nap Nanny infant recliner, after the product was linked to the deaths of five infants. The recliner is made by Baby Matters LLC, of Berwyn, Pa. Retailers participating in the recall include Amazon.com, Buy Buy Baby, Diapers.com and Toys R Us/Babies R Us, the CPSC said in a news release. "At the request of the CPSC, these retailers have agreed to voluntarily participate because the manufacturer is unable or unwilling to participate in the recall," the agency said. According to the CPSC, the Nap Nanny Generation One and Two, and the Chill model infant recliners carry design defects tied to 92 reports of babies hanging out of the recliner or falling out, even though they were restrained by a harness. Priced around $130, more than 155,000 of the recliners are thought to have been sold since 2009, the CPSC said. Consumers who have one of the models listed above should contact the retailer from which they purchased it for information on returning the product, the agency said. ----- Flu Cases Rise Across U.S., Severe Season Feared By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- In Chicago, a hospital employee describes the emergency department as "knee-deep in flu and pneumonia cases." In Richmond, Va., Dr. Kenneth Lucas of the Patient First clinic says he's seen a 30 percent rise in flu cases, which "hit the fan around Christmastime" and "really rolled in with the holidays." And in Rhode Island, where almost 10 percent of emergency room visits in the past week were due to flu-like symptoms, state Health Department Director Michael Fine predicts this could be the worst flu season in years. This year's influenza season got off to an early start, and according to these and other published accounts it's ramping up as peak flu season nears. "We did get off to an earlier start than we usually see," said Tom Skinner, spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "As we have moved into the end of December and January, activity has really picked up in a lot more states." Flu season usually peaks in late January or early February, Skinner said, but by November the flu was already severe and widespread in some parts of the South and Southeast. Farther north, activity has escalated in the Mid-Atlantic states, including Virginia, in addition to Illinois and Rhode Island. According to the latest CDC statistics, which run through Dec. 29, a total of 41 states were reporting widespread flu activity. There have been 18 flu-related deaths of children so far. Experts say each flu season is unique. "Why one year flu season gets off to an early start versus a late start is unknown," Skinner said. Last year's flu season was relatively mild, Skinner noted. "We would expect this year's flu season will be more severe than last year, but how severe it's too early to say," he said. The predominant strain so far this year is H3N2, Skinner said. "In years past when we have seen an H3N2 dominate, we tend to see more severe illness in young kids and the elderly," he added. An estimated 36,000 people die from the flu and its complications in a typical season, according to the CDC. From 1976 to 2006, estimates of flu-associated deaths in the United States ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people. The best protection is for everyone 6 months of age and older to get the flu vaccine. "It's not too late to get vaccinated," Skinner said. Ample vaccine was made available, but since it's late in the vaccination season it may be a little harder to find, he said. Also encouraging is that the vaccine is a good match for the strains of flu circulating now, Skinner said. Flu symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, head and body aches, and runny nose. People at particular risk for flu and its complications are pregnant women, those 65 and older and anyone with a chronic illness. The CDC urges these people to get the flu vaccine, which is available as an injection or nasal spray and in a stronger dose for seniors. ----- Low Vitamin D in Early Pregnancy Tied to Lower Birth Weight FRIDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin D deficiency early in pregnancy may increase the risk of having a baby with a lower birth weight, according to a new study. Researchers looked at vitamin D levels in blood samples collected from more than 2,000 U.S. women who gave birth to full-term babies. Although the original collection was done between 1959 and 1965, the blood samples were well preserved. Women with vitamin D levels of less than 0.015 parts per million in their first 26 weeks of pregnancy had babies who weighed an average of about 1.6 ounces less than normal, according to the study, which was published in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. In addition, women who were vitamin D deficient during their first 14 weeks of pregnancy were twice as likely to have babies whose weight was in the lowest 10 percent, which means they were small for gestational age. Babies born small for gestational age have a higher risk of dying in their first month or developing chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes later in life, said the researchers, from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy could cause low birth weight by hindering the typical increase in calcium absorption by the mother, which could reduce bone growth in the fetus, the study authors said. Vitamin D deficiency could also cause a decrease in the hormones needed to produce the glucose and fatty acids that provide energy for the fetus. "This is one of the largest studies to examine a mother's vitamin D levels and their relationship with birth weights," study senior author Lisa Bodnar said in a University of Pittsburgh news release. "It shows that clinical trials to determine if you can improve birth weights by giving women of reproductive age vitamin D supplements may be warranted." Although the study suggested an association between pregnant women's vitamin D levels and babies' birth weights, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. ----- Experts Challenge Americans to Reduce Salt Intake FRIDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Americans can dramatically reduce their daily salt intake by cutting bread, cold cuts and cured meats from their diet, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Limiting condiments and reading nutritional labels are other ways to kick a high-sodium habit, the experts noted in an association news release. They also said people can change their palate and enjoy foods with less salt in just 21 days. The heart and stroke experts are launching a three-week Sodium Swap Challenge on Jan. 7. The group is calling upon Americans to identify and track the Salty Six -- the foods in their diet loaded with extra salt that increase their risk for heart disease and stroke. The goal is for Americans to limit sodium intake to no more than 1,500 milligrams each day. Currently, the typical American consumes more than twice that. "To get started with the association's challenge, we ask that consumers get familiar with the food labels and nutrition facts for the foods they eat and track their sodium consumption over the first two days to get an idea of how much they are eating, which I'm sure will be surprising to many people," said Rachel Johnson, spokeswoman for the associations and professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont. "Then, over the course of the next three weeks, consumers will use the Salty Six as their guide to help lower their sodium intake." During the first week of the challenge, Americans are asked to limit consumption of bread, rolls, cold cuts and cured meats. A slice of bread can contain more than 200 mg of sodium and one serving of turkey cold cuts as much as 1,050 mg. It's also recommended that you check food labels and track sodium consumption daily. For the second week, Americans are asked to opt for lower-salt versions of pizza and poultry. The idea is to choose foods with less cheese or meat and more vegetables. Poultry should also be skinless and not processed or fried. Focus on soup and sandwiches during the third week, the associations said. Soups often contain up to 940 mg of sodium per serving. Layering meats, cheese and condiments to a sandwich can add more than 1,500 mg of sodium. After three weeks, the experts said challenge participants should notice a difference in how they feel after eating and how their food tastes. ----- People Underestimate How Much They Might Change in the Future: No matter the age, people thought they were already the person they'd remain for rest of their lives By Randy Dotinga, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Think you're done becoming you? Think again. A new study suggests that while adults like to believe that their opinions and perspectives are pretty much set in stone, no matter their age, their views may change more than they think in the future. The study had weaknesses. It didn't actually track people over time to see how their opinions changed, and those who took part weren't chosen at random. The findings relied only on people who participated in an online survey after watching a French TV show, and just 20 percent of them were men. Still, study co-author Daniel Gilbert, a professor in the department of psychology at Harvard University, said the research offers important insight into how people view themselves and their ability to change. "It's hard to imagine ourselves in the future. That mistakenly causes us to think we won't change in the future," he said. "What our study shows is that people dramatically underestimate how different their future selves will be." The study's main findings were based on a survey of over 7,500 adults aged 18 to 68 who responded to questions on the website of a French TV show devoted to the secrets of happiness. Eighty percent of those who responded were women. The participants answered questions designed to gather information about their personality in areas such as conscientiousness and emotional stability. Then they answered the questions again, imagining that they'd answered them 10 years earlier or 10 years later. (The youngest participants weren't asked about their feelings 10 years ago, and the oldest weren't asked about how they think they'd feel 10 years from now.) Then the researchers compared the answers with those of people who were actually 10 years older or 10 years younger. The findings indicated that people of specific ages think they'll change less in 10 years than those who are actually 10 years older think they changed over the past decade. This suggests, but doesn't prove, that people underestimate how much they'll change over the next decade. It's possible that people looking back didn't have a good handle on the past or tried to put a positive spin on how they'd evolved. Why does this matter? Because it shows people's inability to predict the future, Gilbert said. "All of our decisions are made with a future self in mind, whether we're shopping for what we'll eat next week or a partner we want to marry," he said. "Most people believe they have the right values. It's comforting to believe that change has basically stopped. Isn't that what you want to do when you're on a trip? You feel good when you're getting to where you're heading." Susan Krauss Whitbourne, a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, questioned the study's value and validity. "The research has so many questions that I don't consider it particularly useful in terms of the findings," she said. For one, she said, a huge percentage of the participants were women, and it's not clear how well they represent the general population. When asked about this, study author Gilbert said it's impossible for any study to accurately represent the population at large. Whitbourne added that "the selection of a 10-year interval to use as the basis for prediction bias seems arbitrary. Why not five, eight or 15? Ten years is just a round number, but it has no intrinsic meaning in the way that people think about their lives." The study is published in Jan. 4 issue of the journal Science. Signs Of Societal Collapse In America: The Obvious And The Hidden. As the collapse continues and escalates, look for violence to also escalate. People get more desperate as they get hungrier [real unemployment is above 22% in Obama’s economy]. Desperate people do desperate things In America, societal collapse is evident through continued & escalating currency devaluation, the collapse & non-recovery of the housing market, the growing number of individual bankruptcies, high unemployment & business failures. Other signs: particularly the loss of civility; the glorification beyond all reason of athletic events, athletes & celebrities; and the increase in the “me-first” & entitlement mindset aren’t discussed in the media. One clue being missed by the masses is the growing lawlessness of the Nation’s youth — particularly black youth. The media is intentionally overlooking, if not suppressing, the growing incidences of youth mob violence, particularly in cases of black-on-white crime. Signs Of Societal Collapse In America: The Obvious And The Hidden. As the collapse continues and escalates, look for violence to also escalate. People get more desperate as they get hungrier [real unemployment is above 22% in Obama’s economy]. Desperate people do desperate things   December 14, 2012 by Bob Livingston -- Personal Liberty Digest Societal collapse manifests itself in many ways. The clues are there for the discerning to see. In America, societal collapse is evident through continued and escalating currency devaluation (quantitative easing to infinity), the collapse and non-recovery of the housing market, the growing number of individual bankruptcies, high unemployment and business failures. These things are at least making news headlines, though in a way that plays down their significance. Other signs — particularly the loss of civility; the glorification beyond all reason of athletic events, athletes and celebrities; and the increase in the "me-first" and entitlement mindset — aren’t discussed in the media. One clue being missed by the masses is the growing lawlessness of the Nation’s youth — particularly black youth. That is by design. The whore media is intentionally overlooking, if not suppressing, the growing incidences of youth mob violence, particularly in cases of black-on-white crime. But mobs, like the 44th Street Crew in Southeast Washington, D.C., are becoming more prevalent and more dangerous. They and others are terrorizing riders of the Metro, and posting it to social media for all to see. Just another isolated incident? Hardly. According to the Website UnsuckDCMetro (a blog dedicated to covering Metro events), reports of violence rarely make it to The Washington Post, even though they are occurring and have been for some time. One anonymous reader posted his experience in witnessing a group of six to eight teenagers assaulting a lone teenage girl. He said he called 911; less than a minute later, another girl was being assaulted.  Other reports are here, here and here. When these websites post details of the incidents, commenters follow up with their own experiences. Sometimes these are as bad as or worse than the original incident. Thomas Sowell writes that there is an uncensored race war in America and that incidents that are occurring across the country are being ignored or suppressed. "What the authorities and the media seem determined to suppress is that the hoodlum elements in many ghettoes launch coordinated attacks on whites in public places. If there is anything worse than a one-sided race war, it is a two-sided race war, especially when one of the races outnumbers the other several times over," he wrote last summer. Black mobs are taking over stores, overwhelming them with sheer numbers and walking out with all the merchandise they can carry. They are engaging in uprovoked violence called "knockout games" where they calmly approach an unwary victim and cold cock him or her in an effort to render the victim unconscious. Walter E. Williams writes that in addition to a growing number of black-on-white incidents, there are also an increasing number of black-on-Asian attacks. But also being ignored by the media is black-on-black crime. This shouldn’t be surprising. Blacks are suffering disproportionally in the President Barack Obama economy. According to official (and doctored) unemployment numbers put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment in the black community is above 13 percent, almost twice the rate of all unemployment. For blacks under the age of 20, the official rate is 39.4 percent. Since real unemployment is above 22 percent (when all unemployed workers are counted), black unemployment may be near 40 percent and black under 20 unemployment is, no doubt, much worse. As the collapse continues and escalates, look for violence to also escalate. People get more desperate as they get hungrier. Desperate people do desperate things. Arab spring was just a picnic. The Fiscal Cliff Is A Phony Crisis and Government Debt Is A World-Class Delusion: They are tools used to justify theft and redistribution of tax payer money pitting the have-nots against the haves, while the 1% (government workers and elected class) make out like the bandits they are “Obama’s plan to increase taxes on the rich will generate only enough revenue to fund the government for 8 days. What Obama doesn’t tell you is that income taxes don’t fund the government. There is no debt. Government debt is a world-class delusion. It is a tool used to justify theft & redistribution. It has worked to perfection, pitting the have-nots against the haves, while the 1% (government workers & elected class) make out like the bandits they are.” Meanwhile, the envious Obama-voting-fools are enraged over the idea that someone has the audacity to earn higher incomes than they do by working harder, by thinking harder, and by taking more risks than they do. The Fiscal Cliff Is A Phony Crisis and Government Debt Is A World-Class Delusion: They are tools used to justify theft and redistribution of tax payer money pitting the have-nots against the haves, while the 1% (government workers and elected class) make out like the bandits they are   December 3, 2012 By Bob Livingston -- The Fiscal Cliff is A Mirage, But A Real Cliff is Ahead Personal Liberty Digest -- Don’t worry over the so-called fiscal cliff. It is just the latest in a long line of crises created by the elected sociopath class as another ploy to extract more wealth from the middle class and further advance its agenda. The cliff you need to worry about is the one we are barreling toward regardless of how the fiscal cliff negotiations turn out. It’s the hyperinflation cliff. It’s dead ahead. It has become unavoidable. The Nation is in default. The fiscal cliff is the term adopted to refer to the end of the misnamed George Bush tax cuts (which expire on Dec. 31) and sequestration ($1.2 trillion in cuts to social programs and defense spending that kick in on Jan. 1 barring a budget deal). It’s an unpalatable option to the political class because the political class hates cutting government — which reduces the power of the state — and uses a progressive tax rate to help reinforce the Hegelian dialectic. President Barack Obama and his redistributionist minions have drawn a line in the sand over the misnamed George W. Bush tax cuts (because Obama extended them in 2010, we will rightly call them Obama tax cuts). Obama wants to end his own tax cuts on those making more than $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers). This, despite his statement in 2010: "You don’t raise taxes in a recession." The United States remains in the old or has entered into a new recession. As John Williams of Shadowstats.com writes here (subscription required): "[T]here has been no recovery in economic activity, since the economy plunged from 2006/2007 into mid-2009, just ongoing low-level stagnation. Reporting of retail sales, production and durable goods orders shows the economy turning down, once again, into what will become recognized as the second-dip of a double-dip recession, likely timed from third-quarter 2012. The reality remains that current economic woes are an ongoing part of protracted economic collapse, not the beginning of a new cycle." While the "official" phony-baloney government statistics show U.S. gross domestic product rising steadily since late 2009, real GDP growth remains stagnant, as it has since late 2009, and mirrors real unemployment, retail sales and housing starts. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has instituted QE3 to infinity. This will serve to prop up banks and the establishment, but it will hasten the demise of the dollar. (Watch the prices of gold and silver for confirmation.) It’s out-and-out theft from the American worker, saver and retiree. QE3 and the unwillingness of the political class to make substantial and substantive cuts to government have prompted Williams to shorten his outer hyperinflation timeline from 2018 to 2014. America is a warfare/welfare state. A full 20 percent ($718 billion) of the Federal budget in 2011 was spent on perpetual war, defense and security-related international activities. "This portion of the budget is untouchable," according the neocon/warfare wing of both parties. Another 21 percent ($769 billion) went to Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). An additional 13 percent ($466 billion) went to safety-net programs like SSI, food stamps, school meals, housing and childcare assistance, etc. "These are untouchable," according to redistributionist class of both parties. And 20 percent ($731 billion) paid for Social Security, which provided retirement benefits to 35.6 million workers and other benefits to another 19.8 million spouses and children of retired workers, spouses and children of deceased workers, disabled workers and their eligible dependents. Social Security is considered an entitlement program, but it should not be since it is supposedly funded by money confiscated from workers — who had no say in the matter — to fund their retirement. The program was long ago looted by the elites and is the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. "Social Security is sacrosanct and untouchable," leadership of both parties lie to you as they confiscate the funds faster than they pour in. Obama and his redistributionist minions play the class-warfare game to perfection, pitting the poor against the so-called rich in order to steal more from the middle class. Their big lie is that the "rich" pay a lower percentage of income in taxes than the poor or middle class. The politics of envy — nasty, vile and green wealth envy that causes some to wish ill will or disaster on others who have enjoyed more success and has turned to hatred in the hearts of many — is advancing us toward total totalitarianism and one world governance. And now Republicans — supposedly the party of low taxes and smaller government — are joining the growing ranks of redistributionists and feeding the dialectic. (Of course, anyone who has paid attention knows better than to fall for the big Republican lie.) According to Internal Revenue Service data, the highest average tax rates in America are paid by those making between $1.5 million and $2 million. Their tax rate is 25.1 percent. Tax rates then begin to fall on incomes greater than $2 million, as a greater percentage of income comes from capital gains and dividends. Still, those making more than $200 million pay an 18 percent tax rate on their adjusted gross income. Those making $1 million to less than $1.5 million pay a 24.9 percent tax rate. Those making $500,000 to less than $1 million pay 24.1 percent, and those in the $200,000 to less than $500,000 range pay 19.6 percent. Tax rates below $200,000 break down as follows: $100,000 to less than $200,000 incomes pay 12 percent. $50,000 to less than $100,000 incomes pay 7.5 percent. $30,000 to less than $50,000 incomes pay 4.8 percent. Those making less than $30,000 paid no Federal taxes after deductions and credits. Representative Tom Price (R-Ga.) says Obama’s plan to increase taxes on the rich will generate only enough revenue to fund the Federal government for eight days. What he doesn’t tell you is that income taxes don’t fund the government. They are simply a wealth redistribution/information gathering tool used by the government. Price is one of the employees of the state who daily work to propagandize the masses on the idea that there is government debt and that money (sometimes called "revenue" to fool the people with doublespeak) to pay that debt must be confiscated from the masses. But there is no debt. Ask yourself this question: If you had a machine that would crank out an unlimited number of bills, would you have debt? Of course not. And that’s what government does. Government debt is a world-class delusion. It is a tool used to justify theft and redistribution. And it has worked to perfection, pitting the have-nots against the haves, while the 1 percent (government workers and elected class) make out like the bandits they are. Meanwhile, many become ever more embittered over the idea that someone may have a greater pile of worthless green paper strips than they do. It won’t be too much longer before people will be papering their walls with the green paper strips they’re so jealous of others for having. Study your history, and look to Weimar Germany as the example. Workers were transporting wheelbarrows of cash to the store for bread, hoping to arrive before the prices changed. The price of coffee would triple between the time it was poured and the time it was consumed and the check arrived. Mothers prostituted themselves so their kids could be fed. The next U.S. Great Depression is the cliff to be concerned with. Time is short. Store food (buying it now is also a hedge against inflation) and water, guns and ammunition, and personal hygiene items. Accumulate silver and gold. This Christmas, give silver as a gift that keeps giving — especially pre-1965 U.S. silver coins: Dec. 1, 2000: silver $4.69/oz.; today: silver $34.28/oz. Dec. 1, 2000: Dow Jones industrial average 14,053; today: DJIA 13,023. Times will be especially difficult for the unprepared and those who depend upon the system for sustenance. Obama’s Claim That The Voters This Year Sent A Very Clear Message That They Favored Higher Taxes Is A "Bunch Of Baloney": Winning support from "30% of eligible voters" is hardly an overwhelming mandate Obama claims he got a huge mandate in the election. Nonsense! Obama won 51% of the votes. But only 60% of eligible voters even bothered to cast a ballot this year. Winning support from 30% of eligible voters is hardly an overwhelming mandate. Plus, exit polls revealed that a majority didn’t want taxes increased on earnings of $250,000 or more. Obama’s claim that the voters this year sent “a very clear message” that they favored higher taxes is a bunch of baloney. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that the problem in Washington isn’t too little revenue; it’s too much spending! If the Federal budget were reduced to what it was 4 years ago when Obama first took office, we wouldn’t need a nickel of new taxes to balance the budget. There would be surpluses if we held the line on...... Obama’s Claim That The Voters This Year Sent A Very Clear Message That They Favored Higher Taxes Is A "Bunch Of Baloney": Winning support from "30% of eligible voters" is hardly an overwhelming mandate   By Chip Wood, December 07, 2012 -- Barrack Obama’s Phony Mandate Personal Liberty Digest -- Let me see if I have this right. Earlier this year, while campaigning for re-election, Barack Obama said he wanted to raise taxes $800 billion on everyone making more than $250,000 a year. Republicans were virtually unanimous in shouting, "No way!" Then what happened when the Spender in Chief wins the White House for another four years? He promptly doubled down. Now, he says he wants $1.6 trillion in new taxes over the next 10 years. And our "don’t call my bluff" President made it abundantly clear that he’ll play hardball to get it. When he appeared on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is serving as Obama’s messenger boy to Capitol Hill, declared flatly: "There’s no path to an agreement that does not involve Republicans acknowledging that rates have to go up on the wealthiest Americans." In other words, it’s our way or the highway. So what did the Republicans do? Rather than sticking to their earlier promise, the leadership countered by agreeing to give Obama the $800 billion he originally asked for. Way to fight for principle, guys. Of course, $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue isn’t all that the Democrats are after. Obama also wants $50 billion in new stimulus spending and another $30 billion to extend unemployment benefits. Plus, he wants the death tax to go back up to 45 percent on estates and family farms worth $3.5 million and more. And it doesn’t end there. Geithner, a tax cheater, also says that it’s time to abolish the ceiling on the Federal debt. No more coming back to Congress, hat in hand, to increase the limit on how much money our bankrupt Federal government can borrow. No, if Team Obama gets its way, there will be no limits on how much deeper this country will go in debt. Isn’t that a lovely situation to contemplate? What about cutting some spending? "We’ll talk about that sometime down the road" is the best Team Obama will offer. No wonder Charles Krauthammer said that the Democrats’ proposal is "not just a bad deal, this is really an insulting deal." In fact, he added, "Robert E. Lee was offered easier terms at Appomattox and he lost the Civil War." What happens if House Republicans dig in their heels and just say no? Well, inaction might give the Democrats an even bigger victory. It would mean that the Bush tax cuts (which Obama extended in 2010) would expire on Jan. 1. Those increases, plus all the new taxes and fees that are part of Obamacare, will mean that our taxes will go up even more. A lot of observers are convinced that Obama and his advisers will be only too happy to see the U.S. plunge over the much-hyped fiscal cliff. Either way, they get the tax increases they want. Plus, under the latter scenario, they get to blame the Republicans for not being willing to compromise. It’s a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose proposition, with the big spenders in Washington coming out ahead either way. By the way, did you see what one top Obama supporter is doing to avoid paying a bunch of those new taxes? Jim Sinegal, the co-founder, director and former CEO of Costco, was so smitten by the job Obama is doing that he agreed to give a prime-time address at this year’s Democratic convention. So you’d think he’d be hunky-dory with the Obama tax increases, wouldn’t you? Not on your life. This past week, Costco announced that it would pay a special dividend this month to all of its shareholders. It is doing it in December — and even borrowing the $3 billion it will cost — so shareholders won’t have to pay the higher tax on dividend income next year. Since Sinegal owns 2 million shares of Costco stock, that’s $14 million he’ll get in this special dividend. At the current tax rate of 15 percent on dividends, he’ll have to fork over a little more than $2 million of it to Uncle Sam. But had Costco waited until January to pay the dividend, Sinegal’s tax rate would be 43.4 percent, or more than $6 million. In other words, the former Costco CEO gets to pocket an extra $4 million that otherwise would have gone to the Internal Revenue Service. Merry Christmas! So much for the "shared sacrifices" by Obama’s wealthiest supporters. Now, please allow me to puncture a few more holes in the Democrats’ balloon. Let’s turn to the myth that Obama got a huge mandate in the November elections. Nonsense! Obama won 51 percent of the votes for President on Nov. 6. But only 60 percent of eligible voters even bothered to cast a ballot this year. Winning support from 30 percent of eligible voters is hardly an overwhelming mandate. Plus, exit polls of the people who voted revealed that a majority of them didn’t want taxes increased on people earning $250,000 or more. Obama’s claim that the voters this year sent "a very clear message" that they favored higher taxes is a bunch of baloney. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that the problem in Washington isn’t too little revenue; it’s too much spending! If the Federal budget were reduced to what it was four years ago when Obama first took office, we wouldn’t need a nickel of new taxes to balance the budget. In fact, if we held the line on spending and simply stopped increasing it every year, pretty soon Uncle Sam would enjoy surpluses once again. We could even start reducing the national debt, rather than see it go up more than $1 trillion a year. Of course, there’s about as much chance of seeing this happen of a snowball surviving a trip through Hades. While it’s not what we wanted or worked for, I’m afraid it is now a virtual certainty we will see higher taxes and fewer new jobs and more new bureaucrats, regulators, tax collectors and other Federal busybodies next year. And after that, it could get even worse. Until next time, keep some powder dry. –Chip Wood Dec. 14, 2012 to Dec. 21, 2012Health Highlights **Stop Prescribing Heart Drug Tredaptive: It is ineffective and causes major side effects. **Incivek Hepatitis C Drug Gets Black Box Warning About Dangerous Rash. **Amgen Illegally Marketed Anemia Drug, Will Pay $762M. **European Union Proposes Tougher Anti-Smoking Action. **Virus Creates New Pacemaker in Guinea Pigs' Hearts. **FDA: Don't Use Pradaxa Blood Thinner in Patients With Artificial Heart Valves. **Hepatitis: The Hidden Hazard. Though cure rates are good, many Baby Boomers don't even suspect they have the liver disease. **Preventable Surgical Errors Continue to Occur: So-called 'never events' include operating on the wrong body part. **Mealworms: The Next High-Protein Food Source? **U.S. Flu Season in Full Swing: 29 states are now reporting outbreaks, 12 have 'high levels'. Health Highlights (Dec. 14, 2012 to Dec. 21, 2012) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Stop Prescribing Heart Drug Tredaptive: It is ineffective and causes major side effects The heart drug Tredaptive is ineffective, causes major side effects and should no longer be prescribed, drug maker Merck said Thursday. The drug is used in 40 countries, but is not available in the United States, CBS News reported. Merck's announcement came after a study of more than 25,000 patients at high risk for heart problems found that Tredaptive did not reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke and caused significant side effects. Merck, which did not specify what those side effects, did not say that patients currently taking the drug should stop doing so, CBS News reported. ----- Incivek Hepatitis C Drug Gets Black Box Warning About Dangerous Rash A black box warning -- the most serious type of safety warning -- is being added to the label of the hepatitis C drug Incivek to alert doctors and patients about a potentially fatal rash, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. Patients taking the pill can develop a rash that covers more than half the body. The FDA said patients taking the drug in combination with two other treatments should stop taking Incivek immediately if they develop a rash that grows worse or is accompanied by symptoms such as fever, mouth sores or diarrhea, the Associated Press reported. Incivek is taken with the pill ribavirin and interferon, which is given by injection. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Incivek's labeling had already warned patients to stop taking the drug if they developed a serious skin reaction. The new black box warning is much more prominent on the label, the AP reported. ------ Amgen Illegally Marketed Anemia Drug, Will Pay $762M Biotechnology company Amgen pleaded guilty to charges of illegally marketing the anemia drug Aranesp and agreed to pay $762 million in criminal penalties and civil lawsuit settlements, according to U.S. government officials. Federal prosecutors said Amgen marketed the drug for unapproved uses even after the Food and Drug Administration ruled out such uses, The New York Times reported. In court on Tuesday, prosecutors said Amgen promoted the use of Aranesp to treat anemia in cancer patients who were not receiving chemotherapy, even though the FDA's approval of the drug was only for patients undergoing chemotherapy. The company was "pursuing profits at the risk of patient safety," Marshall L. Miller, acting United States attorney in Brooklyn, said in a telephone news briefing, The Times reported. At a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, presiding judge Sterling Johnson Jr. will announce whether he will accept the settlement. ----- European Union Proposes Tougher Anti-Smoking Action European Union health officials want bigger warnings on cigarette packs and a ban on certain flavorings -- such as strawberry, vanilla and menthol -- that can lure young people to smoking. Under the proposal, health warnings would increase to 75 percent of the front and back of a pack, and 50 percent of the sides. The warnings would include messages such as "Smoking kills -- quit now," and have pictures of cancer-damaged lungs, the Associated Press reported. The proposals are meant to reduce the 700,000 smoking-related deaths that occur each year in the 27-nation EU. EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg noted that "a city the size of Frankfurt or Palermo is wiped off our map every single year" due to smoking-related deaths, the AP reported. The proposals will be sent to EU member nations and parliament and could be adopted by 2014. ----- Virus Creates New Pacemaker in Guinea Pigs' Hearts A genetically-modified virus turned a part of guinea pigs' hearts into a new, working pacemaker, a new study says. The virus was injected into the hearts of seven guinea pigs and five later had heartbeats which originated from their new pacemaker, BBC News reported. The U.S. scientists published their results in the journal Nature Biotechnology. It's likely the same method can be used in humans, but much more animal testing is needed before that could ever be considered, researcher Dr. Hee Cheol Cho, of Cedars-Sinai, told BBC News. This research "opens up the tantalizing possibility of using cell therapy to restore normal heart rhythm in people who would otherwise need electronic pacemakers," Prof. Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, told BBC News. "However, much more research now needs to be done to understand if these findings can help people with heart disease in the future," he added. ----- FDA: Don't Use Pradaxa Blood Thinner in Patients With Artificial Heart Valves THURSDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The blood thinner Pradaxa should not be used to prevent stroke or blood clots in patients with mechanical heart valves, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a warning issued Wednesday. As the agency noted, a clinical trial in Europe was halted recently because patients taking Pradaxa (dabigatran) were more likely to suffer strokes, heart attacks and clots forming on their mechanical heart valves than patients who were taking the older blood thinner warfarin. Patients in the study who were taking Pradaxa also had more bleeding after valve surgery, the agency said. Doctors should immediately switch patients with a mechanical heart valve who are taking Pradaxa to another medication, the FDA said. The use of Pradaxa in patients with heart valve replacements made of natural biological tissue has not been evaluated and cannot be recommended, the agency added. The message for patients is that anyone who has received any type of heart valve replacement and is taking Pradaxa should talk to their doctor as soon as possible to determine the most appropriate type of blood thinner (anticoagulant) to take, the FDA said. Consultation with a physician is crucial, agency officials said, because stopping anticoagulant drugs without seeking advice from their doctor first can increase the risk of blood clots and stroke. Pradaxa is approved to treat patients with a common heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation. It is not approved to treat patients with atrial fibrillation caused by heart valve problems, the FDA said. One expert noted another problem with Pradaxa. "Pradaxa belongs to a class of anticoagulants known as direct-thrombin inhibitors, and while these class of drugs have shown both promise and usefulness in clinical practice, there remains a significant downside, namely there is no "antidote" to this medication [as there is for example with Coumadin]," said Dr. Abe DeAnda, an associate professor in the department of cardiothoracic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center. "Additionally, surveillance of the effectiveness of the medication and the systemic effect is more difficult to monitor and thus more difficult to titrate. I think that eventually we will move away from Coumadin as our drug of choice, but we are not at that point yet." ----- Hepatitis: The Hidden Hazard. Though cure rates are good, many Baby Boomers don't even suspect they have the liver disease By Serena Gordon, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Of all the diseases people worry about getting, viral hepatitis is usually way down on the list. Most often it's thought of as a disease that affects only drug addicts or the sexually promiscuous. Though those groups are at higher risk, almost anyone can contract hepatitis. "The vast majority of people who have viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis C, don't know they have it, and that's the biggest problem we have with hepatitis," said Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. A bipartisan bill was introduced in Congress last year, the Viral Hepatitis Testing Act of 2011, that would establish a national system to identify the incidence of hepatitis B and C infections, and provide funding to increase the availability of testing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2 million U.S. baby boomers are infected with hepatitis C and many more may have the disease but not know it because it often doesn't cause symptoms until it has caused severe liver damage. The CDC recommends that all people born between 1945 and 1965 -- the baby boom generation -- get a blood test test for the disease, and estimates that this would identify about 800,000 additional people as having hepatitis C, which could save more than 120,000 lives. Last month, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new guidelines, updated from 2004, that take a somewhat softer stance than those of the CDC. Instead of recommending screening for all baby boomers, the task force suggests that clinicians "consider" screening for this age group. Hepatitis C is one of the three most common forms of viral hepatitis, the other two being hepatitis A and B. Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, and when that inflammation is caused by a viral infection, the disease is known as viral hepatitis. Hepatitis A is primarily an acute infection that gets better on its own. The severity of hepatitis A can range from a mild illness that lasts a few weeks to a severe condition that lingers for months. Hepatitis A generally does not become chronic like hepatitis B and C do. "In about 99 percent of people, hepatitis A causes no long-term concerns [and is] very rarely serious," said Dr. Bruce Bacon, a professor of internal medicine in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at the St. Louis University School of Medicine in Missouri. Hepatitis A is spread through fecal contamination, often in food or drinks, according to the CDC. Its symptoms, which are similar to those of other foodborne illnesses, include fever, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Hepatitis A does not require any specific treatment, and there's a vaccine available to prevent it. Hepatitis B, on the other hand, is a more serious form of viral hepatitis. It often causes no symptoms, leaving people unaware that they've been infected. The disease can pass from mother to infant during birth or by having sex with an infected partner, sharing drug needles or even sharing such items as a razor or toothbrush with an infected person, according to the CDC. There's no cure for hepatitis B, although a vaccine can prevent the disease. "For hepatitis B, most of the time transmission is from mother to child at childbirth," Bacon said. "But in the U.S., if hepatitis B is identified in the mother, the baby can be vaccinated at the time of childbirth and given [an additional medication] that can usually break the transmission cycle." Hepatitis C is spread through the blood, according to Bernstein. That's why people who've shared straws to snort cocaine or needles to inject drugs face a higher risk for infections. Also at greater risk are people who had blood transfusions before 1992, when the blood supply started being screened routinely for hepatitis C. Those are the people who should be screened, according to the task force guidelines. These high-risk individuals have about a 50 percent chance of being infected with hepatitis C, whereas people born between 1946 and 1964 have a 3 percent to 4 percent chance of being infected, said task force member Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, an associate professor of medicine and of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. You can't alter the past, but you can improve your future, Bacon said. "There's nothing much you can do about what happened 20 or 30 years ago if you had a youthful indiscretion or were given a blood transfusion, but you can get tested," Bacon said. "We have treatments that can cure hepatitis C, so there's good reason to find out whether or not you've got it." Bernstein said that cure rates for hepatitis C are now 75 percent and higher, depending on the specific type of hepatitis C infection that a person has. ----- Preventable Surgical Errors Continue to Occur: So-called 'never events' include operating on the wrong body part FRIDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- At least 4,000 surgical errors called "never events" occur in the United States each year, according to a new study. Never events are mistakes that should never happen during surgery, such as leaving objects inside patients, performing the wrong procedure and operating on the wrong side of the body, the Johns Hopkins researchers explained. They analyzed national data and estimated that 80,000 never events occurred in U.S. hospitals between 1990 and 2010, and believe that figure may be on the low side. They also estimated that U.S. surgeons leave a foreign object such as a sponge or a towel inside a patient's body after an operation 39 times a week, perform the wrong procedure on a patient 20 times a week, and operate on the wrong part of the body 20 times a week. Never events were most common among patients aged 40 to 49. Interestingly, surgeons in the same age group were responsible for more than one-third of never events, compared with about 14 percent for surgeons older than 60, according to the study published online in the journal Surgery. Documenting the scope of the problem is an important step in developing ways to prevent never events, the researchers said. "There are mistakes in health care that are not preventable. Infection rates will likely never get down to zero, even if everyone does everything right, for example," study leader Dr. Marty Makary, an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a Hopkins news release. "But the events we've estimated are totally preventable. This study highlights that we are nowhere near where we should be and there's a lot of work to be done," he noted. Many hospitals have long had safety procedures to prevent never events, such as "timeouts" in the operating room before surgery to make sure that medical records and surgical plans match the patient on the table, Makary said. Other measures include using indelible ink to mark the surgical site before the patient goes under anesthesia, and counting sponges, towels and other surgical items before and after surgery. But these precautions are not foolproof, according to Makary. Many hospitals are beginning to use electronic bar codes on surgical instruments and materials to ensure precise counts and prevent human error, the release noted. ----- Mealworms: The Next High-Protein Food Source? FRIDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- They'll never replace the traditional Christmas ham, but mealworms (beetle larvae) may someday offer an environmentally friendly alternative to meat, a new study suggests. Researchers in the Netherlands used three factors -- land usage, energy needs and greenhouse gas emissions -- to compare the environmental impact of mealworm farms to chicken, pork, beef or milk farms. Compared to the other types of farming, mealworm farming produced more edible protein using the same amount of land and less energy, according to the study in the journal PLoS One. The same team of researchers previously found that mealworms produce less greenhouse gases than other meat-producing animals. "Since the population of our planet keeps growing, and the amount of land on this earth is limited, a more efficient, and more sustainable system of food production is needed," study author Dennis Oonincx, of the University of Wageningen, said in a journal news release. "Now, for the first time it has been shown that mealworms, and possibly other edible insects, can aid in achieving such a system," he added. ----- U.S. Flu Season in Full Swing: 29 states are now reporting outbreaks, 12 have 'high levels' By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Dec. 21. (HealthDay News) -- During the past week, flu activity in the United States has increased, federal health officials say, with nine of 10 regions in the country reporting increases. In all, 29 states are reporting flu activity, with high levels of flu in 12 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday. Moderate activity is being seen in New York City and five states, and 33 states are seeing low or minimal activity, the agency said. "Today's report confirms that the U.S. flu season is off to an early start," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in an agency news release. "It's too early to tell how severe our season might be. However, we know that thousands die and hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized with flu each year," Frieden said. "Vaccination is the single most important step we can take to protect ourselves and our families against infection. It's not too late to get vaccinated before the flu season peaks." According to the CDC's FluView report, states now reporting high levels of flu include: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Flu season usually peaks in mid-February, but can last into the spring. The CDC advises that everyone six months and older get vaccinated. Previously, the agency said this year's vaccine is an "excellent" match for the strains of the flu virus circulating. People at particular risk for flu and its complications, such as pregnant women, those aged 65 and older, and anyone with a chronic illness, are urged to get their shot, the CDC said. So far, deaths attributable to flu have remained below what the CDC considers an epidemic level. Two children, however, have died from complications from the flu, the agency noted. If Obama Is Re-elected, You Haven't Seen Anything Yet! Without Ever Having To Face Voters Again, Obama Will Be Free To Be His Real Radical Self & He Will Truly Wreck This Economy From Sea To Shining Sea. Under Obama we will face a final economic Armageddon: the total collapse of the U.S. economy & our monetary system. Obama unleashed will send the IRS to crush his political opposition. Obama will appoint a majority of Supreme Court & Federal judges, so none of his violations of the Constitution will ever again be challenged. Obama's policies will encourage radical Islamic & terrorist rogue states to threaten & eventually destroy Israel. Obama will finish his destruction of our domestic oil, coal, even natural gas industries, so we'll become more dependent on these rogue terrorist nations who sell us their oil. And Obama will continue to weaken the U.S. military, so we will be unable to prevent it all from...... If Obama Is Re-elected, You Haven't Seen Anything Yet! Without Ever Having To Face Voters Again, Obama Will Be Free To Be His Real Radical Self & He Will Truly Wreck This Economy From Sea To Shining Sea.   Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2012/09/13/why-americas-leading-libertarian-is-endorsing-mitt-romney-and-joining-the-gop/ -- or read the text of it below.   Hello, I'm Wayne Allyn Root for PersonalLiberty.com. I have a major political announcement: the biggest one of my life. Before I tell you about the most important decision of my political life and a little about my personal story that led to this decision, let me first cut to the chase. If Obama is re-elected on Nov. 6, America and capitalism both face grave danger. I believe America as we know it and love it, the America of our Founding Fathers, the America that embraces capitalism and offers the famous American Dream, the America represented by the U.S. Constitution, the America of freedom, the America that allows the pursuit of happiness ¡ª that America is finished. Gone. In the rearview mirror. I don't believe we ever recover from another four years of Barack Obama. As Obama's college classmate at Columbia University, I've reported for four years now on his plan to overwhelm the U.S. economy and wipe out capitalism. It's based on the strategy of two Columbia University professors, Cloward and Piven. Obama is following it to perfection. But he has only just begun. He's actually tried to be reasonable for his first four years because his goal was to be re-elected, so he could finish the job. So he had to be moderate to hold his powder. To hold back from his true radical self. If Obama is re-elected on Nov. 6, you have not seen anything yet. His gloves will be off. He will be free to be his real radical self. Without ever having to face voters again, Obama will truly wreck this economy from sea to shining sea ¡ª just as Saul Alinsky, Cloward and Piven, Barack Obama Sr., Frank Marshall, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and a host of other radical, Marxist, American-haters taught him. We will face a final economic Armageddon: the total collapse of the U.S. economy and our monetary system. Obama unleashed will send the IRS to crush his political opposition. He will appoint a majority of Supreme Court and Federal judges, so none of his violations of the Constitution will ever again be challenged. His policies will encourage radical Islamic and terrorist rogue states to threaten and eventually destroy Israel. He will finish his destruction, actually extinction, of our domestic oil, coal, even natural gas industries, so we'll become more dependent on these rogue terrorist nations who sell us their oil. And he will continue to weaken the U.S. military, so we will be unable to prevent it all from happening. Have I got your attention now? Here's my personal story and my big announcement. It has been a whirlwind last five years in my life. I started out my journey as the antithesis of a politician. As a small businessman, "home-school" dad, Las Vegas oddsmaker and political newcomer running for the Libertarian Presidential nomination in 2007, you couldn'tfind more of an anti-politician in all of politics. But in America anything is possible. In this great country, never discount a long shot. I was elected the Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee in 2008. The Bob Barr/Wayne Root Presidential ticket went on to garner the second highest vote total in Libertarian history. I was then elected Chairman of the Libertarian National Campaign Committee and became the No. 1 vote-getter in the country for election to the Libertarian National Committee. Media across the country called me "Mr. Libertarian" in my 4,000 media appearances since 2008. Today, after giving this many months of thought, I'm announcing the most important decision of my political career. I am stepping down from my roles in the Libertarian Party to rejoin the Republican Party and, most importantly, to elect Mitt Romney as President of the United States. Why? First, let's start with what I believe in. I believe in the limited government promised by the U.S. Constitution. I want government to get out of the way of small business owners like me, put fewer rules and regulations in our way, and allow us to keep more of our own money. I want government to remember that it's our money in the first place. I want politicians to support and motivate the taxpayers, the private sector and small business ¡ª the economic engine of America. Small businesses create 75 percent of new jobs and pay most of the taxes in this country. Under the Obama Administration, we have seen businessmen denigrated, demonized, punished, smothered by 60,000 new rules and regulations, threatened with massive new taxes, and attacked by the IRS. That's why there are no jobs. That's why, in my opinion, the economy is in free fall. That's why America is facing economic collapse and disaster. I'm a capitalist evangelist. I'm proud to be a small businessman. I love starting and running businesses. What matters now above all else ¡ª the issues that are of life-and-death importance to this country, the only issues that matter to 90 percent of Americans are the economy, creating jobs, lowering spending, lowering the debt and deficit, reducing taxes, and saving capitalism. Because if the economy collapses or your personal economy collapses, what difference does any other issue matter? We need to get our fiscal house in order first, before we can deal with all the other problems. Without an economy, without jobs, nothing else matters. That's why electing Mitt Romney is so important. This election is not about Libertarian versus non-Libertarian. This election is about capitalism versus big government progressivism and Big Brother socialism. Mitt Romney believes in the same things I do: keeping businesses free from government intrusion; allowing small business owners to keep more of their own money; and rewarding instead of punishing investors, innovators and job creators. Mitt understands, as President Calvin Coolidge once said: "The business of America is business." Mitt understands that Obama's rhetoric, constant threats against business, union favoritism, IRS intimidation, barrage of tax increases, 60,000 new rules and regulations, $5 trillion in new debt, the added taxes and regulations of Obamacare, and the attempt to ban oil drilling and regulate the coal industry out of existence, have collectively ground the U.S. economy to a halt. If you don't believe me, just look across the pond to Europe. They've been following Obama's exact plan for decades. Their mantra was also big government, big unions, big spending, big taxes, big pensions, free healthcare, too many government employees and green energy. The result? Economic disaster on a grand scale. Specifically Greece, Italy and Spain are enduring a tragedy few can even comprehend. France is next. We are following the exact same path under Obama. Is Mitt perfect? No. Sure, I'd rather have Ron Paul or Rand Paul or Jim DeMint running the economy. Those are principled, Tea Party, fiscal conservatives. And, of course, I'm a fan of Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico Governor and Libertarian nominee for President. But guess what? Wake up. Like it or not, the only candidates that will run this country for the next four years are Obama or Romney. And we cannot afford to give Obama four more years. Period. The sad reality is that this is our last stand to save America. The defeat of Barack Obama is necessary to save the U.S. economy from complete collapse. We will not survive four more years of Obama as CEO of this economy. I can speak personally; I know my businesses will not survive another four years of Obama. The economy is in free fall here on Main Street. Small-business owners like me are seeing our entire life's work melting away. Our children's future is being destroyed before our very eyes. Don't believe me? You think things are getting better, as Obama and Clinton claimed at the Democratic Convention? Then you're in a delusional land of fairy tales. The economy is in danger of complete collapse. Did you see the latest jobs report? Disaster. For every one American landing a job, four dropped off the job rolls. At this rate, we'll all be unemployed. By the way, unemployment is up in nine of the 10 battleground States. Nine of 10. The 10th is even. Did you notice that sales tax revenues in California in July were down a staggering $530 million versus projections? That's in one State for one month. Disaster. Did you notice that petroleum sales nationally in July were down to 1996 levels? Disaster. Are you aware that "help wanted" ads are down to levels not seen since the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 (when the entire financial system was on the verge of Armageddon). Of course, you didn't. The mainstream media don't cover bad news. It might embarrass Obama. The U.S. economy is like a very large and diverse failing company in desperate need of a turnaround. What America needs at this moment in history is a turnaround specialist. Not a Libertarian. That's not the issue right now. We need a leader who knows how to turn around a failing business. We need a job creator with major CEO experience, with specific business-turnaround success, a detailed understanding of economics, a creative and innovative business mind, and a track record of extraordinary success to lead this country back from the edge of the fiscal cliff. That person is Mitt Romney. If he could pull off miracles with Staples (and dozens of companies like it) and the 2002 Olympics (which he saved from an economic disaster similar to the situation America now faces), he can turn this Obama bust into the Romney boom economy. As opposed to Barack Obama who is not now (nor was he ever) qualified to run a bodega or a Dairy Queen. The first new net job he creates as President will be the first job he's created in his life. He was quick to take credit for 4.5 million jobs created at the Democratic Convention. But the Labor Department says job creation during Mr. Obama's Presidency has been several hundred thousand at best -- almost all of them, by the way, terrible, low-paying jobs replacing good, high-paying jobs. But here's the most important fact left out of Obama's speech, "Obama is on track to have the worst jobs record of any president since World War II," says Washington Post Fact Checker Glenn Kessler. By the way, the Labor Department just revised the June and July jobs report down another 41,000 jobs from what was reported. Do I agree with Mitt and the GOP on every issue? Of course not. No one ever agrees 100 percent on everything. But I'm willing to put my differences aside to set an example in order to take back our country from the grips of socialism and the abyss of economic ruin. There is no other choice. Our back is to the wall, and Obama's defeat is that important to the survival of our country, our economy, our freedoms, our children's future and, ultimately, capitalism itself. It's time for a coalition of Republicans, conservatives, Tea Party activists, Libertarians, Ron Paul supporters, small-business owners, homeowners, investors, patriots, Christians, Jews and Israel supporters to join together and support Mitt Romney now. As Clint Eastwood said, "We own this nation." It's time to take it back. Our businesses and jobs depend on it. The future of America and our children depends on it. Their quality of life is hanging in the balance. This is our last stand. Is there still hope? Can this Obama nightmare be turned around? Look no further than Ronald Reagan. Reagan's policies turned a Jimmy Carter economic disaster (similar to Obama's) into the greatest and longest economic boom in world history -- leading to the creation of over 45 million net jobs (20 million of them in just a few years), over $60 trillion in private sector asset creation (amazing), and the greatest increase in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in American history. Reagan's "Great Bull Stock Market" created more wealth for America's families than any boom ever. Now I know some of you are saying the GOP is not the answer. I understand. I left the GOP in 2007 because I lost faith too. Far too often, the GOP has given only lip service to ideas and ideals like limited government, individual rights and the Constitution. Once elected, Republicans often ignore those ideas and grow government just like Democrats. Look at the spending and growth of government under George W. Bush. Look at the 25,000 new rules and regulations under Bush (far better than Obama, but still terrible). Look at the rising debt under Bush. This was precisely why I left the GOP in 2007: because the GOP left me. But something has changed. With the birth and growth of the Tea Party, everything is now changing. The Tea Party represents me. I believe in the Tea Party. And I believe that with the right leader, the Tea Party can change the Republican Party -- or certainly influence the GOP in a big way. I'm proud of U.S. Senate Tea Party Caucus leaders like Rand Paul, Jim DeMint, Mike Lee and Marco Rubio. I hope to join them one day, representing my home state of Nevada in the U.S. Senate. So, for the first time in a long while, I feel good about the GOP. And I'm happy to say I'm back. Like the Phillip Phillips song, I'm back "home." Because of my general agreement with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan on important economic issues (not total agreement, but general agreement); and because the Tea Party will hold the GOP to their promises or we will start a firestorm and make their lives miserable and then in the next election, throw the bums out; and because of my deep understanding of what Obama intends to do to this economy and this country in a 2nd term, I am now all in. I will do everything in my power to help elect Mitt Romney as the next President of the United States. Because I believe Mitt Romney is our Reagan. And I am proud to once again call myself a Republican: a Tea Party Republican. This is our chance, folks. This is our last stand. This is the future of our children. There just is no other choice. Our businesses are on the line. Our economic survival is on the line. Our Constitution is on the line. So I've chosen to put my money where my mouth is. I've sacrificed everything I've worked so hard for, everything I've built in six years to rise to the top of the Libertarian Party. It's time for all of us to put our differences aside and fight for this country, fight for capitalism, fight for economic freedom, fight for our children's future. Obama's re-election will bring it all down. We can't let that happen. I won't let that happen. Will you? I'm Wayne Root for Personal Liberty. See you next week. Same time, same place. God Bless America. America-Destroyer-Obama Intentionally Causing Taxes & Government Dependency To Soar: The biggest tax increase in our nation’s history is coming very soon; there will be many more taxes & significantly higher taxes for EVERYONE The Bush across-the-board tax cuts will expire; they actually reduced taxes for almost everyone who paid any income tax, and some 60% of the benefits went to middle-and low-income taxpayers. We’re not talking about puny increases, either. Taxpayers at every level will be affected, with some of the greatest increases hitting people at the bottom of the ladder. All of the existing brackets will go up at least 10%. And the government attack on savings will make senior citizens more dependent on government; those living on stock dividends will suffer as the maximum federal tax rate will skyrocket from the existing 15% to a hefty 39.6%. Meanwhile, Obamacare is really more about additional hefty taxes than additional healthcare. America-Destroyer-Obama Intentionally Causing Taxes & Government Dependency To Soar: The biggest tax increase in our nation’s history is coming very soon; there will be many more taxes & significantly higher taxes for EVERYONE   By Chip Wood Personal Liberty Digest -- 05/25/2012 -- Prepare for Taxmageddon. Thanks a lot, Congress. It looks like you’ve really stuck it to us again. This time, just sitting on your hands and doing nothing is going to cause the biggest tax increase in our Nation’s history. On Feb. 18, The Washington Post reported: On Dec. 31, the George W. Bush-era tax cuts are scheduled to expire, raising rates on investment income, estates and gifts, and earnings at all levels. … The Social Security payroll tax will pop back up to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent… And new Medicare taxes enacted as part of President Obama’s health-care initiative will for the first time strike high-income households. The potential shock to the nation’s pocketbook is so enormous, congressional aides have dubbed it "Taxmageddon." Taxmageddon won’t be the result of one massive new assault on our wallets. Instead, it will come from tax cuts expiring in seven categories, along with new tax increases taking effect because of Obamacare. The biggest of the bunch will come from the expiration of Bush tax cuts that were passed in 2001 and 2003. At the time, proponents argued that the only way to get enough Democrats to support the measures would be to include a cap on how long they would be in effect. As a result, our lawmakers agreed that the tax reductions would expire on Dec. 31, 2012. Although Democrats love to refer to the measures as "tax cuts for the wealthy," the across-the-board tax cuts actually reduced taxes for almost everyone who paid any income tax. Some 60 percent of the benefits went to middle- and low-income taxpayers. Curtis Dubay of the Heritage Foundation prepared a detailed analysis of the tax hikes that are about to hit us: Almost 34 percent of the tax increase from Taxmageddon comes from the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts. These cuts are best known for reducing marginal income tax rates, but they also reduced the marriage penalty, increased the Child Tax Credit and the adoption credit, and increased tax breaks for education costs and dependent care costs. In other words, they will impact just about everyone who pays any income taxes in this country. We’re not talking about puny increases, either. Taxpayers at every level will be affected, with some of the greatest increases hitting people at the bottom of the ladder. For example, the lowest bracket is currently 10 percent. Beginning in January, it will jump to 15 percent — a 50 percent increase. This "bracket creep" will affect every taxpayer. All of the existing brackets will go up at least 10 percent. Thus, 25 percent will become 28 percent; 28 percent becomes 31 percent; 33 percent climbs to 36 percent; and 35 percent rises to 39.6 percent. If you’re in the top tax bracket, congratulations! Your tax bracket just went up 13.14 percent. That’s not all. Wait until you see what the new taxes in Obamacare will do to you. I’ll get to those in a moment. People who depend on savings and investments will be hammered even harder than wage earners. Right now, the maximum Federal tax rate on long-term capital gains is 15 percent. Starting next year, that will go up to 20 percent — a leap of 33 percent. Those collecting dividends will suffer even more: The maximum rate will skyrocket from the existing 15 percent to a hefty 39.6 percent. (Assets acquired after Dec. 31, 2000, and held for at least five years don’t get hit quite as hard.) In other words, the thriftiest among us — the people who carefully managed their household budgets, saved some money for the future and invested those funds in stocks, bonds and CDs — will be hit the hardest. The government attack on savings makes it seem almost as though there is a scheme in Washington to punish senior citizens and make them more dependent on government. Almost every wage earner in America will pay more in taxes when the payroll tax cuts are allowed to expire. In his 2009 State of the Union address, Barack Obama promised: "If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime." Well, guess what? It turns out he wasn’t quite telling the truth — something a lot of us have pointed out many times. Also scheduled to expire is a temporary fix of the Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT was originally sold to a skeptical public as a way to make sure "the rich" pay their fair share – which, of course, it never did. In 2013 it will scalp a lot more than the top 1 percent of taxpayers; current estimates indicate 34 million taxpayers will fall victim to it. Remember the phase-out rules for itemized deductions? The big spenders in Congress came up with the bright idea of eliminating most of the credit high-income taxpayers got for deductions on mortgage interest, State and local taxes, and charitable giving. The phase-out was eliminated in 2010. But it will be back in full force next year, unless Congress acts before then. By the way, don’t think that only "the rich" will be affected here, either. If you’re a married couple with an adjusted gross income of $175,000, better be prepared to lose a big bunch of the money you can deduct from your Federal tax bill. If you’re married but filing separately, that ceiling drops to just $87,500 — a long way from Barack Obama’s $250,000 limit. And here’s an even more frightening thought: The $500 billion in increased taxes that Uncle Sam wants to take from us in 2013 will just be the beginning. As our economy continues to grow, so will the impact of all these new and higher taxes. Just because these tax increases don’t take affect for seven more months, don’t think we’re not feeling the effect today. As Dubay explains: Although these tax increases will not start raising new revenue until next year, they are having a negative impact on the economy today. Families, businesses, and investors need to know how much tax they will pay in the future before making important economic decisions. The uncertainty caused by Taxmageddon means they are stuck in neutral while they wait for President Obama and Congress to act. This is slowing job creation and stopping many of the millions of unemployed Americans from going back to work. So there you have it: higher taxes on all of us, plus fewer new jobs being created and an economy that just stumbles along, all because Congress refuses to act. I hope you’ll remember this — and remind your neighbors about it — when it comes time to vote for a new Congress this November. Until next time, keep some powder dry. –Chip Wood America-Destroyer-Obama Is Forcing Millions of Americans To Seek Government Support Thereby Creating A Dependent Population That B.O. & His Cronies Can Manipulate: The unemployment rate is shrinking only because more & more Americans think it is no longer worth the effort looking for work People are leaving employment in droves--forever--and becoming dependent on unemployment compensation, welfare, food stamps, & disability claims. Disability claims have increased from 1 million to 6 million since B.O. lied his way into office, and 36.4% of the labor force is not working as America is fast becoming bankrupt Greece. The unemployment rate is shrinking only because more & more Americans think it is no longer worth the effort looking for work, and B.O. is forcing millions of Americans to seek government support thereby creating a dependent population that he and his cronies can manipulate. Watch the video by Wayne Allyn Root. America-Destroyer-Obama Is Forcing Millions of Americans To Seek Government Support Thereby Creating A Dependent Population That B.O. & His Cronies Can Manipulate: The unemployment rate is shrinking only because more & more Americans think it is no longer worth the effort looking for work   By Wayne Allyn Root Personal Liberty Digest -- May 24, 2012 -- In President Barack Obama’s world, misleading statistics and outright lies are facts. In actuality, the shrinking unemployment number proves the job picture is getting worse, not better as Wayne Allyn Root explains in this video. People are leaving employment in droves--forever--and becoming dependent on unemployment compensation, welfare, food stamps, and disability claims. Disability claims have increased from one million to six million since Obama lied his way into office, and 36.4% of the labor force is not working in America as America is fast becoming Greece. The unemployment rate is shrinking only because more and more Americans think it is no longer worth the effort looking for work. Obama is forcing millions of Americans to seek government support thereby creating a dependent population that he and his cronies can manipulate. Watch the video here: http://personalliberty.com/2012/05/24/what-happens-to-the-economy-in-vegas-doesnt-stay-in-vegas/?eiid If Obamacare Is Not Repealed, It Will Definitely Destroy You and Your Country Since the Supreme Court Used Infinite Treachery/Bias To Vote In Favor of It: Obamacare Is The Perfectly Deadly 17 Trillion Dollar Trojan Horse; Obamacare is supposed to save us, but in reality Obamacare has been sent by Comrade Obama to destroy our economic system, capitalism, and our American way of life. Wayne Allyn Root was a classmate of Obama’s at Columbia University and he knows exactly what Obama’s treacherous intentions are in using Obamacare as a massively destructive weapon against America. Watch this riveting video from Wayne at Personal Liberty Digest as he reveals how Comrade Obama has promoted Obamacare with traitorous deception and outright lies so that he can destroy America along with our human and personal liberties. If Obamacare Is Not Repealed, It Will Definitely Destroy You and Your Country Since the Supreme Court Used Infinite Treachery/Bias To Vote In Favor of It: Obamacare Is The Perfectly Deadly 17 Trillion Dollar Trojan Horse; Obamacare is supposed to save us, but in reality Obamacare has been sent by Comrade Obama to destroy our economic system, capitalism, and our American way of life.   04-05-2012 -- Wayne Allyn Root was a classmate of Obama’s at Columbia University and he knows exactly what Obama’s treacherous intentions are in using Obamacare as a massively destructive weapon against America. Watch this riveting video from Wayne at Personal Liberty Digest as he reveals how Comrade Obama has promoted Obamacare with traitorous deception and outright lies so that he can destroy America along with our human and personal liberties. Click here to watch this "must-view" video: http://personalliberty.com/2012/04/05/obamacare-the-perfect-trojan-horse/?eiid= The Socialization Of America Is Economically Impossible: Obamacare supporters are an example of a weak people groveling for handouts they do not work for nor deserve; only a Nation filled with pathetic, overgrown children would actually need government to enforce mandatory charity such as Obamacare “A country that feels the need to socialize has, in my view, already failed culturally. It is an open admission by the public that it is unwilling or unable to take responsibility for its own prosperity. That is to say, only a Nation filled with pathetic, overgrown children would actually need government to enforce mandatory charity: welfare, healthcare [Obamacare], etc. A truly healthy society supported by strong and self-sustainable individuals would not beg to be parented by government. If a country is so unbalanced as to stoop to socialism, then its ailments already extend far beyond anything government (even good government) could ever hope to cure.” The Socialization Of America Is Economically Impossible: Obamacare supporters are an example of a weak people groveling for handouts they do not work for nor deserve; only a Nation filled with pathetic, overgrown children would actually need government to enforce mandatory charity such as Obamacare   By Brandon Smith Personal Liberty Digest -- July 03, 2012 -- Supporters cheer after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a majority of Obamacare. I understand the dream of the common socialist. I was, after all, once a Democrat. I understand the disparity created in our society by corporatism (not capitalism, though some foolish socialists see them as exactly the same). I understand the drive and the desire to help other human beings, especially those in dire need, and the tendency to see government as the ultimate solution to all our problems. Let’s be honest: Government is just a tool used by one group or another to implement a particular methodology or set of principles. Unfortunately, what most socialists today don’t seem to understand is that no matter what strategies they devise, they will never have control. And those they wish to help will be led to suffer, because the establishment does not care about them — or you. The establishment does not think of what it can give; it thinks about what it can take. Socialism, in the minds of the elites, is just a con game that allows them to curry the favor of the serfs. Other powers are at work in this world, powers that have the ability to play both sides of the political spectrum. The monied elite have been wielding the false left/right paradigm for centuries, and to great effect. Whether socialism or corporatism prevails, the elite are the final victors, and the game continues onward. Knowing this fact, I find that my reactions to the entire Obamacare debate are rather muddled. Really, I see the whole event as a kind of circus, a mirage, a distraction. Perhaps it is because I am first and foremost an economic analyst. When looking at Obamacare and socialization in general, I see no tangibility. I see no threat beyond what we as Americans already face. Let me explain. Socialism Is Failure A country that feels the need to socialize has, in my view, already failed culturally. It is an open admission by the public that it is unwilling or unable to take responsibility for its own prosperity. If a county cannot function in a healthy economic manner without its government creating an artificial and precarious balance using fiat stimulus and overt taxation, then the people of that country are not remotely independent and self-sufficient. That is to say, only a Nation filled with pathetic, overgrown children would actually need government to enforce mandatory charity: welfare, healthcare, etc. A truly healthy society supported by strong and self-sustainable individuals would not beg to be parented by government. If a country is so unbalanced as to stoop to socialism, then its ailments already extend far beyond anything government (even good government) could ever hope to cure. Obamacare, its tentative application and those who blindly support its introduction in the United States, are an example of a weak people groveling for handouts they do not work for nor deserve. Socialism is defeat. It is a waving of the white flag by a society and the trading of that culture’s liberty for the illusion of fiscal security. It is the act of an adolescent and naïve populace groveling for an allowance from their "motherland." If one wants to consider what a socialized America would actually be like, why not examine the track record of the EU, a group of nations that have dabbled extensively in the principles of collective centralization and various levels of socialism, including the extremes of communism and fascism (and yes, folks, both are derived from a socialist/collectivist foundation, despite what pseudo-intellectuals and propagandized academics will try to tell you). What success have they accomplished in the course of their utopian endeavors? Well, more than half of the states of the European Union have already reached debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratios well beyond the limit required to retain membership. Several countries — including the U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece — are in the midst of severe debt crises. The euro is on the verge of disintegration. And it’s likely the EU charter will be re-examined and changed. The central bankers will blame European countries and their "insistence" on maintaining sovereign control over their finances for the failure of the EU. But, ultimately, sovereignty is not what strangles the EU. Instead, the ridiculous supranational status that is entirely misapplied has created a state of interdependency that has weakened every member nation to the point of disaster. It should be painfully clear to anyone considering socialism as a viable option for America that this kind of system requires fiscal discipline and a vast amount of savings. Notice I say "savings" and not "money." Money is a carnival ride — an illusion of wealth that can be printed from thin air. Savings is an actual concrete storage of real capital, an ongoing surplus of manufacturing and production capability resulting in the stockpiling of working credit and ample employment. Most of the countries of the EU do not have such savings and never did. In fact, most European countries have operated for decades on a loss. They have never been able to live with the direct and indirect investments of outside players. Because of this, EU countries are utterly unable to keep up with the grand concepts of socialism, and have buried themselves under the crushing debts generated by entitlement programs. The United States is no different. Forget Universal Healthcare, The U.S. Is Bust There has been a pervasive delusion among pro-socialism movements in the United States that we are the "richest country in the world." They claim it is "absurd" that the establishment system does not pay for our healthcare with such riches at its disposal. They consistently rant about Canadian healthcare and its record of universal treatment. The problem is they ignore the details. Canada, a country of about 34 million people, has a national debt of about $1.1 trillion. The United States, a country of about 313 million people, has a national debt of about $15 trillion. The two countries are entirely different. To clamor for a Canadian-style healthcare program for a country with completely opposite economic parameters is idiocy, lunacy or both. Officially, our economy has already broken the 100 percent debt-to-GDP threshold. Unofficially, but more accurately, the U.S. national debt exceeds $120 trillion. This number accounts not only for public debt, but "intragovernmental" debt and "implicit" debt, meaning the debt obligations the government has committed to for the near future. I would also like to quickly note that mainstream economists were predicting in 2011 that the United States would reach 101 percent of GDP by 2021. Just one year later, we have already crossed the 101 percent marker. Add to this the projected costs of Obamacare ($17 trillion in estimated long-term unfunded obligations), and what you get is a broke country. The only factor which has stayed the tide of a full-blown macro-implosion of the United States is the world reserve status of our currency. The dollar is all we have left. Period. But don’t count on that for much longer either. With multiple nations, including China and Japan (our largest foreign debt holders), quietly forming bilateral trade agreements that cut out the use of the greenback, it will not be long before its world reserve status disappears as well. When that happens, we are on our own. The private Federal Reserve can print all it wants; but if other countries no longer need dollars to facilitate cross border trade, then what we will get is hyperinflation, or stagflation. Obamacare only expedites this process by generating even more liabilities we cannot cover, thereby giving the central bank even more excuse to churn out dollars with wild abandon. To put it plainly, all those people who believe America is the "richest country in the world" are living in la-la land. We are broke. Bust. In the red. In the hole. Insolvent. And we can’t all move back in with our parents like so many Obamacare proponents I have met. Go Ahead, Try To Enforce Obamacare We have no money. Therefore, the debate over universal socialized medicine is ultimately pointless. It is mathematically and economically impossible to implement. What the Supreme Court says on the subject of socialization certainly matters in terms of principle, and they have failed Americans spectacularly in every respect. But, in terms of finance, the Supreme Court’s shocking decision means nothing. One of Ron Paul’s primary arguments against the ongoing wars in the Mideast is that whether one agrees with these conflicts is irrelevant. The United States does not have the means to fund them. Eventually, we will break the bank and the dollar to maintain our presence in the region, and thus, the wars will end one way or another. The same philosophy goes for Obamacare and every other socializing program presented in America. They will say that taxation will cover the costs, but how do you raise taxes on a populace that is growing more destitute every year? How do you take money from people if they do not have it? This tactic doesn’t seem to be working very well for Europe. Also, keep in mind that as population and inflation grow exponentially, so will costs. The taxation will have to expand as fast or faster than the expenditures. This is why so many opponents of Obamacare voice concerns over population reduction programs and rejected care; they are an inevitable end result. When you institutionalize health and life under the auspices of bureaucracy, you must also invariably institutionalize death. Population and life suddenly become a numbers issue to the state, rather than a moral issue. They will say that the penalties to those who refuse to participate will cover the costs of the rest. Again, how to you take money from people who do not have it? What if millions of people simply refuse to participate and refuse to pay penalties? They will say "tax the corporations," and we could. But, as the derivatives crisis has proven, most major corporations in the United States are on the government take just to survive. We cannot have corporate bailouts and increased corporate taxation at the same time. The bailouts would have to end, the companies would collapse and we would be right back where we started. Just like our government, most corporations also operate on false wealth. They will not be paying for Obamacare anytime soon. They will say that it is all for the greater good, but since when has the establishment been qualified to define what the "greater good" is? Is Obamacare really a matter of conscience? Or is it a farce flaunted about as if it is a matter of conscience? They will say that people must be forced to do what is right for the group. I say such hubris has always led to catastrophe. Usually, the select beneficiaries of tyrannical cultures call for the might of the central government to be wrought upon the rest of the citizenry — not to do right by conscience, but to satiate their desire for control. Men love government as long as it is imposing their particular worldview, and as long as the tables never turn. They will say that current medical practices and costs are terrible and something must be done. I agree. However, Obamacare is not the answer. Principles and existentialist debates aside, the primary question remains: Where is a realistic plan to pay for this monstrosity of a program? I have yet to see a single grounded solution to the quandary. How does one pay for something he will never be able to afford? If there are no means, there will be no Obamacare. Dec. 07, 2012 to Dec. 14, 2012Health Highlights **Falling TVs a Death Risk for Children. **Chlamydia, Gonorrhea Rates Rising in U.S. **Dozens Sue Pharmacy Linked to Steroid/Meningitis Outbreak. **Fish Mislabeling a Common Problem. **Dying Girl Saved by Experimental Cancer Treatment. **Iron Supplements May Reduce Behavioral Woes in Low Birth Weight Kids. **Heavy Drinking, Pot Use In Teens Tied To Breakdown In The Brain’s Wiring System and Negative Changes In The Brain's "White Matter". **Trained Beagle Sniffs Out Troublesome Hospital Infection. **Immune System May Not Weaken With Age: Flu vaccines may fail to provide effective protection for seniors because they aren't designed to trigger responses from immune cells called T cells in older people. Health Highlights (Dec. 07, 2012 to Dec. 14, 2012) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Falling TVs a Death Risk for Children More than 200 children in the United States have been killed by falling TV sets since 2000, but parents are largely unaware of this potential threat, according to a report released Thursday by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission. The agency said falling TVs killed 29 people, mostly children, in 2011, making it one of the worst years on record for such deaths, USA Today reported. The CPSC also said that 18,000 people a year, mostly children, are treated for injuries from falling TVs. Old, heavy TV sets can weigh 50 to 100 pounds. Part of the problem is that people buy lighter flat-screen TVS and take their older, heavier sets out of the family room and put them on unstable bedroom dressers and playroom shelves, according to the agency. "Children will climb up on furniture to try to turn the TV on and there goes the heavy television as well as the piece of furniture," said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum, USA Today reported. ----- Chlamydia, Gonorrhea Rates Rising in U.S. Chlamydia and gonorrhea infection rates are rising in the United States, says a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. There were 1.4 million chlamydia infections reported to the CDC in 2011. The rate of cases per 100,000 people rose eight percent between 2010 and 2011, from 423.6 to 457.6, USA Today reported. In 2011, there were 321,849 gonorrhea infections reported to the CDC. The rate of cases per 100,000 people increased four percent between 2010 and 2011, from 100.2 to 104.2. There were 13,970 primary and secondary syphilis cases reported to the CDC in 2011. The rate remained the same (4.5 cases per 100,000) in 2010 and 2011. About 72 percent of the syphilis cases were among gay and bisexual men, USA Today reported. ----- Dozens Sue Pharmacy Linked to Steroid/Meningitis Outbreak Dozens of people have sued a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy that made steroid injections linked to an outbreak of fungal meningitis, but their chances of receiving compensation are low, a lawyer says. More than 500 people have become ill after receiving steroid injections prepared by the New England Compounding Center (NECC). Thirty-seven people have died in the outbreak. At least 50 federal lawsuits in nine states have been filed against the NECC and more are being filed in state courts every day, according to the Associated Press. The lawsuits, which allege that NECC negligently produced a defective and dangerous product, seek millions in compensation for physically painful recoveries, lost wages, mental and emotional suffering, and the death of spouses. "The truth is the chance of recovering damages from NECC is extremely low," John Day, a Nashville attorney who represents several people who developed fungal meningitis, told the AP. One of the main issues is that NECC is a small private company that has recalled all its product and laid off it employees. The company has surrendered its pharmacy licenses and it's not known if NECC has adequate liability insurance. "It's clear to me that at the end of the day, NECC is not going to have sufficient assets to compensate any of these people, not even 1 percent," Day told the AP. That has led lawyers to seek compensation from other parties. Additional defendants named in the lawsuit include NECC pharmacist and co-founder Barry Cadden, co-founder Greg Conigliaro, sister company Ameridose, and NECC's marketing and support arm, Medical Sales Management. The clinics and doctors who buy their drugs from compounding pharmacies could be held liable for negligence in such cases because they are better able to assess the safety of a medicine than patients, according to Day, the AP reported. "Did they use due care in determining from whom to buy these drugs?" Day said. Pharmaceutical distributors could also be held liable, according to Terry Dawes, a Michigan lawyer who has filed at least 10 federal lawsuits in the NECC case. "We are looking at any conceivable sources of recovery for our clients including pharmaceutical supply places that may have dealt with this company in the past," Dawes told the AP. ----- Fish Mislabeling a Common Problem A new study says that more than one-third of fish sold at stores and restaurants in New York City is mislabeled. Researchers with the conservation group Oceana conducted DNA tests on 150 samples of fresh fish from 81 establishments in the city and found that 39 percent of them were mislabeled, The New York Times reported. In some cases, cheaper types of fish were labeled as more expensive types of fish. The study also identified public health concerns. For example, 13 types of fish, including tilefish, were identified as red snapper. Mercury levels in tilefish are so high that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that this type of fish should not be eaten by pregnant or nursing women and young children. The researchers also found that 94 percent of fish sold as white tuna was not tuna at all. In many cases it was actually a fish known as snake mackerel, or escolar, which contains a toxin that can cause severe diarrhea if a person eats more than a few ounces of the fish, The Times reported. These new findings are similar to previous studies conducted by Oceana in Los Angeles, Boston and Miami, where 55, 48 and 31 percent of fish samples, respectively, were mislabeled. ----- Dying Girl Saved by Experimental Cancer Treatment A 6-year-old girl dying of leukemia was saved by an experimental treatment in which disabled HIV was used to reprogram her immune system genetically to kill cancer cells. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The procedure on Emma Whitehead was conducted at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in April. She had relapsed twice after chemotherapy and doctors could offer no more treatment options for her acute lymphoblastic leukemia, The New York Times reported. However, Emma's parents sought the experimental treatment, which had never before been tried in a child or in anyone with Emma's type of leukemia. She was cancer-free after the treatment and seven months later is still in remission. Emma is the first child and one of the first people in which their immune system has been given the lasting ability to fight cancer, The Times reported. The doctors who treated Emma presented their results in Atlanta Sunday and Monday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. ----- Iron Supplements May Reduce Behavioral Woes in Low Birth Weight Kids A new study says that iron supplements may help protect slightly underweight newborns from behavioral problems associated with low birth weight, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Swedish researchers looked at 285 infants who were born with a "marginally low" birth weight (between 4.4 to 5.5 pounds) and randomly assigned to receive either 0, 1 or 2 milligrams per kilogram per day of iron supplements from six weeks to six months of age, CBS News reported. The children were assessed when they were 3.5 years old. Signs of behavioral problems were detected in nearly 13 percent of those who took no iron supplements, compared with less than three percent of those who took 1- or 2-milligram daily doses of iron supplements. "The study suggests a causal relation between infant iron deficiency and later behavioral problems," wrote Dr. Magnus Domellof, a researcher from Umea University in Sweden, and colleagues. They concluded that early iron supplementation for otherwise healthy, marginally low birth weight infants could provide long-term health benefits, CBS News reported. The study was published online Dec. 10 in the journal Pediatrics. ----- Heavy Drinking, Pot Use In Teens Tied To Breakdown In The Brain’s Wiring System and Negative Changes In The Brain's "White Matter" By Amy Norton, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who are heavily into drinking and smoking pot may show signs of breakdown in the brain's wiring system, a small study suggests. Using brain scans of 92 teenagers, researchers found that kids who regularly drank and used marijuana showed negative changes in the brain's "white matter" over 18 months. The brain has two broad types of tissue, known as gray matter and white matter. The gray matter can be seen as the brain's information-processing centers, while the white matter is like the wiring connecting those centers. It's not clear what the current findings could mean for teens' everyday brain function. And it's not even certain that it's the substance abuse causing the white matter changes. But researchers say the results offer a cautionary message about heavy drinking and pot smoking. "White matter is the information highway. It allows the brain to communicate quickly and efficiently," said the study's lead researcher, Joanna Jacobus, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego. If white matter is "less healthy," she explained, there could be subtle effects on a person's memory, attention and mental processing speed. Dr. Duncan Clark, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who studies teen substance abuse, also weighed in on the study. "We are concerned that alcohol, marijuana or other substance use may cause delays or deficits in teen brain development," Clark said. "This study adds to those concerns." Other studies have found signs of white-matter "disorganization" in kids who drink or smoke pot. What's different here is that the researchers followed kids over time to see whether substance abuse itself was linked to brain changes, said Clark, who was not involved in the study. The findings, reported online Dec. 14 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, are based on 41 teenagers with a history of habitual drinking and pot smoking, and 51 teens who reported little, if any, alcohol or drug use. At the start of the study and again 18 months later, all of the teens underwent a type of MRI scan that maps the diffusion of water molecules in the brain. The technique can pick up subtle changes in the structural integrity of the brain's white matter. As a group, Jacobus and her colleagues found, kids who drank and smoked pot showed negative white-matter changes. In particular, the more they drank over the study period, the worse their white-matter integrity. Over 18 months, teens in the substance-abuse group drank on more than 400 occasions, on average, and smoked pot more than 650 times. Heavier marijuana use, however, did not correlate with the negative brain changes. "This study suggests that alcohol use has more effect than marijuana use," Clark said. He added, though, that more research is needed on that question -- including whether drinking and pot smoking together could have some combined effects. "I believe it would be premature to make conclusions about marijuana's effects," Clark said. The researchers had no information on what the teens' white matter was like before they started drinking and smoking pot. So they can't say for sure whether the drugs are the cause of the brain changes they saw. It's always possible there are other explanations, Jacobus said. "Genetics and home environment can influence healthy brain development in many ways," she said. "It is possible that white matter and other structural brain differences between these youth predisposed certain individuals to use more heavily compared to others." The differences in white matter between substance abusers and nonusers might translate into only subtle effects in real life -- in areas such as kids' school performance, Jacobus said. But, she said, "it's important to point out that with regular, repeated, heavy use throughout adolescence and young adulthood, these small effects may become more noticeable and consequential." ----- Trained Beagle Sniffs Out Troublesome Hospital Infection By Alan Mozes, HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Dec. 13 (HealthDay News) -- In the ongoing battle to control in-hospital bacterial infections, Dutch researchers think they may have come up with a secret weapon: a dog named Cliff. Turns out that, when properly trained, a dog's highly honed and superior sense of smell can be effectively harnessed to sniff out early signs of a common but problematic infection known as Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile. Exhibit A: Cliff, a 2-year old beagle who has already demonstrated a remarkable ability to diagnose infections simply by nosing around patients and their stool samples. "C. difficile can cause an infection of the bowel, ranging from mild symptoms of diarrhea to severe illness," explained study author Dr. Marije Bomers, an internist at the VU University Medical Centre, in Amsterdam. "The bacterium mostly affects older patients in a hospital or health care facility after the use of antibiotics, since antibiotics disturb the normal balance of bacteria present in our bowel." "Once a patient has a C. difficile bowel infection, the infection can spread to other patients on the same ward," Bomers noted, stressing the importance of prompt identification followed by patient quarantine to prevent spread. "However, in reality it can take a couple of days before a C. difficile infection is identified, allowing the bacteria to spread and infect more patients." In the Dec. 13 online edition of the journal BMJ, Bomers's team reported on its unconventional new approach. "In this research project we've trained a beagle called Cliff to identify the smell of C. difficile and subsequently tested its skills," she said. "It turned out that [spotting infections] was not that difficult for the dog." Since 2000, infection outbreaks -- particularly in the United States and Canada -- have grown in frequency and size, often prompting the wholesale closure of hospital wings, the authors noted. As a result, there has been an increased interest in the development of faster, more accurate and affordable infection-control measures. The Dutch team spent two months using a reward-based training system to teach Cliff to pick up the unique odor of C. difficile, both in stool samples and among patients themselves. After he learned to sit or lie down whenever the telltale scent was unearthed, the authors tested the dog's talents on stool-sample identifications in a microbiology laboratory setting. The result: a nearly perfect diagnostic record. Between 2010 and 2011, Cliff was repeatedly guided through hospital wards in two Dutch facilities that were caring for a total of 300 patients, 30 of whom were infected with C. difficile. The guides were not told which patients were infected, and Cliff made no direct contact with any patients -- he simply sniffed the air surrounding their beds before rendering his verdict. After 10 such "detection rounds," Cliff was successful in identifying C. difficile patients 83 percent of the time. "The bottom line is, it is very feasible to train a detection dog to identify a superbug like C. difficile," Bomers concluded. While pointing to ongoing research exploring the ability of dogs to sniff out different types of cancer, Bomers cautioned that their usefulness at sniffing out other infections and diseases remains an open question. But she suggested that dogs might ultimately help to reduce the onset of C. difficile by serving as routine "pet scans" that catch the first sign of an infection and halt an outbreak in its tracks. "The idea holds great potential," she said, "but more research has to be done first to see whether this concept actually works." Dr. Philip Tierno director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, confirmed that dogs are already used for other types of diagnostic ventures, and that setting them on the hunt for C. difficile infections "makes eminent sense." "This organism has a characteristic odor, which can be smelled by any medical personnel that's familiar with it," he explained. "For a lack of a better word, I would describe it as a barnyard odor, much like horse manure. It's very characteristic." "We currently use dogs to smell out bed bugs, which give off a smell when they cluster that can be detected by a dog but not by a human," Tierno noted. He added that he has noticed C. difficile scent in samples from patients with "overt medical manifestation of infection. But as our ability in terms of scent is nowhere near that of a dog, there's no doubt in my mind that it makes sense to use an animal for this purpose." ----- Immune System May Not Weaken With Age: Flu vaccines may fail to provide effective protection for seniors because they aren't designed to trigger responses from immune cells called T cells in older people FRIDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Older people's immune systems are still strong enough to fight off viruses, according to a new study. Researchers found that specialized immune cells called T cells can respond to virus infections in older people with the same strength as T cells from younger people. "For a long time, it was thought the elderly were at a higher risk of infections because they lacked these immune cells, but that simply isn't the case," study principal investigator Jonathan Bramson said in a news release from McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. "The elderly are certainly capable of developing immunity to viruses," he added. Bramson and his colleagues looked at how the immune systems of people in three different age groups (younger than 40, 41 to 59, and older than 60) responded to infections with three different viruses, including West Nile virus. In all three groups, both the number and functioning of the T cells were the same, according to the study, which was published Dec. 13 in the journal PLoS Pathogens. "So as we age, our bodies are still able to respond to new viruses, while keeping us immune to viruses we've been exposed to in the past," Bramson said. The findings may have an important impact on vaccinations for seniors, according to Bramson. Currently, vaccines for the elderly aren't designed to trigger responses from T cells, which might explain why flu vaccines may fail to provide effective protection for seniors, he said. He suggested that vaccines specifically designed to generate T-cell immunity may be more effective at protecting seniors. ‘Obama’s Damn Record' Is Killing America: Obama can’t talk his way out of his own damn record in the 2nd Presidential debate Obama’s 'Damn Record': Women’s Rights: Under Obama women have lost 580,000 jobs & 3.5 million more women are in poverty. The Economy: 23 million unemployed; a drop in unemployment only due to people losing hope & dropping out of the search for a job; over 500,000 manufacturing jobs lost; a giant drop in income for middle class households; anemic growth worse this year than last year. Debt: Over $5 trillion in new debt & doubling of the deficit. Obamacare: Massive tax increases coming & healthcare costs are already up $2,500 per family. Energy: Doubling of gas prices; destruction of the coal business; drilling permits cut 50+%; Keystone pipeline killed. Guns: Selling guns & getting people killed in the “Fast and Furious” gun scandal. Small Business: Regulation up 3x as small business owners say they feel under attack. ‘Obama’s Damn Record’ Is Killing America. Obama can’t talk his way out of his own damn record in the 2nd Presidential debate October 18, 2012 by Wayne Allyn Root Watch the video here: http://personalliberty.com/2012/10/18/that-damn-record/ Or read the text of it below: Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. Did you see Tuesday’s second Presidential debate? It was like a heavyweight championship rematch. And Romney sealed the deal with another knockout performance. But this time it wasn’t Obama’s fault. He came ready to rumble. This time it was that damn record that got in Obama’s way. Remember the O.J. Simpson case? This time the glove fit. Let me explain. No one has EVER been able to go into the ring with Obama — the heavyweight talker — and "take it to him." Knock him out. Leave him reeling. Leave him shaking and breathless from body blows. Until Mitt Romney. Not just because Mitt is the smartest guy in the room — and he is. But because Obama has never in his career had to run on an actual record. Obama has been allowed his entire career to lie with impunity. He is a lawyer. He is a great talker. He is a world-class debater. He can win an argument with anyone — with his fancy talk, propaganda and rhetoric. But things have changed. The difference is Obama now has a record he can’t escape from. That damn record was Obama’s undoing on Tuesday night. You can’t talk your way out of a record. You can’t sweet talk America when the facts are staring every voter right in the face. This time Obama was prepared, alert, aggressive, in fine fighting form. He did everything right. He was ready for his big comeback. Yet he lost badly again. Because the facts ate him up. That damn record ruined everything. One comment by Mitt was symbolic of the defeat Obama was about to experience. Mitt said, "You’re a good speaker, but you’ve got a record." Obama’s record is a millstone around his neck. In this heavyweight prizefight rematch, Romney hit him again and again — and hurt him badly — by simply pointing out his record. These weren’t slaps. These were gut shots. Shots to the body that leave a fighter in agony. There was no response to that record. Even the great socialist orator could not overcome that damn record. He was left motionless on the canvas, gasping for air. The body blows kept coming fast and furious (excuse the pun) all night: Energy. Obama seemed to lay claim to being "the energy President." Obama said he loves coal, oil, gas, all forms of drilling. Really? Romney hurt him with repeated body blows — all based on his own record. He pointed out that Obama is trying to destroy the coal business. He’s cut drilling permits by over 50 percent. He killed the Keystone pipeline. Romney even asked a simple but devastating question, "If your energy policy is so great, why have gas prices doubled?" That damn record. Libya. Obama said he called it a "terror attack" in the Rose Garden the very next day. Really? Romney turned into prosecutor and faced Obama. He nailed him in a complete fabrication. The next day? But didn’t Obama wait 14 days to call it a "terror attack?" Didn’t he in fact blame a YouTube video? Didn’t he allow Susan Rice, the U.N. Ambassador, to claim on Sunday talk shows five days later that it was "a spontaneous protest?" Obama was outsmarted by Mitt. Caught in a lie with the Nation watching, Obama looked shocked and disgusted. That damn record. Women’s rights. Obama scored points with his single mom story. Then he hit Mitt with contraception and Planned Parenthood. In a Presidential debate four years ago, with no record to defend, Obama would have knocked Romney out with women. But not this time. Not with that damn record — the millstone around his neck. Romney pointed out the record. Women have lost 580,000 jobs under Obama. Three point five million more women are in poverty. Romney pointed out that a strong economic recovery is the best answer to how we help women. Create an economy that is growing and creating jobs and businesses will jump to hire women, and offer flexible schedules. Obama is offering you free contraception, but no job. That’s a really bad tradeoff. That damn record. Guns. Obama was practically claiming to be "the pro gun President." He said he’s a strong supporter of the 2nd amendment. But that damn record got in the way again. At this moment, Obama became a joke. Romney didn’t need to say a thing. We were all laughing too hard at the lies this man tells. But just for good measure, Romney savaged him by bringing up the "Fast and Furious" gun scandal. He pointed out that it was the Obama administration that was selling guns and getting people killed. Oops. That damn record again. The economy. Obama is good. If there was no record to defend, I have no doubt that 55 percent of American voters would choose his socialist pathway of big government, big taxes and big spending. But there’s that damn record to defend again. Romney took it to him. Twenty-three million unemployed. A drop in unemployment, only due to people losing hope and dropping out of the search for a job. Over 500,000 manufacturing jobs lost. A giant drop in income for middle class households. Anemic GDP growth. Worse growth this year than last year. You could see Obama thinking "That damn record is killing me." Debt. Obama beat Romney up pretty good over the debt that his lower taxes might cause. Until Romney brought up Obama’s actual record. Over $5 trillion in new debt. A promise to cut the deficit in half, yet instead Obama doubled it. Suddenly Obama looked small, powerless, weak. You can’t defend that damn record. Obamacare. Romney took that myth out with one body blow. He pointed out that Obama promised healthcare costs would be down $2,500 per family during his first term, but costs are up $2,500 per family. That damn record. Small business. Here Obama told the whopper of all time. He said he’s cut taxes 18 times for small business. Really. I own multiple small businesses. My taxes haven’t been cut one time, nor one penny under Obama. Obamacare will be a massive tax increase in January. Who is this man kidding? But Romney rushed to the center of the ring, and knocked him out with a right hook. He pointed out that regulation has tripled for businesses under Obama. The small business owners Romney speaks to say they feel under attack from their own government. Great line. Direct hit to the kidney. That damn record. Obama is such a good lawyer, such a good talker, he could have gotten O.J. Simpson off. He’s that good. But the O.J. case was about circumstantial evidence. In Obama’s case, the facts are in. Even Obama the lawyer couldn’t get Obama off. The facts of Obama’s first term buried the President under a barrage of hooks and haymakers. That damn record. To put it in lawyer’s parlance, this time the glove fit. The Taxes Are Already Too Damn High and Obama's 2013 Budget Includes $1.5 Trillion In New Taxes. That Is Comrade Obama's Communist Agenda: To tax us until it hurts, leaving us with fewer dollars to fund conservative or capitalist causes In this short video Wayne Allen Root examines President Barack Obama's 2013 budget and finds $1.5 trillion in new taxes. Root then sets out to prove that Obama is committing "tax fraud" by claiming that taxes are too low. In reality, they are too darn high. That is Obama's agenda: to tax us until it hurts, leaving us with fewer dollars to fund conservative or capitalist causes. The Taxes Are Already Too Damn High and Obama's 2013 Budget Includes $1.5 Trillion In New Taxes. That Is Comrade Obama's Communist Agenda: To tax us until it hurts, leaving us with fewer dollars to fund conservative or capitalist causes. Click here to view the video: http://personalliberty.com/2012/02/23/the-taxes-are-too-darn-high/?eiid= Comrade Obama Condemns Capitalism In America, Not To Help Americans, But To Help Himself Toward More Power and Re-Election Communism for the masses has consistently delivered poverty, loss of freedom & death. Capitalism, on the other hand, has worked for the masses whenever & wherever it has been tried; it has delivered spectacular wealth & a high standard of living to all those who are willing to work. The scam of politicians taking from those who produce & giving the stolen loot to those whom they deem to be in need does not work; the poverty rate is about the same today as it was 47 years ago. It doesn’t matter how much of other people’s money you give away, it does nothing to lift people up. The hard evidence shows that it is government’s redistribution-of-wealth policies that have not worked. Obama’s socialist & communist mentors had it all wrong. It is collectivism, in all its ugly incarnations, that doesn’t work. Welfare programs have bankrupted the USA & stripped millions of.... Comrade Obama Condemns Capitalism In America, Not To Help Americans, But To Help Himself Toward More Power and Re-Election   Personal Liberty Digest -- 12/13/2011 -- Barack Obama would do well to listen to a once starry-eyed collectivist named Bill Clinton. Oops! The Presidential pretender went and did it again. A lot of red ink has passed over the socialist dam since he unthinkingly told Joe the Plumber that he wants to "spread the wealth around." Or since he told Charlie Gibson that "It’s a matter of fairness" when Gibson repeatedly asked him to explain why he would want to raise the capital-gains tax when the historical evidence proves that higher capital-gains taxes actually decrease government revenues. Of course, there have been endless not-so-subtle clues as to Obama’s impeccable collectivist credentials since then, but, on the whole, he tends to choose his words carefully so as not to awaken the sleeping frogs. One must always be mindful not to let the water get too hot. But last week Obama let it all hang out in a speech at a Kansas high school when he said, "[T]here is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, ‘Let’s respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. The market will take care of everything,’ they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes — especially for the wealthy — our economy will grow stronger." Moving in for the kill, he went on to say, "And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. But here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It has never worked. … I mean, understand, it’s not as if we haven’t tried this theory. We simply cannot return to this brand of you’re-on-your-own economics if we’re serious about rebuilding the middle class in this country." That’s right, folks, capitalism had nothing to do with the United States becoming the most prosperous country in the history of the world. It had nothing to do with millions of ambitious people starting with nothing and becoming millionaires and even billionaires. And it has nothing to do with the fact that "poor people" (as defined by the Census Bureau) in the U.S. live better than middle-class people in most other countries. When Obama says that cutting taxes and regulations doesn’t work, what in the world is he talking about? Everything works. The question is, for whom does it work, and how well? Collectivism works exceedingly well for politicians whose chief objective is to stay in office, but it destroys the lives of millions of people on the dole who might otherwise become productive citizens. True to his favorite tactic of turning the facts upside down, when Obama says "it’s not as if we haven’t tried this theory," it sounds as though he’s referring to communism rather than capitalism. Communism has been tried throughout the world — from Cuba to Russia, from North Korea to China — and it’s worked wonderfully for guys with names like Castro, Stalin, Kim Jong Il and Mao. But for the masses it has consistently delivered poverty, loss of freedom and death. Capitalism, on the other hand, has worked for the masses — whenever and wherever it has been tried. Even in its impure state (i.e., not laissez faire) it has delivered spectacular wealth and a high standard of living to all those who are willing to work. "You’re on your own economics" is a cute catchphrase — the kind of dismissive ridicule the left loves to employ — but the truth is that being "on your own" is a good thing. When the government leaves people alone, it makes it easier for them to innovate and create wealth. And when wealth is created, it accrues to everyone’s benefit, whether it is reinvested, spent on goods and services, or saved (which adds to capital formation and, in turn, spurs economic growth and job creation). But what about those who are truly unable to care for themselves; e.g., quadriplegics, the blind and the mentally ill? What would happen to them in a truly free society? Fortunately, the Western way of life is based on a code of ethics and morality that motivates Americans, in particular, to be remarkably charitable. No civilized person wants to see those who are seriously health challenged or mentally challenged suffer, so the question is not whether or not such people should be helped. The question is, who is best equipped to help them — politicians, whose chief aim is to perpetuate their own power, or free individuals, who have a genuine desire to be charitable to those who are incapable of fending for themselves? If the scam of politicians taking from those who produce and giving the stolen loot to those whom they deem to be "in need" worked, the poverty rate would not be about the same today (14.3 percent) as it was when the Great Society was launched back in 1965. What Lyndon Johnson’s "generosity" proved is that it doesn’t matter how much of other people’s money you give away, it does nothing to lift people up. The hard evidence shows that it is government’s redistribution-of-wealth policies that have not worked. The far left has succeeded in perpetuating a cult of dependency that keeps career criminals like Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in power. And, unfortunately, those who claim to be in favor of capitalism — primarily Republican career politicians — have consistently gone along with welfare programs that have bankrupted the country and stripped millions of people of the motivation to tap into their true potential and better their lives. If one assumes that a community organizing ne’er-do-well like Barack Obama — who has never built anything in his life — sincerely wants to help the middle class, he would have to simultaneously believe that Obama’s an ignoramus. How does increasing America’s debt by $4 billion a day help the poor? How do more than 40,000 pages of tax regulations — regulations that take time and money away from job creators — help the poor? How does an $800 billion "stimulus bill" — which turned out to be nothing more than a wish list of political pork — help the poor? How do regulations that prevent oil drilling and coal mining — activities that could create a massive number of jobs and reduce our dependency on foreign oil — help the poor? How does destroying the housing market through government-created failures like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac help the poor? Yes, we do need to be on our own. More regulation is the last thing in the world we need. The greatest regulator is, and always has been, the marketplace. Those of us who have engaged in entrepreneurship know that the marketplace is a brutal, unforgiving regulator. But how in the world can you expect a community organizer to know that when he’s never started or operated a business? You have to experience the brutality of the marketplace, firsthand, in order to appreciate just how well it works. Maybe Obama and his supposedly sincere leftist pals should study Galveston, Texas and try to understand why opting out of the Social Security system has worked so well for its citizens. Or why job-creating companies are stampeding out of anti-business, high-tax States like New York and California and escaping to business-friendly States such as Nevada, Florida and Texas that have no State income taxes. The truth is that, throughout history, the vile left has never been interested in lifting people up. Instead of focusing on income inequality, their focus should be on setting people free — to be on their own! — to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them. Sorry, Barack, but your socialist and communist mentors — from papa Obama to Frank Marshall Davis, from Saul Alinsky to Jeremiah Wright — had it all wrong. It is collectivism, in all its ugly incarnations, that doesn’t work. So-called trickle-down economics, on the other hand, does work — and always will. It’s built into the system. Barack Obama would do well to listen to a once starry-eyed collectivist named Bill Clinton, who recently said, in an interview with Newsmax’s Chris Ruddy, "We don’t have a lot of resentment against people who are successful. We kind of like it, Americans do. It’s one of our best characteristics. If we think someone earned their money, we do not resent their success. That’s why there’s been very little class conflict in American history." We’re less than a year away from finding out who is right in his assessment of the average American — Barack Obama or Bill Clinton. -Robert Ringer Obama Clearly Hates U.S. Business Owners: What if Obama treated our U.S. Olympic heroes with the same hostility? Here’s what Obama would say: *You didn’t win those medals; government did it for you. Give them up. *All gold medal winners will share their winnings with the losers so we can spread the gold around. *You will give 50% of your endorsement money to the other Olympians. *Making the Olympic team will be based on quotas & affirmative action, not on talent; 50% of all swimming spots will be black athletes & 50 percent of all track & basketball spots will be white athletes. *Each medal winner has to pay a $25,000 tax on your medals; working harder & smarter & winning will be punished with massive taxes. *The entire Olympic team will retire because there is no incentive to ever work hard again to win. *Like government employees, you will retire early & receive pensions for not working the rest of your lives; this guarantees you as Democrat voters. Obama Clearly Hates U.S. Business Owners: What if Obama treated our U.S. Olympic heroes with the same hostility?   August 30, 2012 by Wayne Allyn Root Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2012/08/30/you-didnt-win-that-olympic-medal/?eiid= -- or read the text of it below. Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. The Olympics just ended about three weeks ago. They are still fresh in our mind. But it’s been enough time that our Olympic athletes will soon be visiting the White House for that ceremonial visit with President Obama. You know, the President who believes you didn’t build your business. You don’t get credit for success. It’s always government that made it happen. So I thought it would be funny to imagine what Obama might say to our Olympic heroes. I call this commentary, You Didn’t Win That. Can’t you just hear Obama’s speech to the U.S. Olympic athletes when they visit the White House? He’ll point to their gold medals and say, "You didn’t win that. Government did it for you. We built the Olympic training center, the roads that lead to it; we provide the coaches and team doctors. Since we won the medals for you, please place them in the communal pot behind the stage. These medals are now the property of the United States government." But wait. There’s more. With ultra-liberals there is always another lecture. Obama cares so much about "fairness," "equality" and "social justice," he can’t possibly allow a teachable moment to pass without a lecture. "I want all the champion gold medal winners to share their winnings with the losers. Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, come on down. You guys are Exhibit A. It’s the collective — not the individual — that is important. All those gold medals you won hurt a lot of feelings. You are dividers — not uniters. You’re greedy. You should feel guilty for not slowing up enough to let others win a few medals too. We’ve got to spread the gold around. "Michael and Ryan, you’re going to make $50 million off these Olympics. But that’s just not fair. What about all the other U.S. Olympians who will make nothing? The rowers, the fencers, the curlers. We can’t have winners and losers. Everyone should share in your success. So… "Here is my Executive Order. Michael and Ryan: In the interest of equality, you will both give 50 percent of your $50 million endorsement money to the rest of the Olympians. That takes care of the Olympians. But remember, without our bean-counting bureaucrats and egomaniacal, blowhard politicians, you would never have won a thing. So, of the amount you have left, you have to give 70 percent to the IRS. I think that’s paying your ‘fair share.’ You owe us." But then Obama couldn’t help himself: "One more thing. I am taking this opportunity to announce my new Executive Order for Social Justice. It isn’t fair that there are so few African-American swimmers and so few white track athletes and basketball players. I am ordering the U.S. Olympic Committee to no longer determine who makes the Olympic team based on talent. From this day forward, it must be based on quotas and affirmative action. You must set aside 50 percent of all swimming spots for black athletes and 50 percent of all track and basketball spots for white athletes. And, of course, I’m also mandating a few token slots for Latinos, Asians and American Indians. "For far too long, the Olympics have been about talent, regardless of race. That was wrong. That was offensive. That was then. Now it will be based on social justice. Who says people want to see good swimmers? I think they’d rather see a rainbow of diversity and equality. "And, one last thing: taxes. Each medal winner has to pay a $25,000 tax on your medals. You know, those gold things you no longer own. Just because you work harder and smarter than the next guy you will no longer be allowed to hurt people’s feelings by beating them. Win and you will be punished with massive taxes. "Finally, by Executive Order I’ve also added a United Nations carbon tax to your taxes due. Each of you polluted the world and caused a dramatic increase in global warming with your carbon footprints traveling to Europe. So whether you won a medal or not, each of you is fined $10,000. Make the check out to Michelle Obama." As the White House press conference ends, the athletes are depressed and bewildered. The entire Olympic team, now with no incentive to ever again train past the point of exhaustion, retires en masse. Obama is thrilled. It is exactly as he planned. By retiring at such a young age, they remind him of government employees. He promises them pensions for not working for the rest of their lives and, of course, that guarantees them as Democrat voters. Thinking of the hope and change he has just created: fairness; equality; social justice; the joy of the collective; and, of course, the full credit now assigned correctly to government, for all of these Olympic triumphs bring tears of joy to Obama’s eyes. He thinks to himself: "Gosh, isn’t this great? The Olympics are now just like my economy. Talent is replaced by fairness. It’s great to be God!" And now you know exactly how every business owner in America feels under Obama! I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. See you next week, same time, same place. God Bless. Obama’s Suicide Economy: The mainstream media are trying to protect Obama. They know that the bleak economic facts would doom Obama’s re-election; so, they have imposed a total media blackout The stats the mainstream media are covering up: 37,000 Americans are now committing suicide annually under Obama-more than die in car accidents-for the first time ever. The labor force participation rate for all workers is the lowest since 1981; for men it’s the lowest in over half a century since 1948. The jobless rate rose in 44 States in July. Help Wanted Ads have collapsed in back-to-back months to the lowest levels since the Lehman Brothers financial disaster. Durable goods orders dropped to their lowest level since the throes of the deep 2009 recession. A month ago, California reported sales tax revenues plunged a shocking $539 million below expectations. Consumer demand for oil in July was the lowest since 1995. There is no recovery! There are no jobs! There is no improvement in business! Obama’s Suicide Economy: The mainstream media are trying to protect Obama. They know that the bleak economic facts would doom Obama’s re-election; so, they have imposed a total media blackout   October 4, 2012 by Wayne Allyn Root Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2012/10/04/obamas-suicide-economy/ -- or read the text of it below.   Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for PersonalLiberty.com. As John Lennon might say, "I want you to imagine with me for a moment." Imagine a U.S. President presiding over a country in major economic decline: sales tax revenues plunging; unemployment growing worse by the month; petroleum sales (the foundation of our economy) sinking like a rock; GDP anemic; the real estate crash worse than the 1929 Great Depression; 40 percent of the net assets of the average American gone; prices for food and gas skyrocketing; and suicides going up so fast, they now outnumber deaths from car accident. Imagine that. It’s unthinkable! Now, imagine in the face of all that, the mainstream media claiming things are getting better, refusing to challenge the President when he repeats over and over again the lie that "we are in recovery" and viciously attacking the Presidential challenger for daring to criticize the incumbent President? You’d be insane to picture that set of circumstances, right? Sadly, it’s happening right now. We’ve gone from the world’s greatest economic superpower to an Obama economy where Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi claim food stamps and unemployment benefits are economic activity. And in our final death throes under Obama we’ve become "The Suicide Economy." That’s right. Americans are so happy and financially secure under Obama, they are committing suicide in record numbers. More people are now purposely killing themselves than die in car accidents — for the first time ever. How bad is the economy? Here are the stats the mainstream media are covering up: A month ago, California reported sales tax revenues plunged a shocking $539 million below expectations. That’s over a half billion dollars in one State, in one month. Does that sound like a recovery to you? The jobless rate rose in 44 States in July, including nine out of 10 battleground States. In August, Nevada’s unemployment went back up past 12 percent again. Does that sound like a recovery to you? The American Petroleum Institute reports that U.S. consumer demand for oil and other forms of petroleum in July was the lowest since 1995. Does that sound like a recovery? The labor force participation rate for all workers is the lowest since 1981, but for men it’s the lowest in over half a century (since 1948). Obama’s campaign slogan is "Forward." When it comes to jobs we are heading 55 years backward. Does that sound like a recovery? "Help wanted" ads have collapsed in back-to-back months to the lowest levels since the Lehman Brothers financial disaster. Does that sound like a recovery? Just days ago, we heard the terrible news that durable goods orders dropped a horrific 13.2 percent last month. That is a measure of factory activity. This was the worst drop since the throes of the deep 2009 recession. More signs of business off the rails under Obama. The final sobering stat is that 37,000 Americans are now committing suicide annually under Obama — more than die in car accidents — for the first time ever. Does that sound like a recovery? There are two conclusions to be drawn from all these sobering economic statistics, but especially the rise in suicides. First, there is no recovery. We are in far deeper economic trouble than the media admit. I’m an entrepreneur, small-business owner and capitalist evangelist who happens to have a media megaphone. I can tell you from firsthand experience what is happening at ground zero of the economy. Business is what I do, what I live, every minute of every day. And I can report that it’s ugly (and getting uglier) on Main Street. There are no jobs. There is no improvement in business. I predict that soon after the holidays (and the election), if the massive tax increases are allowed to take effect, the U.S. economy will suffer a dramatic collapse. The stats reported above are warning signs of a coming economic Armageddon. Is anyone listening? But as bad as things are here, Europe is the real "canary in the coal mine." Looking at the EU is like looking into a mirror to see America’s future under Obama. Just in the past few days, we saw in the headlines stories about what is unfolding in Europe: unrest in the streets, rioting, violence, one-third of the business in Athens out of business, middle-class people starving and scavenging through dumpsters in Hungary and Greece. All of this pain and tragedy is caused by big government and big debt. By governments spending far more than they take in. Eventually, it catches up with you. Eventually, the investors of the world stop lending you money. And then, the crisis hits. All at once, your country goes from a normal existence to a Great Depression to a daily struggle for survival. Don’t look now, but it’s headed your way, folks. Obama is leading us in the exact same direction as Europe. Obama’s plan is just Europe’s plan for the past half century. It’s just old, tired, worn-out, refried socialist failure. The sales tax drop in California, the drop in petroleum product sales, the drop in factory activity, the drop in "help wanted" ads, the rise in depression and suicides: These are all signs of where we are headed. All the tragic economic statistics above prove that even Obama and the Fed cannot print enough fake money to paper over the truth — just as the European Central Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) can’t print enough money to paper over the truth about Europe. The EU is broke, insolvent and about to experience an economic tragedy that history will talk about for centuries to come. And, of course, the EU is going to break up. The second conclusion you can draw from the stats above is that the mainstream media are trying to protect Obama. They know that these bleak economic facts would doom Obama’s re-election. So they have imposed a total media blackout. You’ll never hear the truth about the state of our economy from the mainstream media. Just consider if suicides were dramatically up under a Republican President like Reagan or Romney at the same time the economy was in free fall, what would the media say? They would not only make the connection, they’d be trumpeting this tragedy in bold headlines 24 hours a day. They would blame the suicides on the poor economy. They’d blame it on capitalism. They’d blame it all the spending cuts and lack of compassion of a Republican President. So far, Obama gets a pass because of the biased, leftist media. But history won’t be so kind. There is only one way to describe what we are all living through. Someday, history books will call this "Obama’s Suicide Economy." I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. See you right back here next week. Same time, same place. God Bless. Nov. 30, 2012 to Dec. 07, 2012Health Highlights **New Rules Would Ease Veterans' Access to Brain Injury Benefits. **3 More Compounding Pharmacies Ordered Closed in Massachusetts. **Drug Makers Fight Calif. Drug Take-Back Law. **Six Infant Deaths Prompt CPSC To Take Action Against Nap Nanny Maker. **States Spending Less on Tobacco Prevention Programs Despite Record High Revenues From Tobacco Taxes and Settlements. **Study Questions Use of Coated Aspirin. **New Decongestant Can't be Used to Make Meth. **New Alzheimer's Drug Begins Clinical Trial. **More Proof of Link Between Head Injury, Brain Disease. **Avastin Won't Extend Breast Cancer Survival: Costly drug comes with serious side effects. **Sleep Apnea Tied to More Brain Damage in Women Than Men. Health Highlights (Nov. 30, 2012 to Dec. 07, 2012) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: New Rules Would Ease Veterans' Access to Brain Injury Benefits Proposed new rules that will make it easier for thousands of American veterans to receive health care and compensation for certain conditions linked to traumatic brain injury were announced by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Under the revised regulations, veterans with Parkinsonism, unprovoked seizures, certain dementias, depression and hormone deficiency diseases linked to the hypothalamus, pituitary or adrenal glands would be eligible for the expanded benefits, The New York Times reported. The changes could lead to tens of thousands of veterans filing claims with the Veterans Benefits Administration. The regulations will be published Monday in the Federal Register and there will be a 60-day public comment period, the Times reported. ----- 3 More Compounding Pharmacies Ordered Closed in Massachusetts Three compounding pharmacies in Massachusetts have been ordered to halt operations following unannounced inspections by state regulators. The inspections came in the wake of a deadly meningitis outbreak linked to another compounding pharmacy in the state, the New England Compounding Center. OncoMed Pharmaceutical Services stopped production at its Waltham facility after an inspection revealed issues with the storage of chemotherapy drugs. Pallimed Solutions was told to cease production of sildenafil citrate (sold as Viagra) after inspectors found that it had been prepared with improper components. The Whittier Pharmacist was told to halt sterile compounding after unspecified violations were identified, CBS News/The Associated Press reported. As of Dec. 3, 363 cases of fungal meningitis and more than 150 spinal infections have been linked to contaminated steroid injections made by the New England Compounding Center, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thirty-six people have died. The outbreak has raised questions about the regulation of compounding pharmacies, which mix medications. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has asked lawmakers to give the FDA more authority and funding to oversee compounding pharmacies, which are regulated by states, CBS News/AP reported. ----- Drug Makers Fight Calif. Drug Take-Back Law U.S. drug companies are fighting a local law in California that makes them responsible for funding and running a program where consumers can bring in unused medicines for proper disposal. The law in Alameda County, Calif. -- which includes Oakland and Berkeley -- was enacted in July and is the first such law in the country. Drug companies have until July 1, 2013 to submit their plans for complying with the law, The New York Times reported. The drug industry planned to file a lawsuit in United States District Court in Oakland on Friday in an effort to have the law overturned. The lawsuit is being filed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents brand-name and generic drug makers, and biotechnology companies. The law was enacted due growing concerns that unused medicines are a potential threat to public health and the environment. Most drug take-back programs are run by local or other government agencies. But there are increasing calls to make drug makers pay for such programs, the Times reported. ----- Six Infant Deaths Prompt CPSC To Take Action Against Nap Nanny Maker Six infant deaths have prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to take action against the maker of a portable baby recliner called the Nap Nanny. In an administrative complaint, the CPSC alleges that the Nap Nanny "poses a substantial risk of injury and death to infants," the Associated Press reported. The CPSC is seeking an order that would force the manufacturer, Baby Matters of Berwyn, Pa., to alert the public about what the agency considers a serious product defect, and to offer consumers a full refund. An email from Baby Matters said the company went out of business a month ago, the AP reported. About 155,000 of three Nap Nanny models were sold since 2009. ----- States Spending Less on Tobacco Prevention Programs Despite Record High Revenues From Tobacco Taxes and Settlements Despite record high revenues from tobacco taxes and the national tobacco settlement, states are spending less on tobacco prevention programs, according to a report released Thursday by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The group said the amount spent by states on tobacco prevention in the past two years is the lowest in any period since the national tobacco settlement in 1998, The New York Times reported. States will collect a record $25.7 billion in tobacco taxes and settlement money in the current fiscal year, but less than two percent of that will be spent on tobacco prevention, according to the document. The tobacco settlement awarded states an estimated $246 billion over its first 25 years and give states complete control over how they spend the money. Many use the funds to fill budget gaps or for programs unrelated to tobacco, The Times reported. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing more than 400,000 people a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ----- Study Questions Use of Coated Aspirin Coating on aspirin may interfere with the way the drug is absorbed by the body, which may explain why some people appear to be resistant to its heart attack and stroke prevention benefits, a new study says. It's long been suggested that between five and 40 percent of people may be "aspirin resistant." But some prominent doctors have challenged that belief, The New York Times reported. In this University of Pennsylvania study, researchers say they did not find a single case of true aspirin resistance in any of the 400 people they examined. Instead, they concluded that a stomach-protective coating used on some types of aspirin interfere with the way the drug enters the body, which makes it appear that the drug is ineffective. The study was published Tuesday in the journal Circulation. The findings "question the value of coated, low-dose aspirin," Dr. Garret FitzGerald, chairman of pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the study's authors, said in a statement accompanying the article, The Times reported. "This product adds cost to treatment, without any clear benefit. Indeed, it may lead to the false diagnosis of aspirin resistance and the failure to provide patients with an effective therapy," he added. ----- New Decongestant Can't be Used to Make Meth A St. Louis company that makes a new pseudoephedrine-based decongestant says the drug cannot be used to make methamphetamine. Highland Pharmaceuticals spent years developing the form of pseudoephedrine used in its decongestant called Zephrex-D, company spokeswoman Emilie Dolan told the Associated Press. The product, which is being sold at several pharmacies in the St. Louis area, is being reviewed by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Pseudoephedrine, which can be found in cold and allergy pills, is a vital component in most meth recipes, the AP reported. ----- New Alzheimer's Drug Begins Clinical Trial The first combined mid- and late-stage study of a new type of drug designed to slow mental and functional decline in Alzheimer's patients was announced Monday by Merck & Co. The 78-week trial involves a BACE inhibitor called MK-8931. It's meant to limit production of beta amyloid protein, the main component of brain damaging amyloid plaques believed to be the most likely cause of Alzheimer's, the Associated Press reported. The first phase will involve safety testing of the drug in about 200 patients. It will then expand to include as many as 1,700 patients and will test three different doses of the drug, compared with a dummy pill. Previous research showed that MK-8931 blocked formation of nearly all the toxic amyloid plaques. "No one's ever done that before," Darryle Schoepp, Merck's head of neuroscience research, told the AP. "If (amyloid) plaques are the cause, the medicine will work." ----- More Proof of Link Between Head Injury, Brain Disease A new study provides further proof of a link between head injury and long-term, degenerative brain disease. Researchers analyzed brain samples from 85 athletes, military veterans and others who suffered repeated head trauma during their lives. Eighty percent (68) of them had evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive and incurable brain disorder that includes symptoms such as memory loss, depression and dementia, The New York Times reported. Among those found to have CTE were 50 were football players, including 33 who played in the NFL. There were also seven pro boxers, four professional hockey players, and 21 military veterans, many of whom were also athletes, according to the study in the journal Brain. The four-year study was conducted by investigators at the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy and the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, in collaboration with the Sports Legacy Institute, The Times reported. The study more than doubled the documented cases of CTE and the researchers also created a four-tiered system to classify degrees of CTE in the hope that it will help doctors treat patients. ----- Avastin Won't Extend Breast Cancer Survival: Costly drug comes with serious side effects By Kathleen Doheny, HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The drug Avastin (bevacizumab), when added to chemotherapy, does not improve disease-free survival in patients with triple-negative breast cancer any better than chemo alone, new research finds. "Therefore, sadly for patients, we have nothing extra to add to chemotherapy for early, triple-negative breast cancer," Dr. David Cameron, a professor of oncology at Edinburgh University in Scotland, said in a news release from the American Association for Cancer Research. He was scheduled to present the findings Friday at the 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Previous studies of Avastin had found benefit. However, in 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked approval of the drug for late-stage breast cancer, citing risks -- such as heart failure and severe high blood pressure -- that outweigh the benefits. The drug may still be used off-label, with doctors prescribing it to patients if they think that patient could be helped. This new study signals the death of the drug for breast cancer, although it is helpful in other cancers, said Dr. Joanne Mortimer, director of Women's Cancer Programs for the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif. She reviewed the new findings. Another physician took a different view, saying others should consider continuing research on the drug. "We have all seen some success stories with the drug, and Avastin may be a drug that works in only a select few," said Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Avastin is marketed by Genentech. Swiss drugmaker Hoffmann-La Roche, which acquired Genentech, sponsored the study. For the new study, researchers randomly assigned nearly 2,600 patients with triple-negative operable primary invasive breast cancer to four or more cycles of chemotherapy. They used either an anthracycline-based or taxane-based chemo drug. One group also received a year of Avastin therapy. Triple-negative breast cancer refers to those tumors that do not have estrogen or progesterone receptors or express the HER2/neu gene. The researchers followed the women to see if the Avastin made a difference in disease-free survival. At a median follow-up of 32 months, no significant improvement occurred by adding Avastin. Among those who received chemo alone, 107 died during the follow-up period, compared with 93 deaths in the group getting chemo plus Avastin, the investigators found. Those in the Avastin group were more likely than the chemo-alone group to have problems such as severe high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. The drug is effective in other cancers, Mortimer said. "It's a very important drug for lung, [gastrointestinal] and kidney cancers," she explained. The drug is still listed in the recommendations for breast cancer treatment by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The not-for-profit is an alliance of 21 major international cancer centers, including City of Hope. Health insurers turn to the recommendations when deciding which drugs to cover. Avastin is costly, about $112,000 a year for breast cancer patients. Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. ----- Sleep Apnea Tied to More Brain Damage in Women Than Men FRIDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Women with obstructive sleep apnea have more brain damage than men with the disorder, a new study finds. People with obstructive sleep apnea experience repeated breathing interruptions while they sleep. Left untreated, sleep apnea may lead to serious health problems such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, diabetes and depression. About 10 years ago, a team at the University of California, Los Angeles, showed that men with sleep apnea have damage to their brain cells. In this new study of 80 participants, the same team compared the brains of men and women with and without sleep apnea. "While there are a great many brain studies done on sleep apnea and the impact on one's health, they have typically focused on men or combined groups of men and women, but we know that obstructive sleep apnea affects women very differently than men," chief investigator Paul Macey, associate dean of information technology and innovations at the UCLA School of Nursing, said in a university news release. "This study revealed that, in fact, women are more affected by sleep apnea than are men, and that women with obstructive sleep apnea have more severe brain damage than men suffering from a similar condition," Macey said. In particular, brain damage in women with obstructive sleep apnea affected two areas in the front of the brain involved in decision-making and mood regulation. Women with sleep apnea also had higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, according to the study in the December issue of the journal Sleep. "This tells us that doctors should consider that the sleep disorder may be more problematic and therefore need earlier treatment in women than men," Macey said. The next step is to learn more about the timing of brain changes in people with obstructive sleep apnea, and to determine whether treating the disorder can help the brain. "What we don't yet know is, did sleep apnea cause the brain damage, did the brain damage lead to the sleep disorders or do the common comorbidities, such as depression, dementia or cardiovascular issues, cause the brain damage, which in turn leads to sleep apnea," Macey said. While the study found an association between sleep apnea and brain damage, it did not prove cause-and-effect. Obama Has Abandoned Israel And Why Jews Should Abandon Obama: Obama has thrown Israel under the bus to a madman whose goal is to wipe out every Jew in the world and destroy Israel The back channel message from President Obama to Iran -- a rogue, terrorist nation -- and to Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- a madman with nuclear ambitions who has stated publicly time & again his goal is to wipe out every Jew in the world & destroy Israel -- was that we do not have Israel’s back & that Iran should not even think of attacking U.S. interests or military installations because we will not be part of the attack, we will not be supporting Israel in any way. This is like FDR going through back channels to tell Adolf Hitler that we will not have England’s back, so go ahead and attack Britain. But don’t attack the USA because we are not on the same team. Can you even imagine this is happening in our country? It’s time for Jews to abandon Obama the same way Obama has abandoned Israel & teach.... Obama Has Abandoned Israel And Why Jews Should Abandon Obama: Obama has thrown Israel under the bus to a madman whose goal is to wipe out every Jew in the world and destroy Israel   September 06, 2012 by Wayne Allyn Root Watch the video here -- http://personalliberty.com/2012/09/06/why-obama-has-abandoned-israel-and-why-jews-should-abandon-obama/?eiid= -- or read the text of it below. Hello, I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. My video commentary this week is about the shocking news that President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus. It is titled Why Obama Has Abandoned Israel And Why Jews Should Abandon Obama. But certainly this commentary applies to not just Jews, but Christians and all Americans who support our great ally Israel and the right of Israel to exist. Mitt Romney had an interesting, controversial and completely ignored line during his speech at the Republican National Convention. Mitt said, "Obama has thrown Israel under the bus." Mitt knew something the rest of us didn’t. The story is shocking — as much for the betrayal of one of our strongest allies as for the timing. Obama has gone rogue. As I’ve said for 3½ years, President Obama is no friend of Israel. But I thought his betrayal would be timed for sometime after the election — perhaps on a quiet Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday weekend. The fact he has openly thrown Israel under the bus before the election is a disturbing sign for Jews (and for all Americans who support the right of our longtime friend and ally, Israel, to exist). Can you imagine what Obama is capable of after the Presidential election if he never again has to answer to Jewish voters? On Thursday, Aug. 30, TIME Magazine disclosed that U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey told reporters in London, "I don’t want to be complicit," if Israel chooses to conduct a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. No top general would ever say anything like that without orders from the White House. Those are clearly Obama’s words, not Dempsey’s. Even louder than the words are the actions of the Obama Administration. TIME reports that a U.S.-Israeli joint war games exercise was postponed several months ago to show Obama’s displeasure over Israel’s plans to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. After being rescheduled for this fall, it has suddenly been scaled back drastically. TIME reports that "well-placed sources" in both countries have confirmed that the Obama Administration has slashed more than two-thirds the number of U.S. troops participating, decided not to send crews to operate Patriot anti-missile systems and will either cut in half or entirely eliminate the ballistic missile defense warships involved in the exercise. A senior Israeli official told TIME the message the Obama Administration is sending is, "We don’t trust you." I would contend the Israeli official is being very diplomatic. The real message is much more brutal: "Good luck, Israel. You are on your own." Everyone in the Obama Administration is aware that an attack by Israel on Iran requires the latest "bunker buster" bombs provided only by the U.S. military. Israel also knows that a pre-emptive strike on Iran (to save itself from the holocaust promised by Iran as soon as it has nuclear capabilities) will result in retaliation from both Iran and Hezbollah. With more than 40,000 missiles aimed at Israel from nearby Lebanon, Israel needs not only missile shields, but also military help from the U.S. to protect her civilian population and her very survival. Even worse, the X-band radar system in the Israeli desert aimed at Iran and linked to Israel’s anti-missile systems to warn Israel of incoming missiles is manned by and controlled by U.S. military personnel. Without cooperation from the U.S. military, Israel is literally flying blind. The ability to save Israeli civilian lives and shoot down incoming missiles is in the hands of Barack Obama. And his message is clear, "We don’t have your back." Given the cold shoulder Obama has given Israel since his inauguration, it is not a major shock that he is the first U.S. President to refuse to help Israel defend her citizens and national security. What is a major shock is his showing in no uncertain terms his bias against Israel’s right to defend herself before the election. The question is: Why? Obviously, first is Obama’s true, radical nature — he is no friend of Israel. Second, Obama had no choice but to abandon Israel now. As I’ve predicted publicly for months now, Israel is assured of no help after the election (if Obama is re-elected and no longer has to face Jewish voters ever again). Therefore, Israel’s best option is to order the attack before the U.S. election, when Obama’s distaste for Israel may be overcome by his desperate need for Jewish votes and Jewish donors to remain in power. Netanayu undoubtedly told Obama that he has reached the same decision. Boxed into a corner, Obama is now doing all in his power to stop the air strike now, stalling it until after the election. And, of course, we all know Obama loves to please Russian President Putin. Rumors from sources in both Washington and Moscow report that Putin has asked Obama to handcuff Israel. We all heard Obama tell the Russians: "Sit tight and give me space, this is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." Unfortunately, it’s now clear one of those "flexible items" is to abandon Israel. As a Jew and a lifelong supporter of Israel, I would ask my fellow Jews to think long and hard at the voting booth on Nov. 6. Perhaps it is time to consider whether the historic voting patterns of Jews on behalf of the Democratic Party are in the best interests of the Jewish people? Is a vote for Obama a vote condemning Israel to become a sitting duck in the name of liberal U.S. politics or political correctness? Even more importantly, is voting for Obama over social issues or a woman’s right to choose worth risking another Holocaust? My conclusion: It’s time for Jews to abandon Obama the same way Obama has abandoned Israel. And this late-breaking news just in from an Israeli newspaper: sources quoting the fact that Obama went through back channels (EU nations) to give the message to Iran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the message was to Iran — our enemy and Israel’s enemy — a madman with nuclear ambitions (Ahmadinejad) who has stated publicly time and again his goal is to wipe out every Jew in the world and destroy Israel. The back channel message from our President to Iran — a rogue, terrorist nation — was that we do not have Israel’s back and that Iran should not even think of attacking U.S. interests or military installations because we will not be part of the attack, we will not be supporting Israel in any way. Can you imagine? This is like FDR going through back channels to tell Adolf Hitler that we will not have England’s back, so go ahead and attack Britain. But don’t attack the USA because we are not on the same team. Can you even imagine this is happening in our country? It’s time for Jews to abandon Obama the same way Obama has abandoned Israel and teach the Democratic Party a lesson. I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. See you next week. Same time, same place. God Bless. Obama’s College Classmate Speaks Out: The Scandal At Columbia 30 Years Ago That Could End Obama’s Hopes For A Second Term If you could unseal Obama’s Columbia University records I believe you’d find that: He rarely ever attended class; His grades were not those typical of what we understand it takes to get into Harvard Law School; He attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student; And he never paid for either undergraduate college or Harvard Law School because of foreign aid & scholarships given to a poor foreigner like this kid Barry Soetoro [Obama’s birth name] from Indonesia. Of course, here’s the wrinkle…a foreign student isn’t qualified to serve as President of the United States. So that secret had to be sealed & covered up for the rest of all time. Here’s a challenge that shuts up Obama forever: Romney should call a press conference & issue a challenge in front of the Nation. He should agree to release more of his tax returns, only if Obama unseals his college records. Obama’s College Classmate Speaks Out: The Scandal At Columbia 30 Years Ago That Could End Obama’s Hopes For A Second Term The web page is too large to display OK An error has occurred.