Sugar makes you stupid

Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid.

A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning — and how omega-3 fatty acids can counteract the disruption. The peer-reviewed Journal of Physiology publishes the findings in its May 15 edition.

"Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think," said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of integrative biology and physiology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. "Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain's ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage."

While earlier research has revealed how fructose harms the body through its role in diabetes, obesity and fatty liver, this study is the first to uncover how the sweetener influences the brain.

The UCLA team zeroed in on high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid six times sweeter than cane sugar, that is commonly added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food. The average American consumes more than 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Read More:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-05/uoc--smy051512.php

Is the Federation of State Medical Boards Behind the Brutal Attacks on Integrative Medicine Practitioners?

The FSMB is an elite, highly influential, secretive private organization. We also believe that it is thoroughly corrupt.

Each of the fifty states, as well as the District of Columbia and the US territories, has laws that define the practice of medicine; each one delegates the authority to enforce those laws to a state medical board. State medical boards also adopt policies and create guidelines related to the practice of medicine. They have the power to revoke physician licenses for violating the state’s laws of the practice of medicine—subject to the boards’ interpretation of the law, which can be highly arbitrary.

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) is a private 501(c)(6) trade association ^[3] that purports to represent the seventy state medical and osteopathic boards of the US and its territories, and cosponsors the United States Medical Licensing Examination ^[4]. It is tremendously powerful: whatever it suggests in terms of medical care policies are often adopted by the state medical boards. A private trade association with no public funding, transparency, or accountability arguably has the power to interpret state medical law and grant or revoke medical licenses! Ever wonder why it’s so hard to find a doctor who will prescribe bioidentical hormones or administer chelation therapy? We believe it’s because the FSMB has made it such a career risk for the doctor to use his own independent judgment.

Read More:

http://www.anh-usa.org/fsmb-behind-the-brutal-attacks-on-integrative-practitioners/

Michael Lind - Why Do Conservatives Hate Freedom?

Why do conservatives hate freedom? The question may be startling. After all, don’t conservatives claim they are protecting liberty in America against liberal statism, which they compare to communism or fascism? But the conservative idea of “freedom” is a very peculiar one, which excludes virtually every kind of liberty that ordinary Americans take for granted.

I distinguish conservatives from libertarians, who, on issues of personal liberty, tend to side with liberals. Since World War II, mainstream conservatives have opposed every expansion of personal liberty in the United States.

During the civil rights era, the leading conservative politician, Barry Goldwater, and the leading conservative intellectual, William F. Buckley Jr., along with most of their followers opposed federal laws banning racial discrimination. To their credit, they later admitted they had been mistaken; indeed, both Buckley and Goldwater supported gay rights late in their careers. But at the time that conservative support for a color-blind society might have made a difference, the leaders of American conservatism sided with the Southern segregationists. They claimed they did so, not because of racial prejudice, but because they feared federal tyranny — a weaselly stance that, in practice, made them side with white supremacist tyranny at the state level. If they had truly believed in their own propaganda about federalism, conservatives could have opposed federal civil rights legislation while campaigning for civil rights laws at the state level. They didn’t.

Read More:

http://www.salon.com/2012/05/15/why_do_conservatives_hate_freedom/

Mike Feder - Act Now!

Listen to Mike weekly at 4pm on Monday's with "The Turning Point" and at 1pm on Thursday's with "Occupied Territory." Both at Eastern Time.

With those bizarre wonder-drug ads in magazines and on TV, I thought this little satire might provide some needed relief.

Are You Suffering?

When you look in the mirror, do you only see a frown? Does life seem grim, empty and meaningless? Have you been asking yourself: What happened to that old energy, that zest for life? Can I ever get it back?

Yes, you can!

Now you can leave all that doubt, worry and discomfort behind. Now you can just be you again.
Because now there is... SMILIZENE.

Do you have a throbbing or aching sensation in your limbs and extremities; frequent or painful urination; asthma, chest pains, rapid or slow hearbeat; inability to concentrate or follow simple directions; insomnia; recurrent nightmares; sudden attacks of anxiety or depression; an increasing sense of isolation, unreasonable suspicions of loved ones or total strangers; distorted or suicidal thinking, and an overall sense of unease about your life, accompanied by mild dyspepsia?

Read More:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-feder/prescription-drug-warnings_b_1511554.html

Ali Ismail - Homelessness and Despair in New York City

The number of homeless people living on the streets of New York City increased by 23 percent in one year according to an annual survey conducted by the city’s Department of Homeless Services.

On January 30, volunteers for the organization counted an estimated 3,262 people living on the streets— a 23 percent increase from the 2,648 counted in 2011. The 2,925 volunteers walked approximately 15,000 miles while surveying the city. The largest numbers of homeless people living on the streets were found in Manhattan and Brooklyn. About half of the total number of people accounted for in the survey were living inside the city’s subway system.

When the results of the survey were released late last month, Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond said in a statement that the greatest challenge facing the agency was finding more housing options for people without homes.

In a cynical attempt to limit press coverage of the survey, the agency released the data late on a Friday afternoon. This was in stark contrast to a year earlier, when the city’s survey had shown a 30 percent decrease in the street homeless population since 2008. The results for that survey were announced with great fanfare, complete with an elaborate news conference attended by volunteers, formerly homeless people and Linda Gibbs, the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human services.

While the latest survey shows a significant increase in street homelessness, advocates for the homeless believe the actual number of people sleeping rough in the city is much higher and have criticized the survey for failing to count large numbers of homeless individuals, especially those sleeping in non-visible areas like abandoned buildings or alleyways. The Department of Homeless Services itself acknowledges that it only surveys a portion of the city’s surface area (about 20 percent) and only a portion of subway stations.

Read More:

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30868

Nutritionists Are Fighting for Their Rights in the States

The FSMB is an elite, highly influential, secretive private organization. Recent reports suggest it may also be corrupt. Action Alerts for Michigan and Wyoming!

Two of the biggest battlefields right now are the legislatures of Michigan and Wyoming. In both cases, laws preventing the best-trained nutritionists from practicing have been passed, but citizens are now attempting to get the Michigan law repealed and have the Wyoming law changed during a critical rulemaking period.

As we have reported previously ^[2], the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), which used to be the American Dietetic Association, is working state by state to create a legal monopoly and shut out certified nutritionists who may be more qualified. The organization sponsors bills which ensure that only AND-registered dietitians can offer key nutrition services to the public. This not only discriminates against many highly qualified nutritionists (including those who, unlike most Registered Dietitians, have Master’s degrees and PhDs). It also interferes with consumer choice. If trained nutritionists cannot become licensed, they can’t practice—and consumers can’t benefit from their expertise.

For a long time, the Dieticians’ HQ has worked to get their monopolistic bills passed quietly. Once the bills become law, they have held off on pressing for enforcement in order to fly under the radar and and get as many state bills passed as possible. Now that they know we know what is happening and are fighting hard, they are trying new tactics—though we find them equally underhanded.

Read More:

http://www.anh-usa.org/nutritionists-fight-for-their-rights/

The Bank Runs In Greece Will Soon Be Followed By Bank Runs In Other European Nations

The bank runs that we are watching right now in Greece are shocking, but they are only just the beginning.  Since May 6th, nearly one billion dollars has been withdrawn from Greek banks.  For a small nation like Greece, that is an absolutely catastrophic number.  At this point, the entire Greek banking system is in danger of collapsing.  If you had money in a Greek bank, why wouldn't you pull it out?  If Greece leaves the euro, all euros in Greek banks will likely be converted to drachmas, and the value of those drachmas will almost certainly decline dramatically.  In fact, it has been estimated that Greek citizens could see the value of their bank accounts decline by up to 50 percent if Greece leaves the euro.  So if you had money in a Greek bank, it would only make sense to withdraw it and move it to another country as quickly as possible.  And as the eurozone begins to unravel, this is a scenario that we are going to see play out in country after country.  As member nations leave the eurozone, you would be a fool to have your euros in Italian banks or Spanish banks when you could have them in German banks instead.  So the bank runs that are happening in Greece right now are only a preview of things to come.  Before this crisis is over we are going to see bank runs happening all over Europe.

If Greece leaves the euro, the consequences are likely to be quite messy.  Those that are promoting the idea that a "Grexit" can be done in an orderly fashion are not being particularly honest.  The following is from a recent article in the Independent....

Read More:

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-bank-runs-in-greece-will-soon-be-followed-by-bank-runs-in-other-european-nations

Richard (RJ) Eskow - Bill Clinton, Boehner, And Some Other Rich White Guys Had A "Summit" And Agreed: It's Your Fault

This week a bunch of rich white guys held a "Fiscal Summit" and agreed that:

1. Despite the fact that unemployment is causing untold suffering for millions of people, it's not very important.

2. Despite the fact that wage stagnation is destroying the middle class, that's not important either.
3. Despite the fact that we need the social safety net more than ever after what they've done to the economy, it's expendable.
4. Despite the fact that our government can borrow money at record low rates and use it to put people to work, thereby ending the recession and jumpstarting the economy, that option's not even worth discussing.
5. Despite the fact that these men all possess great power, wealth, and/or influence, everything that's wrong with the economy is your fault.
6. Since it's all your fault, you better get ready to pay up.

Oh, and one other thing:

7. They're all very smart and very brave. It's too bad the rest of you people are such jerks.

Any questions? Let's hope not, because they're all busy men and it's great golfing weather this week in DC.

Read More:

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2012052015/bill-clinton-john-boehner-and-some-other-rich-white-guys-just-decided-its-all-

The Founding of theThe Center for Science and Democracy

The United States has enjoyed sustained prosperity, security and health over much of its history in large part because of our strong commitment to independent and rigorous science. Sound decisions start with the best possible information, grounded in fact and tested by reason. And free inquiry flourishes best in a free society.

The Founding Fathers understood the importance of this partnership, as did leaders from Lincoln to Eisenhower, FDR to JFK. Because of our nation's high regard for scientific expertise, the United States became recognized in the 20th century as the global leader in science and innovation.

A Troubling Trend

In recent years, however, understanding of science and respect for its role in decision making have declined. An excessively partisan political climate and an increasingly noisy media landscape have combined to produce an environment in which science is easily drowned out by misinformation or manipulated for the benefit of private interests.

And this couldn't be happening at a worse time. Our leaders are grappling with some of the most complex and daunting problems in our history: stemming the tide of global warming, finding sustainable ways to feed, power and transport ourselves, reducing the threat of catastrophic war. We cannot hope to solve these problems without the aid of rigorous, independent science.

Restoring Science's Role

In response to these challenges, the Union of Concerned Scientists has launched a new intiative: the Center for Science and Democracy. The Center is dedicated to restoring the essential role of science, evidence-based knowledge, and constructive debate in the U.S. policymaking process, using three core strategies:

Read More:

http://www.ucsusa.org/center-for-science-and-democracy/

Jan Haverkamp - Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Socializing Risks, Privatizing Profits

Last week, the inevitable finally happened. The company responsible for the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, has been nationalized. Japan’s trade and industry minister Yukio Edano announced a de facto state take-over of the company with a further injection of $12.5bn, bringing the total of state capital in TEPCO to $33.2bn. Edano has said that: “Without the state funds, (TEPCO) cannot provide a stable supply of electricity and pay for compensation and decommissioning costs”.

The Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe has cost TEPCO over $100bn in estimated costs, which includes compensation and clean-up costs. However, the actual costs are much bigger. Many Japanese are bearing the brunt of the damages in their daily lives with most of their claims and losses going uncompensated and most of their suffering unrecognized.

The nationalization of TEPCO, together with a legal practice called “channeling of liability” in which all liability related to the Fukushima nuclear disaster has to be channeled to TEPCO, means Japanese taxpayers and ratepayers will foot most of the bill.

Read More:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/fukushima-who-profits-who-pays/blog/40463/