October 21, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

NOTE: The cost for each terrorist contained or destroyed is now at $2 Billion each. Not to mention the 600,000 Iraqis dead and the almost 3000 US soldiers dead. And to top it off, we have grown the insurgency.
THE INSANITY OF STAYING THE COURSE WITH BLIND MEN AT THE HELM!

ALERT

John Yoo: Sending a Message : Congress to courts: Get out of the war on terror: The military commission bill, which President Bush signed into law on Tuesday, most of the press and the professional punditry missed the big story. In the struggle for power between the three branches of government, it is not the presidency that "won." Instead, it is the judiciary that lost.
http://tinyurl.com/y77khc

WAR

We've Lost Battle for Baghdad, US Admits
http://tinyurl.com/w4c3d

Medics beg for help as Iraqis die needlessly --- Half of all deaths preventable, say country's medics Reconstruction seen as disaster More than 2,000 doctors and nurses are killed 18,000 more leave the nation Even the most basic treatments are lacking.
http://tinyurl.com/y4txr3

Another Disastrous Coverup: Ammo dump explosion may have killed hundreds of US soldiers
http://tinyurl.com/y22xl6

Calif. Republican asks Pentagon to remove embedded CNN reporters - The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee asked the Pentagon on Friday to remove CNN reporters embedded with U.S. combat troops, saying the network's broadcast of a video showing insurgent snipers targeting U.S. soldiers was tantamount to airing an enemy propaganda film. (When does this country get the same information all other countries receive?)
http://tinyurl.com/w992c

No, Iraq Is Not Vietnam --- The Tet Offensive analogy is misleading. Iraq is more complex, and may prove to be far more damaging, than America's most traumatic foreign misadventure
http://tinyurl.com/y3wrv2

THE WHITE HOUSE

Bob Kuttner: Just how pathetic will the presidential library of George W. Bush be?
http://tinyurl.com/se6yf

POLITICS

Condi Refers To Mother Of New AIDS Ambassador's Gay Partner As “Mother In Law”...Snow’s Response: She “Said What She Said”…
http://tinyurl.com/y8ms7u

Exclusive: Feds Probe a Top Democrat's Relationship with AIPAC --- The Department of Justice is investigating whether Rep. Jane Harman and the pro-Israel group worked together to get her reappointed as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
http://tinyurl.com/slfp7

SCANDAL

Waitress Accuses GOP Congressman Of Threatening To Rape Her, Recants Charges...
http://tinyurl.com/yl2ewq

Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Jeff Trandahl, the former clerk of the House, testified about their involvement in the House page scandal on Thursday before the House ethics committee.
THE HILL

Suspecting Leak, Chairman Suspends Panel Staffer --- The Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence suspended a mid-level Democratic staffer Tuesday based on a suspicion that he may have been connected to the leak of a politically damaging intelligence report almost a month ago.
http://tinyurl.com/y7hzf6

LEGAL ISSUES

Pentagon Admits Keeping Database on US Civilians Deemed Suspicious
http://tinyurl.com/y5jo5a

High Court Allows Arizona to Enact New Voter ID Law --- The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for Arizona to enforce a new rule for next month's election that requires most voters to show proof of identification before casting a ballot. The ruling reverses one by the 9th Circuit. It is expected to benefit Republicans at the polls.
http://tinyurl.com/y27g6x

ELECTION ISSUES

Despite red-hot fundraising quarter, Dems still trail in overall money chase THE HILL

Republican Edge on Security Wanes as Elections Near --- The continuing carnage in Iraq and criticism from some Republican lawmakers about the conflict undercut the party's strong-on-security message.
http://tinyurl.com/vmplt

Mailed Diebold Disks Raise Voting Machine Fears
http://tinyurl.com/yagrjn

Lieberman Taps Bush's White House Donor Network...
http://tinyurl.com/yjj2ov

Negative Phone Sex Ad May Backfire On GOP...
http://tinyurl.com/ykqzvx

911

Anger as 9/11 remains discovered - Relatives say the find proves the need for a thorough new search of the area around Ground Zero. "We can no longer rely on accidental discoveries," said WTC Families for Proper Burial in a statement.
http://tinyurl.com/yelqek

CONGRESS

Feds Probe a Top Democrat's Relationship with AIPAC - The sources say the probe also involves whether, in exchange for the help from AIPAC, Harman agreed to help try to persuade the Administration to go lighter on the AIPAC officials caught up in the ongoing investigation.
http://tinyurl.com/y86ekf

The ranking member of the House Rules Committee is furious at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for renewing a contract with a limousine company tainted by the bribery scandal that landed former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.) behind bars.
THE HILL

DOMESTIC

CIA approached terrorism trial defendant about job as spy: A former university professor charged with plotting to bankroll Hamas terrorists was once asked by the Central Intelligence Agency if he wanted a job as a spy, his attorney told a jury Thursday.
http://tinyurl.com/y6lcj5

INTERNATIONAL

Blair Quizzed on Bilderberg --- Tony Blair was questioned in the House of Commons Thursday on his involvement with the secretive Bilderberg Group.
http://tinyurl.com/y48vrp

Clare Short resigns as Labour MP - In a letter to Labour's chief whip, the Birmingham Ladywood MP accuses Tony Blair of telling "half-truths and deceits to get us to war in Iraq".
http://tinyurl.com/vxtgk

Britain to defy US over UN resolution on arms trade : The UK is next week expected to push through the United Nations a resolution to open the way for a landmark arms trade treaty, in spite of opposition from the US, Russia and China.
http://tinyurl.com/yyptog

Germany Extends License Fees to Computers, Mobile phones - German state premiers have agreed on a monthly license fee for computers that can access television and radio programs via the Internet. The move has attracted criticism
http://tinyurl.com/udrh9

MILITARY

Troops in debt can't go overseas --- OKAY FOLKS, MAX OUT YOUR CREDIT CARDS! Let 'em send the RICH kids off to die in war. That should slow things down a bit
http://tinyurl.com/ymn6gs

Helping the hungry on base The women and children who formed a line at Camp Pendleton last week waiting for day-old bread and frozen dinners packaged in slightly damaged boxes
http://tinyurl.com/yh4tdx

MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

Report: Fox News Started “Generalized Ideological Shift” That Played “Decisive” Role In 2000 Election...
http://tinyurl.com/v2nmz

NBC Universal to Cut Staff, News Budget - NBC's cost-saving plan involves laying off people from the company's 11 news divisions, including on-air talent.
http://tinyurl.com/yeuscb

HEALTH

Chemotherapy's Long-Term Effects Can Last a Decade or More - Brain metabolism and blood flow are affected years after the treatment ends, causing the continuing state of confusion known as 'chemo brain
http://tinyurl.com/y56vto

Walnuts May Beat Olive Oil for Heart Health --- Ultrasound examinations showed that the arteries of those eating the walnuts stayed more flexible and elastic after the fatty meal those of the folks who ate olive oil. .......... (See short article in full at end of this today's entries.)

White bread consumption linked to kidney cancer
http://tinyurl.com/ykysug

Nutrients in cruciferous vegetables found to induce death of cancer cells
http://tinyurl.com/yhdb9d

Disney announces effort to improve health of Disney-branded junk foods marketed to children:
http://tinyurl.com/wxl56

Psychiatry's latest disease mongering scheme: Compulsive shopping called a disease requiring "treatment":
http://tinyurl.com/tc3h3

Hair analysis found to reveal eating disorders:
http://tinyurl.com/ylwbvx

Radiation overdose kills teen cancer patient:
http://tinyurl.com/yhzfhs

Breast cancer screening harms ten women for every one it helps:
http://tinyurl.com/ybqqr5

New Leading Cause of Infant Deaths - Nearly one of three infants who do not survive childhood die from this mostly preventable problem.
http://tinyurl.com/u8bwf

RELIGIOUS ISSUES

Accused Priest Flees From Law in U.S. and Mexico - For two decades, dozens of children have accused the Rev. Nicolás Aguilar of molesting or brutally raping them. (And yet, the Church can do no wrong????) .. TELL ME AGAIN JUST HOW BAD THE nonBELIEVERS ARE!!!!!
http://tinyurl.com/vu2cl

SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS

The Philadelphia Experiment
http://tinyurl.com/y9bod6

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SHORT ARTICLE AS PROMISED

Walnuts May Beat Olive Oil for Heart Health
Spanish study suggests they leave arteries more elastic
HealthDay News) -- A high-fat dinner followed by an unusual dessert suggests that walnuts might be even better for the arteries than olive oil, Spanish researchers report.

The dinner consisted of a salami and cheese sandwich on white bread, plus high-fat yogurt. The "dessert" consisted of five teaspoons of olive oil for half the diners and 40 grams of walnuts (about eight shelled nuts) for the other half.

Ultrasound examinations showed that the arteries of those eating the walnuts stayed more flexible and elastic after the fatty meal those of the folks who ate olive oil. The study's 24 adult participants had varying levels of blood cholesterol, ranging from healthy to moderately high.

"This study shows the mechanism for the beneficial effects of walnuts," contended study lead researcher Dr. Emilio Ros, director of the Lipid Clinic at Hospital Clinico in Barcelona.

Both olive oil and walnuts decrease the onset of inflammation and oxidation in the arteries after a high-fat meal, but walnuts preserve the blood vessels' flexibility while olive oil does not, according to Ros. He attributed much of the beneficial effect to the alpha-linolenic acid found in walnuts. This nutrient is similar to the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish.

The study, which was funded in part by the California Walnut Board, was expected to be published in the Oct. 17 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Ros points out that authorities such as the American Heart Association recommend that Americans eat at least two fish servings a week, preferable oily fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s increase blood levels of HDL cholesterol, the "good" kind that helps keep arteries clear.

The only problem with that recommendation, Ros said, is that fish isn't as easy to buy and consume as walnuts. The alpha-linolenic acid in walnuts has the same chemical structure as omega-3 fatty acids, he noted, and "linolenic acid found in plant foods provide an inexhaustible supply, while fish are being depleted."

The California Walnut Board -- which has also funded several similar studies -- petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration more than two years ago for its permission to formally claim that walnuts reduce the risk of heart disease.

So far, the FDA has only approved a "qualified health claim," which says that "supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day as part of a low-saturated-fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease."

For its part, the American College of Cardiology had the paper reviewed by Dr. Robert A. Vogel, professor of medicine at the University of Maryland. He issued a statement saying, "This demonstrates that the protective fat from walnuts actually undoes some of the detrimental effects of a high-saturated-fat diet, whereas a neutral fat, such as olive oil, does not have as much protective ability."

People who eat the so-called "Mediterranean diet" -- lauded by many nutritionists as heart-healthy -- believe that olive oil provides the major cardiac benefit, "but this research indicates that's not true," Vogel said. "There are probably other factors in the diet, including that it is a relatively rich source of nuts."

More research is needed to determine whether the protective effect of walnuts is affected by heating and cooking, or whether they are best eaten raw, he added.