More news from our health correspondents...

Research: Red Wine, Dark Chocolate are Cancer Killers
Updated: Thursday, 11 Feb 2010, 7:29 AM CST
Published : Thursday, 11 Feb 2010, 7:24 AM CST
Cabernet and chocolate are potent medicine for killing cancer, according to research presented Wednesday.

Red grapes and dark chocolate join blueberries, garlic, soy, and teas as ingredients that starve cancer while feeding bodies, Angiogenesis Foundation head William Li said at a prestigious TED (technology, entertainment design) Conference in Long Beach, California.

"We are rating foods based on their cancer-fighting qualities," Li said. "What we eat is really our chemotherapy three times a day."
The Massachusetts-based foundation is identifying foods containing chemicals that evidently choke-off blood supplies to tumors, starving them to death.
Li cited a Harvard Medical School study showing that men who ate cooked tomatoes several times weekly were 30 to 50 per cent less likely to have prostate cancer.
"There is a medical revolution happening all around us," Li said. "If we're right, it could impact on consumer education, food service, public health, and even insurance agencies."
About a dozen drugs are already in use to deprive tumors of blood supplies in a treatment tactic called "anti-angiogenesis."
The foundation pitted some foods against approved drugs and found that soy, parsley, red grapes, berries and other comestibles were either as effective or more potent in battling cancer cells. Eaten together, the foods were even more effective in fighting cancer.

"We discovered that Mother Nature laced a large number of foods and herbs with anti-angiogenesis features," Li said.

"For many people around the world, dietary cancer treatment may be the only solution because not everyone can afford cancer drugs."
The foundation also discovered that anti-angiogenesis properties of foods melt away fat, which relies heavily on blood flow to sustain itself.
Tests showed that mice genetically prone to be chubby could be trimmed to average mouse size using the approach.
"It got weight down to a set point for normal mice," Li said. "In other words, we can't create supermodel mice."

Good bye, Charlie.... Another One Bytes the Dust. RIP... bad week for Democrats

This week saw the deaths of two congressmen whose lives were bound together in representing much of the way the U.S. House used to operate—and sometimes still does.

Charlie Wilson was a Texas Democrat who in the 1980s teamed up with other Cold Warriors to funnel arms to the Afghan rebels, humiliating the Soviet Union and hastening its end. His frequent collaborator, Democrat John Murtha of Pennsylvania, was a senior member of the defense subcommittee that oversaw CIA covert operations.

Wilson was a fixer and a carousing libertine. But he promised constituents that if caught in a scandal, "I won't blame booze and I won't suddenly find Jesus." In 1981 he visited refugee camps in Pakistan and saw children maimed by explosives disguised as toys. "I decided to grab the commie sons o' bitches by the throat," he told me in 2006.

President Ronald Reagan was then signing top-secret directives to use covert action to weaken the Soviets. Wilson used his perch on a House subcommittee to expand covert aid to the Afghans to $1 billion a year. House Speaker Tip O'Neill and Murtha gave him a long leash.

Mr. Wilson told me in that same conversation in 2006 that the victory was only possible "because there was no partisanship or damaging leaks." He believed that nothing like the Afghan operation could survive today.

But the secrecy and skullduggery that Wilson said served the country well had a flip side. When Murtha died he had become a symbol of suspect pork-barrel projects linked to campaign contributions. Last May, he dismissed complaints by telling reporters, "If I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district."

The FBI would subsequently raid the offices of PMA Group, a lobbying shop founded by a former Murtha aide, and two defense contractors located in his district.

In 2006, after Democrats won control of the House, many members were aghast that Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed Murtha for Majority Leader. He lost to Steny Hoyer after good government groups tied him to a bipartisan culture of corruption in the House.

One damming piece of evidence came from a 2003 book by George Crile, a producer for CBS's "60 Minutes," who used Wilson as his major source to tell the Afghan story. His book, "Charlie Wilson's War," later inspired a movie of the same name, starring Tom Hanks. But it also revealed how in 1981 Murtha escaped punishment for his role in the Abscam scandal.

Murtha was named an unindicted co-conspirator in Abscam, an FBI sting operation in which agents offered members of Congress bribes. A tape showed Murtha describing "the secret" of how a public official can take a bribe and get away with it. He told the undercover agents he was turning them down for now: "You know, you made an offer. . . . After we've done some business, well, then I might change my mind." E. Barrett Prettyman Jr., the special prosecutor appointed by House Ethics Committee, was building a complaint against Murtha; he was also probing links between Abscam and O'Neill's office.

That prompted O'Neill to shut down the probe. According to Crile's book, O'Neill called Wilson into his office and said he wanted him to join the Ethics Committee. Wilson had been pestering him to get a lifetime seat on the board of the Kennedy Center. "It's the best perk in town," Wilson told Crile. O'Neill would appoint Wilson, but he'd have to join the Ethics Committee to take care of Murtha.

Wilson didn't need any prodding: "He was a happy warrior as he raced to the rescue of his imperiled friend John Murtha," Crile wrote. "Before Prettyman could fully deploy his investigators to move on the Murtha case, he was informed that the committee had concluded there was no justification for an investigation."

Mr. Prettyman was furious, resigning his post the same afternoon the committee voted to clear Mr. Murtha. Crile's book notes "a teary Murtha had confided to a colleague that Wilson's effort had saved his life."

When I called Wilson in 2006 to ask if the Crile account was accurate, he reluctantly confirmed that it was. He also noted "I hope nothing will hurt" Murtha's bid to become majority leader.

Charlie Wilson was right that backroom deals on foreign policy like the one on Stinger missiles couldn't happen today. But he said there was still room in Congress for wheeler-dealers when it comes to spending, although public pushback against earmarks and the kind of instant Internet revelations about deal making that are now fueling opposition to ObamaCare was shrinking that space.

He mused: "It's not a bad thing, times change and Congress will just have to adapt."

GOOD INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE WILSON ON THIS LINK:
http://publicmediatexas.org/?p=4116

I went to school with Pete Sessions. We don't agree on politics, but I hate to see anyone go down hard....but it is the way of politics. Ask Winston C

CNBC Reports on Pete Sessions’ Affection for Indicted Financier Allen Stanford

CNBC will air a report on indicted Ponzi scheme banker Allen Stanford. The coverage will detail NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions’ expressed affection for Stanford. More information about the CNBC report is available here .

Disgraced Ponzi scheme profiteer Allen Stanford was Pete Sessions' favorite contributor. Federal Agents have charged Stanford with fleecing more than $7 billion dollars from his investors, robbing many of their life savings.

When Sessions', who has received more than $44,000 in contributions from Stanford and his staff, learned about the crimes, he quickly wrote an email to Stanford saying in part, "I love you and believe in you." (Source: Miami Herald, December 27, 2009)

Regardless of one’s political views, Pete Sessions’ failure as Republican House campaign leader is undeniable. From the beginning, Sessions has combined embarrassing incompetence with old fashioned corruption. CNBC’s report tonight simply amplifies what too often local media have glossed over.

Pete Sessions' long list of failures It is certainly understandable if House Republicans ignore or even remove Pete Sessions as their campaign leader. Typically, House Party Committee Chairs are:
1) members with good judgment who avoid personal and political scandal and set a good example for colleagues.
2) competent spokespersons who can be trusted to deliver political messages that assist their colleagues and advance the goals of their party.
3) successful fundraisers who bring new financial resources to their party committees and rally "safe" members of their own party to contribute their own excess funds to assist challengers and threatened incumbents

Pete Sessions fails miserably on all three counts. CNBC highlights just one of the many foolish and embarrassing episodes in Pete Sessions' corrupt, odd-ball career.


Arrogant and Unethical
Sessions’ actions are even worse than his words, displaying an arrogant sense of entitlement and an unethical “for sale” attitude.
Fundraisers at adult night clubs – Even after being criticized for holding a fundraiser at a Las Vegas burlesque club last year, he returned to Vegas last February to hold a fundraiser at “a racy venue in Las Vegas whose Web site features come-hither looking women scantily clad in lingerie slithering all over each other.” (Source: The Washington Post, May 4, 2009 )

Embarrassing and Incompetent Spokesperson
Time and again, Pete Sessions has offered up careless, inarticulate and mean-spirited comments forcing other Republicans to clean up his mess.
Citing Taliban as GOP model – Sessions told the Capitol Hill publication the Hotline: "Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban...And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes… And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with." (Source: Hotline, February 5, 2009 )
Claimed Obama “planned” stock market losses – Sessions told The New York Times that President Obama "intended to ‘diminish employment and diminish stock prices’ as part of a 'divide and conquer' strategy to consolidate power.” (Source: The New York Times, May 10, 2009 )

Failed Fundraiser
Pete Sessions has utterly failed as the lead fundraiser for US House Republicans. Even as the national environment has improved for the GOP, Sessions has been unable to keep pace with fundraising. According to recent headlines:
"The DCCC outraised the NRCC this year by more than $18 million, according to FEC figures at the end of November. The NRCC has only $4.3 million left in its campaign account - with more than $2 million in debt - leaving it with just a pittance to fund the dozens of races it hopes to aggressively contest." ( Source: The Politico, January 3, 2010 )
Less than half of the GOP Members of Congress have contributed to the NRCC recently. According to a Politico report, "In the past three months, "only 75 of 177 Republicans — most of whom represent safe districts — transferred money into the committee, netting it $2.1 million...During that same time period, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has netted nearly $4 million from 90 of its members." ( Source: The Politico, January 3, 2010 )

What might they call it? jehad-mail? holy-light-mail?

Technology Alert from The Wall Street Journal


Iran's telecommunications agency announced what it described as a permanent suspension of Google's email services, saying a national email service for Iranian citizens would soon be rolled out.

It wasn't clear late Wednesday what effect the order had on Gmail services in Iran. Iranian officials have claimed technological advances in the past that they haven't been able to execute.

Google didn't have an immediate comment about the announcement.

An Iranian official said the measure was meant to boost local development of Internet technology and to build trust between people and the government.

The measure was announced on the eve of the culmination of celebrations to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic. Competing plans for pro-government and antigovernment demonstrations have set the stage for clashes between authorities and opposition protesters, who have taken to the streets repeatedly since contested presidential elections in June.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704140104575056972514372994.html?mod=djemalertTECH

One of my cousins sent me this delightful email of Love for Valentine's Day... I think...

Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

Ralph and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital.

One day while they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Ralph suddenly jumped into the deep end.


He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there.


Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled him out. When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic act she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she now considered her to be mentally stable.


When she went to tell Edna the news she said, 'Edna, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you're being discharged, since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the life of the person you love.. I have concluded that your act displays sound mindedness.


The bad news is, Ralph hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry, but he's dead.'


Edna replied, 'He didn't hang himself, I put him there to dry. How soon can I go home?'


Happy Mental Health Day!


You can do your bit by remembering to send this email to an unstable friend...


I've done my part!!!

Might as well hang out a sign for Israel reading "Fire When Ready" and we have Thursday's Surprise for the Anniversity of the Revolution....

Maybe it had to do with his watching the Grammy Awards in 3-D last week ...

Someone might have reminded him of Bush's Axis of Evil state of the union address ...

Iran Begins Enriching Low-Grade Uranium - WSJ.com:
"DUBAI—Iran said Tuesday it has begun enriching some of its low-grade uranium for use in a medical-research reactor, brushing off fresh international threats of economic sanctions. State media reported the enrichment process started Tuesday morning at Iran's pilot enrichment facility in Natanz, under the supervision of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran formally notified the United Nations nuclear watchdog of its intentions to begin enrichment in a letter late Monday."

UPDATE: Nano technology - liquid glass spray - Geek with a capital G for GLASS. Or is it C for class action law suit? S plain-old Silicon coated,,,

The fissure was induced in order present an image which shows the characteristics of the coating. The image shows the SiO2 coating on a filament of a microfibre.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products.

The liquid glass spray (technically termed “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”) consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand. Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated. There are no additives, and the nano-scale glass coating bonds to the surface because of the quantum forces involved. According to the manufacturers, liquid glass has a long-lasting antibacterial effect because microbes landing on the surface cannot divide or replicate easily.

Liquid glass was invented in Turkey and the patent is held by Nanopool, a family-owned German company. Research on the product was carried out at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials. Nanopool is already in negotiations in the UK with a number of companies and with the National Health Service, with a view to its widespread adoption.

The liquid glass spray produces a water-resistant coating only around 100 nanometers (15-30 molecules) thick. On this nanoscale the glass is highly flexible and breathable. The coating is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth. It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids. UK project manager with Nanopool, Neil McClelland, said soon almost every product you purchase will be coated with liquid glass.

Food processing companies in Germany have already carried out trials of the spray, and found sterile surfaces that usually needed to be cleaned with strong bleach to keep them sterile needed only a hot water rinse if they were coated with liquid glass. The levels of sterility were higher for the glass-coated surfaces, and the surfaces remained sterile for months.

Other organizations, such as a train company and a hotel chain in the UK, and a hamburger chain in Germany, are also testing liquid glass for a wide range of uses. A year-long trial of the spray in a Lancashire hospital also produced “very promising” results for a range of applications including coatings for equipment, medical implants, catheters, sutures and bandages. The war graves association in the UK is investigating using the spray to treat stone monuments and grave stones, since trials have shown the coating protects against weathering and graffiti. Trials in Turkey are testing the product on monuments such as the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara.

The liquid glass coating is breathable, which means it can be used on plants and seeds. Trials in vineyards have found spraying vines increases their resistance to fungal diseases, while other tests have shown sprayed seeds germinate and grow faster than untreated seeds, and coated wood is not attacked by termites. Other vineyard applications include coating corks with liquid glass to prevent “corking” and contamination of wine. The spray cannot be seen by the naked eye, which means it could also be used to treat clothing and other materials to make them stain-resistant. McClelland said you can “pour a bottle of wine over an expensive silk shirt and it will come right off”.

In the home, spray-on glass would eliminate the need for scrubbing and make most cleaning products obsolete. Since it is available in both water-based and alcohol-based solutions, it can be used in the oven, in bathrooms, tiles, sinks, and almost every other surface in the home, and one spray is said to last a year.

Liquid glass spray is perhaps the most important nanotechnology product to emerge to date. It will be available in DIY stores in Britain soon, with prices starting at around £5 ($8 US). Other outlets, such as many supermarkets, may be unwilling to stock the products because they make enormous profits from cleaning products that need to be replaced regularly, and liquid glass would make virtually all of them obsolete.


More information: Nanopool: http://www.nanopool.eu/couk/index.htm