Posted: July 17, 2012
Orillia's politicians have said no to fluoridating the municipal water supply.
"I just believe there has to be alternatives," Mayor Angelo Orsi said at Monday's council committee meeting. "This is a very touchy decision when you're basically dealing with freedom of choice."
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) and city staff recommended Orillia fluoridate the water supply. Statistics show Orillia children have the highest rate of dental decay of the 10 municipalities reviewed in the Simcoe-Muskoka region.
Councillors Linda Murray and Tony Madden were the only ones to vote in favour of fluoridation.
"The mayor said he would like to see alternative methods," Murray said. "You're fortunate enough to be able to take your children to the dentist. I can't tell you how many do not have that ability."
Read the full story here: http://www.orilliapacket.com
Posted: July 17, 2012
A 29-year-old Australian man has pleaded guilty to multiple charges after repeatedly hacking his local internet service provider (ISP) - in more ways than one.
Bryce Kingsley Quilley of Tailem Bend, South Australia admitted in court Monday that he broke into the servers of an unnamed internet service provider without authorization three times.
Adelaide Now reports that each of these offences took place on June 14, 2011.
But it would seem that hacking the ISP's digital servers wasn't enough to satisfy Quilley's frustration.
Read the full story here: http://www.cbc.ca
Posted: July 17, 2012
(CNN) -- Dutch authorities have joined the FBI in conducting criminal investigations into the discovery of needles in six sandwiches aboard four Delta Air Lines flights from Amsterdam to the United States, a military police spokesman in the Netherlands said Tuesday.
One person was injured when he bit into a sandwich containing a needle, Delta and Dutch officials said.
That passenger, James Tonjes, said he thought the object was a toothpick at first.
"When I pulled it out, then I found out it was a needle," he said Tuesday.
Tonjes said he has been placed on medication to prevent HIV.
Read the full story here: http://www.cnn.com
Posted: July 17, 2012
A couple from North Lanarkshire have launched legal action against a housing association over fears their home was built on toxic land.
Angela and Robert McManus live on the Watling Street estate in Motherwell, which has a history of industrial use.
They claim the site was never properly decontaminated and is responsible for a number of health complaints.
Their legal action against Lanarkshire Housing Association aims to establish there is a problem which needs action.
The Watling Street estate was previously occupied by factories and industrial plants.
Read the full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk
Posted: July 16, 2012
The risk of a new depression - a sustained, severe recession - has struck fear into the heart of markets and driven monetary policy in developed economies since the current financial crisis began.
"We're in a very unfortunate position to be here," Richard Duncan, author of The New Depression, warned on CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Monday.
"When we broke the link between money and gold, this removed all constraints on credit creation. This explosion of credit created the world we live in, but it now seems that credit cannot expand any further because the private sector is incapable of repaying the debt it has already, and if credit begins to contract, there's a very real danger that we will collapse into a new Great Depression," he argued.
Read the full story here: http://finance.yahoo.com
Posted: July 16, 2012
(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers on Friday against eating products of the Mexicali Cheese Corp because the deadly listeria bacteria has been found in some of them.
Mexicali Cheese, of Woodhaven, New York, has failed to comply with a May 1 court order to stop making and distributing food until safety steps have been carried out, the FDA said in an emailed statement.
The tainted food was distributed in the New York area and in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The FDA is asking retailers to remove any Mexicali products from their shelves, the statement said.
Read the full story here: http://www.reuters.com
Posted: July 16, 2012
(Reuters) - Want to drop those extra pounds without starving yourself? Keeping a food journal, not skipping meals and eating out less often, particularly for lunch, will help, according to new research released on Friday.
Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, in a study that looked at the impact of various self-monitoring techniques in older overweight and obese women, showed that simple changes in behavior can make a difference on the scales.
They found that in the year-long study women who kept journals lost six pounds (2.7 kgs) more than those you didn't, but if they skipped meals they dropped eight pounds (3.6 kgs) less than women who ate regularly.
Ladies who lunched in a restaurant at least weekly lost on average five fewer pounds (2.3 kgs).
Read the full story here: http://www.reuters.com
Posted: July 16, 2012
(Reuters) - Florida state health officials have denied they covered up a sharp spike in tuberculosis infections among the homeless in Jacksonville and said the public was not at risk from what is believed to be the worst TB outbreak in the nation in 20 years.
At least 13 people have died and another 99 have contracted TB in the outbreak in Jacksonville, the state's largest city with a population of 825,000.
The Florida Department of Health said local, state and federal officials were working to contain the infections and that there was no need for a highly publicized alert even though up to 3,000 people may be at risk of contracting TB.
State health officials also defended their decision not to raise a general alarm because the population of infected homeless persons appeared isolated and contained.
Read the full story here: http://www.reuters.com
Posted: July 16, 2012
(Reuters Health) - Teens who play a couple of team sports and walk or bike to school are less likely to be overweight or obese, says a new study.
Researchers found that of more than 1,700 teens, those who played on at least two sports teams per year were 22 percent less likely to be overweight or obese than those who did not. Those who walked or biked to school four to five times per week were 33 percent less likely to have weight problems.
The findings, however, can't prove those activities prevented the weight problems, or whether something else could explain the link.
Read the full article here: http://www.reuters.com
Posted: July 16, 2012
(CN) - Whole Foods Market claims in Federal Court that The Vitamin Shoppe violates its trademark in a marketing campaign.
Austin-based Whole Foods claims that launched its trademarked Health Starts Here campaign to promote its retail chain in 2009.
"Well after Whole Foods Market began using its Health Starts Here mark, defendant launched a virtually identical mark Core Health Starts Here to promote its retail stores and the sale of nutritional products," according to the complaint in Austin Federal Court.
Read the full story here: http://www.courthousenews.com
Posted: July 15, 2012
MSG was discovered (1908) by Kikunae Ikeda (Tokyo Imperial University) when he was trying to pin down the chemistry behind the flavor later termed "umami", a Japanese word that is the "IT" word amongst name-dropping with-it foodies today. He isolated this flavor from seaweed broth and called it Monosodium Glutamate. With the help of the Ajinomoto Corp of Japan, Ikeda patented MSG in 1909 and it was made commercially available for the first time. Thus, MSG has been around and in commercial use for almost 100 years. MSG was desirable because it boosted the sensation of "savory" flavors in food, especially important if you are involved with vegetarian cuisines or if you are preparing low-protein content foods for mass marketing.
MSG is now so ubiquitous in our food chain (east and west) that you would be very hard pressed to go MSG-free. As you would expect, junk foods and instant foods like soups and other mixes contain MSG. Prepared food in your grocery stores and at fast food outlets (KFC chicken skin is massively loaded with MSG) and fine dining restaurants alike are awash in MSG. Red meats, poultry, and other off-site prepared meat products are either sprayed with MSG containing solutions (Sanova, a pesticide) or injected with MSG containing compounds (hams, turkey, chicken, etc).
Read the full article (including a list of what MSG is disguised as in food) here: http://nikas-culinaria.com
Posted: July 15, 2012
Until recently, most scientists believed that neurons were the all-important brain cells controlling mental functions and that the surrounding glial cells were little more than neuron supporters and "glue." Now research published in March in Cell reveals that astrocytes, a type of glia, have a principal role in working memory. And the scientists made the discovery by getting mice stoned.
Marijuana impairs working memory - the short-term memory we use to hold on to and process thoughts. Think of the classic stoner who, midsentence, forgets the point he was making. Although such stupor might give recreational users the giggles, people using the drug for medical reasons might prefer to maintain their cognitive capacity.
Read the full story here: http://www.scientificamerican.com
Posted: July 15, 2012
Herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops, developed to survive application of specific herbicides that previously would have destroyed the crop along with the targeted weeds, provide farmers with a broader variety of options for effective weed control. Based on USDA survey data, HT soybeans went from 17 percent of U.S. soybean acreage in 1997 to 68 percent in 2001 and 93 percent in 2012. Plantings of HT cotton expanded from about 10 percent of U.S. acreage in 1997 to 56 percent in 2001 and 80 percent in 2012. The adoption of HT corn, which had been slower in previous years, has accelerated, reaching 73 percent of U.S. corn acreage in 2012.
To check out a graph displaying how the percentages of insecticide-resistant GM crops being planted per acre has increased in the past 15 years (and to read more) click here: http://www.ers.usda.gov
Posted: July 15, 2012
ALBANY, N.Y. (CN) - State prosecutors want an Albany head shop - and 11 other head shops across the state - permanently barred from selling dangerous, mislabeled products that mimic the highs of illegal drugs.
Attorney General Eric Schneidermann sued Dan Heins dba Shining Star Enterprises, in Albany County Supreme Court.
Twelve such lawsuits were filed simultaneously, from Long Island to Buffalo, against head shops that sell inadequately labeled designer drugs - synthetic versions of illegal drugs - the attorney general's office said.
Read the full story here: http://www.courthousenews.com
Posted: July 15, 2012
Individuals needing a more restful night of sleep may want to consider placing the scent of jasmine somewhere in their bedroom.
According to Dr. Bryan Raudenbush, assistant professor of psychology at Wheeling Jesuit University (WJU), the scent of jasmine may allow individuals to receive a better night of sleep.
"Research shows that odors have significant effects on the human nervous system, even in the absence of attention and awareness to these odors" said Raudenbush. "Therefore, it was reasonable to expect that the human body may respond to odors presented during sleep."
Raudenbush and WJU psychology students investigated whether the administration of an odorant during sleep would affect sleep patterns during the night, wakefulness and cognitive functioning the following morning, as well as alertness throughout the day. The researchers monitored 20 people while they slept for three nights. During this time, they were exposed to one of three conditions, consisting of jasmine odor, lavender odor or no odor at all.
Read the full story here: http://www.wju.edu
Posted: July 13, 2012
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. (CN) - A medical marijuana dealer claims in court that police ruined his businesses, took his money, seized his attorney's computer, and carried their harassment so far they dumped his mother-in-law's ashes from an urn while busting his legal pot delivery service.
William Crosby sued Mono County, its District Attorney Timothy Kendall, Mammoth Lakes, and its police Officers Seth Clark, Paul Robles and Rick Moberly, in Mono County Court.
Crosby claims that after voters of the tiny Sierra hamlet of Mammoth Lakes passed Measure M, legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits, he sat down with city leaders and the chief of police to craft the ordinance. He says city officials assured him that his medical pot delivery service complied with the new law.
Read the full story here: http://www.courthousenews.com
Posted: July 13, 2012
PORTLAND, Ore. (CN)- A woman claims screaming fans at a Justin Bieber concert left her with severe tinnitus and hyperacusis after the teen pop star sailed over the crowd in a heart-shaped gondola. She demands more than $9 million in her pro se federal lawsuit.
Representing herself, Stacey Wilson Betts sued Justin Bieber, his record label, management, and owner of the concert venue for damage to her ears.
The Wilsonville woman says she took her daughter to a Justin Bieber concert in Portland in July 2010 where she was "injured by a sound blast that exceeded safe decibel levels."
Read the full story here: http://www.courthousenews.com
Posted: July 13, 2012
HOUSTON (CN) - International Paper and Waste Management of Texas polluted the San Jacinto River for decades by abandoning retention ponds filled with dioxin waste from IP's paper mill, a dozen crab fishermen claim in Harris County Court.
Lead plaintiff Dao Van Pho sued International Paper Co., Waste Management and its predecessor, McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corp., seeking punitive damages and medical monitoring for their exposure to dioxin.
The plaintiffs say the problem began 1965, when McGinnes bagged an exclusive contract to dispose waste from the Champion Paper Mill in Pasadena, Texas.
"While Champion (now defendant International Paper) made money by selling its paper, its paper mill produced as a dangerous byproduct 2,3,7,8-TCDD, as well as other dioxins, that Champion sought to dispose," the complaint states.
Read the full article here: http://www.courthousenews.com
Posted: July 13, 2012
ScienceDaily (July 12, 2012) - Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered a chemical that offers a completely new and promising direction for the development of drugs to treat metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes -- a major public health concern in the United States due to the current obesity epidemic.
Their discovery, detailed in a paper published July 13 in an advance online issue of the journal Science,initially came as a surprise because the chemical they isolated does not directly control glucose production in the liver, but instead affects the activity of a key protein that regulates the internal mechanisms of our daily night and day activities, which scientists call our circadian rhythm or biological clock.
Scientists had long suspected that diabetes and obesity could be linked to problems in the biological clock. Laboratory mice with altered biological clocks, for example, often become obese and develop diabetes. Two years ago, a team headed by Steve Kay, dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego, discovered the first biochemical link between the biological clock and diabetes. It found that a key protein, cryptochrome, that regulates the biological clocks of plants, insects and mammals also regulates glucose production in the liver and that altering the levels of this protein could improve the health of diabetic mice.
Read the full article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Posted: July 13, 2012
Chronobiology studies are increasingly showing how our biological clocks may harm us. "Social Jet Lag" (social factor-based disrupted circadian rhythms) can cause obesity and a woman risks becoming infertile, should her body clock become out of touch with each new day's rising and setting of the sun. But there is also good news. Courageous use of chronobiology can produce almost miraculous results. Chronotherapy (such as factoring time of day and night into the administration of cancer drug treatments) can often raise effectiveness of drug use and reduce side effects. Light therapy helps Parkinson's, etc.
Corporate mechanical time, time zones and Daylight Saving Time each conspire to get in the way of biological clocks knowing natural time. Jackie and Yale Landsberg, founders of The Better Tymes Project and Better Tymes For Women, think men and, even more so, women now more than ever need to fight back.
The Landsbergs are not just hoping for a better times revolution. As a woman's circadian rhythm affects her menstrual cycle and her menstrual cycle affects her circadian rhythm, their unique TrueTyme Android body clock app, widget and live wallpaper uses patented "sun both above and below the horizon" symbols (optionally, "moon above and below" ones too) that tell a user's mind and brain where she, or he, is in two kinds of natural time.
Yale hopes that adding TrueTyme's kind of natural day times and night times to many treatments for many kinds of circadian rhythm-related problems might help even more, "... especially for baby-boomers and the elderly, who tend to not see dawn and dusk blue light adequately twice a day due to the yellowing of the lenses of their eyes."
Read more here: http://www.prnewswire.com
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