w h o a r . c o . n z

“…Healthful cooking doesn’t have to be expensive cooking.

In this week’s Recipes for Health series, Martha Rose Shulman provides five nutritious meals that won’t break the bank.

To create these inexpensive meals, Ms. Shulman relies on pantry staples like pasta and rice … adding beans and peas for extra nutritional value.

Vegetables like onions, cabbage and carrots are also great for those on a budget, are easy to find and can stay fresh in the refrigerator for an extended period, she explains.

Here are five cost-conscious ways to eat healthfully…”

go to source/story>>>Healthful eating on a dime (all-vegan recipes from the NY Times) - Vegsource.com

“…Got milk?

Plenty of people think its perfectly healthy to drink … and advertisements would have you eating dairy all the time.

But it may not be as healthy as you think.

In this weeks UltraWellness blog Dr. Mark Hyman gives six reasons you should avoid milk and explains why it may be at the very root of your health problems.

Dr. Hyman is a smart guy, though we don’t agree 100% with his recommendations …

…(e.g., we don’t recommend any seafoods or other animal products as a source of calcium…

… or anything else)…”

go to source/story>>>Six Reasons You Should Avoid Dairy at all Costs (VIDEO) - Vegsource.com

“…Books like Diet For A New America, Skinny Bitch and the film Earthlings had a profound effect on Ellen’s decision to avoid animal products…”

(recommended-watch..)

go to source/story>>>Ellen DeGeneres on why she went vegan - Vegsource.com

“…factoids, how to win an argument with a meat-eater,…”

* The Hunger Argument

* The Environmental Argument

* The Cancer Argument

* The Cholesterol Argument

* The Natural Resources Argument

* The Antibiotic Argument

* The Pesticide Argument

* The Ethical Argument

* The Survival Argument…”

(recommended-read..)

go to source/story>>>How to Win An Argument With a Meat-Eater - Vegsource.com

“…Contrary to largely gloomy cultural perceptions … growing old brings some benefits … notably emotional and cognitive stability.

Laura Carstensen, a Stanford social psychologist calls this the “well-being paradox.”

Although adults older than 65 face challenges to body and brain …

… the 70s and 80s also bring an abundance of social and emotional knowledge … qualities scientists are beginning to define as wisdom.

As Carstensen and another social psychologist, Fredda Blanchard-Fields of the Georgia Institute of Technology, have shown …

… adults gain a toolbox of social and emotional instincts as they age.

According to Blanchard-Fields, seniors acquire a feel … an enhanced sense of knowing right from wrong …

… and therefore a way to make sound life decisions.

That may help explain the finding that old age correlates with happiness.

A study published this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found a U-shaped relationship between happiness and age: …

… Adults were happiest in youth and again in their 70s and early 80s …

… and least happy in middle age…”

go to source/story>>>Researchers find that wisdom and happiness increase as people grow older - Vegsource.com

“… The children most likely to die from neglect and abuse are falling under the radar of the government agencies that should be protecting them, research shows.

A study of Masterton families that rely on social services found support was failing to reach those most at risk.

The research, commissioned by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, showed most families were resilient and used social services to make themselves stronger.

The Families Commission study focused on Masterton and looked at 400 families and 33 social service agencies.

High-risk, dysfunctional families were among those interviewed.

But the most severe cases – families in which children had died – avoided contact with social services and fell under the radar, the report said.

Figures from key agencies show that, on average, 60 babies a year throughout the country are being admitted to hospital because of abuse.

Abuse reported to Child, Youth and Family last year increased 119 per cent in the past five years.

Last year, 110,000 cases were reported to CYF and, by the end of this year, the figure is expected to be about 125,000…”

go to source/story>>>Children most at risk of harm ‘fall under radar’ | Stuff.co.nz

“…Super City mayoral contender John Banks is facing heat over his liquor policy on top of revelations that his son Alex was among those who “egged on” a schoolmate who died after binge-drinking.

Last week, Mr Banks flip-flopped over his support for 24-hour drinking at central city bars, and now supports 4am closing.

Yesterday, the Auckland City Mayor was accused of failing to show leadership to close bottle stores at 10pm and give communities a say on liquor outlets.

Last October, Mr Banks and his Citizens & Ratepayers allies abandoned liquor licensing changes following a hostile reaction from the hospitality industry to plans to close suburban bars at midnight.

Attempts at the time by City Vision councillors to continue public consultation of the opening hours and location of off-licence alcohol outlets were also knocked back by Mr Banks and C&R…”

go to source/story>>>Banks in firing line for policy on alcohol - National - NZ Herald News

“…What is the link between alcohol and throat cancer?

Eighty-five percent of all head and neck cancers are related to smoking … but alcohol has also been linked to throat cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society … drinkers are six times more likely to get these cancers.

Some reports have found that people who smoke and drink are as much as 100 times more likely to get mouth and throat cancer than people with neither habit.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, consuming 50 grams of alcohol a day, the equivalent of four drinks …

… doubles or triples the risk for getting mouth, voice box and throat cancer….”

go to source/story>>>Michael Douglas’ Throat Cancer Diagnosis Have You Scared? Here’s What You Need to Know About Throat Cancer - ABC News

“… An article published today in New Scientist says scientific evidence is building that junk food with high fat, sugar or salt content triggers the same biological mechanisms as those in drug addicts.

Over the past decade, researchers have carried out studies on rats to determine what effects junk food has on the rodents’ brain chemistry.

Their findings have been backed up by more recent studies on humans.

A 2001 study showed that rats fed a high-sugar diet exhibited withdrawal symptoms when their access to sugar was denied.

A later study found that rats who were allowed to binge on bacon, sausage, chocolate and icing went on a hunger strike for two weeks after their access to those foods was cut off.

In both studies, dopamine – a neurotransmitter that is a key part of the brain’s reward system – played an important role.

The rats in the first study experienced a rush of dopamine each time they ate sugar …

… while the rats in the second study had to eat more and more of the junk food to experience the same dopamine rush.

Both effects are factors in drug addiction.

A human study found sugar “addicts” shown their favourite foods experienced a rush of dopamine to the orbital frontal cortex –

- the same part of the brain that responds when a cocaine addict is shown a bag of white powder…”

go to source/story>>>Addicted to junk food? It’s no joke | Stuff.co.nz

“…I’m a vegetable lover.

I eat vegetables at least three times a day: …

… a big garden-fresh salad for lunch and grilled corn and steamed potatoes as side dishes with dinners in the summer.

I don’t have much trouble eating enough vegetables, but I know I’m the exception, not the rule.

One in 4 Americans don’t eat the 5 to 13 servings of vegetables and fruit (the number of servings depends on your calorie intake) that you’re supposed to eat every day for optimal health.

Are you one of those that need a nudge to eat more vegetables?

Here are 3 reasons to fit more in:

* Lose weight: Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and recent research shows that consuming more fiber can help you lose weight.

* Reduce your risk of heart disease: You could cut your risk for heart disease by almost 25 percent, suggests one study, simply by adding 3 servings of vegetables (or fruit) to your daily diet.

* Fight cancer and Alzheimer’s disease: Eating vegetables (and fruit) in a variety of colors provides you with a variety of phytochemicals, some of which act as antioxidants that may help prevent heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Probably the excuse I most often hear people give when they say they don’t like vegetables is that they don’t like how vegetables taste.

I think it’s partially because those vegetables were overcooked (and mushy—ew) … or not prepared in the tastiest of ways.

So here are foolproof ways to cook 20 favorite vegetables that bring out their best flavor.

And since it’s summer, and many of these vegetables are at their ripe and delicious best, bursting with nutrients, it’s the perfect time to enjoy them!

For all of these recipes … start with one pound of untrimmed vegetables…”

go to source/story>>>EatingWell: What’s Fresh: How to Cook 20 Vegetables

“…Agonising over whether the drinking age should revert to 20 or be split - allowing 18-year-olds to start buying booze in pubs but not in supermarkets - is all beside the point.

If an 18-year-old hasn’t already got easy access to alcohol … courtesy of their parents or mates …

…. they must be living a very solitary life…”

go to source/story>>>Brian Rudman : Booze needs to cost more to deter young - Opinion - NZ Herald News

“…From the relaxing effects of cannabis to the highs of LSD and ecstasy, illegal drugs are not generally associated with the lab bench.

Now, for the first time in decades, that is starting to change.

For almost 40 years, mainstream research has shied away from investigating the therapeutic benefits of drugs whose recreational use is prohibited by law.

But a better understanding of how these drugs work in animal studies, and the advancement of brain-imaging techniques, has sparked a swathe of new research.

What’s more, clinical trials of MDMA (ecstasy), LSD and other psychoactive drugs are starting to yield some positive results.

This could lead to a call for governments to take a new approach to the funding and regulation of research into the potential benefits of such chemicals.

LSD was developed in the 1940s (see “The highs and lows of LSD”) but by the 1970s it and many other drugs became classed as schedule 1 in many countries - described as “abuse” drugs with no accepted medical use.

“Research on psychedelics was severely restricted and interest in the therapeutic use of these drugs faded,” says Franz Vollenweider of the neuropsychopharmacology and brain-imaging unit at the Zurich University Hospital of Psychiatry, Switzerland.

The classification of LSD as schedule 1 was a mistake born of “ignorance and taboo”, says Amanda Feilding, director of the Beckley Foundation …

… a charitable trust that promotes investigation into consciousness and its modulation, based in Oxford, UK.

These kinds of decisions are political not scientific, says Michael Mithoefer, a psychiatrist in Mount Pleasant, California.

“When the US Drug Enforcement Agency held hearings about MDMA, the judge ruled it did not meet criteria for schedule 1 and should be schedule 3, so it could be used by physicians but not sold in bars.

The DEA administrator put it in schedule 1 despite it not meeting the criteria.”

Despite these hurdles, a number of trials are now under way in the US and Switzerland to investigate the potential of LSD and psilocybin - the psychoactive component of magic mushrooms - in helping terminal cancer patients deal with anxiety and depression.

Feilding is also working with David Nutt of Imperial College London on the first UK study using psychedelics for 40 years.

Among other things, they are researching how psilocybin can help in recalling distant memories …

… which they say could help with psychotherapy following trauma…”

go to source/story>>>Psychoactive drugs: From recreation to medication - health - 01 September 2010 - New Scientist

“… Low income New Zealand families would have to spend up to a third of their income to eat healthily, a researcher says.

A separate study reveals about 40 per cent of New Zealand households go hungry, skip meals or scrimp on ingredients because they are not “food secure”.

Food security is a key topic for discussion at a national dietitians conference in Dunedin that started yesterday and runs until tomorrow.

Professor John Coveney, associate dean at South Australia’s Flinders University …

… said yesterday people in low socio-economic groups were more likely to have a diet-related disease such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

His Australian research, which will be presented at the conference …

… showed low income families would have to spend up to one-third of their weekly income on buying a shopping basket of healthy food.

In comparison, a “healthy food basket” cost just 9 per cent of income for high income families…”

go to source/story>>>Healthy eating hard for poor - research | Stuff.co.nz

“…The University of Washington epidemiologist Dr Stephen Bezruchka has been writing and speaking for nearly two decades on the real cause of illness and poor health.

As he repeatedly points out, lifestyle factors (including smoking) only account for ten percent of the causation of illness.

According to Bezruchka, the single most important determinant of adult health status and life expectancy is your mother’s income and social status during pregnancy … and the first three years of life.

Although more than fifty years of epidemiological studies bear this out … it is only in the last decade scientists could explain why this is –

– thanks to the new science of epigenetics.

While the early Freudians used to make similar claims about unfavorable “psychological” influences on infants and young children …

… it is now clear the effect is biological rather than psychological.

That it relates to “epigenetics” –

- a term referring to changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than the underlying DNA sequence…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Income Inequality: the Real Cause of Poor Health « american in exile

“…What will it take for us to realize that the same funding dollars used to arrest, prosecute and imprison drug usage could be spent to help rather than punish people.

Think of the lives that could be saved if we chose to fund harm reduction programs …

… and to make the overdose antidote naloxone readily available.

A dose of naloxone that costs approximately $10 could have saved my son.

Consider what common sense and good policy it is to pass Good Samaritan 911 laws that allow people to report an overdose without fearing arrest.

It is a mystery why a society would rather make a drug bust … than let a person with drugs call 911 to save a life.

We are taught that nothing is as powerful as a good education – and I believe that –

- and yet we neglect to educate young people with a realistic drug education curriculum.

And, finally, we make noise about drug treatment programs …

… and then do not support our elected representatives to pass legislation that provides adequate funding…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Preventing Death by Overdose: One of the Most Avoidable Tragedies on Earth | | AlterNet

“…Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled “sceptical environmentalist” once compared to Adolf Hitler by the UN’s climate chief …

… is famous for attacking climate scientists, campaigners, the media and others for exaggerating the rate of global warming …

… and its effects on humans …

… and the costly waste of policies to stop the problem.

But in a new book to be published next month, Lomborg will call for tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change.

“Investing $100bn annually would mean that we could essentially resolve the climate change problem by the end of this century,” the book concludes.

Examining eight methods to reduce or stop global warming, Lomborg and his fellow economists recommend pouring money into researching and developing clean energy sources such as wind, wave, solar and nuclear power …

… and more work on climate engineering ideas such as “cloud whitening” … to reflect the sun’s heat back into the outer atmosphere.

In a Guardian interview, he said he would finance investment through a tax on carbon emissions that would also raise $50bn to mitigate the effect of climate change …

… for example by building better sea defences … and $100bn for global healthcare.

His declaration about the importance of action on climate change comes at a crucial point in the debate …

… with international efforts to agree a global deal on emissions …

… stalled amid a resurgence in scepticism caused by rows over the reliability of the scientific evidence for global warming…”

go to source/story>>>Bjørn Lomborg: $100bn a year needed to fight climate change | Environment | The Guardian

“…John McDougall MD discusses what dairy products have going for them.

They are a great source of nutrition — for getting fat and growing tumors!

This is Dr. McDougall’s presentation from the 2005 Healthy Lifestyle Expo.

More info and talks available here on DVD: https://secure2.vegsource.com/catalog…”

go to source/story>>>YouTube - The Perils of Dairy

“…The antiquated food pyramid is slowly toppling: …

…the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee—a panel established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—recently recognized the value of a vegan diet…

… and instructed people to eat more plant-based foods!

While the new dietary guidelines still aren’t as good as they should be …

… they do stress the importance of eating healthy vegan foods more than previous guidelines have.

Hopefully, they’ll even convince more people to opt for chickpeas rather than chicken flesh.

With all the health benefits of a wholesome vegan diet—including a slimmer waistline, fewer cataracts, and protection against heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s disease—

– I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t aspire to be vegan.

I lost nearly 30 pounds when I incorporated more fruits, veggies, whole grains, and legumes into my diet …

… and I’m the only one in my family who doesn’t suffer from weight problems, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure…”

go to source/story>>>Living // USDA Recognizes Value of Vegan Foods // PETA

“…Tofu scramble is a staple in my home … although I have to admit that it took a while to perfect my own version.

My poor hubby battled through about a month of mushy, overly seasoned, and burnt scrambles.

I’m surprised he even lets me in the kitchen anymore.

But we now agree … breakfast is always the most looked-forward-to part of our weekends!..”

go to source/story>>>Living // Egg-Free Dish: Tofu Scramble Is Delish! // PETA

(and boy..!…do they hate having that pointed out to them….

farrar at kiwiblog banned me as a commenter ‘for a very long time…when i pointed out to him…

….that he had the blood from those abortions dripping from his fingertips…

they seem to have a blind spot/rivers-of-denial..as to the real consequences of their political beliefs/ideology….

…go figure..!…

are they that ‘dumb’ they can’t join those two dots…?)

“… Thanks in part to the GOP’s failed policies, America is such a hard place to raise a family that many people are delaying getting married and having kids.

For decades, social conservatives have had a lot to say about the decline of “family values” in the United States …

… and they have a long list of people they like to blame, including gays and lesbians, Hollywood, the adult entertainment industry, feminists, rappers, the ACLU and abortion providers.

As the Christian Right sees it, a major cultural war has been taking place in the U.S. –

— and the American family is being attacked by everyone from Larry Flynt and Planned Parenthood to 50 Cent and proponents of gay marriage.

Social conservatives are right about one thing: the American family is under attack, but not from cultural liberals.

The greatest threat to the American family is economic stress —

– and the modern-day Republicans and social conservatives who preach family values are the ones who have done the most to imperil the American family.

From union-busting and the outsourcing of jobs to developing countries … and opposing universal health care …

… social conservatives have not only endangered the American middle class — they have also made it increasingly hard to raise a “traditional” family…”

go to source/story>>>How Conservatives and the GOP Destroyed the “Traditional Family” They Claim to Treasure | | AlterNet

“… What makes glasses so expensive?

Oblong plastic lenses?

Plastic and metal frames?

We’re getting screwed.

Those of us who need prescription eyewear need prescription eyewear.

Are you wearing yours to read this?

Imagine if you weren’t.

Imagine life without your glasses for a year, a week, an hour.

Yet many health insurance plans, especially for the unemployed or self-employed, don’t cover them.

Mine doesn’t.

Last year, I went shopping for no-line progressive bifocals in small oval metal frames.

Name brands mean nothing to me.

Price does.

My high astigmatism and need for bifocals disqualify me from those buy-one-get-one-free deals … which almost always involve only single-vision specs.

In store after store, megachains and optical boutiques alike, small oval metal frames fitted with lenses matching my prescription started at $300.

One popular shop quoted me $582 for the lenses alone.

I bought a pair of no-line progressive bifocals in small oval metal frames for $44 online.

I’m wearing them right now.

Perhaps because prescription glasses are where medicine meets fashion, they’re among the world’s most overpriced merchandise.

Imperfect eyesight isn’t your fault:… You can’t make yourself nearsighted by eating too much fudge.

Yet if your health plan excludes vision care … you’ve spent years at the mercy of a $64 billion industry characterized by 500-percent markups.

This has begun to change over the last few years.

A knowledge-is-power, power-to-the-people, Web-driven DIY wave is rocking the optical industry’s very foundations.

Dozens of companies now sell prescription glasses online, frames and lenses included, for as little as $7.95.

It works like this: Google “cheap glasses” to find a frame you like at a price you like at a site you like.

(Among the most popular are 39DollarGlasses, ZenniOptical — where I bought mine — and Goggles4U.)

Use the virtual fitting mechanism to “try it on.”

Type in your prescription (obtained from an actual eye doctor), pupillary distance (aka PD, derived by measuring the space between your pupils with a ruler), address and payment information.

Send…”

go to source/story>>>Wow — the Eyewear Industry Is an Incredible Ripoff, But There Are Alternatives | | AlterNet

“…James, a 16-year-old student at Auckland’s King’s College, died in May after binge-drinking neat vodka at an 18th birthday party in Grey Lynn.

Last night, his parents Charles and Penny Webster revealed on TVNZ’s Close Up programme that only a handful of parents and students who were at the party had been in contact with them, to give details about the night that their teenage son died.

Mrs Webster said the family had been told their son had been “egged on” to keep drinking by several young people at the party.

One of those people - who was pictured with her son on the night he died - was Alex Banks …

… 17-year-old son of Auckland mayor John Banks…”

go to source/story>>>Parents ask for answers over son’s fatal binge - National - NZ Herald News

“…Bill Clinton is still keeping an eye on his waistline, Page Six reports.

The former president stopped by Babette’s in East Hampton last week and ordered, essentially, the diet plate.

A source said, “[Bill] was sitting in a corner banquette, eating a veggie burger and a mountain of vegetables.

He was with Hillary, who had a falafel plate, and her mother, Dorothy Rodham, who ate French toast.”

In April, Chelsea asked her dad to lose 15 pounds by the time her wedding rolled around.

At the time, Bill explained to the New York Post, Chelsea “told me the other day, she said, ‘Dad the only thing you gotta do is walk me down the aisle and you need to look good.’

So I said ‘Well, what’s your definition?’ And she said: ‘Oh, about 15 pounds.’ So I’m halfway home.”

It seems that Chelsea’s vegan eating habits rubbed off on dad–

– Bill lost not 15, but 23 pounds, thanks to a vegetarian diet.

And judging from what was on his plate at Babette’s … perhaps Clinton has decided to stick with the no-meat plan for a while…”

go to source/story>>>Bill Clinton Still Watching His Waistline: Report

“… News outlets continue to ignore research that belies government anti-pot propaganda.

Last September I penned an essay for Alternet entitled Five Things the Corporate Media Don’t Want You to Know About Cannabis.

In it I proposed, “[N]ews outlets continue to, at best, underreport the publication of scientific studies that undermine the federal government’s longstanding pot propaganda and, at worst, ignore them all together.”

Nearly one year later little has changed.

Here are five additional stories the mainstream media doesn’t want you to know about cannabis.

1. Long-term marijuana use is associated with lower risks of certain cancers, including head and neck cancer.

The moderate long-term use of marijuana is associated with a reduced risk of head and neck cancers …

…. according to the results of a population-based case-control study conducted by investigators at Rhode Island’s Brown University …

… and published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

Authors of the study reported, “After adjusting for potential confounders (including smoking and alcohol drinking) …

… 10 to 20 years of marijuana use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma” …

… compared to subjects who never used pot.

Researchers further reported that subjects who smoked marijuana and consumed alcohol and tobacco (two conclusive high risk factors for head and neck cancers) …

… also experienced a reduced cancer risk compared to non-cannabis users.

“[W]e observed that marijuana use modified the interaction between alcohol and cigarette smoking …

… resulting in a decreased (cancer) risk among moderate smokers and light drinkers …

… and attenuated risk among the heaviest smokers and drinkers.

“Our study suggests that moderate marijuana use is associated with reduced risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma,” investigators concluded.

Similarly, a 2006 UCLA study of more than 2,200 subjects reported that marijuana smoking was not positively associated with cancers of the lung or upper aerodigestive tract –

- even among individuals who reported smoking more than 22,000 joints during their lifetime.

Researchers further noted that among some users of the drug … cannabis smoking appeared to have a cancer preventive effect.

Nevertheless, mainstream U.S. media outlets exhibited little-to-no interest in reporting on the Brown University findings …

… which failed to even garner a mention locally in the Providence Journal.

One month following the study’s publication, international media wire service Reuters did devote some half-hearted coverage …

… which it published under the overtly skeptical headline “Could smoking pot cut risk of head, neck cancer?”…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>5 Things the Corporate Media and Government Don’t Want You to Know About Marijuana | | AlterNet

“…”Will you join me in lowering our impact?”

That was the subject line on a recent e-mail I sent out to family, friends, column readers and radio listeners …

… asking them to join me for a week in trying to reduce our individual environmental footprint.

Inspired by Colin Beavan’s prophetic book “No Impact Man,” I proposed four pollution- and waste-reducing steps many people could try for a few days:…

… Stop consuming meat, devote one meal a day to eating only locally grown products, avoid producing non-recyclable garbage …

… and refrain from riding in a fossil-fuel-burning vehicle with fewer than three people.

Having now completed this low-impact week, I can report that it was not easy and that I did not achieve perfection — not even close.

However, I can also say I learned a few things beyond how to manage bicycle-seat discomfort.

For one, I discovered that you can find affordable food that isn’t flown in at great energy expense — but it takes initiative.

You have to check food labels at the grocery … or hunt down a farmers’ market.

I was also reminded that we waste an obscene amount of paper and plastic.

Coffee cups, disposable utensils, food wrappers — this offal is everywhere and most of it is used for less than 15 minutes and then discarded.

Avoiding this trash for a week makes you think about the monstrous amount of energy used in producing, distributing and tossing it.

When it came to transportation, I discovered that the inconvenience of eco-friendly choices can come with unforeseen benefits.

Sure, it took effort to get my bike working.

Sure, my “not a morning person” gene didn’t love sweating my way to the office at dawn.

But my “I hate traffic” and “I like saving money” genes enjoyed avoiding congestion and gasoline bills.

These embarrassingly self-evident realizations led to my two biggest “low-impact week” epiphanies of all…”

go to source/story>>>Lessons from a low-impact week - Environment - Salon.com

“…In a separate study, The National Cancer Institute found that soy consumption early in life conferred protection against breast cancer later.

The women interviewed were of Chinese, Japanese and Filipino ancestry … and lived in California or Hawaii.

The findings revealed that those who had consumed the largest amounts of soy foods as children … (between ages five and 11) …

… lowered their risk for breast cancer by 60 percent as adults.

The amount of soy recommended for women to help protect against breast cancer is 25 to 35 grams per day.

The soybean is the only vegetable that contains more protein than carbohydrates.

Protein is made from building blocks called amino acids.

They are linked together in a chain.

Of the 20 amino acids found in the body … eight are considered essential because the body can’t make them … so they must be consumed.

Soy protein contains all of them.

Therefore, it’s a perfect source of protein for humans…”

go to source/story>>>Katherine Nichols: The Soy Controversy

“…The Exodus Ministries Trust Board is affiliated with the United States-based Exodus Global Alliance …

… which claims “change in homosexuality is possible through the power of Jesus Christ”.

The New Zealand trust appears to keep a low profile, but also claims its members work with churches to counsel and “cure” homosexuals.

Exodus Ministries has had charitable status, exempting it from income tax, for more than a decade but the status was removed by the Charities Commission this month under a regime introduced in 2007.

The commission said the trust was not performing any public benefit …

… because homosexuality was not a mental disorder … and did not need curing.

The commission noted that the American Psychological Association said there was little scientific evidence to show that homosexuality could be “cured”…

… and attempts to do so could cause harm…”

go to source/story>>>No tax break in work to ‘cure’ homosexuals | Stuff.co.nz

“…Demand for tobacco has fallen 15 per cent at supermarkets since the tax rise in April - a far greater reduction than expected.

“It’s extraordinary,” public health physician Dr Murray Laugesen said yesterday …

… commenting on supermarket sales figures supplied to him by research company ACNielsen.

Based on earlier tax increases, a tobacco price rise of 10 per cent would have been expected to reduce sales by 5 per cent.

In April, the Government increased the excise tax on factory-made cigarettes by 10 per cent and on loose tobacco by 25 per cent.

The tax on both types will rise by a further 10 per cent next year, and by the same percentage again in 2012.

Dr Laugesen said that since the April tax rises, average weekly sales of factory-made cigarettes at supermarkets had gone down by nearly 14 per cent - notably more than the price increase of 10 per cent.

Sales of loose roll-your-own tobacco dropped by nearly 18 per cent, which was less than the price increase of 21 per cent…”

go to source/story>>>Dramatic slump in stores’ cigarette sales - National - NZ Herald News

“…Supermarkets are drug “pushers” who are selling high quantities of discounted wine …

… and should be viewed the same as dealers dishing out Ecstasy pills or morphine.

It may seem extreme but it’s a view that Professor Doug Sellman, director of the National Addiction Centre and spokesman for the Alcohol Action Group, is taking quite seriously.

Professor Sellman believes the Government should remove alcohol from supermarket shelves …

… and limit the amount of advertising operators are allowed for liquor …

… among many changes he hopes might alter people’s attitudes to drinking.

Think it’s over the top?

He will tell you that’s because you have been brainwashed into downplaying our excessive consumption of alcohol.

In a three-month study of advertising in the Herald, the Dominion Post, the Press and the Otago Daily Times, Professor Sellman said New World was the country’s biggest “drug pusher”…

… because it had the most alcohol-related advertising.

He said the sale of alcohol in supermarkets made it cheaper and easier to get …

… which meant more people would use it…”

go to source/story>>>Supermarkets are drug pushers, says lobbyist - National - NZ Herald News

“…A pill for advanced skin cancer that targets patients with particular genetic make-up had dramatic results, scientists revealed.

In 80 per cent of those treated … tumours were significantly reduced in size.

The patients were suffering from malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, which started to spread.

Most had mutations in the BRAF gene which occur in 40 per cent to 60 per cent of patients with the disease.

The drug, PLX4032 … inhibits faulty BRAF and prevents it stimulating the cancer.

Lead researcher Dr Paul Chapman, from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, said:…

.. “We have seen many tumours shrink rapidly, and in some patients, quality of life improved dramatically.

“This is the beginning of personalised medicine in melanoma.”

A total of 87 patients took part in the Phase II study and were treated with increasing doses of PLX4032.

Two complete and 24 partial responses were seen among the 32 patients treated with a full dose of the drug.

Tumour shrinkage was seen at all cancer sites …

… including the liver, small bowel and bone…”

go to source/story>>>Dramatic results for skin cancer pill - Science, News - The Independent

“…Black rice – revered in ancient China but overlooked in the West – could be one of the greatest “superfoods”, scientists believe.

The cereal is low in sugar … but packed with healthy fibre and plant compounds that combat heart disease and cancer.

It was known as “forbidden rice” in ancient China because only nobles were allowed to eat it.

Today black rice is mainly used in Asia for food decoration, noodles, sushi and desserts.

“Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health-promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries …

… but with less sugar … and more fibre and vitamin E antioxidants,” said Dr Zhimin Xu the food scientist who led the research.

“If berries are used to boost health, why not black rice and black rice bran?

Especially, black rice bran would be a unique and economical material to increase consumption of health-promoting antioxidants.”…”

go to source/story>>>Scientists hail health benefits of black rice - Health News, Health & Families - The Independent

“…In a scientific tour-de-force that has been hailed as the most significant breakthrough in wheat production since the cereal crop was cultivated by the first farmers more than 10,000 years ago …

… scientists have decoded the genome of the wheat plant.

As a result, new breeds of disease-resistant crops could be producing higher wheat yields in as little as five years’ time …

… raising the prospect of lower bread prices and greater food security in a more populated world.

And rather than guard their knowledge … the British scientists responsible for the research will today place a draft version of the genome online …

… making it available for free to wheat breeders around the world …

… who will be able to use it to speed up the creation of the new disease-resistant varieties that are urgently needed.

Most wheat breeders currently rely on traditional methods of mixing new crop varieties –

- techniques that have not changed substantially for hundreds of years…”

go to source/story>>>Genome breakthrough heralds new dawn for agriculture - Science, News - The Independent

“…As far as farewell parties go, it is shaping as one of the most raucous in history.

Rugby World Cup 2011 is one year and a few days away and thanks to our slow-moving MPs, it will not only be a celebration of rugby, but a farewell bash to our boozing culture.

Under pressure from a public mood that has turned against our binge drinking, and prompted by a Law Commission-drafted set of recommendations, the National Government has put together a comprehensive package that could do much to stem the tide.

In a few short weeks, Prime Minister John Key and his lieutenants have put together a series of proposals that, if voted in, would:

Make under-18s wanting to drink at private parties get their parents’ permission.

Keep under-20s from buying alcohol from off-licences, yet still give them access to better patrolled bars and clubs.

Give local authorities a say in where and when sellers of alcohol can operate in their communities.
XXXIXXX
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Stop 24-hour trading by pubs. A 4am closing time would be imposed instead.

Reduce the maximum alcohol content in ready-to-drink alcopops to a maximum of 5 per cent only.

Impose a zero drink-drive limit for recidivist drink-drivers and drivers who are under 20 years of age.

Invoke tougher penalties for people who drink and drive causing death.

The Government has accepted wholly or in part 126 of the Law Commission’s 153 recommendations. Other recent decisions have reinforced there is a battle against the booze going on. One ruled as unlawful the issuing of BYO licences for events such as the popular Mission Estate concerts in Hawke’s Bay. That ruling will, of course, change the dynamic of that wine and beer-soaked day markedly.

The need for change is obvious and the paper pushers who fill out the factsheets to back politicians’ purges would have had a field day.

Police figures show that alcohol is involved in 30 per cent of recorded offences, 34 per cent of family violence callouts and half of all homicides between 1999 and 2008.

The number of licensed premises has increased significantly, from 6295 in 1990 to 14,424 in February this year.

The number of New Zealanders who die from alcohol-related causes every year is estimated at 1000-plus…”

go to source/story>>>Editorial : Why wait for action on alcohol - Opinion - NZ Herald News

“…Everyone knows the feeling -

- the moment you see an inflated price tag and think, “I can’t believe it’s that expensive”.

But which are the biggest rip-offs and why do they cost so much?

After much debate, the Weekend Herald has compiled this top five list -

- plus some useful tips on how to pay a lot less…

FOUR : GOING TO THE DENTIST

Dental examination with x-rays
* NZ $120
* UK $36

Porcelain crown
* NZ $1200
* Thailand $600

What you pay
A dental examination in New Zealand costs more than double on average what it would under Britain’s government-subsidised National Health Service.

Including x-rays, you would pay more than triple what the NHS charges.

And New Zealand’s prices vary - sometimes wildly - between dentists.

Herald reader Beth Strickland said she was quoted $420 for hygiene work at one dentist … and $95 at another down the street.

NHS dental prices are fixed at $36 for basic examinations and X-rays, $98 to also get fillings and extractions, and $436 for more complex procedures.

About half of the country is registered to receive NHS prices … and people in need are fully covered.

Other countries, particularly the United States, have wider coverage of dental insurance, so many people visit dentists and get it paid for through their premiums.

Many adults in Australia also get support from private health insurance.

But most New Zealanders pay the full costs … making the prices here seem exorbitant in comparison.

A recent study in the Health Policy journal, conducted by Santosh Jatrana and Peter Crampton …

… found almost a quarter of New Zealanders had deferred seeing a dentist during the course of a year because they could not afford it.

What they say
Different dental health systems are hard to compare, says NZ Dental Association CEO David Crum.

“Seeing your GP appears to be cheaper because not only are they billing you but they bill the government at the same time.

But for dentists you can’t do that,” he says.

Overseas systems had their own problems, with Britain’s subsidised system struggling financially and the United States’ healthcare politically fraught, Dr Crum says.

But it’s not just the healthcare system - many costs push up dental prices in New Zealand.

Training to be a dentist is the most expensive course at university, and importing quality dental equipment can be expensive, Dr Crum says.

“What comes into play here is the living standard, the costs of running a practice … having available all of the equipment required for medical emergencies.”

Full quotes put forward by private dentists in the United States and Britain are usually no cheaper than in New Zealand.

The Ministry of Health also points out that children in New Zealand receive subsidised dental care.

How to beat it
The country’s more expensive dentists can charge as much as 60 per cent more for similar procedures than cheaper dentists, the New Zealand dental fees survey shows.

So shop around … but note that clinics charging more might be giving you more preventive treatments.

And take good care of your teeth - get plenty of calcium and vitamins C and D.

Avoid sugary food and drink.

If you need an expensive procedure, tour operators are packaging cheap dental visits with holidays to places like Thailand.

A clinic in Phuket advertises prices in NZ dollars for its different operations.

Getting a porcelain crown there is $600 cheaper than in New Zealand.

But make sure to independently check their certifications.”

(and if you are poor in new zealand..?

tough shit…!

you can just (literally) rot…!

i have been a sole-parent for some years… and have performed two self-home-extractions…

(a pair of pliers..and a facecloth’ll do ya…eh..?..but fuck..!..it hurts..!..eh..?..

..ya really gottta focus…)

go to source/story>>>NZ’s top 5 rip-offs - and how to avoid them - National - NZ Herald News

“…The benefits of meditation are many and varied from reducing stress to increasing one’s cognition and creativity.

Additionally, meditation heightens our concentration … allowing us to be more productive.

Many people think that they have to flee to a monastery or spend hours a day sitting in a lotus position to receive these benefits.

Wrong!

If you feel overwhelmed with work, family and personal responsibilities …

… here are three quick and easy meditations to help you release unwholesome emotions … shift your mood …

… and improve your relationships…”

go to source/story>>>Ronald Alexander, Ph.D.: 3 Meditation Exercises for Maximum Wellness

“…Dr. de la Torre boldly asserts that finding a cure for Alzheimer’s is a delusionary quest …

… unlikely to happen in a hundred years … and most probably, never.

He argues that even if you could replace dead neuronal networks … bringing a shrunken Alzheimer’s brain back to life …

… the persona and intellect of the individual would be so altered as to create a different personality.

“Alzheimer’s is incurable, but it is preventable,” he says.

“We need to identify and lower Alzheimer’s risk factors in people when they are still cognitively normal … and long before irreversible symptoms appear.”

While the search for a pharmaceutical cure plays front and center …

… quietly in the background countless neuroscientists worldwide have concluded that Alzheimer’s …

… as well as memory decline and other age-related dementias … are actually slow-developing chronic diseases …

… like heart disease and cancer … partly dependent on lifestyle and other treatable diseases.

De la Torre, for example, is convinced that Alzheimer’s and dementia are particularly tied to cardiovascular factors …

… notably, constricted blood flow to brain cells …

… and that midlife screening to detect and correct such heart-related deficits would help prevent much brain degeneration during aging.

The special journal issue produced by de la Torre, called “Basics of Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention,” also included new research on the relationship between Alzheimer’s and diabetes, high blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol and cholesterol- lowering drugs, (statins), a Mediterranean diet, exercise, fish oil, B vitamins and antioxidants.

This special issue of JAD is but the latest example of a shifting paradigm toward prevention.

Other leading medical journals are full of studies, often funded by your tax dollars, filtered through the National Institutes of Health …

… revealing the dangers of alcohol, smoking, toxic chemicals, head injuries, infections, certain forms of anesthesia, excess copper, low vitamin B, excess calories, obesity, diabetes, thyroid problems, sleep deprivation, and depression …

… in raising your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

The wisdom of Alzheimer’s prevention, derived from the famous Nun Study at the University of Minnesota, and the Religious Orders Study, at Rush University in Chicago …

… has been piling up for a decade or two … but is rarely put into practice.

Comparing brains at autopsy with lifestyle and cognitive status …

… allows investigators to proclaim the value of mental, social and physical stimulation …

.. in building a brain more resistant to Alzheimer’s.

Best time to start: when you are young … but even activity in old age can make a huge difference.

Prolific research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, UCLA, Tufts University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons …

… as well as dozens of other institutions … reveals a reduced Alzheimer’s risk from consuming berries, nuts, curry powder, fruits and vegetables, fatty fish, olive oil and the Mediterranean diet …

… and various supplements … including folic acid, alpha lipoic acid, Vitamin B12, multivitamins and vitamin D.

We are missing the boat when we allow a small fragment of the scientific conversation about Alzheimer’s …

… centered on ineffective pharmaceuticals … and frightening diagnostic methods …

… drown out the momentous message coming from another research perspective: …

… that we can take action right now to delay the progression and onset of Alzheimer’s … which happens over decades.

The good news is that we know now how to detect and lessen many midlife lifestyle problems …

… that may otherwise lead to irreversible dementia…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Jean Carper: Looking for Alzheimer’s Answers in All the Wrong Places

“…Los Angeles officials have announced that only 41 medical marijuana dispensaries are eligible to stay in business under the city’s restrictive ordinance …

… a number so low that the city will suspend the winnowing process and ask a judge to rule that it is legal.

“It was a surprise,” said Jane Usher, a special assistant city attorney who worked closely with the City Council to draft the complex medical marijuana law and is defending it in court.

After a two-month review of dispensary records, the city clerk determined that three-quarters of the 169 dispensaries that applied to remain open did not meet the requirements in the ordinance.

Some of the ineligible dispensaries are among the most reputable in the city.

This map shows the locations of businesses cleared to remain open (shown in yellow) …

… and city officials have determined are ineligible to operate (shown in red)….”

go to source/story>>>Map of 400+ medical pot dispensaries being forced to close - latimes.com

“…There were 72 bodies found on a ranch ninety miles south of the Texas border — obvious victims of a drug cartel massacre.

Bullets have been hitting public buildings in El Paso …

… and the Washington Post is reporting that at least $20 billion a year in cash is being smuggled across the U. S. border each year.

What is it going to take to convince the federal government that current drug policies are not working?

The fact is that the current drug laws are contributing to an all-out war on our southern border —

– all in the name of a modern-day prohibition … that is no more logical or realistic than the one we abandoned 75 years ago.

Mexican drug cartels make at least 60 percent of their revenue from selling marijuana in the United States, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The FBI estimates that the cartels now control distribution in more than 230 American cities … from the Southwest to New England.

How are they able to do this?

Because America’s policy for nearly 70 years has been to keep marijuana —

– arguably no more harmful than alcohol … and used by 15 million Americans every month —

– confined to the illicit market …

… meaning we’ve given criminals a virtual monopoly on something that U.S. researcher Jon Gettman estimates is a $36 billion a year industry …

… greater than corn and wheat combined.

We have implemented laws that are not enforceable … which has thereby created a thriving black market.

By denying reality and not regulating and taxing marijuana … we are fueling not only this massive illicit economy …

… but a war that we are clearly losing…” (cont..)

(recommended-read..)

go to source/story>>>Gary Johnson: Legalize Marijuana to Stop the Drug Cartels

“…Lady Gaga caused a stir when she admitted to Vanity Fair that she occasionally does cocaine …

… and now she defends her drug use to Q magazine (via Contact Music) … on the basis that it helped her creatively.

“[Using drugs] I really figured out the art I wanted to make and was inspired,” she said.

“Some people find inspiration in dark places.

I guess I’m one of them.

What always made me different is that if I was doing drugs I was also making music.

I wasn’t just doing drugs.”

Though drugs helped her get her start, now Gaga only does cocaine “a couple of times a year,” she told Vanity Fair.

“Once you open those doors they’re open for ever,” she said in the Q interview.

“People who say they need [drugs] to be creative are full of s**t.

I’m not some chick on the road getting high and f***ed up every night.

I wake up, drink coffee and get on the phone to talk about the creative direction of the next video.”…”

go to source/story>>>Lady Gaga: Drugs Inspired Me

“…Everything the climate scientists said would happen - with their pesky graphs and studies and computers - is coming to pass.

This is proving the hottest year ever.

Thank God man-made global warming was proven to be a hoax.

Just imagine what the world might have looked like now if those conspiring scientists had been telling the truth.

No doubt Nasa would be telling us that this year is now the hottest since humans began keeping records.

The weather satellites would show that even when heat from the sun significantly dipped earlier this year … the world still got hotter.

Russia’s vast forests would be burning to the ground in the fiercest drought they have ever seen …

… turning the air black in Moscow, killing 15,000 people, and forcing foreign embassies to evacuate.

Because warm air holds more water vapour, the world’s storms would be hugely increasing in intensity and violence –

- drowning one fifth of Pakistan … and causing giant mudslides in China.

The world’s ice sheets would be sloughing off massive melting chunks four times the size of Manhattan.

The cost of bread would be soaring across the world as heat shrivelled the wheat crops.

The increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be fizzing into the oceans …

… making them more acidic …

… and so killing 40 per cent of the phytoplankton that make up the irreplaceable base of the oceanic food chain.

The denialists would be conceding at last that everything the climate scientists said would happen –

- with their pesky graphs and studies and computers – came to pass.

This is all happening today, except for that final stubborn step.

It’s hard to pin any one event on man-made global warming:..

… there were occasional freak weather events before we started altering the atmosphere …

… and on their own, any of these events could be just another example.

But they are, cumulatively, part of a plain pattern where extreme weather is occurring “with greater frequency and in many cases with greater intensity” as the temperature soars, as the US National Climatic Data Centre puts it.

This is exactly what climate scientists have been warning us man-made global warming will look like, to the letter.

Ashen-faced, they add that all this is coming after less than one degree of global warming since the Industrial Revolution.

We are revving up for as much as five degrees more this century.

Yet as the evidence of global warming becomes ever clearer … the momentum to stop it has died.

The Copenhagen climate summit evaporated …

… Barack Obama has given up on passing any climate change legislation …

… Hu Jintao is heaving even more coal … David Cameron has shot his huskies …

… and even sweet liberal Canada now has a government determined to pioneer a fuel – tar sands –

- that causes three times more warming than oil.

True, the victims are starting to see the connections.

The Russian President, Dmitri Medvedev, had been opposed to meaningful action on global warming …

… until he found the smoke-choked air in the Kremlin hard to breathe.

But if we wait until every leader can taste the effects of warming in their mouths … the damage will be irreparable.

Given the stakes, the reasons why so many people still refuse to accept the evidence can seem oddly trivial.

A common one is: “It snowed a lot in the US and Britain last year. Where was your warming then, eh?”

But scientific theories are based on patterns, not individual events.

You might know a 90-year-old woman who has smoked a pack of cigarettes every day of her life, and is totally healthy. (I do.)

It doesn’t disprove the theory that smoking causes lung cancer…”

go to source/story>>>Johann Hari: How much proof do the global warming deniers need? - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent