corporatism quotes

corporatism quotes (page 1 of 1): "'The major western democracies are moving towards corporatism. Democracy has become a business plan, with a bottom line for every human activity, every dream, every decency, every hope. The main parliamentary parties are now devoted to the same economic policies — socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor — and the same foreign policy of servility to endless war. This is not democracy. It is to politics what McDonalds is to food.'
— John Pilger

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

25 Free Lifelong Learning Resources | Free Online Learning

25 Free Lifelong Learning Resources | Free Online Learning:
by Jeff Cobb

25 Free Online Resources and Web Apps for Lifelong Learners

by Jeff Cobb

The Internet has made the lifelong pursuit of knowledge easier for nearly everyone in the world. There are tons of websites dedicated to providing free courses, reference books, education apps, and other learning materials. Here are 25 stand-out sites that would be useful to almost any lifelong learner.

Clusty – This unique search engine sorts results into clusters of related information so that it is easier to sort out the relevant from the irrelevant.

Schoolr – Schoolr is a fully-customizable search engine that can be used to search Google, Wikipedia, and other popular sites. It can also be used to translate text, convert units, and cite sources.

MyStickies – This site offers an alternative to bookmarking. Instead of saving URLs and page titles, MyStickies allows you to place digital sticky notes with annotations around the web so that you can retrieve previously viewed pages and understand immediately why they are important.

Diigo is a handy research tool that can be used to highlight and annotate pages on the web. Anything that is marked with Diigo can be accessed later on from any PC.

Hooey – Hooey is a unique tool for people who like to surf the web. It records browser history, measures productivity, and offers tips to help you better understand your browsing habits.

Internet Public Library – The IPL is a free public library for the Internet community. Resources include books, magazines, reference materials, subject collections, a physical library locator, and an “Ask the Librarian” section.

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RefDesk – This award-winning, family-friendly website is a great place to find reference materials online. RefDesk also offers one of the best fact checkers on the Internet.

SparkNotes – SparkNotes is an incredibly useful resource. In addition to an enormous literature section, the site also offers study guides and discussion forums for a wide range of academic subjects.

Schmoop – This free beta site makes it fun to study literature, poetry, and U.S. history. Schmoop features include easy-to-read study guides, homework helpers, and other educational materials.

History.com – The official History Channel website is one of the best places on the web to learn about a broad range of history topics. You can read articles, watch videos, and explore many other resources.

Wolfram MathWorld – This extensive math resource contains contributions from all over the world. Entries include information about algebra, geometry, calculus, applied mathematics, discrete mathematics, number theory, statistics, and other math topics.

OpenCourseWare (OCW) Consortium – The OCW Consortium is a collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions. The Consortium’s website is an excellent place to find free courses and course materials from some of the world’s best colleges and universities.

Lecturefox – Lecturefox is an online directory of free audio, video, and text-based lectures from universities like MIT and Yale.

LearnOutLoud – This Internet catalog contains more than 20,000 free educational materials, including books, videos, audio lectures, and podcasts.

The Online Books Page – The University of Pennsylvania’s Online Books Page is one of the best places to find free unabridged books online. The site lists more than 35,000 books that can be downloaded or viewed at no cost.

The Free Library – Farlex’s Free Library contains more than five million books and articles that can be viewed online for free. The site also allows you to create your own home page with your favorite bookmarks and RSS feeds.

BookMooch – This book swapping site makes it easy to get rid of the books you don’t need and get books you want in exchange. Membership is free and books can be exchanged worldwide.

wePapers – This site is geared toward college students, but it is also an excellent resource for lifelong learners. At wePapers, you can find academic papers, study groups, and a venue to share your knowledge.

Livemocha – Livemocha is an international community of foreign language learners. You can use it to study almost any world language at your own pace.

VerbaLearn – VerbaLearn is a good place to practice English vocabulary. You can review words, make flashcards, and customize the way you learn.

Class Marker – At ClassMarker, you can create online quizzes that test your knowledge on any subject. No software or download required.

Mikogo – This free screen sharing tool makes it easy to share your computer screen with other people who are online. Mikogo works well for online meetings, presentations, and collaborative learning.

Bloglines – This web-based tool makes your home page look like a newspaper. It allows you to assemble all of your favorite sites and blogs amidst information like local weather, sports, and other items of your choosing.

ThinkFree – ThinkFree offers Internet-based file sharing and storage as well as a Microsoft Office compatible application suite that allows you to access documents without opening the necessary application.

This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online colleges for OnlineCollege.org.

P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page.

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Related posts:

1. 15 Free Online Collaboration Tools and Apps
2. 20 Social Networks for Lifelong Learners
3. Getting a First-Rate Business Education Online – Free
4. 15 Online Resources for Book Lovers
5. 15 Language Learning Tools for Lifelong Learners

GMO Poisons Found in Indiana Waterways

GMO Poisons Found in Indiana Waterways:

Posted By Dr. Mercola | October 20 2010 | 3,338 views

Previous Article

The Indiana Business Journal reports that proteins from genetically modified crops are showing up in Indiana waterways.

According to the Journal, the University of Notre Dame and Loyola University looked at 217 streams, drains and ditches near Indiana cornfields and found genetically modified (GM) bug-killing protein in 50 of them.

The protein is in genetically modified corn and other crops that are engineered to produce their own pesticide when insects bite them. But when farmers mow the fields, the residue remains from the crushed plants – and it's finding its way to the waterways.

"The protein is carried to surface water by runoff and by the leaves and stalks that sometimes wash into streams," the Journal said. "And the protein lingers. The study was conducted six months after harvest."

The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says it is not known whether the trace levels of the protein are a threat to invertebrates in the water.

But either way – it's still poison, and it's a poison that was in 85 percent of the U.S. corn crop last year.

Sources:

Indianapolis Business Journal September 29, 2010

USAToday.com September 28, 2010

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences September 27, 2010

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Eighty-five percent of U.S. corn crops last year contained a special gene added that allows them to produce an insecticide. This way, when bugs attempt to eat the corn they're killed right away (specifically their stomach is split open) because the plant contains an invisible, built-in pesticide shield.

The particular gene added to most corn crops is a type of Bt-toxin --- produced from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria. Genetic engineers remove the gene that produces the Bt in bacteria and insert it into the DNA of corn (and cotton) plants.

They claim that Bt-toxin is quickly destroyed in human stomachs -- and even if it survived, it won't cause reactions in humans or mammals …

But animal studies have already shown that this is not the case, that Bt-toxin does cause health effects in animals, including potentially humans. And now this theory is about to be further tested because the GM toxin is showing up in waterways, where it has the potential to devastate aquatic life and continue to spread, uncontrolled and unrestricted, across the entire United States and world.

GM Insecticide Poisons Widespread in Waterways

Fifty of the 217 streams, ditches and drains near cornfields that researchers tested were found to contain Cry1Ab, a specific type of Bt-toxin, above six nanograms per liter.

The protein is getting into the waterways via corn stalks, leaves, husks and cobs that blow into the water -- a phenomenon that's incredibly common since farmers often leave such material in fields to help minimize soil erosion.

Eighty-six percent of the streams researchers tested contained various corn material with the potential to transmit Bt-toxin into the water. Further, because the study was conducted six months after crops were harvested, it indicates that the GM protein lingers in the environment.

The Research on Bt Toxin is Very Clear …

… And this is not a substance you want in your food or waterways. Jeffrey Smith, a leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods, has written extensively about Bt toxin, and explains firsthand what the research shows:

"Mice fed natural Bt-toxin showed significant immune responses and caused them to become sensitive to other formerly harmless compounds. This suggests that Bt-toxin might make a person allergic to a wide range of substances.

Farm workers and others have also had reactions to natural Bt-toxin, and authorities acknowledge that "People with compromised immune systems or preexisting allergies may be particularly susceptible to the effects of Bt."

In fact, when natural Bt was sprayed over areas around Vancouver and Washington State to fight gypsy moths, about 500 people reported reactions—mostly allergy or flu-like symptoms. Six people had to go to the emergency room."

A Pesticide Factory in Your Gut?

Notice that the studies above refer to a "natural" form of Bt-toxin, which is sometimes used by organic farmers, in spray form, as a method of natural insect control. This natural Bt has clearly been shown to cause problems, but it appears the GM variety is even worse. Smith explains:

"The Bt-toxin produced in the GM plants is probably more dangerous than in its natural spray form. In the plants, the toxin is about 3,000-5,000 times more concentrated than the spray, it doesn't wash off the plants like the spray does, and it is designed to be more toxic than the natural version.

In fact, the GM toxin has properties of known allergens and fails all three GM allergy tests recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and others."

For instance, Cry1Ab shares a sequence of 9-12 amino acids with vitellogenin, an egg yolk allergen. This means it could cause allergic reactions in people with egg allergies, but the link was never further investigated.

The toxin can also be inhaled from breathing pollen from GM plants, and a UK government committee warned it could then transfer the Bt-toxin DNA into your respiratory system. As Smith states:

"Although no studies were done to verify this risk, years later UK scientists confirmed that after consuming GM soybeans, the foreign inserted genes transferred from the soy into the DNA of human gut bacteria.

If Bt genes from GM corn chips, for example, also transfer, it might convert our intestinal flora into living pesticide factories—continually producing Bt-toxin inside of us."

October is Non-GMO Month!

The Bt-toxin is already contaminating waterways, and it's only a matter of time before this and other GM poisons completely overtake our food supply. So the time to take action to get these toxic compounds out of the food supply and out of the environment is now!

And what better time to get involved than during Non-GMO Month, which is taking place right now.

Together we CAN get GMOs (genetically modified organisms) banned from the United States. Europe was able to do it over a decade ago without any government assistance. All they did was educate the consumers, and that was enough pressure on the food industry to drop their ploys.

If we band together as an effective army we will be able to do this. Please understand that the VAST majority of people in the US do not want GM foods, so this is an EASY battle to win. All we have to do is a bit of organizational work.

How many Americans do we need to convince to avoid eating genetically modified foods to achieve the same victory in the US?

We believe it's only about FIVE PERCENT of US shoppers!

So, changing the shopping habits of about 5.6 million households may be sufficient to eliminate GMOs in the US.

That is our goal!

We already have these numbers on our side. About 28 million Americans buy organic on a regular basis. Eighty-seven million Americans think GMOs are seriously unsafe. A hundred and fifty-nine million Americans, the majority, say they would avoid GMOs if labeled!

Unfortunately, no labeling is required, making your commitment to avoid GM foods all that more complicated. But that's where we come in.

How You Can Help Others to Avoid GMO Foods

Most people want to avoid GMO foods but it is virtually impossible to do so, since the government prevents GMO labeling.

However, Jeffery Smith has compiled a resource for you to avoid the government block of information. It is the free Non-GMO Shopping Guide. We realize that with the challenging economy it is very difficult for many to donate money to help this cause, so we are merely asking for your time and connections with your family and friends.

You can really help by making this message go viral. So if you are convinced that GMO foods should not be in the US, please send this information to everyone you know; post it on Facebook and Twitter…

You can also print out Non-GMO Shopping Guide, and give it to your friends and family.

If you feel more ambitious you can also order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk, and bring them to the grocery stores in your area. Talk to the owner or manager and get permission to post them in their store.

Who Will You Share this Information With?

You can help nurture this consumer mindset by bringing information to your local natural food store owner, so that she can share it will all of her customers as well. IRT has created a complete Retailer Campaign Kit for this purpose.

You can also share information with your child's school, your health care providers, and food manufacturers. The IRT has created information kits for all of them, available here:

• Heath care provider kit
• Parents and Schools educational material
• Manufacturers information kit

Please remember to share this with your friends and family, but do so lovingly. You don't want to make yourself a pest and risk your relationship with them. But believe me, this is a MUCH easier sell than getting them to stop smoking or eating less sugar since most do not want GMOs anyway, and it doesn't involve giving anything up.

You may even want to share this information with your church or religious leaders. As Jeffrey says:

"There are certain religious groups that think the genetic engineering process itself violates God's laws. So 'GMO' for them really means, 'God Move Over' and not 'Genetically Modified Organism.'"

Must-See Movies to Share!

The IRT has created a film called Hidden Dangers in Kid's Meals, which is a powerful way for parents to get an initiation into the health dangers. It's only 28 minutes long, which is ideal for local access TV.

You can simply bring the film to your local access TV station, and sometimes they'll play it 10, 20, or even 30 times because they're always looking for material and are open to support from the community.

There's also a video called Your Milk on Drugs - Just Say No!, which exposes the dangers of GM bovine growth hormones. Any parent still feeding their child milk from cows injected with rBGH needs to see this

film! They'll never make the same mistake again…

Another powerful video you can share with your friends and family is Jeffrey's Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods lecture.

Your Action Plan

I've already mentioned a number of different ways for you to get actively involved during Non-GMO Month. To recap, and add a few more suggestions, here is a list of Action Item for you to pick and choose from:

1. Distribute WIDELY the Non-GMO Shopping Guide to help you identify and avoid foods with GMOs. Look for products (including organic products) that feature the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal to be sure that at-risk ingredients have been tested for GMO content.
2. Download the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure and keep it with you whenever you shop, or download the free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.
   
   

   You can also order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk and give it to your family and friends.

3. Urge food manufacturers to join the Non-GMO Project and become Non-GMO Project Verified. This is currently the only way for manufacturers to get around the fact that there's no GM-labeling system.
4. Urge your local food retailers to join the Non-GMO Project's Supporting Retailer Program.
5. If your budget allows support this urgent mission by generously donating to the Institute of Responsible Technology.
6. Bring the film Hidden Dangers in Kid's Meals to your local access TV station, or perhaps your child's school, along with some educational material specifically designed for teachers and educators.
7. Share Your Milk on Drugs - Just Say No!, and Jeffrey's lecture, Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods with everyone you know. Post them to your Facebook page, or email the links to your network of friends and family.
8. Join the Non-GMO Project on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

Together, We Control the Future of Our Food

Please join us in this important campaign. Do as much or as little as you can. Maybe you can't make a donation to IRT, but you can distribute 20 Non-GMO shopping guides to your closest family and friends.

Plus, all orders placed through Mercola.com, starting October 6th, will receive a FREE, printed 16-page Non-GMO Shopping Guide.*

No purchase necessary. You may also download the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, for free, here.

Please, support this urgent mission by donating to the Institute of Responsible Technology, a non-profit organization.

Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can reach the tipping point and push GMOs out of our food supply.

Related Links:

Why Did Officials Approve this Toxic Corn Chip that Creates a ‘Pesticide Factory’ in Your Gut?

The Health Hazards of GM Corn

Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food

Manganese Affects Children’s Intelligence

Manganese Affects Children’s Intelligence: "Warning: Please Avoid Feeding This to Your Child
Posted By Dr. Mercola | October 18 2010 |
According to a report in Science Daily, a new Canadian study shows that children exposed to high concentrations of manganese in drinking water performed worse on tests of intellectual functioning than children with lower exposures.

The results were published in an article in Environmental Health Perspectives.

While manganese is naturally occurring in soil and groundwater around the world, some of Canada's groundwater contains an unusually high amount of it, giving the researchers an opportunity to study whether excessive manganese can adversely affect human health.

"We found significant deficits in the intelligence quotient (IQ) of children exposed to higher concentration of manganese in drinking water," said lead author Maryse Bouchard.

Yet, some areas where lower IQs were reported also registered concentrations below current guidelines. In response to the study, some of the affected municipalities have already decided to install special filtration systems.

Sources:

Science Daily September 23, 2010

Environmental Health Perspectives September 7, 2010; [Epub ahead of print]

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

You probably know that manganese is an essential nutrient, but were you aware that when consumed in excess, manganese becomes a potent neurotoxin?

Studies on miners and steelworkers, for example, have shown that excessive exposure to manganese can cause manganese poisoning, Parkinson's disease, and Wilson's disease, for example.

Manganese occurs naturally in soil and can therefore be present in groundwater to a greater or lesser degree. Hence some people who drink well water could be exposed to higher naturally-occurring levels of manganese.

But there is another source of manganese that many people are completely unaware of, which may be even more significant than groundwater, and that is soy infant formula!

Soy formula is frequently used when a baby is allergic to milk, or if the parents are somehow convinced that soy is a healthier alternative. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth, because soy formula could easily be considered one of the most DANGEROUS food products on the market…

I always recommend breast feeding, if at all possible, but if you can't, please educate yourself about the dangers of soy formula!

This is such an important issue because so many mothers end up using formula in lieu of breast feeding or after breast feeding for a short time, not realizing just how bad most formulas are for their baby's health, particularly soy formula.

I've been concerned about this for a long time, and my team has now been working on an infant formula for an entire year. We still have about another year to go, but once we're done we should be able to offer the best commercial infant formula available in the US.

Soy Infant Formula is LOADED with Manganese!

Yes, researchers have found that soybean plants absorb manganese from the soil and concentrate it, so that its use in soy-based infant formula can result in as much as 200 times the level found in natural breast milk!

Such high concentrations can wreak havoc on your baby's immature metabolic systems.

I rarely talk about absolutes but this is one instant where I will say: NEVER give your child soy formula. (I guess the only exception would be if there was a catastrophe and soy formula was the only food source temporarily available to keep your baby alive.)

Because just like this latest study confirms, high concentrations of manganese, such as those found in soy formula, can lead to brain damage in infants and altered behaviors in adolescents.

In the study reported by Science Daily, researchers discovered that higher concentrations of manganese in groundwater significantly lowered the IQ of the children who drank it, even though the levels were below current guidelines.

A total of 362 children, aged six to 13, living in homes with individual or public wells were examined to test cognition, motor skills and behavior.

Science Daily reports:

"The average IQ of children whose tap water was in the upper 20% of manganese concentration was 6 points below children whose water contained little or no manganese.

The analyses of the association between manganese in tap water and children's IQ took into account various factors such as family income, maternal intelligence, maternal education, and the presence of other metals in the water.

… For co-author Donna Mergler, "This is a very marked effect; few environmental contaminants have shown such a strong correlation with intellectual ability."

The authors state that the amount of manganese present in food showed no relationship to the children's IQ."

For Maximum Health Hazard, Just Add Fluoridated Water...

As if that wasn't bad enough, there are a number of other factors that make soy formula an even more dangerous option.

One of these factors is the fact that fluoride can increase manganese absorption, so if you mix the powdered- or concentrated soy formula with fluoridated water, you're worsening matters even further!

Fluoride and manganese interact in a number of ways through various pathways.

For example, fluorides can cause zinc deficiency which in turn can cause damage to your brain by altering your manganese levels.

This is because fluorides act as a TSH (thyroid-stimulating-hormone) analogue, and along with iodine, zinc and selenium are also controlled by TSH. And when you're deficient in zinc, the manganese levels in your brain become altered.

Other Health Dangers of Soy Formula

Another significant issue is the estrogen in soy.

A soy-fed baby receives the equivalent of five birth control pills' worth of estrogen every day! These babies' isoflavone levels are typically anywhere between 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than in non-soy fed infants.

Unfermented soy is not a healthy option for anyone, but when you're feeding soy to an infant, you're really setting the stage for a number of health problems.

Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.

For more information about the many ways soy can damage your health – and certainly your baby's, if you're feeding them soy formula – please review this recent report.

It's also worth noting that at least 91 percent of soy grown in the US is also genetically modified (GM), and this too can have serious health effects.

Not only is the soy loaded with toxic pesticide, the plants also contain genes from bacteria that produce a protein that has never been part of the human food supply. Hence, GM soy has been linked to an increase in allergies.

Disturbingly, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that the gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of our gut bacteria and continues to function. This means that years after you stop eating GM soy, you may still have a potentially allergenic protein continuously being produced in your intestines.

Even more frightening is the potential for GM soy to cause infertility in future generations, which has been evidenced by recent Russian research.

Soy-based formula also typically includes cornstarch, cornstarch hydrolysate (remember, any corn derivatives are also suspect of being GM), tapioca starch, or sucrose instead of lactose.

(Did you know that many infant formulas actually have MORE sugar than a can of soda? Do you really feel comfortable giving your precious newborn a can of soda for EVERY meal? If not, then it would sure seem best to avoid them ALL like the plague.)

All these things considered, it's truly shocking that soy formula is even allowed on the market.

The Benefits of Breast Feeding, and Healthier Alternatives

One of the best gifts you can give your child is to start out their life with a sound nutritional foundation, and the best way to do this is by breastfeeding. In fact, statistics show a clear correlation between feeding infants artificial formula and increased infant mortality within the first year.

It's important to realize that there are at least 400 nutrients in breast milk that are NOT found in formula. Of course, the healthier that a new mom eats, the healthier her breast milk will be, too.

While any amount of breastfeeding is better than none at all, it is clearly to your advantage, and best for your baby's health, to breastfeed exclusively for at least the first 6 months. Then, at the age of 6 or 9 months, you can begin to supplement with solid foods (while still continuing to breastfeed as well).

What exactly does your baby stand to gain by being breastfed?

• Lower risk of respiratory tract and middle ear infections
• Lower risk of eczema
• Lower risk of obesity
• Added protection against heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and allergies
• Improved brain function and immune system function

There are benefits to mom, too. The main ones are a reduced risk of chronic diseases like cancer, a faster return to your pre-pregnancy weight, and increased bonding between you and your baby.

There are certain medical conditions that can prevent a woman from breastfeeding, however the majority of women are able to breastfeed successfully. If you need help, contact a lactation consultant in your area for tips and support. You can also visit La Leche League, which is a phenomenal resource for breastfeeding moms.

If for some reason you're not able to breastfeed, or you have adopted a baby, your next best option is to make a healthy infant formula using raw milk. You can find homemade formula recipes here.

As I stated at the beginning of this article, we're also in the process of producing the finest infant formula on the market. I'm hoping to have it available in about a year.

How Can You Protect Your Child from Excessive Manganese Exposure?

First and foremost, do not give your child soy formula or other unfermented soy foods.

As for manganese in your well water, your best bet is to use a high quality filtering system using activated carbon. A well designed activated carbon filter system is the simplest, most convenient, and most user friendly option to purify your drinking water.

A good system will likely consist of multiple filter cartridges; one to protect the carbon from larger contaminants in the water, and another containing carbon designed to remove trihalomethanes – a dangerous disinfection byproduct. Some systems also contain a backup carbon filter to ensure that all contaminants have been filtered out.

For more information about filtering systems and water quality, please see this previous article.

Related Links:

Finally Infant Soy Formula Under Investigation

Experts Dispute JAMA Soy Infant Formula Study

Healthy Alternative to Conventional Infant Formula

Cancer 'is purely man-made' say scientists after finding almost no trace of disease in Egyptian mummies...:
By Fiona Macrae
Last updated at 10:21 AM on 15th October 2010

Cancer 'is purely man-made' say scientists after finding almost no trace of disease in Egyptian mummies

By Fiona Macrae
Last updated at 10:21 AM on 15th October 2010

Cancer is a man-made disease fuelled by the excesses of modern life, a study of ancient remains has found.

Tumours were rare until recent times when pollution and poor diet became issues, the review of mummies, fossils and classical literature found.
A greater understanding of its origins could lead to treatments for the disease, which claims more than 150,000 lives a year in the UK.

Scientists found no signs of cancer in their extensive study of mummies apart from one isolated case

Michael Zimmerman, a visiting professor at Manchester University, said: 'In an ancient society lacking surgical intervention, evidence of cancer should remain in all cases.
'The virtual absence of malignancies in mummies must be interpreted as indicating their rarity in antiquity, indicating that cancer-causing factors are limited to societies affected by modern industrialisation.'
To trace cancer's roots, Professor Zimmerman and colleague Rosalie David analysed possible references to the disease in classical literature and scrutinised signs in the fossil record and in mummified bodies.
Despite slivers of tissue from hundreds of Egyptian mummies being rehydrated and placed under the microscope, only one case of cancer has been confirmed.
This is despite experiments showing that tumours should be even better preserved by mummification than healthy tissues.
Dismissing the argument that the ancient Egyptians didn't live long enough to develop cancer, the researchers pointed out that other age-related disease such as hardening of the arteries and brittle bones died occur.
Fossil evidence of cancer is also sparse, with scientific literature providing a few dozen, mostly disputed, examples in animal fossil, the journal Nature Reviews Cancer reports.
Even the study of thousands of Neanderthal bones has provided only one example of a possible cancer.

Caricaturist James Gillray illustrated the taking of snuff, which appears in first reports in scientific literature of distinctive tumours of nasal cancer in snuff users in 1761

Evidence of cancer in ancient Egyptian texts is also 'tenuous' with cancer-like problems more likely to have been caused by leprosy or even varicose veins.
The ancient Greeks were probably the first to define cancer as a specific disease and to distinguish between benign and malignant tumours.
But Manchester professors said it was unclear if this signalled a real rise in the disease, or just a greater medical knowledge.
The 17th century provides the first descriptions of operations for breast and other cancers.
And the first reports in scientific literature of distinctive tumours only occurred in the past 200 years or so, including scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps in 1775 and nasal cancer in snuff users in 1761.
Professor David, who presented the findings to Professor Mike Richards, the UK's cancer tsar and other oncologists at a conference earlier this year, said: 'In industrialised societies, cancer is second only to cardiovascular disease as a cause of death. But in ancient times, it was extremely rare.
'There is nothing in the natural environment that can cause cancer. So it has to be a man-made disease, down to pollution and changes to our diet and lifestyle.
'The important thing about our study is that it gives a historical perspective to this disease. We can make very clear statements on the cancer rates in societies because we have a full overview. We have looked at millennia, not one hundred years, and have masses of data.
'Yet again extensive ancient Egyptian data, along with other data from across the millennia, has given modern society a clear message – cancer is man-made and something that we can and should address.
Dr Rachel Thompson, of World Cancer Research Fund, said: 'This research makes for very interesting reading.

'About one in three people in the UK will get cancer so it is fairly commonplace in the modern world.

Scientists now say a healthy diet, regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight can prevent about a third of the most common cancers so perhaps our ancestors’ lifestyle reduced their risk from cancer.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1320507/Cancer-purely-man-say-scientists-finding-trace-disease-Egyptian-mummies.html#ixzz12R9AXXyb
Nature Reviews Cancer 10, 728-733 (October 2010) | doi:10.1038/nrc2914
Cancer: an old disease, a new disease or something in between?
A. Rosalie David & Michael R. Zimmerman

26 Sitting Lawmakers Corrupting the Halls of Congress

26 Sitting Lawmakers Corrupting the Halls of Congress:
Melanie Sloan
Executive Director, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Posted: October 13, 2010 10:56 AM

Corrupt lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are polluting the United States Capitol. These members highlight the need for increased oversight by the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), as well as the need for a similar independent ethics watchdog in the Senate. Today my organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released The Most Corrupt Members of Congress: Unfinished Business, which highlights the need for active ethics enforcement in Congress. The report shows that ethical lapses are the only true bipartisan activity in Washington today.

Since the release of CREW's first Most Corrupt report in 2005, more than half of the hucksters we've highlighted have left office. Tom DeLay (R-TX) resigned in disgrace, William Jefferson (D-LA) was found guilty on 11 counts of corruption and was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison (although he is currently free pending his appeal). At least Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) went to jail; he is slated to remain behind bars until June of 2013. That's a pretty good batting average, but not good enough. 26 shady politicians remain, most of whom have never been investigated by the congressional ethics committees.

There is no better way to make the case for increased ethics enforcement, than by highlighting the deplorable conduct of lawmakers who belong to an institution that that refuses to police itself. Their actions run the gamut from bribery, to using their office for personal gain, to solicitation of prostitution. Sadly, many of these members of Congress will never have to answer for their misdeeds.

As it stands now, the OCE has no subpoena power and a very limited time frame to investigate any allegations of wrongdoing. What's more is that it can only look at misconduct that has occurred since March 2008. In spite of being forced to fight with one hand tied behind its back, the OCE has referred 13 cases to the House Ethics Committee for review, though the committee has taken action against only two. Even that limited success has brought the OCE powerful enemies, prompting members of both parties to openly talk of stripping away the OCE's authority -- or even dismantling the office altogether -- in the 112th Congress. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH) has proposed legislation that would eviscerate the OCE, and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has said he wants to "take a look" at its usefulness.

Meanwhile, the Senate has nothing comparable to the OCE, but clearly needs one. The Senate Ethics Committee has allowed Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to skate for years, barely commented when former Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) tried to push a U.S. Attorney to conduct a criminal investigation for political purposes, and blamed itself when Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) received preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial. Further, it has yet to utter a peep in response to Sen. John Ensign's (R-NV) thoroughly reprehensible and despicable conduct.

It's clear that the House and the Senate have both done a dismal job of policing the conduct of their members. While Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) are scheduled to face ethics hearings for their actions next month, there may not be any future ethics enforcement if OCE is kneecapped, or worse, eliminated.

Ethics isn't about Republican or Democrat; it's about right and wrong. Both houses of Congress and both political parties have a less-than-stellar record on this issue. The American people deserve a Congress free of ethically challenged people. The best way to make that happen is to ensure there are strong, independent ethics offices keeping an eye on our supposedly "honourable" elected officials.

Follow Melanie Sloan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CREWcrew

Green vegetable "starves" out cancer

Green vegetable "starves" out cancer
By Dr. Allan Spreen on 10/12/2010

If you're a breast cancer survivor, make sure you eat watercress as often as you can. It may just protect you against the cancer ever making a comeback. In fact, according to a new study, this tart leafy green starves out breast cancer cells and interferes with a major cancer pathway.

Leafy green superfood protects DNA

Watercress is a delicate leafy green that grows in spring water. It looks a lot like lettuce, but it actually belongs to the cabbage family. It's plentiful in iron, calcium, vitamin A and C and for thousands of years people have eaten it to stay healthy.

In fact, ancient Persians, Greeks, and Romans enjoyed watercress with their meals. I've even read that Hippocrates -- the father of medicine -- built his first hospital next to a spring so that he'd have easy access to fresh watercress.

A few years back, scientists found that watercress has a lot of anti-cancer potential. In fact, in one study, men and women who ate a serving of watercress each day for eight weeks increased antioxidant levels in their blood. This is important because antioxidants remove cancer-causing free radicals from the body.

Plus, these folks decreased the DNA damage to their white blood cells by almost 25 percent. And why is that significant? Well, according to Professor Ian Rowland, the study's lead researcher, "Blood cell DNA damage is an indicator of whole body cancer risk." So, the more DNA damage there is to your white blood cells, the higher your cancer risk. But eating watercress seems to lower your overall risk.

And, apparently, this is especially beneficial for women...

Watercress "shuts down" breast cancer delivery system

The latest study looked specifically at how breast cancer cells respond to watercress.

As you probably know, breast cancer tumors (like most malignant tumors) survive on nutrients delivered by your blood vessels. And as the tumor grows bigger, it needs access to more and more blood vessels.

To solve this dilemma, the tumor sends a signal for your body to release a protein called HIF. This protein tells normal tissue to redirect their blood vessels into the hungry tumor. As a result, the tumor grows and spreads with nutrients delivered by the "stolen" blood vessels.

But there's a plant compound proven to block the release of HIF and put a stop to all the frantic blood vessel growth...and that plant compound is found in abundance in watercress!

Breast cancer survivors load up on watercress

For the study, UK scientists recruited a small group of breast cancer survivors. The women agreed to eat 80 grams of watercress (a cereal bowl full) and then give blood samples over a period of 24 hours.

The research team discovered two things by analyzing the participants' blood samples. First, remember that helpful plant compound that blocks new blood vessel group? Well, after eating watercress, the women had lots of that compound in their blood.

And that's not all...

Remember that harmful protein -- called HIF -- that signals the body to send healthy blood vessels into malignant tumors? Well, the scientists found that HIF levels significantly dropped after the women ate the watercress. This means that any tumors trying to regain toe-hold in the body had another thing comin' after the women ate watercress.

So, without a doubt, if you're a breast cancer survivor, make watercress a part of your weekly (if not daily) regimen. I hear that in Britain that's their favorite type of green vegetable.

Look for it in the refrigerated aisle of the produce section, near the lettuce. It's got a small, delicate leaf that almost looks like a flower. Put it on sandwiches. Use it in salads. Or add it to soups, quiches, omelets, sauces and dips. You can find tons of recipes on www.watercress.com.