D for Diabetes

Over the past five years or so, researchers have established tentative links between vitamin D deficiency and metabolic syndrome (aka syndrome X), a condition characterized by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, and high levels of either blood sugar or insulin. People with metabolic syndrome have an elevated risk for type-2 diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease, as well as other health problems.

Now a study from Spain provides new evidence that the two are closely associated. It looked at a group of morbidly obese individuals and found that 63 percent of them had metabolic syndrome. A little more than half of the group also had too little vitamin D in their bodies.

More significantly, however, roughly 61 percent of those with metabolic syndrome were vitamin D deficient, leading the researchers to say they were closely linked–at least in morbidly obese individuals.

The Spanish study was strictly observational, so it makes no claims about the value of vitamin D supplementation. It does, however, add yet another reason to make sure you either get enough sun time or take a daily dose of vitamin D3.

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Olive Oil for Flavor and Health

We’ve been hearing about the health benefits of olive oil for years now, but you might be very surprised to learn about some of its less publicized perks. Like leaner body weight—wow! In this segment of Healthy Eating with the Gallands, read about olive oil’s amazing potential and learn which olive oil has extra health-giving properties.

A Star of Global Cuisine
One of the first crops cultivated in the world, the olive produces excellent oil that has been treasured since antiquity for its rich flavor and versatile uses. In recent years, olive oil has become increasingly popular in global cuisine. New research has focused a considerable amount of attention on the significant health benefits of extra virgin olive oil.

Olive oil may help decrease the risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s disease. A study from Spain has shown that higher olive oil consumption was associated with leaner body weight. This demonstrates the importance of including the right types of healthy fats in an effective weight loss program, and why we use extra virgin olive oil in many recipes in our book The
Fat Resistance Diet.

Exciting Potential Benefits

Research indicates the health benefits of olive oil can be traced to two main factors:

1. Oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid, which is highly concentrated in olive oil. Consumption of oleic acid may be associated with:

Reduction of total cholesterol and an increase in the high-density cholesterol (HDL-C), which has a protective effect on blood vessels.
Improved sensitivity of cells to insulin, which helps to prevent diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
Decreased risk of heart disease.
Decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Decreased risk of breast cancer.
2. Phenolic compounds, which are potent antioxidants found in virgin and extra virgin olive oil. These compounds give unrefined olive oils their distinctive flavors and high degree of stability. Studies indicate these compounds may help to:

Turn off the activity of genes that produce the kind of inflammation that causes coronary heart disease.
Decrease production of inflammatory chemicals.
Decrease the production of the most damaging form of cholesterol, oxidized LDL cholesterol.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Recent research has identified the antioxidant called oleocanthal, which is only found in extra-virgin olive oil. Oleocanthal is a natural inflammation-fighting compound with potency strikingly similar to that of the drug ibuprofen in inhibiting an enzyme that causes pain and inflammation.

A Delicious Oil for Kitchen and Table
The amount of olive oil associated with protection against inflammation is only two teaspoons a day, which is easy to achieve. We prefer to buy organic olive oil, because pesticides can accumulate in oils. A sprinkle of olive oil makes a simple salad dressing, and a little oil can be used for dipping bread, instead of butter. For free recipes that show you how to use olive oil, and a free one day meal plan visit

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Working With Your Inner Healer - How-To Exercise

Meeting your own Inner Healer can be a very powerful exercise leading to deep healing on both physical and/or emotional levels. The exercise is an invaluable tool for you to have at your fingertips for help in time of need and even emergency.

Print out this method of meeting and working with your Inner Healer, to use next time you get sick!

1. Get in a comfortable position and breathe in a relaxed fashion.

2. Engage whatever techniques work for you to help you fully relax, including
listening to specific music, if that will help.

3. Visualize yourself in a beautiful meadow, or temple. Imagine everything about the
meadow, or temple, including the smells in the air, the temperature, and the sounds.

4. You are going to find your Inner Healer behind you. It may be an animal, a person, a being.

5. Turn around and meet your Inner Healer. Bask in the profound relationship between the two of you.

6. Ask the Inner Healer to heal you from whatever ailment drew you to this exercise to begin with.

7. Allow your Inner Healer to give you a healing.

8. Once the healing is complete, thank the Inner Healer for helping you

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How Does Crystal Healing Work?

According to crystal researcher Marcel Vogel, a senior scientist with IBM for 27 years, “The crystal is a neutral object whose inner structure exhibits a state of perfection and balance. … Like a laser, it radiates energy in a coherent, highly concentrated form, and this energy may be transmitted into objects or people at will. … With proper training, a healer using a crystal can release negative thoughtforms which have taken shape as disease patterns.”

The quartz crystal can have other energetic abilities besides merely focusing the subtle energies of the healer.

When healing energy is focused through the quartz crystal, it is sent into the body of the patient and distributed to the areas most in need of an energy balancing. There is an almost innate intelligence to this focused energy as it is always directed at the body regions where it is needed.

The quartz crystal may be held in the hand while touching the patient, and the healing energies sent through the palm chakra. As the energies pass through the crystal, they are both amplified and directed to the part of the subtle anatomy which requires energetic reorganization and healing. Although there is a natural tendency for the crystal to distribute the energies properly, it is still wise to place the crystal over the part of the body which is painful or most affected by illness.

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Make Your Own Mouthwash

These delightful mouthwashes will help to eliminate bad breath and promote overall mouth and gum health.

LEMON SAGE BRANDY

This takes about 15 minutes to prepare, and two weeks to infuse. The infused brandy will keep indefinitely, in a glass jar with a screw top.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup brandy infused with sage, thyme, and myrrh powder
1 cup distilled water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. To make the infusion, place 1 teaspoon each dried sage, thyme, and myrrh powder in one cup brandy. Cover tightly and let set for 2 weeks.

2. Strain, add the water, and shake to blend.

3. Pour a few tablespoons into a glass, and add the lemon juice. Swirl to blend, swish around the mouth, and spit.

Makes 2 cups.

BASIC ALCOHOL FREE HERBAL MOUTHWASH FORMULA

Make this strong antibacterial infusion using antiseptic plant materials such as cloves, rosemary, and myrrh to keep your breath fresh and your mouth healthy. Infuse the herbs overnight and it’s ready to use by morning.

INGREDIENTS

1 ounce cloves or powdered myrrh OR 2 to 4 ounces goldenseal or rosemary
2 cups boiling water

1. Place the plant materials in a pint mason jar and cover with the boiling water.

2. Let steep overnight, then strain.

3. Swish around in the mouth and then spit out.



D for Diabetes




Over the past five years or so, researchers have established tentative links between vitamin D deficiency and metabolic syndrome (aka syndrome X), a condition characterized by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, and high levels of either blood sugar or insulin. People with metabolic syndrome have an elevated risk for type-2 diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease, as well as other health problems.

Now a study from Spain provides new evidence that the two are closely associated. It looked at a group of morbidly obese individuals and found that 63 percent of them had metabolic syndrome. A little more than half of the group also had too little vitamin D in their bodies.

More significantly, however, roughly 61 percent of those with metabolic syndrome were vitamin D deficient, leading the researchers to say they were closely linked–at least in morbidly obese individuals.

The Spanish study was strictly observational, so it makes no claims about the value of vitamin D supplementation. It does, however, add yet another reason to make sure you either get enough sun time or take a daily dose of vitamin D3.

Read more...

SKorea to end ban on revealing sex of babies

South Korea's Constitutional Court overturned a ban on doctors telling parents the gender of unborn babies, saying Thursday the country has grown out of a preference for sons and that the restriction violates parents' right to know.
South Korea introduced the ban in 1987 to try to prevent abortions of female fetuses in a country that had traditionally favored sons in the widespread Confucian belief that males carry on family lines. Abortion has also been illegal but practiced widely.
On Thursday, the Constitutional Court said it was too restrictive to ban doctors from telling parents the gender of the unborn for the entire pregnancy because there was little chance of aborting fetuses older than six months due to risks for mothers.
"The legislation's purpose is recognized in that it helps resolve the sex-ratio imbalance and protects the fetuses' right to life," the court said in the ruling. "But it overly limits the basic rights of parents and physicians by placing a blanket ban through the latter half of pregnancy."
It also said the preference for sons has lessened to a point where the ratio of newly born boys and girls in the country has almost reached the natural level of 100 girls to 106 boys.
"Considering this, we cannot but question whether the sex-ratio imbalance is a serious social problem and whether the fetus gender notification is serving as a cause for abortion," it said.
The court ordered the law be revised to reflect the ruling by the end of next year, and said the current ban will stand until the revision. Rulings by the Constitutional Court cannot be appealed.
Judge Kim Bok-ki, who serves as the court's spokesman, said the ruling means the law should allow doctors to let parents know their babies' gender in the latter half of pregnancies.
The Korean Medical Association, the country's largest doctors' association, welcomed the ruling.
"It is natural for doctors to give patients information collected during diagnosis," the association said in a statement.
The court case began in late 2004 when a lawyer filed a petition after doctors refused to tell him the gender of his unborn baby. The following year, a doctor filed a similar suit after he was suspended for half a year for violating the ban.
A violation of the current ban is punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of $9,830.
The ban has been enforced relatively strictly at large hospitals, but not at neighborhood clinics that offered gender information in various ways, including telling parents whether the baby is "cute" or "energetic" — allusions to girls or boys.

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SKorea court rules parents may know baby's sex

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea's top court ruled Thursday that parents have the right to know the sex of their unborn babies, sparking concerns the decision might result in more sex-selection abortions.
The Constitutional Court overturned a law that prohibited doctors from informing parents of the sex of the foetus, which it said was "out of step with social changes" and in breach of the rights of medical workers.
South Korea introduced the law in 1987 in order to help prevent abortions to select the sex of the child, which had led to an alarming demographic imbalance in favour of sons over daughters.
Two petitions were filed with the court challenging the law, including one by a doctor who was suspended for six months after informing parents of the sex of their foetus.
"I am concerned that the court's decision could bring sex-selection abortions back into fashion," said Koo Young-Moo, a professor of medical ethics at Ulsan University.
The country has curbed the trend of aborting females, in part with an awareness campaign called "Love Your Daughter." But Koo said this was also partly due to other wider social changes.
"Many married couples choose to have only one baby, regardless of the baby's sex, or none at all," he said.

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Information on higher education should be easily available to Dalit students

MADURAI: Education has been a distant dream for many a Dalit child whose everyday life is a struggle and the government should make it compulsory under the law that every child gets good education, said Lourdunathan, professor, Government Arts College, Melur.
Addressing a ‘training and consultative’ meeting for Dalit teachers here at the De Nobili centre by Network for Dalit Empowerment, Tamil Nadu on Sunday, he said that necessary information about the higher education should be easily available to Dalit students.
Speaking on the topic ‘Education and Dalit Women,’ Diana Christie, lecturer, Lady Doak College said that measures should be taken to make sure that Dalit women, who were the most marginalised, get education till the university level without dropping out. Stating that education was the only panacea for the problems of Dalits, she said that getting better education and employment would not alienate Dalit students from the rest of the society as it would help them cope with changing conditions in these times of globalisation.
About 150 teachers from southern districts attended the meeting, which was chaired by M. Edward Arockiadass, organiser, Network for Dalit Empowerment, Tamil Nadu.
The resolutions passed at the meeting included free education to all students till Tenth Standard for which the State government should provide assistance and an amendment brought in the Constitution and opportunities created in such a way that Dalits themselves conducted special category schemes for their upliftment.

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Education is the only panacea for problems being faced by Dalits

MADURAI: Education had been a distant dream for many a Dalit child whose everyday life is a struggle and the government should make it compulsory under the law that every child gets good education, said Lourdunathan, professor, Government Arts College, Melur.
Addressing a ‘training and consultative’ meeting for Dalit teachers here at the De Nobili centre by Network for Dalit Empowerment, Tamil Nadu on Sunday, he said that necessary information about higher education must be made easily available for Dalit students.
Speaking on the topic ‘Education and Dalit Women,’ Diana Christie, lecturer, Lady Doak College said that measures should be taken to make sure that Dalit women, who were the most marginalised, get education till the university level without dropping out. Stating that education was the only panacea for the problems being faced by the Dalits, she said that getting better education and employment would not alienate Dalit students from the rest of the society as it would help them cope with changing conditions in these times of globalisation.
About 150 teachers from southern districts attended the meeting, which was chaired by M. Edward Arockiadass, organiser, Network for Dalit Empowerment, Tamil Nadu.
The resolutions passed included free education to all students till Tenth Standard for which the State government should provide assistance and an amendment brought in the Constitution and opportunities created in such a way that Dalits themselves conducted special category schemes for their upliftment.v

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Government colleges to re-employ retired teachers

MADURAI/CHENNAI: In a move to fill vacancies in government arts and science colleges, the State government has come out with a scheme to re-employ retired faculty. The process is under way and 300 orders have gone out so far.
It is purely a stopgap, until those selected by the TRB [Teachers Recruitment Board] are appointed,” Director of Collegiate Education Nalini Ravindran has told The Hindu.
There are nearly 900 vacancies in government colleges, according to Higher Education Department officials. A government order laying out norms for the re-employment scheme was issued early in the month and those who had retired from government colleges and were still under 62 years of age could apply.
The appointees will be paid their last drawn salary minus the pension they are entitled for, says Ms. Ravindran.
Senior officials at the regional offices say nearly 500 letters of willingness have been received for various subjects. While applicants can express their preferences, they will not necessarily be appointed in the same college from where they retired.
About 50 retired teachers have been appointed to four government colleges in Chennai. The appointments depend on the recommendation of the principal. “If the work load warrants and they want to get some of their retired faculty”, they can do so, says an official. The first batch of these teachers started taking classes last week.
The 10 retired faculty joining the English, Tamil, History, Zoology and Geography departments at Bharathi Women’s College will make a difference to teaching schedules this year. “This is really useful. We were very short of staff,” says principal Chandra Shanthakumar.
Colleges will gain from the rich experience of these appointees, with two former principals having been appointed at the Quaid-e-Millath Govt Arts College for Women.
Most of the appointees are from the city colleges themselves, but their number has been boosted with retired staff of Presidency College and Queen Mary’s College, which are not eligible for this scheme since they are being converted into universities. With about 50 and 35 vacancies respectively (there are seven vacancies in Queen Mary’s English department alone), these two government institutions will have to wait for the TRB appointees.
In the Madurai region, the teachers joined duty on Monday. “We have released the first list of 45 retired teachers for government colleges in Madurai Region, which covers six southern districts,” says an official. The second list will be released in a few days.
Nine teachers of Mathematics, English, Geography, Hindi, Chemistry and Zoology were appointed to the Sri Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women in Madurai.
The of re-employment will help colleges where a large number of vacancies exist, says principal Nirmala Devaraj. Criticism
However, the scheme has received criticism from a section of those who lead agitations on teachers’ issues.
“By re-employing the retired staff, we are depriving opportunities for youngsters and it is against social justice when so many staff on consolidated pay are being ‘exploited’ in private colleges. So, the State government must try to fill the vacancies through proper recruitment process,” demands a retired professor of a government college.
Teachers’ body MUTA also has appealed to the Minister for Higher Education to make recruitments on ‘timescale’ as full-time teachers.

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Obama-McCain race turns toxic

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The White House contest between Barack Obama and John McCain took one of its nastiest lurches yet Thursday as the campaign air filled with accusations of race-baiting and gutter politics.
Top campaign issues such as the economy and the Iraq war took a back-seat, as the Republican McCain responded with fury to Obama's claims that his opponents would exploit his exotic name and appearance for electoral gain.
The Democrat in turn said McCain, his campaign reinforced by proteges of President George W. Bush's long-time aide Karl Rove, was stooping to the "low road" of politics with a slew of character attacks.
"Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong," said McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis in a statement.
Asked if Davis's criticism was fair, McCain told CNN: "I'm sorry to say that it is. It's legitimate.
"There's no place in this campaign for that. There's no place for it and we shouldn't be doing it," the Arizona senator said at a stop in Wisconsin.
In Missouri on Wednesday, the African-American Obama had said McCain's campaign was mounting personal attacks against him to divert attention from what he said was a dearth of solutions to America's problems.
"You know, 'he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name. You know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know, he's risky,'" Obama said, ridiculing supposed attacks against him.
In a statement Thursday, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said the Democrat had not intended to suggest McCain was exploiting race as a means to undermine Obama's historic shot at the White House.
"This is a race about big challenges -- a slumping economy, a broken foreign policy, and an energy crisis for everyone but the oil companies," he said.

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Scientist says feathers are future of Asia construction 1

The researcher said his work would also solve the significant problem of disposing of the 2.4 million tonnes of feathers produced each year by the Philippines poultry industry, while doing less damage to the environment.
"Conventional waste disposal methods, when applied to chicken feathers, are problematic," he said, referring to burning, burial or recycling the feathers for use in low-quality animal feeds.
"Incineration releases greenhouse gases and the feathers take up a lot of space in landfills and take a long time to decay because of the keratin protein that make up the feathers," Acda noted.
"There is also the fear of bird flu, which makes converting chicken feathers into animal feeds undesirable."
Acda is hoping to perfect his feather board by year's end, at which point he will publish his findings.
"If the study results are good, then we will apply for a patent and publish the study," he said.
"The next step would be to form a partnership with a company that can maximise this technology -- perhaps (local food giant) San Miguel Corp. which has Purefoods as a subsidiary company and, through Purefoods, operates large poultry farms nationwide," he said.
The president of Ford Motor Company Philippines, Rick Baker, said the company was "proud to be involved in such an exciting and ecologically relevant project."
"Our support for this endeavour underscores our commitment to finding sustainable solutions in protecting and maintaining our environment," he said.

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Scientist says feathers are future of Asia construction

MANILA (AFP) — A Filipino scientist says he has created a new composite building board made of chicken feathers that could be a major breakthrough for the construction industry in Asia.
The new material would be resistant to the region's armies of termites, and could also solve a major environment problem in the Philippines by providing a way to dispose of millions of kilos of waste feathers each year.
The research done by University of the Philippines Los Baños professor Menandro Acda, which is funded by the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants programme, is being heralded as economically and environmentally sound.
In an interview with AFP, Acda said the material, made of compressed cement and chicken feathers, could be widely used for housing, replacing boards now made with wood chips, which are easily ruined by hungry insects.
The composite boards are "resistant to insect infestation such as termites because the feathers are inedible," Acda said.
"They are also not as flammable or combustible as conventional cement and wood-fibre composite boards," he added.
Although more research needs to be done, Acda said the feather boards could be used for panelling, ceilings and as insulation but not for weight-bearing building components like walls or pillars.

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Olympic Village opens, Chinese delegation checks in

BEIJING - Part of the Chinese delegation started to check in at the Olympic Village early Sunday morning when the Village opened to athletes from all over the world for the Beijing Olympic Games.
There are about 300 athletes and coaches who are from ten national teams including wrestling, judo, track and field, handball, gymnastics, men's basketball, field hockey, weightlifting, swimming and badminton, said Chinese Olympic Committee official Wang Cheng.
China sends a 1,099-member delegation to the Beijing Olympic Games, its largest ever delegation to the Olympic Games, including 639 athletes. The Beijing Games will kick off on August 8.

Olympic Village mayor Chen Zhili (R) and Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) President Liu Qi attend the launching ceremony of Olympic Village July 27, 2008. The Olympic Village was officially opened on Sunday and Chinese sports delegation entered the village. [Xinhua]

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College beauties leave boot camp to be Olympic hostesses

Models show the bouquets that will be presented to the Olympic medallists during the unveiling of the outfits, accessories and podium of the Olympic medal ceremony at 798 Art Factory in Beijing, July 17, 2008. [Xinhua]
BEIJING -- Training of the 337 would-be hostesses for the Olympic victory ceremonies will end on Saturday, when the Chinese college beauties graduate from boot camp."I've always dreamed of being a guide hostess for the table tennis athletes at the Olympic venue," said Yang Xu, 19, one of the 300-odd young women selected from more than 5,000 candidates in Beijing and Shanghai colleges as part of the Olympic volunteers.Just like others, the slim, 170 cm tall Yang has been trained for three short terms with five kinds of courses, including body-shaping exercises, dancing, manners, ceremony processes and basic Olympic-related knowledge."It has been a tough job. We are often asked to keep a good-looking standing gesture on the standardized 5-centimeter-high heels for more than one hour, so that my T-shirt has been drenched with sweat even in the air-conditioned room," Yang said."Our teacher sometimes was seen taking a pack of broken heels for repair, a measure of our suffering," the young woman said with a bitter smile.The beauties had fought off furious competition to secure their chance to "enjoy the beautiful suffering" in the temporary "charm school", a vocational school in Beijing's northern Changping District.The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the 29th Olympiad (BOCOG) selected 297 beauties from a dozen Beijing colleges such as the Communication University of China, the University of International Relations, and Beijing Technology and Business University, said Wang Ning, deputy division chief of the Sport Representation and Victory Ceremony Division of the Culture and Ceremonies Department, BOCOG.The other 40 were selected from more than 1,700 candidates from Shanghai top-level universities, Wang added.

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3 Amine Articles in latest Animation

The latest (July 2008) issue of the academic periodical Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal contains three separate papers on topics related to anime. In her article "Star-Spangled Ghibli: Star Voices in the American Versions of Hayao Miyazaki's Films," Rayna Denison, a British scholar whose work centers on the reception of Hayao Miyazaki's films in the West, looks at how films like Princess Mononoke have been presented to American audiences. Amy Shirong Lu, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina, examines how international images, backgrounds, and contexts are being incorporated into Japanese animated films and series. Her paper is titled "The Many Faces of Internationalization in Japanese Anime." Caroline Ruddell, another British film scholar, contributes a heavily theoretical essay on the ways anime depicts movement and motion.
Since launching in 2006, Animation has become one of the most prominent journals in the emerging field of anime studies. Every single issue of the six published to date has run at least one theoretical or analytical article on Japanese animation.

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