NYC Mayor Bloomberg Seeks Ban on Super-Size Soft Drinks

Bloomberg News, by Henry Goldman on May 31, 2012  

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg with Linda Gibbs, the deputy mayor
 for health, with sodas and the corresponding amount of sugar they contain
at City Hall in New York, on May 30, 2012. Photographer: Chang W. Lee/
The New York Times via Redux

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg intends to restrict sales of sugary soft drinks to no more than 16 ounces a cup in city restaurants, movie theaters, stadiums and arenas, administration officials said.

The Health Department plans to propose the ban as an amendment to the Health Code at a June 12 meeting of the Board of Health, according to Samantha Levine, a mayoral spokeswoman.

The move to ban super-sized sugared soft drinks, first reported in the New York Times yesterday, is the latest of several anti-obesity and nutrition initiatives undertaken by the administration. It is among strategies to combat what the administration has described as an epidemic of obesity and related illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.

“Obesity is a nationwide problem, and all over the U.S., public health officials are wringing their hands saying, ‘Oh, this is terrible,”’ the Times quoted Bloomberg saying in an interview. “New York City is not about wringing your hands; it’s about doing something. I think that’s what the public wants the mayor to do.”

In 2008, the city required restaurant chains to post calorie-counts of their menu items. In 2006 and 2007, the Board of Health and City Council banned artery-clogging trans-fats from restaurants and prepared foods. Last year, the federal government rejected an attempt to bar purchases of sugared drinks with food stamps. In 2003, Bloomberg blocked the beverages from vending machines in schools and city-owned buildings.

Once the proposal has been introduced, the health board will vote on it after three months of public comment, Levine said. No other authorization from the state or city would be required. Restaurants and other outlets would have six months from the date of adoption to comply or face citations, she said.

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net

Allergy no more: Finnish scientists discover magic vaccine

RT.com, 30 May, 2012

Allergy no more: Finnish scientists discover magic vaccine

A group of scientists from Finland claims to be close to a vaccine which can prevent any kind of allergy, and change the lives of millions all over the world.

Professor Juhu Rouvinen and his colleagues from the University of Eastern Finland say they discovered immunoglobulin binding structures in allergens, which means the affliction can be prevented.

This is a new way to treat allergies. Most of the modern allergy treatments work by suppressing symptoms caused by the emission of histamine. The symptoms include hay fever, watery eyes, scratchy throat, runny nose etc.

“We believe that curing allergies is about changing or modifying the genetic structure of the allergen molecules inside of your body, so we want to eliminate the cause of the allergy, instead of removing symptoms,” Professor Rouvinen told Forbes magazine.

After allergens are modified in the patient`s body, he will hypothetically develop a natural immunity against each type of allergy they have been vaccinated for.

The team will create a new bio-tech company to conduct further research and experiments saying they hope to put the vaccine on the market within five to seven years.

Different types of allergies affect millions all over the world, 65 million in the US alone leading some to dub it the disease of the 21st century.

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"The Recalibration of 'Shoulds' " – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)

Alleged ‘foreign drug lord’ shot dead in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Wed, 05/30/2012

An Indian national suspected of links to drug ring operating in Indonesia was gunned down on Tuesday evening after trying to escape arrest.

Earlier, law enforcers arrested the suspect, only identified as Ayangba, at a room in Mitra Bahari Apartment building in North Jakarta, while he was allegedly consuming drugs with his two colleagues, believed to be a Malaysian national named Tan Choo Hee and an Indian national named Wangranyo Kasar.

Top detective Brig. Gen. Armand Depari said that after questioning Ayangba, the police raided City Park Apartment in Cengkareng, North Jakarta, confiscating 23 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu.

“Afterwards, we were escorting Ayangba, also known as Lauta, to an apartment complex in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, where he allegedly kept more drugs. However, he tried to escape from us,” said Armand.

He explained that Ayangba had asked two policemen escorting him to pull over near the apartment, pretending that he had forgotten the address.

“Suddenly, he began fighting the two officers, attempting to take one of their guns. One of the policemen pointed a gun at him, asking him to surrender, but the suspect decided to run instead,” he said.

He added that Ayangba ignored three warning shots from the police officer and as a result he was shot in the back.

The Indian man was immediately brought to the National Police Sukanto Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, but succumbed to his wounds.

Armand said that investigators were still trying to uncover an international drug network between India, Malaysia and Indonesia, which the police suspected had operated in Jakarta for a long time.

“We have received information that this network sells their drugs in Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java,” said Armand. (asa)

Cures against Cancer

Galactic Channelings, 29 May 2012

Contrary to what most people think, being diagnosed with cancer is not the end of the world. There are several cures against it, which work very well and have no side effects. Unfortunately, these cures have been held back from the public by the illuminati, the powerful elite who own the pharmaceutical industry. They make billions off of diseases like cancer. As they also control most of the mainstream media, barely anything is ever written about these cures. Instead, unsuccessful and dangerous "cures" like chemotherapy and radiation are promoted.

Many people reject the idea of an evil elite secretly running the world. To them, we can only say: study this matter yourself. There's tons of material available on the web. Read it, compare it and draw your own conclusions. When you stand in your own power, you can judge so much better what treatment to choose.

Here are a couple of videos and links that we think everyone who is confronted with cancer, owes it to himself - and his loved ones - to look into.

The first one is a story told by a young boy, about how the pharmaceutical industry really works and how they did everything to discredit good cures for cancer, like the Gerson therapy.

"The Beautiful Truth"

The second video is about what's probably the most effective cure against cancer, the THC ingredient in hemp plants. It has been proven under laboratory conditions that cannabinoidsfight and destroy cancer cells, without affecting the healthy cells. Of course growing hemp (marijuana) is forbidden by the government, but not for the reasons most people think it is. Just watch this video. Part 4 contains a manual of how to create hemp oil yourself.

"RUN FROM THE CURE - The Rick Simpson Story"

Jack Herer is the author of the best selling book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hempand the Conspiracy Against Marijuana". Jack has been teaching the world about industrial hemp and medical marijuana and offers $100,000 to prove him wrong. He says, "THC from the cannabis plant attacks cancerous and mutated cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed."

Here's what it can do for children:

"Dad Gives Toddler Battling Brain Cancer Medical Marijuana"

More information on cannabis curing cancer here.

Soursop, also called graviola or guanábana, is a tree that grows in Central America, the Amazon area and Polynesia mainly. Its almost 1 foot large fruit works very efficiently against all kinds of cancer, like breast cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer. Several studies have proven this, at universities among others.

Lab tests showed that soursop kills cancer cells 10,000 times more effectively than Adriamycin, a medicine that is generally used with chemo therapy. Just like cannabinoids, the active ingredients in soursop attack cancerous cells, but leave healthy cells alone.

You can extract the juice from the soursop fruit yourself, but it works better if it has been given a spagyric treatment first. You can buy this concentrated remedy in nature shops, or online.

Another successful remedy against cancer is apricot and peach kernels. The high levels of vitamin B17 they contain, work miracles against cancer cells. Tons of material about this available, and a video here. If you find some contradicting statements, please be aware that the industry deliberately spreads disinformation on the internet, just to confuse you.

Asparagus is another good idea to add to your menu if you want to prevent or fight cancer. Lots of folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and other potent ingredients there. Especially glutathione, which helps to repair the DNA in cells damaged by cancer.

Doctor Hulda Clark studied in biology at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, where she was awarded the Bachelor of Arts in 1950, Magna Cum Laude. Later she was awarded her Doctorate degree in physiology by the University of Minnesota. Her studies throughout focused on biophysics and cell physiology. She discovered that cancer cells, like all matter, vibrate at a certain frequency. They can be killed with a combination of herbs and a small zapper, which can be ordered online.

And there are many, many more cures against cancer. Most of them have been discovered by doctors. But they have been ostracized, ridiculed or prosecuted by the establishment. The video documentary "Cancer: The Forbidden Cures" portrays a number of them (more information here). Doctor Burzynski is another one. His brilliant treatment for cancer saved many lives, but the FDA made his work impossible. Even when the media do report about these cancer cures, there's never a response to it from the government.

Author/actress Suzanne Somers also wrote a book on doctors who cured and are still curing patients with cancer, called "Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer--And How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place". An interview with her can be found here.

Finally, here's a confession from Gwen Olsen, a veteran of the pharmaceutical industry. She explains why Big Pharma has no interest in curing cancer. Or heart disease. Or Alzheimer, or AIDS, or any kind of disease.

That's bad news, but the good news is that there ARE cures. By educating yourself, you can find the right one for you.

Turning healthy people into psychiatric patients

RNW, 29 May 2012, by Johan van der Tol       

(Photo: FGMB)

Diagnoses of psychiatric conditions like ADHD have increased explosively in recent years. Dutch experts say boisterous or easily-distracted children are being wrongly labelled as patients, largely to make money for pharmaceutical companies. They are afraid the new internationally-used manual for psychiatry unnecessarily brands even more healthy people as sick.

In 2008, Professor Roel Verheul, an expert in the field of personality disorders, was proud to be asked to take part in the preparations for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). However, in April this year, he and Canadian colleague John Livesley resigned from the personality disorder working group after having repeatedly criticized – to no avail - the contents of the US ‘bible of psychiatry’.

Guesswork

Professor Verheul’s main complaint is that the entries in DSM-5 are too complicated and fail to make diagnosis simpler. The danger is that psychiatrists will all apply their own sets of symptoms - precisely what the manual is supposed to prevent. He told Dutch TV programme EenVandaag: “We’re concerned that it’s going to come down to guesswork, that different therapists will reach different diagnoses for the same patient.”

The manual also contains a large number of new symptoms which, according to Verheul, are not properly scientifically founded. He says they need to be supported by more empirical evidence before they are published.

Proliferation

Others have also warned of a proliferation of new psychiatric conditions, leading to people who have little wrong with them being classed as patients. Psychologist Laura Batstra of the University of Groningen says: “The number of psychiatric diagnoses and the use of medication have increased tremendously in recent years, in DSM-3 the number of diagnoses among adults was increased, in DSM-4 the same happened with children”. The third and fourth editions were published in 1987 and 2000.

Since the year 2000, the number of children diagnosed with the concentration disorder ADHD has increased exponentially, as did the use of the anti-ADHD drug Ritalin. Batstra believes the vast majority of these children do not have a medical problem and are erroneously being made to take medication.

Inflation

Professor Verheul notes: “You have to be careful of diagnostic inflation. For example, it’s understandable that 1 percent of the population can be diagnosed as schizophrenic or that 2 or maybe 3 or 4 percent of children can be diagnosed with ADHD. But if you broaden the criteria to the point where large groups of people are labelled with these conditions, you create a kind of inflationary process. This is making psychiatry less credible in many people’s eyes.”

Laura Batstra argues that the manufacturers of Ritalin have played a questionable role in the diagnosis of ADHD: “It’s really out of control. The pharmaceutical industry got in on the act and has been promoting the condition among girls. In DSM-5 the categories have been defined even more broadly, so I think it’s good that this is now being discussed.”

Concern

US research shows, moreover, that 72 percent of the specialists contributing to the manual have ties with the pharmaceutical industry. These ties vary from being paid as guest speakers at congresses to owning shares in drug companies. Speaking on EenVandaag, Batstra said this was a cause for concern: “We know, for instance, that research paid for by the pharmaceutical industry is five times more likely to describe the effects of medication positively than independent research.”

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is expected to appear next year.

Related Article:

"The Recalibration of 'Shoulds' " – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) -(Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)

UK Woman Arrested on Drug Charges in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, May 28, 2012

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• Dutch National Allegedly Caught With Coke Hidden in Anus at Indonesian Airport

Bail. A British woman has been arrested on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for allegedly smuggling $2.5 million worth of cocaine in her luggage. If found guilty, she faces a maximum penalty of death by firing squad.

Customs official Made Wijaya told reporters Monday that 56-year-old arrived on a flight from Bangkok on May 19. He said 4.7 kilograms of cocaine were seized from her suitcase.

Three other Britons and an Indian national were believed to be the intended recipients. They are being questioned.

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws and convicted smugglers are executed. More than 140 people are on death row, a third of them foreigners.

Associated Press

Pictures showed Lindsay Sandiford at a press

conference surrounded by customs officials

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Autism's Rising Rates Increasingly Blamed On Toxic Chemicals

The Huffington Post, by Lynne Peeples, May 24, 2012

While pregnant with her son Edgar, Melissa Wolfe followed the lead of many a cautious woman before her. She took prenatal vitamins and ate organic vegetables. She avoided dyeing her hair and using hairspray. She even went as far as to leave the kitchen whenever someone turned on the microwave.

"I was very vigilant. Perhaps a little crazy," said Wolfe, of Brentwood, N.H.

Yet Wolfe still fears that her 4-year-old's autism may have resulted from chemicals infiltrating her womb, whether components of her migraine medicine, contaminants brought home from her husband's work installing rubber flooring, or remnants of the remodeling the couple did on their house. 

Melissa Wolfe with her son, Edgar.

The remodeling "created even more chemicals that I was breathing while pregnant," she said. Wolfe also wonders if her father's exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, which the government has now blamed for his prostate cancer, might be somehow connected to her son's disability.

To date, science has not directly linked any of these environmental exposures with any of the disabling behavioral and cognitive conditions that fall along the autism spectrum. But rising rates of autism along with the increasing breadth and reach of synthetic chemicals -- some of which are known to be toxic and most of which we know near nothing about -- raises questions for which scientists are beginning to offer a few answers.

As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in April, autism now affects an estimated one in 88 kids. Among boys, the burden is even higher: about one in 54. And the ramifications of the rise go beyond the child, the family and even the school. In decades to come, individuals with autism are now expected will account for one in 88 adults, meaning society will pay the price in terms of lifetime care and other medical expenses. All told, managing autism already costs the country $35 billion a year.

Researchers sense the urgency. Many are now investigating factors that might help curb the epidemic. This generally means looking beyond genetics, the avenue of investigation that has consumed most of the government's funds and researchers' time over the last several years.

"While studying genes might help us identify diagnostic tests, which can make you a profit, it will not lead us towards preventing disease," said Bruce Lanphear, an environmental health researcher at Simon Frasier University in British Columbia. He pointed to lung cancer as a case in point: All the genetic links in the world amount to little compared to the role of smoking cigarettes, and therefore encouraging people to abstain is medicine's single most effective response.

It's also increasingly clear that genetics can't tell the whole story of autism. A Stanford University study of twins published last year found that genetics accounts for just 38 percent of the risk.

"That analysis suggested that the assumption that this is mostly a genetic condition was perhaps made in error," said Diana Schendel, a scientist with the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. "Maybe the environment plays a larger role in autism than we once believed."

Schendel, who is involved in a large study looking at possible risk factors during a child's early development, doesn't expect to find one smoking gun. Like other experts in the field, she thinks a cocktail of chemical insults on top of genetic susceptibility is likely to blame for each case of autism.

Drugs used decades ago to treat morning sickness, bipolar disorder and ulcers, as well as the insecticide chlorpyrifos, have already been tied to autism. With about 80,000 chemicals available for industry use, most of which remain untested for toxicities, researchers have plenty more potential culprits to investigate. A study spearheaded by the advocacy organization Environmental Working Group found an average of 200 industrial chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of 10 babies born in U.S. hospitals in 2004.

Such figures have raised alarms given the host of health problems on the rise among kids, including diabetes, obesity, asthma and cancer. Growing children are extremely sensitive to chemicals, even at very low doses. And of all the developing organs, the brain may be the most vulnerable. The time window for a chemical to wreak havoc extends from the early embryo all the way through adolescence, when the brain finally matures.

"The brain goes through rapid changes, all complex and all easily disrupted," said Dr. Philip Landrigan, chairman of the department of preventative medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "Take a Swiss watch and multiply that by 1,000."

In April, Landrigan co-authored a report that highlighted 10 widely used chemicals and mixtures of chemicals that are suspected of harming the developing brain, including lead, methylmercury, organochlorine pesticides, endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol-A and phthalates, automobile exhaust, and flame retardants.

Recent research by Irva Hertz-Picciotto, an autism expert at the University of California, Davis, supports the list. She has found hints of links between autism and proximity to freeways, pesticides and a parent's occupational exposures, as well as nutrition.

The latter study was the first to illustrate how genes and the environment might interact to trigger the disease. "Children who inherited unlucky genes that made them less efficient at utilizing and metabolizing the folic acid of prenatal vitamins had a five- to seven-fold higher risk of autism," Hertz-Picciotto said.

Next up for her team: agricultural chemicals and possibly bisphenol-A.

Other research published over the past few months has added evidence that flame retardants and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as well as some factors more broadly considered environmental such as a mother's diabetes or fevers during pregnancy, might be implicated in autism and other learning disorders. Several more ongoing studies are looking into social factors, medications taken during pregnancy, and infections.

"We are so many years away from having the answers, but we are far closer to a tsunami of young autistic men in our communities, getting assaulted, assaulting others," said Donna Ross-Jones of Los Angeles, who blogs about life as the mother of a 14-year-old boy with autism. "When we look at the impact on housing and employment, on society, it's pretty scary. This is not like a small group we can put in a closet." 

Nicky and Donna
Ross-Jones.

Generalizing about the members of this afflicted group is difficult. Ask 100 different parents of children with autism, and you'll likely get 100 different descriptions of the condition, its challenges and its causes.

Edgar Wolfe, for example, may have a lot of autistic behavior patterns, such as slapping his hands and talking to himself, but his mom noted that he has no problem making eye contact and talking with other people. Nicholas "Nicky" Ross-Jones, on the other hand, "can't carry on a typical conversation with you," said his mom, "yet he can break into your computer and break past your firewall."

Donna Ross-Jones still wonders if the mercury tooth filling she received early in her pregnancy could have put her child at increased risk. "I'm certain it was environmental," she said. "But what all those factors were, I don't know. I do believe they are the realities of a poisoned planet, perhaps not necessarily just one chemical but an onslaught."

That same line of reasoning is why autism experts like Mount Sinai's Landrigan aren't waiting until they find answers in their labs before pushing for regulatory reform.

As The Huffington Post reported earlier this week, children's health experts and advocates are urging Congress to retire the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act and replace it with the more rigorous and precautionary Safe Chemicals Act, which currently awaits a Senate vote.

"We need to reform the [Toxic Substances Control Act]," said Landrigan. "The present legislation is obsolete and is not working. It's just creating a situation which is dangerous for America's children."

On Tuesday, Melissa Wolfe was among 200 moms in Washington, D.C., pressing senators to push back against industry opposition and pass the Safe Chemicals Act. Like many other parents, Wolfe finds it difficult to keep toxic chemicals away from herself and her family. She knows that products often contain unlisted ingredients, such as the chemical make-up of the fragrance in a "fresh-baked apple pie candle," she said.

"I just want to wrap my kids in bubble wrap," added Wolfe. "But then I say, 'What is in the bubble wrap?'"

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Exposed by graphic video, top horse trainer pleads guilty to cruelty

CNN News, By Phil Gast and Moni Basu, CNN, May 24, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Jackie McConnell was charged with 52 counts of violation of the Horse Protection Act
• An undercover video showed him subjecting show horses to banned practices
• "Soring" inflicts pain and induces the signature gait of walking horses
• McConnell was banned for life from the most important walking horse show

(CNN) -- A top trainer in the fabled Tennessee walking horse industry has pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to animals and has been banned for life from the most important horse show for the breed.

Jackie McConnell had been charged with 52 counts of violating the Horse Protection Act but pleaded guilty to only one in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Chattanooga.

The charges stemmed from a graphic undercover video made by a Humane Society of the United States investigator that shows McConnell and his stable hands at Whitter Stables of Collierville subjecting show horses to practices that were banned 40 years ago.

The video shows horses being struck with sticks and subjected to "soring," an illegal process in which chemicals are placed on their lower legs in an effort to induce the signature Tennessee walking horse high-stepping gait known as the "big lick."

According to the indictment, "soring is a cruel and inhumane practice used to accentuate a horse's gait in order to gain a competitive edge in horse shows." Chemicals and other irritants on a horse's ankles and forelegs cause it to lift its front feet and shift its weight unnaturally to the hind legs in order to relieve the pain.

McConnell and the other trainers applied a thick, yellowish substance called "the balm" on the front pasterns of a horse named Moody Star, the court documents said. The horse was seen in the video picking up his feet in pain. Later, McConnell rubbed castor oil on the back of Moody Star's pasterns to "peel off skin."

Moody Star was later taken to a show, and documents for the horse were falsified, prosecutors said. Other horses were similarly abused.

The Humane Society said its investigator documented "stewarding" -- training a horse not to react to pain during official show inspections of their legs for soreness -- by striking them in the head when they flinch during mock inspections.

The video also shows a writhing horse being subjected to a whip at McConnell's barn. Another receives an electric shock to the head.

"The video showed the horses, in obvious pain, which appear to be having trouble standing and being whipped until they did stand," prosecutors said in the plea agreement Tuesday.

McConnell's staff -- Jeff Dockery, John Mays and Joseph Abernathy -- were also charged. Mays and Abernathy have also pleaded guilty. Dockery has a plea hearing in June.

Soring "has been an open secret in Tennessee for years," said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president for litigation and investigations with the Humane Society.

The video was filmed in spring 2011 by an investigator who worked two months as a stable hand at McConnell's barn, according to the Humane Society. It was first featured last week on the ABC News program "Nightline."

It raised questions of how pervasive the training techniques are despite recent prosecutions and investigations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the Horse Protection Act.

"There obviously is a huge problem," Lovvorn said. "In the competition to get this unnatural gait, trainers are using banned substances to cheat."

The walking horse gait, known for its smoothness, was originally devised for Southern plantation owners to inspect their lands in comfort.

Horse show judges value the exaggerated gait, and shows in Tennessee and elsewhere annually draw thousands of spectators.

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration said its actions against McConnell were unprecedented.

He was suspended for life, is banned from entering the organization's grounds and was removed from its Hall of Fame.

"This action is the strongest we can take and it clearly reflects our disgust with the actions of Mr. McConnell," said Doyle Meadows, CEO of the organization. "His actions are not reflective of the Tennessee walking horse industry, and we in no way want him associated with our show."

PepsiCo said last week it was pulling its sponsorship of this summer's Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.

Asked if the sponsorship decision was in response to the 2011 video, PepsiCo spokesman Vincent Bozek said, "That's all we're saying." The decision was made Wednesday.

The president of a Tennessee horse industry organization, condemning the "disturbing" video, told CNN there is a stringent inspection process at shows.

"I think it's sad that a corporation like Pepsi would go out because of the action of one person and one training barn," said Stephen Mullins of S.H.O.W.

Lovvorn told CNN the Humane Society shared the video and results of its investigation with federal prosecutors before the indictment was returned earlier this year.

McConnell will be sentenced on September 10. He faces a maximum five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. Mays and Abernathy face up to a year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

In separate cases, a seven-month investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture resulted in at least four other Tennessee men being sentenced this year for horse soring violations.

One defendant sentenced to 12 months in prison and a $4,000 fine described how chemical irritants, chains, bolts and other devices were used to bring about the exaggerated gait.

"He stressed the pervasiveness of soring in the gaited horse industry and testified that horses 'have got to be sored to walk,' " according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

S.H.O.W., certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, handles inspections of Tennessee horses at events.

Mullins, a retired equine veterinarian, said self-regulation by the industry has led to three lifetime and 150 one-year suspensions for soring and other violations of the Horse Protection Act.

Trainers shouldn't rely on soring to train horses to hit the "big lick," said Mullins, acknowledging that the industry still has problems. "I was given one charge (task). Get rid of the sore horse. I think we are well on our way."

One painless training technique, he said, is to fit pads, about 3 inches tall, below the horse's hoof.

"It can change the way the horse lands on its foot," according to Mullins. "It requires him to exaggerate and keep his foot up for a longer period of time."

S.H.O.W.'s oversight, however, does not extend to training facilities and barns.

"Soring is a way to take a horse that is not very good ... to make him look good," Mullins said. "Do I think it goes on around the trainers who show routinely with me? No sir, I do not believe it does."

Related Articles:

Tennessee Walking Horse soring may be motivated by big money

Culture or Cruelty?

"Do Animals Reincarnate?" - NOV 22, 2010 (Kuthumi channelled by LynetteLeckie-Clark)

Taiwan unveils new orchid species for use as chinese medicine

Antara News, Thu, May 24 2012

Dendrobium houshanense well known as a main resource for
Chinese traditional medicine since a long time ago. Orchids
breeders now unveil the new crossbred of D. houshanense for
that purpose. (illustration)

  ... uses of dendrobium orchids include a cure for dryness, thirst and inflammation, protection of the stomach, cleansing of the liver, and improvement of eyesight...

Related News

• Taiwanese scientist wins nikkei Asia prize

Taipei (ANTARA News) - The Council of Agriculture (COA) on Wednesday unveiled a new orchid species for use in traditional Chinese medicine, saying it took eight years to breed and contains high levels of polysaccharides that are good for people in chemotherapy.

The Golden Emperor Number 1, a crossbreed between Dendrobium tosaense and Dendrobium stem, contains more polysaccharides than the premium orchid species Dendrobium huoshanense that originated in China's Anhui Province, the council said.

Polysaccharides play a role in stimulating the immune system and can aid the recovery of patients in chemotherapy, said Wen Chi-luan, a research assistant at the council's Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station.

Patients recovering from eye surgery can also benefit from polysaccharides, as they activate the retinal cell layers, Wen said. Golden Emperor Number 1, to be mass produced soon, will take only two years to grow and will yield 8 to 12 grams of dried polysaccharides annually, he said.

In other words, the new species matures in half the time as the premium orchid species Dendrobium houshanense and its yield is five times higher, Wen added.

One of the most expensive types of orchids in Chinese medicine, 600 grams of dried dendrobium huoshanense herbal medicine can cost NT$8,900 (US$300).

Dendrobium orchids are recorded as a high class Chinese medicine, similar to ginseng, in the traditional Chinese medical journal "the Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic," which was written by legendary ruler Shengnong some 5,000 years ago, Wen noted.

Some medical uses of dendrobium orchids recorded in the journal include a cure for dryness, thirst and inflammation, protection of the stomach, cleansing of the liver, and improvement of eyesight, Wen said.

Editor: Ade Marboen

If you know someone with dementia, make time for them

People with dementia can benefit hugely from regular contact with loved ones, as my mum's experience showed me

guardian.co.uk, Nicola Clark, Tuesday 22 May 2012

'The difficulties faced by people with dementia will not be eradicated but time
spent with friends can ease their challenges.' Photograph: Alamy

Although some may greet awareness-raising cynically, dementia awareness week, launched by the Alzheimer's society, causes me, as always, to think about my mum.

When you lose someone you love to dementia, the loss can sometimes be viewed as a blessed relief. That wasn't my experience. However long or painful the goodbye is to witness, the pain of your loss stops your own heart for a while. I don't personally subscribe to the notion of a league table of grief or loss, but I do subscribe to the belief that dementia is an illness that cuts through the dignity and strength of the patient affected. And as the person you love drifts off into the darkness, so does their support network. At a time where it is so vital for the patient to receive love, the pain of witnessing the ravaging of mind and eventually body that dementia brings, causes some friends and family to walk away.

I talked to Sandra Jones about how she and her husband John support their friend Bob, who has dementia: "When Bob sees John it's like he gives him the jigsaw piece he's been looking for. You see the light come on in his eyes." Once a week, Bob spends an afternoon at John and Sandra's house. The couple, who are retired, have health conditions themselves. I asked Sandra if the challenges in their own lives make this difficult: "We don't see it like that. John sees it as a natural change in Bob, one that he accepts as a part of their friendship. Often, all Bob needs is our time."

As mum's primary carer, I understand this. I found the shift from daughter to caretaker challenging but necessary. Loving someone with dementia tests the theory that love exists solely because of reciprocation – indeed, love doesn't end where recognition ends. In my case, I reasoned that I had an enormous debt to be paid back to my mother. And so I borrowed mum's gentleness and decency, kindness and humour, problem-solving skills and ability to support those she loved. I gave those things back to her when she needed them most.

Living alone, the symptoms of mum's dementia were easy for her to hide. I became well used to her beautiful smile breaking over a lapse of memory or idiosyncrasy. She would use self-deprecating humour to disguise it. At 68 however, an angina attack meant that she was hospitalised and it was under the eyes of the night staff that mum's difficulties became apparent. She was moved from the cardiac ward to the geriatric ward, and the staff gently cared for her, as she needed. She was diagnosed by a neurologist in the most dignified way imaginable: he asked her what she believed her condition was. "I think I may have dementia," was her answer.

Once home, I divided my time between caring for my girls who both have autism and looking after mum. The thing she most needed from me was my time, and I'm so glad to say I was able to give her this. I remember holding her hand tightly when she said, "they tell me I have dementia Nicky, but I don't have to believe them if I don't want to, do I?" before breaking down.

Life is terrifying when you have no memory. From the crucial practicalities of life such as eating, working, dressing, staying clean and safe to less obvious but equally crucial issues like reference and dignity, memory guides you through. I would urge anyone with a friend or family member coping with dementia to know that as hard as it is to witness it, walking away will forever end the activity of neuro-pathways crucial for recognition. Seeing loved ones regularly preserves love for longer. The difficulties faced by people with dementia will not be eradicated, but time spent with friends can ease the challenges they have to face.

They call dementia "the long goodbye" for a reason. Its progression is slow and heartbreaking in its finality and cruelty. Slowly, mum let go of everyone except me and at the end, she would move her eyes to the sound of my voice. She would decline when I left and rally when I returned. Those final few days were the hardest of my life, ending only when I kissed her goodbye for the last time.

All I hope is that she knew how loved she was.