- Study: Non-Psychotropic Plant Cannabinoids Counteract Prostate Cancer Growth
- Thu, 24 May 2012 16:43:51 +0000 - The administration of non-psychotropic plant cannabinoids, in particular cannabidiol (CBD), inhibit proliferation and selectively trigger cell suicide of prostate carcinoma, according to preclinical data to be published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. (Read the study abstract online here.) An international team of investigators from Italy and the United Kingdom assessed the anti-cancer properties of various non-psychoactive synthetic and botanical cannabinoids, including CBD, CBG (cannabigerol), CBN (cannabinol) and THCV (tetrahydrocannabivarin), in vivo and in vitro (in culture). Researchers reported, “The … data presented here allow us to suggest that non-THC cannabinoids, and CBD in particular, retard proliferation and cause apoptosis (programmed cell death) of prostate carcinoma growth via a combination of cannabinoid receptor-independent cellular and molecular mechanisms. … We suggest that non-THC cannabinoids … might provide the basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of prostate carcinoma.” Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in American men. It is thesecond leading cause of cancer death in American males, trailing only behind lung cancer. Authors of the study concluded, “[T]he effects reported here, together with previously reported cannabinoid receptor-mediated effects of THC on PCCs (prostate carcinoma cells), might provide momentum to clinical studies on cannabinoids and cannabis extracts as a therapy for human prostate carcinoma, either in addition to [...]
- Just How Green is Google?
- Tue, 22 May 2012 22:17:17 +0000 - Google may have a bad track record on privacy practices, but when it comes to green, the internet giant is clean, racking up over $850 million in investments to develop and deploy clean energy and earning the top spot on Greenpeace’s list of IT giants who are using and advocating for clean energy. In February, Greenpeace ranked Google the best on its “Cool IT Leaderboard”, although it only scored 53 out of 100 points on the ranking system, still putting it ahead of Cisco, with 49 points. But it was a reluctant gift from Greenpeace, which has been hounding the IT giant for some time over its long overdue moves to shift to green and to use its influence and outreach to advocate for renewable energy. Google may have gotten off to a slow green start, but in the long term, the IT giant should benefit from the move. It is now sourcing more than 20% of its global energy use from green sources such as solar and wind. As a major consumer of energy, reducing consumption will help its profit margins and its clean energy efforts should boost its public image at a time when Google is mired in [...]
- Bitcoin Report: A Breakout Warning
- Thu, 10 May 2012 06:17:26 +0000 - Since our last report, Bitcoin prices continue to look bullish overall. The bitcoin economy is prospering and improving. More upside is likely. Once the current period of low volatility is over, we may see a massive rally that could test or exceed the all-time high of $32. Only a break below $4.73 would temporarily suspend the bullish outlook. In our opinion, a breakout of the recent tight trading range is about to happen, possibly within the next 24-48 hours. Why? Because the bollinger bands are at historical lows right now: If prices break above $5.2 – $5.23 and this break out is confirmed above $5.45, a big rally may happen. Ideally, $4.95 – $5 should hold as support. Mid term, only a break below $4.73 will turn our view bearish. Monthly As long as the November 2011 low at $1.994 holds, the upward correction can lead to a price target of $17 – $20. Because typically, Elliot Wave corrective patterns retrace 50% or even 61.8% of the preceding move. This would lead to at least 17 $ (50%), or 20.6 $ (61.8%). To date, prices have remained in the consolidation zone since the November / December 2011 breakout. The lead Elliott Wave interpretation projects [...]
- The Violence Against Women Act and The War on Men
- Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:01:37 +0000 - The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) arguably is one of the most misguided pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress. From conceptualization to consequences it has wreaked a wide swath of destruction across American society and accurately can be described as “A War on Men.” Conceptually, VAWA is based on the false Duluth Power and Control Wheel model. VAWA falsely presumes that all Domestic Violence (DV) is perpetrated by evil patriarchal males against virtuously innocent female victims. This false gender ideology has no research support. By contrast, social science research, replicated across hundreds of studies, shows that: DV is initiated about equally by men and women; slightly more women than men are physically harmed by DV but men nonetheless still represent more than 40% of the physically harmed victims; the DV initiation rates for women, and especially young women, have been rising; and DV has nothing to do with an evil patriarchy because the DV rates for bisexuals, gays, and lesbians all are higher than for heterosexual couples. The research further exposes misrepresentation in the title: “The Violence Against Women Act.” Given that DV approaches 50-50 on most indices, why does Congress want to serve only half of the victims? [...]
- Gasoline is Expensive – Deal with it
- Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:49:34 +0000 - The White House announced it was getting into the commodities game in an effort to protect consumers from some of the geopolitical factors spilling over into the retail gasoline market. OPEC and the IEA both said in their monthly reports that market perceptions were behind higher energy prices, not physical shortages. With most U.S. consumers still economically gun shy, gasoline consumption is down amid high retail prices. But on the business side, protection against potential oil shocks in the long-term could help push a reinvigorated U.S. economy over the recessionary hump. Apart from the murky waters of economic nuance, however, President Obama said that, no matter what, American commuters need gasoline. Speculation aside, maybe that’s the problem. High gasoline prices make for angry constituents. That means politicians, especially politicians fighting to keep their paychecks, start pointing their legislative guns at Wall Street almost as soon as the gavel strikes. Market indices don’t particularly care one way or the other if consumers and lawmakers are frustrated, but they are concerned nonetheless. U.S. lawmakers in March complained to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that nobody was watching energy markets closely because perceptions are trumping real-world scenarios. Demand is down and supplies are up, which typically means prices [...]
- Welcome Home
- Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:09:17 +0000 - When I got into the terminal at Logan in Boston there were people waiting for me. My wife, Butch and his girl Sheila McCarthy, Eddie and Larr. Sheila, a registered nurse, had written me in Nam often and while not dating Butch any longer had met with him to be there for me. My male friends were and are friends for life all these years later. Other than Nam Vets (1) and those that were there when I came back from war no one has, to this day, ever said welcome home to me. That’s just one reason I work real hard these days for Veterans to have cannabis as a medical option. Please see www.Veteransformedicalcannabis.org. The plane rides from Nam to Massachusetts took almost 24 hours. The red eye from San Francisco was almost empty. The stewardess brought me a sandwich and on the plate were some cherry tomatoes. I had not seen a whole tomato in a year. They exploded flavor in my mouth and it was the first stirring in me that I was alive and would likely stay that way for a bit. I’d been ready to die for quite a while. The war would go [...]
- Is a Water War between India and Pakistan Imminent?
- Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:22:06 +0000 - A peaceful and stable Pakistan is integral to western efforts to pacify Afghanistan, but Islamabad’s obsessions with its giant eastern neighbor may render such issues moot. Since partition in 1947, Pakistan and India have fought four armed conflicts, in 1947, 1965, 1971 (which led to the establishment of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan) and the 1999 Kargil clash. With the exception of the 1971 conflict, which involved rising tensions in East Pakistan, the others have all involved issues arising from control of Kashmir. But now a rising new element of discord threatens to precipitate a new armed clash between southern Asia’s two nuclear powers – water. Lahore’s “The Nation’ newspaper on Sunday published an editorial entitled, “War with India inevitable: Nizami,” the newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief and Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust Chairman, Majid Nizami, asked his fellow citizens to prepare for a war with India over water issues. Nizami told those attending the “Pakistan-India relations; Our rulers- new wishes” session at Aiwan-e-Karkunan Tehrik-e-Pakistan, which he chaired, “Indian hostilities and conspiracies against the country will never end until she is taught a lesson.” While The Nation is a conservative daily, part of the Nawa-i-Waqt publishing group, with a circulation of roughly 20,000, it has a website, [...]
- Standing Down as Iran’s Power Struggle Unfolds
- Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:06:48 +0000 - A strike on Iran, however limited, would push the current internal power struggle to a premature end that would not be in the US’ best interests – that is the message, whether intentional or not, of the recent “intelligence leak” that has provided the Obama Administration with justification for standing down with regard to Iran. Earlier this week, the media had a field day with “intelligence leaks” suggesting that there is no imminent threat of Iran achieving nuclear weapons capabilities, apparently with the concurrence of Israel’s Mossad. There are two things to be avoided in this discourse, the first being the obvious reality that intelligence is used to support policy decisions and “leaks” are one tool through which this is accomplished. Also less important is the discussion on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which can be largely summed up by noting that civil nuclear programs can enrich uranium which can be used for nuclear weapons and that Iran can decide at any moment to pursue this path. It is an unknown that has been used to push public opinion in a number of directions. Interestingly, the public (media) can so easily accept “intelligence leaks” that accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons but [...]
- Oil & Politics – The Real Situation in Iraq
- Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:47:29 +0000 - A delegation from the International Energy Agency spent two days in Baghdad speaking with high-ranking officials in preparation for an end-of-year report on the country’s oil sector. By some estimates, Iraq could hold some of the largest oil reserves in the world and an international auction for oil and natural gas blocks is planned for May. Without a hydrocarbon law, and considering the fractured political system, the IEA’s report may be more about political obstacles than oil potential, however. Baghdad announced triumphantly this week that oil production increased to more than 3 million barrels per day for the first time in more than 30 years. Exports, the government said, should increase substantially once a new floating oil terminal starts operations later this week. The IEA in December said crude oil production in Iraq could reach an average of 4.36 million bpd by 2016, about half of what Riyadh produces. The agency warned, however, that Iraq’s fractured political system might be as much of an obstacle as anything. Iraq’s post-invasion political system has never been stable. Tensions in Baghdad flared up when Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused his Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi of terrorism almost as soon as the last American troop left [...]
- Zimbabwe – last to leave, Never Mind Turning Off the Lights – They’re Already Off
- Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:44:40 +0000 - In the 32 years of his benighted rule, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Gabriel Mugabe has done more damage to the country than its white-led minority government ever did. With the exception of the smuggling of “blood diamonds” the country’s economy, once the “breadbasket of Africa,” resembles nothing so much as a slow motion train wreck. One of the foundations of modern nations’ economic prosperity are reliable sources of power and here too, Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union cronies have managed to screw things up. While the country has a peak electricity demand of about 2,200 megawatts, it only produces 1,200 megawatts because its installed power generation capacity cannot meet demand, which primarily comes from the Hwange Power Station (HPS) and Kariba Power Station (KPS). According to Mugabe, it’s because those pesky international sanctions scare away potential investors and are a covert cover for the return of the colonialist British. So, in the meantime, what to do to meet the energy shortfall? Why, import electricity from neighboring Mozambique, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here too the bankruptcy of ZANU-PF policies is evident, as last month Mozambique’s government threatened to shut off electricity exports from its Hydro Cabora Bassa [...]
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