News Au

There are currently more than 4000 confirmed cases of the fast-spreading chikungunya virus in the Caribbean, most of them in the French Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and St Martin. Another 31,000 suspected cases have been reported across the region of scattered islands.

The often painful illness, most commonly found in Asia and Africa, was first detected in December in tiny St Martin, the first time that local transmission of chikungunya had been reported in the Americas.    Continue reading “New virus gains foothold in Caribbean”

EWG

EWG publishes its annual rating of conventional foods with the most and least pesticide residues to fill the void left by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has largely failed to tell Americans they have a right to know about the risks of pesticide exposure and ways they can reduce pesticides in their diets.

The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 marked dramatic progress in the federal government’s efforts to protect Americans from dangerous pesticides. The landmark legislation, which EWG played a major role in pushing through Congress, required EPA to assess pesticides in light of their particular dangers to children and to ensure that pesticides posed a “reasonable certainty of no harm” to children or any other high-risk group. This law is credited with reducing the risks posed by pesticide residues on food. It forced American agribusiness to shift away from some of the riskiest pesticides. But worrisome chemicals are not completely out of the food supply. Residues of many hazardous pesticides are still detected on a handful of foods.    Continue reading “EWG’s 2014 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce”

AOL – by Mike Stobbe

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials on Friday confirmed the first case of an American infected with a mysterious Middle East virus. The man fell ill after arriving in the U.S. about a week ago from Saudi Arabia where he is a health care worker.

The man is hospitalized in Indiana with Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is investigating the case along with Indiana health officials.    Continue reading “CDC confirms first case of MERS virus in American”

operation clandestine foxCNN Money – by Jose Pagliery

Hackers have attacked the government agencies, defense contractors, energy companies and banks by exploiting the software flaw in Internet Explorer.

That’s according to FireEye (FEYE), the cybersecurity firm that revealed the software flaw last week. The company discovered that hackers took advantage of a bug in the Internet Explorer Web browser to secretly take control of computers.   Continue reading “Defense, energy, banks hit by Internet Explorer bug”

Bundy Ranch

Read by Ammon Bundy at the Clark County Sheriff Precinct, May 2, 2014

As we have had the opportunity to reflect on the events that took place between March 26th and April 12th, 2014-we have experienced feelings of concern, confusion, fear, anger, sadness and joy. 

Our peaceful community has been shaken. In many ways, we are still processing the magnitude of what took place. We ask ourselves so many questions; did the federal government really come into this valley and terrorize our community?
Continue reading “Bundy Family Update”

Anchorage Daily News – by SUZANNA CALDWELL AND TEGAN HANLON

The Alaska State Troopers say they have taken two men into custody in connection with the shooting deaths of two troopers in Tanana on Thursday.

Nathanial Lee Kangas, 19, of Tanana was arrested Thursday for the murders of Sgt. Patrick “Scott” Johnson and Trooper Gabriel “Gabe” Rich, according to a troopers release issued Friday morning. Formal charges are being prepared by the troopers with the help of the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals.   Continue reading “19-year-old arrested for killing two troopers in Tanana, Alaska; 2nd man charged after standoff”

The Weight Loss Industry Has Nothing to do with HealthNutritional Anarchy

The diet industry reached 61 BILLION dollars in 2013 in the United States alone, but people are fatter than ever.  Between magic pills, diet food, and commercial weight loss plans, the obesity epidemic is a HUGE business.

Despite all of the do-good advertising and the inspiring slogans, the secret is, the diet industry doesn’t actually want you to lose weight, at least not for the long term. A customer who fails to maintain weight loss ends up being a long-term customer, contributing to the business’s bottom line. Richard Samber, the former Finance Director for Weight Watchers, was questioned about the company’s 16 percent success rate after five years.  Get ready….he explained “that the business is successful ‘because the other 84 percent have to come back and do it again. That’s where your business comes from.’” (source)   Continue reading “The Weight Loss Industry Has Absolutely Nothing to do with Health”

(credit: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)CBS Philly – by Chris Stigall

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall spoke with comedian Rob Schneider on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the struggle comedians face in today’s current political environment.

Schneider struck on ominous tone when discussing the path he sees the country on.

“Democracies don’t end well. We are sliding very fast towards fascism. It’s an ugly kind of thing. There’s this kind of mob mentality that we have to be careful of,” he said.   Continue reading “Rob Schneider Tells Chris Stigall: We Are Sliding Very Fast Towards Fascism”

Independent – by Heather Saul

Scientists have developed an “off-switch” for the brain to effectively shut down neural activity using light pulses.

In 2005, Stanford scientist Karl Deisseroth discovered how to switch individual brain cells on and off by using light in a technique he dubbed ‘optogenetics’. Continue reading “Scientists have built an ‘off switch’ for the brain”

Campaign for Liberty – by Megan Stiles

The unemployment rate for April plunged to 6.3 percent after 800,000 people left the labor force. The government defines the unemployment rate as the number of people actively looking for work divided by the labor force (those currently working + those actively looking for work). From Bloomberg:   Continue reading “800,000 people leave workforce in April”