Days of Caution

Saturday, June 7, 2008

FDA: If You Use The Foot Ulcer Cream Regranex, You May Die From Cancer

Bad news from the FDA: people who treat their foot and leg ulcers with the cream Regranex are five-times more likely to die from cancer.

According to the AP, the agency will slap its 'most serious warning label' on all Regranex boxes.

The findings come from a long-term analysis of records from health care providers comparing 1,600 patients who took Regranex with 2,800 patients who did not, according to the FDA.
The new label, which is outlined in a black box, advises doctors to use caution when prescribing the drug to patients with malignancies.

Regranex is a man-made version of a substance produced by the human body that helps heal ulcers. Because the drug causes cells to divide more rapidly, the FDA said Johnson & Johnson closely monitored patients for reports of cancer, which spreads through uncontrolled cell division.
From the Consumerist

Beach bonfires may be banned In Seattle - They fuel global warming, parks department says

Seattle Parks and Recreation might do what even this week's chilly weather couldn't -- douse the long tradition of beach bonfires at Alki and at Golden Gardens.

Park department staff is recommending reducing bonfires at the two beaches this summer and possibly banning them altogether next year.

The park board will hear the recommendation Thursday, and the city plans to run public-service announcements and hand out brochures later this month about the effects of bonfires on global warming.

At Alki on Wednesday night, Linda Garcia, a 56-year- old West Seattle resident, walked her dog and made a slightly rose-colored argument for preserving her beloved bonfires. "It's so windy around here it probably doesn't pollute that much.

"They have to try to take everything away," she said.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Unemployment rate rose by the largest amount since February 1986.

The government reported the U.S. lost 49,000 jobs in May as the unemployment rate rose by the largest amount since February 1986.

The Labor Department reported the fifth consecutive month of declines in nonfarm payrolls. The decline was better-than-expected however, as economists had been expecting a 60,000 job decline for last month.

The unemployment rate, which is calculated separately by a survey of households, soared to 5.5% in May. Wall Street had only been expecting a slight rise to 5.1%. It's the highest the rate has been since October 2004.

More at Fox Buisness

Also - Dow Drops 400 Points On Unemployment News - from KNBC.com

And - Oil's biggest day yet drags down stocks - From AP

Mercury teeth fillings may harm some: FDA

Silver-colored metal dental fillings contain mercury that may cause health problems in pregnant women, children and fetuses, the Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday after settling a related lawsuit.

As part of the settlement with several consumer advocacy groups, the FDA agreed to alert consumers about the potential risks on its website and to issue a more specific rule next year for fillings that contain mercury, FDA spokeswoman Peper Long said.

Millions of Americans have the fillings, or amalgams, to patch cavities in their teeth.

"Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses," the FDA said in a notice on its Web site.

More at Yahoo News

In Japan, Cellphones Have Become Too Complex to Use

Steve Jobs' new iPhone, expected to be unveiled Monday, is headed to Japan by the end of the year. But the device's famed ease of use may actually be a turnoff in Japan, where consumers want features, not simplicity.  

Indeed, Japanese handsets have become prime examples of feature creep gone mad. In many cases, phones in Japan are far too complex for users to master.

"There are tons of buttons, and different combinations or lengths of time yield different results,'" says Koh Aoki, an engineer who lives in Tokyo.

Experimenting with different key combinations in search of new features is "good for killing time during a long commute," Aoki says, "but it's definitely not elegant."

Japan has long been famous for its advanced cellphones with sci-fi features like location tracking, mobile credit card payment and live TV. These handsets have been the envy of consumers in the United States, where cell technology has trailed an estimated five years or more. But while many phones would do Captain Kirk proud, most of the features are hard to use or not used at all.

Number of Alcohol Related Illnesses Doubled in the UK

Royal British Healthcare Organization claimed that in the UK the number of people, who have been treated from illnesses caused by alcohol consumption, has doubled during the last 10 years. As an average a British drinks an equivalent of 9.6 liters of pure alcohol per year, whereas even in Russian, the country which is supposed to be the most 'drinking' country in the world, the average number is 8.7 liters.

Last year healthcare institutions registered 280,000 people treating from alcohol related illnesses. This statistics included not only liver and kidney diseases, which are most common by the alcohol consuming people, but also injuries received when under the effect of alcohol.

Euthanasia tourists snap up pet shop drug in Mexico

Elderly foreign tourists are tapping Mexican pet shops for a drug used by veterinarians to put cats and dogs to sleep that has become the sedative of choice for euthanasia campaigners.

Tourists from as far as Australia have travelled to Mexico to buy liquid pentobarbital, which causes a painless death in humans in less than an hour, right-to-die advocates say.

Clutching photos of the bottled drug to overcome a lack of Spanish, they have maps sketched by euthanasia activists to locate back-street pet shops and veterinary supply stores near the US border. There they can buy a bottle for $35 to $50, enough for one suicide, no questions asked.

Used legally across the world to anesthetise and euthanise farm animals and pets, pentobarbital, sometimes known by the trade name Nembutal, is tightly restricted to veterinarians.

But lax regulation in Mexico means it can easily be bought.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Bilderbergers set to meet in D.C. - Secret confab source of global plotting theories

The annual secretive gathering of representatives from West European and North American countries, known as the Bilderberg Group, is scheduled to begin tomorrow in the Washington, D.C., area.

While the specific location is still a mystery to the general public, Sweden's Dagens Nyheter reports the conference is being held at the Westfields Marriott Hotel in Chantilly, Va., on the outskirts of the nation's capital.

The Bilderberg Group is an elite invitation-only conference of influential members of the business, media and political communities. Past attendees have included Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The group meets at luxury hotels and resorts throughout the world. Last year's conference was held at the Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul, Turkey. Every four years the conference is held in the U.S. or Canada. The group has an office in Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands.

Interesting note - The group is often linked to the start of a One World Government or New World Order, and is somewhat quite about their goings on. They don't even have their own website.

More at WorldNetDaily

Article on this strange and powerful group at Wikipedia

Teens' Nude Pics "Spread Like Wildfire"

Teenagers are increasingly snapping naked pictures of themselves on their cell phones, officials say, with the photos often falling into the wrong hands.

Sometimes the photos end up in everyone's hands, via the Internet.

"It used to be that kids would make mistakes, and it was local and singular and everyone knew it was part of growing up," said Catherine Davis, who had a frank talk with her two sons after several students' nude self-portraits recently spread through the wealthy New York City-area suburb of Westport, Connecticut. "Now a stupid adolescent mistake can take on major implications and go on their record for the rest of their lives."

Psychologists said the phenomenon reflects typical teenage hormones and lack of judgment, with technology multiplying the potential for mischief. It also may reflect a teenage penchant for exhibitionism, as demonstrated on MySpace and countless other Web sites and blogs.

More at CBS News - NOTE - Some info may be sensitive.

We've Reached another Milestone - BECAUSE OF YOU!

This blog and its sister blog GOOD PURE AND WONDERFUL has now reached a total of over 25,000 hits earlier today, with over 800 hits yesterday alone. We only got started in Feb. of this year, so while this is small potatoes compared to other sites, it still seems to be pretty good for us. Keep coming back, spread the blog with your friends, and I'll let you know when we reach our next big goal of 100,000. Thanks so much, it happened because of YOU!

Obama's Buddy Rezko convicted of corruption - Guilty on 16 Counts

A federal jury Wednesday convicted developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko of corruption charges for trading on his clout as a top adviser and fundraiser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Rezko's guilty verdict on 16 of 24 corruption counts could have broad repercussions for Blagojevich, who made Rezko a central player in his kitchen cabinet. It could also prove a political liability for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, who once counted Rezko as a friend and fundraiser, as the likely Democratic presidential nominee heads into the general election campaign against Republican John McCain.

"I'm saddened by today's verdict," Obama said Wednesday. "This isn't the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform. I encourage the General Assembly to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent these kinds of abuses in the future."

More at the LA Times

FAITH UNDER FIRE - Priest investigated for quoting Bible

A priest is being investigated as a potential criminal under a federal "hate crimes" law for quoting from the Bible, and he's being targeted using a Canadian provision under which no defendant ever has been acquitted, according to a new report.

Pete Vere, a canon lawyer and Catholic journalist, has reported on the prosecution of Father Alphonse de Valk, a pro-life activist known across Canada, by the Canadian Human Rights Commission – "a quasi-judicial investigative body with the power of the Canadian government behind it" – at CatholicExchange.com.

"What was Father de Valk's alleged 'hate act'?" Vere wrote.

"Father defended the [Catholic] Church's teaching on marriage during Canada's same-sex 'marriage' debate, quoting extensively from the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Pope John Paul II's encyclicals. Each of these documents contains official Catholic teaching. And like millions of other people throughout the world and the ages – many of whom are non-Catholics and non-Christians — Father believes that marriage is an exclusive union between a man and a woman," he wrote.

Water crisis to be biggest world risk

A catastrophic water shortage could prove an even bigger threat to mankind this century than soaring food prices and the relentless exhaustion of energy reserves, according to a panel of global experts at the Goldman Sachs "Top Five Risks" conference.

Nicholas (Lord) Stern, author of the Government's Stern Review on the economics of climate change, warned that underground aquifers could run dry at the same time as melting glaciers play havoc with fresh supplies of usable water.

A Goldman Sachs report said water was the "petroleum for the next century", offering huge rewards for investors who know how to play the infrastructure boom. The US alone needs up to $1,000bn (£500bn) in new piping and waste water plants by 2020.

"Demand for water continues to escalate at unsustainable rates. At the risk of being alarmist, we see parallels with Malthusian economics. Globally, water consumption is doubling every 20 years. By 2025, it is estimated that about one third of the global population will not have access to adequate drinking water," it said.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll

Sen. Barack Obama employed and continues to employ senior staffers who belong to the Nation of Islam, and the presidential candidate has some "worrying" ties to the controversial group headed by Louis Farrakhan, a former key Obama insider told WND.

The former insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed particular concerned that Obama employed at least two Nation members in his early days as a state senator, when his office was staffed by only a handful of workers.

"When you're a state senator, you have little money given to you to hire staff. It is ironic that two of Obama's employees in those days were known Nation of Islam activists when Obama employed perhaps a total of maybe three or four staffers," said the former insider.

The former insider confirmed Obama is directly aware of the Nation of Islam members on his staff.

More at WorldNetDaily

Also at WorldNet Daily - Nation of Islam to police Miami?
City pays mosque-based Muslim group $150,000 to patrol, promote civility

Your Taxes At Work - Polygamist case price tag: $7 million and Counting

Removing 460 children from a polygamist sect compound and then reuniting them with their families will cost Texas $7 million, according to the state Department of Family and Protective Services. The children were ordered returned to their families this week after the Texas Supreme Court found that the state did not have enough evidence to show that abuse was happening at the Yearning for Zion ranch near Eldorado.

The price tag includes costs from fighting a court battle to retain custody of the children, attempting to determine their parentage through DNA testing and reuniting the children with their parents.

The $7 million does not include more than $500,000 in estimated costs incurred by local governments whose law enforcement agencies were involved in the April 3 ranch raid, according to a budgetary presentation given to Texas lawmakers last month.

FLDS children were allowed to reunite with their families beginning Monday. Though the state Supreme Court upheld the ruling that the state had no right to seize the 460 children, the justices said that court oversight of the FLDS could be accomplished through other means.

More from CNN

Fluoride unsafe for dialysis patients? I'm not sure if it is safe for ANYBODY!

Fluoride may be harmful to people with chronic kidney disease, the National Kidney Foundation admits.

In a new report, the NKF acknowledged patients with chronic kidney disease should be warned that fluoride may pose an additional risk to their condition, but it has not issued a press release to spread the word. Daniel Stockin of the Lillie Center, Inc., a public health training firm that has works to end fluoridation, said the effects of fluoride can be detrimental, and it is imperative that the foundation take responsibility and distribute the new information.

"The kidneys try very hard to eliminate fluoride from the body, but in doing so the kidney tissue is exposed to concentrated amounts of toxic fluoride." he told WND. "Kidney patients must be told the whole story about fluoride. Fluoride is acknowledged to be slightly less toxic than arsenic and slightly more than lead."

WAIT A Minute!!! More toxic than lead but they add it to our drinking water? I quit drinking tap water years ago, and I try to get rid of all traces of toothpaste when I brush. More toxic than LEAD? Yipes!

Nearly all returned gadgets still work. Users only think they are broken

A STAGGERING 95 PER CENT of electronic goods which are taken back to the shop are not actually broken, according to consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture.

Apparently, when punters return their electronic gear as faulty, only five per cent are telling the truth.

Accenture believes that 68 per cent of returns are products that work properly but do not meet customers' expectations. They either thought it was broken or it didn't do what they thought it would do.

Accenture executive Terry Steger said that in 27 per cent of cases, customers woke up to the fact that they really did not want the electric gear in the first place and were trying to take it back.

It is staggering how difficult it is to operate some items. When will manufactures learn this? One reason the I-pod has been such a hit is that's its pretty easy to use.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

American Christians face 'hate crime' for preaching gospel

Two American-born pastors handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham, England, were threatened with arrest and warned of being beaten for committing what an officer called a "hate crime."

Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, were handing out the leaflets and talking with local youths when they were approached and questioned by a police community support officer, or PCSO.

When the officer discovered the two Birmingham pastors were born in the U.S., he began a heated criticism of President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cunningham explained that the gospel message was not linked to American foreign policy, but the officer reportedly became belligerent.

"He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message," Cunningham told the London Telegraph. "He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station."

Airlines May Start Treating Passengers `Like Freight'

Imagine two scales at the airline ticket counter, one for your bags and one for you. The price of a ticket depends upon the weight of both.

That may not be so far-fetched.

``You listen to the airline CEOs, and nothing is beyond their imagination,'' said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. ``They have already begun to think exotically. Nothing is not under the microscope.'' He declined to discuss what any individual airline might be contemplating, including charging passengers based on weight.

With fuel costs almost tripling since 2000, now accounting for as much as 40 percent of operating expenses at some carriers, according to the ATA, airlines are cutting costs and raising revenue in ways that once were unthinkable. U.S. Airways Group Inc. has eliminated snacks. Delta Air Lines Inc. is charging $25 for telephone reservations. AMR Corp.'s American Airlines last month became the first U.S. company to charge $15 for one checked bag.

Kids' Low Vitamin D Worries Doctors

The sunshine vitamin is in the spotlight again -- and this time the focus is on infants and toddlers. Many young children do not get enough vitamin D, one team of researchers said. And while experts agree on the problem, the solution is another matter.

In a study at Children's Hospital Boston, researchers found that 12 percent of infants and toddlers were deficient in vitamin D and 40 percent had below-optimal levels.

The findings, published in the June 2008 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, also showed that one-third of children who were deficient had changes in bone density seen on X-rays of the wrist and knee. A few even had signs of rickets, or softening of the bones caused by severe deficiency of vitamin D. Don't forget, vitamin D has also been found to be a big factor in preventing infection as well.

More from ABC News

America's Most Unhealthy Drinks Exposed

Whether you are on a hardcore diet trying to lose major pounds or just someone trying to stay in good shape, you should be aware that there are a lot of so called "healthy" drinks out there that will do you more harm than good. To help you steer clear of these devilish drinks, Men's Health has compiled a small list of 5 of some of the most unhealthy drinks. Would you believe the one in the picture is Number 5, not really because it is so bad, but because it is deceptive.

The drinks are at The Consumerist

Your Internet connection might start costing you a`whole lot more. Time Warner bandwidth caps arrive

Time Warner Cable will launch a trial program on Thursday which will impose monthly Internet consumption caps on new subscribers in Beaumont, Texas. Following a two-month grace period, cable users will pay $1 for each additional gigabyte consumed beyond the cap. Time Warner Cable's plan to test metered service was originally revealed to the public when an internal company memo was leaked in January and later confirmed by the company. The memo indicated that the results of the trial would be used to determine whether to roll out the bandwidth-capping plan to other regions.

The caps differ depending on the tier of service paid for by the consumer. The lowest level of service is a 768Kbps connection with a 5GB cap for $29.95 per month. The high-end package will offer 15MBps with a 40GB cap for $54.90 per month. Consumers will pay by the gigabyte for consumption in excess of the established caps. Customers will be able to see how much bandwidth they have left by visiting the Time Warner Cable web site.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Heavy Marijuana use shrinks brain parts: study

Long-term heavy use of marijuana may cause two important brain structures to shrink, Australian researchers said on Monday.

Brain scans showed the hippocampus and amygdala were smaller in men who were heavy marijuana users compared to nonusers, the researchers said. The men had smoked at least five marijuana cigarettes daily for on average 20 years.

The hippocampus regulates memory and emotion, while the amygdala plays a critical role in fear and aggression.

"These findings challenge the widespread perception of cannabis as having limited or no harmful effects on (the) brain and behavior," said Murat Yucel of ORYGEN Research Centre and the University of Melbourne, who led the study.

More from Yahoo and Reuters

Running on empty: With less in tank, more get stranded

With gas prices hovering at $4 a gallon, motorists are putting less fuel in their tanks -- then coming up empty on the highway.

Though national statistics on out-of-gas motorists don't exist, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that drivers unwilling or unable to fill 'er up are gambling by keeping their tanks extremely low on fuel.

In the Philadelphia area, where the average price for a gallon of regular broke $4 on Friday, calls from out-of-gas AAA members doubled between May 2007 and May 2008, from 81 to 161, the auto club reported.

"The number one reason is they can't stretch their money out from week to week," said Gary Siley, the AAA mobile technician.

More from CNN

The newly named Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish -- better known as Barack Obama?

The purification ceremony isn't an everyday ritual of U.S. presidential politics. The newly named Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish -- better known as Barack Obama -- faced east, the symbolic source of new life. His adopted Crow father, Hartford Black Eagle, prayed over him.

Afterward, they walked arm-in-arm with Black Eagle's wife, Mary, to a podium, where Obama promised to live up to the meaning of his new name: "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land." "I want you to know that I will never forget you," Obama told the crowd, who had not seen a visitor of such political importance since Lady Bird Johnson came to the Montana reservation in the 1960s. "You will be on my mind every day that I am in the White House."

In a tight Democratic race, American Indians living in poor conditions on isolated prairie reservations could have a pivotal voice in the selection of a presidential candidate. As a result, they're hearing a lot of promises from politicians: better health care, improved housing and stepped-up law enforcement in Indian country. Their votes could be decisive in the last two Democratic primaries -- the June 3 votes in Montana and South Dakota -- that Obama would very much like to win.

Remember he just left his Church too.

More at CNSNews.com

Also - Barack Obama Claims He’s Not Pro-Abortion Despite Overwhelming Record - From Lifenews

Parents to get youth drink guide in the U.K.

Parents are to be given guidelines on how much alcohol their children can safely consume, in a bid to encourage teenagers to drink more responsibly.

The government's youth alcohol action plan will crack down on off-licences which sell alcohol to under 18s and aim to reduce drinking in public.

Children Secretary Ed Balls says he thinks parents will welcome help to prevent youngsters from binge drinking.

But the Conservatives and Lib Dems say legislation will not solve the problem.

Under the plans, the government will consult with the UK's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, to provide parents with information on how much alcohol their children can safely be given, how often and at what age.

Since when did it become safe for children of any age to consume alcohol?

Your Tax Dollars Are Hard at Work - Kentucky, Ohio feud over A ROCK!

Every now and then I've got to bring you a story that is not full of gloom and doom, but still offers up a good dose of plain ole foolishness. Here is my question. Why are two perfectly good states, one that I live in, fighting over a rock in the middle of the Ohio River?

You would think that with the name Ohio River it would belong to Ohio, but if you live in Kentucky, then buddy think again. And now they are taking it to the courts? I hope this thing doesn't show up on E-Bay any time soon.

More from UPI

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Judge bans moment of silence in all public schools

A federal judge expanded the ban of a "moment of silence" in schools from just one district in the Northwest suburbs to schools statewide Thursday.

Judge Robert W. Gettleman indicated at a court hearing that he will issue a written order directing schools to stop enforcing a state law requiring a moment of silence at public schools, said Ronak Patel, an attorney for Dawn and Rob Sherman, the plaintiffs.

Did gospel of Judas show mislead millions?

More than two years after National Geographic released a book and aired a documentary about the gospel of Judas asserting that the biblical traitor really was a hero, an increasing number of scholars are now casting doubts on the controversial claim.

The latest criticism comes in the most recent issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education's magazine The Chronicle Review, where a lengthy 5,000-word story tells how the National Geographic project has divided longtime scholarly friends and co-workers, with dissenters saying the National Geographic team -- led by Marvin Meyer, a professor of religious studies at Chapman University -- mistranslated the gospel of Judas so badly that it ended up saying the opposite of what a proper translation would have rendered. The subhead on the story asks, "Did a 'dream team' of biblical scholars mislead millions?"

More from Baptist Press

City decides booze is better than church

The Planning and Zoning Commission of Yuma, Ariz., denied a use permit to a church because, in part, it worried that the church would cost the city liquor license money.

City staff informed the commission in a report that the church would not be "beneficial to overall economic health" of the area, a condition necessary for granting a conditional use permit (CUP).

Why not?

The staff report cited worries about parking and about lessoned tax revenue, but also warned that an Arizona statute forbidding liquor licenses within 300 feet of a church might prevent certain businesses from moving near the church's proposed new location.

"Churches should not be singled out for discrimination by a city's zoning restrictions," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione. "Prohibiting a church from occupying its own building simply because a city favors non-religious assemblies over religious assemblies is not allowed under the Constitution or federal law."

More from WorldNetDaily