Free Republic

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An extract of green tea wards off colorectal cancer, animal experiments show. According to research reported at the Sixth International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, a standardized green tea polyphenol preparation (Polyphenon E) limits the growth of colorectal tumors in rats treated with a substance that causes the cancer. "Our findings show that rats fed a diet containing Polyphenon E are less than half as likely to develop colon cancer," Dr. Hang Xiao, from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey,...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - For lovers of boiled peanuts, there's some good news from the health front. A new study by a group of Huntsville researchers found that boiled peanuts bring out up to four times more chemicals that help protect against disease than raw, dry or oil-roasted nuts. Lloyd Walker, chair of Alabama A&M University's Department of Food and Animal Sciences who co-authored the study, said these phytochemicals have antioxidant qualities that protect cells against the risk of degenerative diseases, including cancers, diabetes and heart disease. "Boiling is a better method of preparing peanuts in order to preserve these phytochemicals,"...

Gov. Schwarzenegger recently escalated a battle of words with federal officials over how to manage the remaining wilderness areas in Southern California's national forests. In an August letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Schwarzenegger accused the federal government of not doing enough to make sure wilderness in the San Bernardino, Cleveland, Angeles and Los Padres national forests is protected from road construction. The state and environmental groups want more restrictions on forest roads than are outlined in new forest management plans, 10- to 15-year master plans for land use in the forests. Schwarzenegger charged the federal government with not...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2007 – Multinational Division Baghdad helicopter crews killed four armed insurgents yesterday in northwestern Baghdad. The team of two Apaches from 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, was providing area security for 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Infantry Regiment, troops when the unit came under small-arms fire. The encounter began when Apache pilots saw five insurgents with weapons maneuvering through alleyways. After being cleared by the ground unit, the Apache crews engaged the insurgents, killing four and wounding one. "(Insurgents) think they can engage coalition forces and escape, but they cannot outrun the deadly effects of our Apaches,"...

I will protect you, Sarkozy tells France as his flame burns again on last day of campaigning · Frontrunner talks tough on immigration and crime· Campaigning style will dominate runoff Angelique Chrisafis in Marseille Saturday April 21, 2007The Guardian(UK) On a stage facing a sea of tricolour flags stood a small figure in a pinstriped suit hailed as the greatest orator in France. Slicing the air with both hands and jabbing his finger, he waved his arms like an orchestra conductor, whipping the crowd into a frenzy as he promised a France that would no longer hate itself, that would...

Source: International Rice Research Institute Date: March 21, 2007 Protecting Rice: The Planet's Most Important Food Source Science Daily — An unprecedented new agreement --part of an aggressive move to safeguard the world's food production - aims to protect thousands of the world's unique rice varieties. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust announced the historic new agreement at a special dedication ceremony at IRRI's Genetic Resources Center, which houses more than 100,000 samples of rice, the biggest and most important such collection in the world. The funding agreement is expected to help conserve...

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2007 – Iraqi army and police forces worked together to provide security for the more than 6 million pilgrims traveling to Karbala to observe the Shiite ritual of Arbaeen, officials in Baghdad said today. Anti-Iraqi forces targeted the pilgrims, and they were successful in a number of cases, most notably with a car bomb that killed more than 100 pilgrims on March 6. Iraqi Brig. Gen. Kassim Atta al-Moussawi said during a news conference in Baghdad today that, all told, insurgents killed more than 150 pilgrims. Arbaeen marks the end of 40 days of mourning for...

A Soldier with the Iraqi Army’s 1st Strategic Infrastructure Brigade takes aim as his marksmanship instructor coaches him during a live-fire rifle training event at Forward Operating Base Gains Mills. KIRKUK -- Iraq’s economic future depends on producing, refining and selling its most valuable natural resource, oil. As such, Iraq’s most valuable human resource is arguably the Soldiers who protect that oil. The Iraqi Army’s 1st  Strategic Infrastructure Brigade ensures that both crude and refined oil flows through critical pipeline infrastructure in the northern Kirkuk Province of Iraq, and military transition team Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division’s 3rd Infantry...

Iraqi police officers practice firing their weapons under the watchful eyes of Iraqi police liaison officers and law enforcement officers from the United States during training at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Feb. 1 -10. U.S. Army photo by Maj. Eric Verzola Iraqi Police Train to Lead, Protect Course helps officers maintain proficiency in common-core and police-specific tasks. By Maj. Eric Verzola 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) 25th Infantry Division KALSU, Iraq, Feb. 15, 2007 -- Iraqi policemen from the Babil and Karbala provinces took a big step on the journey towards Provincial Iraqi Control on Feb. 10. "The...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2007 – More than 600 Texas National Guardsmen were activated by the state’s governor Jan. 22 to support a surge operation targeting crime and international drug and human trafficking along the state’s 1,200-mile border with Mexico. The soldiers are activated in support of Operation Wrangler, an interagency law enforcement operation that involves 6,800 federal, state and local officials, according to a release by Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s office. These soldiers are in addition to the 1,700 Texas Guardsmen federally activated in support Operation Jump Start, a beef-up of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border aimed...

The U.S. Coast Guard has scuttled a plan to fire live ammunition into Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes following a tidal wave of protest from environmental groups and others. But the plan is not dead. A Coast Guard spokesman said Monday that officials would re-examine the proposal and look into other ways to allow live-fire training on and off the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard wanted to establish 34 zones on the Great Lakes, four on Lake Erie, where crews could practice machine gun firing two or three times a year, for two to six hours at a...

Cats and dogs protect kids from stomach bugs 11:43 15 September 2006 NewScientist.com news service Matt Kaplan Pets can protect their young owners against common stomach bugs, according to new research. Jane Heyworth at the University of Western Australia in Crawley, and colleagues found that incidences of gastroenteritis – commonly called stomach flu – were significantly lower in young children living in homes with pets, than those living without. For six weeks, the team closely observed 965 children aged four to six, noting incidences of nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting. Children that had a cat or dog in their household were...

A network of reserves to protect California's rich array of marine wildlife moved closer to becoming a reality on Tuesday after a state panel selected a plan to put large swaths of coastal waters off-limits to fishing. The Fish and Game Commission voted at a packed meeting in Monterey to ban both commercial and recreational fishing across more than 200 square miles between Santa Barbara and Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco. The plan still must undergo a final environmental review before it goes into effect. The new protected areas likely would not become official until at least...

Back in the 1970s, it was a major event when a Mexican cow would wander on to the Palominas border-front ranch of Jack Ladd and his son, John. But after tightened border security in San Diego and El Paso began to funnel illegal immigration though Arizona in the early 1990s, holes began to appear more regularly along the 10 miles of barbed-wire fence separating the ranch from Mexico. The holes, cut by individual migrants or blasted out by fence-crashing vehicles, also created an easy passageway for cattle. So, in an effort to keep Mexican cows out and their own cows...

Uncovered: Many Errors by Election Clerks Protect Marriage Illinois and the Illinois Family Institute recently filed a complaint in Federal Court to protect the rights of Illinois citizens who have, in good faith, petitioned their government for a Marriage Protection Referendum to be placed on the Illinois General Election ballot on November 7, 2006. Background For the past three weeks PMI, IFI and dozens of good hearted volunteers have been analyzing thousands of signatures -- signatures that were "invalidated" by various Illinois Election Authorities (Boards of Election in Chicago, Cook, DuPage, Stark and others) in a random sample of PMI's...

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2006 – A nonprofit group founded and organized by a U.S. Navy veteran is protecting troops on the front lines against severe head trauma by mobilizing citizens to support deployed servicemembers. Operation Helmet, led by Dr. Robert Meaders, a former naval flight surgeon, ophthalmologist and dive master, has been providing Kevlar helmet upgrade kits to troops since February 2004, and today the America Supports You member has provided nearly 4,800 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines with the kits. "My grandson, a Marine combat engineer at the time, was told by a gunnery sergeant during training for...

Iraqi, U.S. Troops Team up to Protect Pipelines Bastogne soldiers of 101st Airborne Division train Iraqi battalion to guard oil pipelines. By Capt. Lyn Graves 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment KIRKUK, Iraq, April 11, 2006 — The Iraqi Strategic Infrastructure Battalion soldier stands on top of a liquid gold mine. That is, he stands atop six percent of the world’s known oil reserve, deep beneath the sands of northern Iraq, in and around Kirkuk. "This is very different, so it will take us time to adapt and to learn this new way; but, this new way is better, more...

Red smoke simulates an explosion as Iraqi Center for Dignitary Protection officers practice motorcade ambush drills in Baghdad, March 29, 2006. Multinational Security Transition Command—Iraq photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class John J. Pistone Coalition Trains Iraqi Police to Protect Leaders Although the Iraqi police officers are training to protect their country's leaders,they believe they are also training to protect the future of Iraq. By U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class John J. Pistone Multinational Security Transition Command—Iraq BAGHDAD, April 10, 2006 — On a small base in Baghdad a group of men are training to be...

Lt. Chris Linto explains to fellow firefighter Brad West some of the modern advantages of the companyÂ’s new fire truck outside their headquarters at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, April 2, 2006. Forward Operating Base Kalsu is one of 18 bases in Iraq that has a fire company. U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Adhana Townsell Firefighters Stand Ready to Protect Soldiers Of the 12 firefighters at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, four members are prior military and previously worked in the United States on military crash crews. By U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Adhana Townsell Special Troops Battalion 2nd Brigade...

Turkey's foreign minister asks the EU for blasphemy laws to protect Islam By David Rennie in Brussels (Filed: 13/03/2006) Deep divisions have appeared among European union governments over suggestions that they should alter their blasphemy laws to protect Islam, and not just Christianity. Abdullah Gul, the Turkish foreign minister, sparked disagreement among his EU counterparts at a weekend meeting in Austria, when he called for European nations to review existing laws, to ensure they outlawed the "defamation" of all religions. Mr Gul told a meeting of EU and Balkan foreign ministers in Salzburg that many Muslims believed that European laws...