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Men With Vitamin D Deficiency May Have Increased Risk Of Heart Attack ScienceDaily (Jun. 11, 2008) — Low levels of vitamin D appear to be associated with higher risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) in men, according to a new report. Studies have shown that the rates of cardiovascular disease-related deaths are increased at higher latitudes and during the winter months and are lower at high altitudes, according to background information in the article. "This pattern is consistent with an adverse effect of hypovitaminosis D [vitamin D deficiency], which is more prevalent at higher latitudes, during the winter and at...

Low Vitamin D Levels Appear Common In Healthy Children ScienceDaily (Jun. 6, 2008) — Many healthy infants and toddlers may have low levels of vitamin D, and about one-third of those appear to have some evidence of reduced bone mineral content on X-rays, according to a new report. Reports of a resurgence of vitamin D deficiency and rickets, the resulting bone-weakening disease, have emerged in several states, according to background information in the article. Vitamin D deficiency also appears to be high in other countries, including Greece, China, Canada and England. Catherine M. Gordon, M.D., M.Sc., and colleagues at Children's...

It wasn’t clear if Barack Obama knew exactly where he was Friday afternoon when he spoke at his mass rally at the BankAtlantic Center. He repeatedly used the term “Sunshine” as a place name rather than “Sunrise,” the city where the arena is located, including, "How’s it going Sunshine? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. It’s good to be in Sunshine." U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat who represents north and central Broward and is co-chairman of Obama's Florida campaign, said the candidate could have been speaking metaphorically about Florida’s sunshine. The opposition had a different view....

It wasn’t clear if Barack Obama knew exactly where he was Friday afternoon when he spoke at his mass rally at the BankAtlantic Center. He repeatedly used the term “Sunshine” as a place name rather than “Sunrise,” the city where the arena is located, including, "How’s it going Sunshine? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. It’s good to be in Sunshine." U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat who represents north and central Broward and is co-chairman of Obama's Florida campaign, said the candidate could have been speaking metaphorically about Florida’s sunshine.

Google Government : Government transparency is key to limited government Starlee Rhoades, Goldwater Institute Daily Email, March 19, 2008 It’s National Sunshine Week, whose goal – “a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information” -- is worth celebrating. The national trend towards “Google-government” -- having government spending, contracts, and other information posted online in easily searchable databases that are available to all citizens -- is one Arizona should embrace. In 100 Ideas for 100 Days the Goldwater Institute offered several ideas to legislators and other policymakers that would shine more sunlight on various government functions and...

A Ray Of Sunshine In The Fight Against Cancer: Vitamin D May HelpDalhousie's Dr. Lousie Parker holds a vitamin D pill. (Credit: Danny Abriel.) ScienceDaily (Feb. 13, 2008) — It sounds too good to be true … a little inexpensive pill that could block the development of some cancers, strengthen bones, prevent multiple sclerosis and alleviate winter depression. But it’s not science fiction. The “new aspirin” could be Vitamin D. Just as we discovered that aspirin can guard against heart disease, Vitamin D could become a useful weapon in the fight against MS, osteoporosis, mild depression and one of the...

Can Vitamin D Save Your Life?New studies highlight the importance of the forgotten vitamin. by Mariana Gosnell For years doctors believed that vitamin D, sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” because sunlight triggers the body to produce it, was important primarily in preventing rickets (a softening of the bones) in children. Once milk became fortified with vitamin D, rickets pretty much disappeared, and the problem of vitamin D deficiency seemed to have been solved. But according to Michael F. Holick, director of the Vitamin D, Skin, and Bone Research Laboratory at Boston University Medical Center, who has spent 30 years studying...

Optimism about North Korea is sadly misguidedBy Richard Halloran Sunday, Dec 16, 2007, Page 9 Once again, rosy optimism is billowing out of the Korean Peninsula. And once again, the rest of the world might remember that atop the regime in Pyongyang sit world-class thugs who have repeatedly refused to abide by their agreements. US President George W. Bush started off the latest surge of hope two weeks ago with a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, urging him in polite but firm terms to keep his pledge to abandon his nuclear weapons. Six years ago, Bush made...

By Elan Journo web posted October 29, 2007 Thanks to a new diplomatic deal, the nuclear stand-off with North Korea will allegedly end bloodlessly. In exchange for 950,000 tons of fuel oil, or its equivalent in economic aid and diplomatic concessions from the West, North Korea has promised to disclose all of its nuclear programs and disable all of its nuclear facilities. This new arrangement is being celebrated as a levelheaded, practical, win-win solution to the problem of the North Korean nuclear threat. But this deal, like all previous ones, rewards the North for its aggression and will strengthen...

Jurors today awarded News Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy and nine citizens a sweeping victory after a three-week trial that put 12 Knox Countians in judgment of their government. The jury ruled that Knox County commissioners violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act in setting in secret a specially called Jan. 31 meeting to replace 12 term-limited officeholders. The jury also opined the commission did nothing to rectify that violation. Jurors determined that commissioners decided in secret who would win all 12 of the term-limited seats left vacant after a Jan. 12 state Supreme Court ruling. In the run-up to the meeting...

It is 2057, and the Sun is failing, causing the Earth to enter an ice age. A spacecraft, the Icarus II, with a crew of eight, is launched as a last hope, carrying a massive bomb with a thermonuclear payload equivalent to the mass of Manhattan in order to re-ignite the Sun... (Wikipedia) No, I'm not reviewing the movie here. I haven't seen it and don't plan to see it. However, it seems to be getting some buzz so I thought I'd see if anyone else here wanted to comment on it. The movie was originally released in Europe, including...

Many babies born short of vitamin D Janet Raloff Even in the womb, babies face a high risk of vitamin D deficiency, a new study finds. The sunshine vitamin is a building block for a hormone that not only helps build bone and muscle, but also fights infections and many chronic diseases. Lisa M. Bodnar of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and her colleagues collected blood samples from 400 first-time moms early in their pregnancies and again at delivery. Half the women were black, and half were white. More than 90 percent of the participants took multivitamins—including...

The state campaign watchdog ruled Tuesday that candidates don't have to report electronic, installment-plan contributions until they have the money in hand. The Fair Political Practices Commission voted 5-0 to clarify its rules dealing with campaign contributions that are made electronically and in installments. The regulation amendments, which take effect in about 60 days, cover situations in which a contributor gives a campaign his or her credit card number but directs the candidate to charge the card in installments rather than in one lump sum. A commission spokesman, Jon Matthews, said the amendments "codified existing commission advice (to candidates) regarding...

JACKSON'S GAP, Ala. — Army Pfc. Joshua Stein grew up in the water, swimming, diving and spearfishing at his native island of Saipan in the Pacific Ocean. Now, however, Stein is learning to water-ski without his legs, which were blown off when a roadside bomb hit the Bradley fighting vehicle he was driving. With help, Stein straps his scarred body into a cradle fitted on a single, wide ski. Then, he grasps the tow rope with a right arm covered with skin grafts and rises out of the water, grinning and giving a thumbs-up with his mangled left arm, as...

WASHINGTON — In a new twist in this week's Capitol Hill whodunnit, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., acknowledged Thursday that he also placed a "secret hold" on legislation that would open up the hidden world of government contracts to public scrutiny. Byrd and Alaska Republican Ted Stevens, two of the most skilled purveyors of federal funds, used the parliamentary maneuver to stop legislation that would create a searchable database of some $2.5 trillion in federal spending.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, the bill would require the White House Office of Management and Budget to provide for the "operation of a single updated searchable database website accessible by the public at no cost" that would identify "each entity [e.g., corporations, associations, grantees, contractors and any state or locality] receiving federal funding" during fiscal years 2006 and 2007. The required information would include "an itemized breakdown of each transaction, including funding agency, program source and a description of the purpose of each funding action." By the beginning of 2009, the Web site would include comparable data for fiscal years...

Seoul Fears U.S. Could Brand N.Korea a Financial Pariah Seoul is urgently studying its options in case Washington designates North Korea a “primary money-laundering concern” under its Patriot Act, a move that would create enormous difficulties for anyone doing business with the country and could deal a blow to growing inter-Korean trade. Government sources on Tuesday said Seoul is focused on the possibility that following the designation in December, 2002 of the Ukraine and the small Pacific island of Nauru as areas of "primary money-laundering concern," North Korea could be next in line for such a designation. (The designation of...

SACRAMENTO - Two newspapers and a free speech group sued Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to obtain appointment calendars and other records that would show who met with two of his top aides while the governor was considering the fate of hundreds of bills last year. The lawsuit by the California First Amendment Coalition, the San Jose Mercury News and the San Diego Daily Transcript on Monday seeks to force Schwarzenegger to reveal whom from outside the governor's office met with, or spoke to, Patricia Clarey and Bonnie Reiss from Aug. 27 to Sept. 30, 2004. Clarey is Schwarzenegger's chief of staff...

Is it My Imagination , or Does “The Sunshine Project” Look a bit “Cloudy” on the Topic of Anthrax and other Bioweapons ? The following appeared on the “Conspiracy Theory” page of al-Jazeera today. It is credited to Edward Hammond, Director of The Sunshine Project: an Austin, Texas and Hamburg,Germany –based Non-Profit organization,said to be dedicated to the elimination of bio-terror. (What follows is an excerpt .) U.S. military to buy huge quantities of Anthrax- Director of the Sunshine Project 9/28/2005 9:14:00 AM GMT” “It has been revealed that the U.S. army plans to buy large quantities of Anthrax, raising...

This is one amazing woman. She takes the time to play piano for the sick grandaughter, Charity Sunshine, of Rep. Tom Lantos (D CA). Ms. Sunshine is a soprano that suffers from pulmonary hypertension, which can be fatal, and there is no cure."An Evening of Music, Friendship and Awareness" and hosted by Lantos, she drew the secretary of state to play selections by Verdi, Mozart and Jerome Kern. Read more HERE

Back in 1969, Frank Sharp sold dozens of Texas lawmakers on a stock fraud scheme that would fatten their pockets if they, in return, would pass a key piece of banking legislation for him. Federal prosecutors began handing down indictments two years later. By the time the dust settled in the infamous Sharpstown scandal, then-Gov. Preston Smith was named an unindicted co-conspirator, speaker of the Texas House Gus Mutscher Jr. and two associates were convicted of conspiracy to accept bribes, and half the Legislature was voted or forced out of office… Out of that scandal was born one of the...

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Face to face talks between North Korea's leader and a South Korean presidential envoy did not take place as expected in Pyongyang Tuesday after Kim Jong Il failed to appear for the meeting. Presidential envoy Lim Dong-won waited until late into Tuesday night in the North's capital, Pyongyang, for an expected meeting with Kim on the nuclear crisis, Reuters reported a Seoul official as saying. The reclusive leader never showed. "Lim Dong-won will return to Seoul without having a meeting with Kim Jong Il" said a South Korean Unification Ministry official. No reason was given for...