Cancer, they already control our health
The ties that bind even apparent in Cancer Research
By Weaving Spiders Come Not Here Wednesday, December 30, 2009
American Association for Cancer Research
Sherry L. Lansing is a director at the American Association for Cancer Research, a director at the Friends of Cancer Research, an advocate at Stand up to Cancer, a member of the Horatio Alger Association, and a director, lifetime director at Teach for America.
Note: Henry A. Kissinger is a member of the Horatio Alger Association, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Lawrence H. Summers is a director at Teach for America, the National Economic Council chairman for the Barack Obama administration, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Mayer Brown is the lobby firm for the American Association for Cancer Research.
Note: Robert A. Helman is a partner at Mayer Brown, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Thomas E. Donilon is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the White House deputy national security adviser for theBarack Obama administration, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
James A. Johnson is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
James D. Wolfensohn is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
John R. Schmidt is a partner at Mayer Brown, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was Mayor Richard M. Daley’s chief of staff.
Richard M. Daley is the Chicago (IL) mayor, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and his brother is William M. Daley.
William M. Daley is Richard M. Daley’s brother, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (think tank).
James A. Johnson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
American Cancer Society
Harold P. Freeman is a director-at-large, director for the American Cancer Society, and a trustee at Howard University.
Note: Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a trustee at Howard University, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
American Cancer Society Foundation
Richard C. Blum is a trustee at the American Cancer Society Foundation, his wife is senator Dianne Feinstein and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Note: Thomas E. Donilon is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the White House deputy national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
James A. Johnson is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
James D. Wolfensohn is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Robert J. Brown is the vice chairman of the American Cancer Society Foundation, a member of the Horatio Alger Association, and a trustee at the National Urban League (think tank).
Note: Henry A. Kissinger is a member of the Horatio Alger Association, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. was the president of the National Urban League (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Reginald E. Davis is a trustee at the American Cancer Society Foundation, and a director at Malaria No More.
Note: Richard C. Holbrooke is a director at Malaria No More, a special envoy to Afghanistan, Pakistan for the Barack Obama administration, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
John A. DiBiaggio is a trustee at the American Cancer Society Foundation, and a trustee at the Institute of International Education.
Note: Henry A. Kissinger is a trustee at the Institute of International Education, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Karen L. Katen is a trustee at the American Cancer Society Foundation, a director at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (think tank), and a director at Catalyst (think tank).
Note: David Rockefeller is a director at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (think tank), a director at the American Friends ofBilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ann Dibble Jordan is a director at Catalyst (think tank), and her husband is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is married to Ann Dibble Jordan, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderbergconference participant (think tank).
Valerie B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan’s great niece, and the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration.
CEO Roundtable on Cancer
William C. Weldon is the chairman at the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a corporate fund board member at the Kennedy Center, and a director at the U.S.-China Business Council.
Note: James A. Johnson is the chairman emeritus at the Kennedy Center, a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).  
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a corporate fund board member at the Kennedy Center, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
James D. Wolfensohn is the chairman emeritus at the Kennedy Center, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
William M. Daley is a director at the U.S.-China Business Council, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a member of theCouncil on Foreign Relations (think tank).
James A. Johnson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Children’s Cancer & Blood Foundation
Ted Turner is an honoree at the Children’s Cancer & Blood Foundation, and a co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
Note: Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at Nuclear Threat Initiative, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Friends of Cancer Research
Deborah I. Dingell is a director at the Friends of Cancer Research, and a member of the Economic Club of Washington.
Note: Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is the president of the Economic Club of Washington, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Sherry L. Lansing is a director at the Friends of Cancer Research, a director at the American Association for Cancer Research, an advocate for Stand up to Cancer, a member of the Horatio Alger Association, and a director, lifetime director at Teach for America.
Note: Henry A. Kissinger is a member of the Horatio Alger Association, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Lawrence H. Summers is a director at Teach for America, the National Economic Council chairman for the Barack Obama administration, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Mayer Brown is the lobby firm for Friends of Cancer Research.
Note: Robert A. Helman is a partner at Mayer Brown, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Thomas E. Donilon is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the White House deputy national security adviser for theBarack Obama administration, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
James A. Johnson is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
James D. Wolfensohn is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
John R. Schmidt is a partner at Mayer Brown, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was Mayor Richard M. Daley’s chief of staff.
Richard M. Daley is the Chicago (IL) mayor, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and his brother is William M. Daley.
William M. Daley is Richard M. Daley’s brother, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (think tank).
James A. Johnson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
G&P Foundation for Cancer Research
Star Jones is a director at the G&P Foundation for Cancer Research, and a trustee at the National Urban League.
Note: Vernon E. Jordan Jr. was the president of the National Urban League (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Ann Dibble Jordan is an overseer at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and her husband is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
National Cancer Advisory Board
Howard K. Koh is a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board, the assistant HHS secretary for the Barack Obama administration, and his brother is Harold H. Koh.
Note: Harold H. Koh is Howard K. Koh’s brother, the State Department legal adviser for the Barack Obama administration, a director at theNational Democratic Institute (think tank), was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and an overseer at Harvard University.
James D. Wolfensohn is a director at the National Democratic Institute (think tank), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Thomas E. Donilon is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the White House deputy national security adviser for theBarack Obama administration, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
James A. Johnson is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
David Rockefeller is a benefactor at Harvard University, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderbergconference participant (think tank).
National Prostate Cancer Coalition
Wesley S. Williams Jr. is a chairman National Prostate Cancer Coalition, and a member of the  Economic Club of Washington.
Note: Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is the president of the Economic Club of Washington, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention
Harold P. Freeman is the president of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention a director, director-at-large at the American Cancer Society, and a trustee at Howard University.
Note: Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a trustee at Howard University, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Stand up to Cancer
Michael R. Bloomberg is a donor at Stand up to Cancer, and his companion is Diana L. Taylor.
Note: Diana L. Taylor is Michael R. Bloomberg’s companion, and is the managing director at the Wolfensohn & Company, LLC.
James D. Wolfensohn is the chairman of Wolfensohn & Company, LLC., a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
CFP Tools
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Is Web of Debt being censored at Amazon.com?
Is Web of Debt being censored at Amazon.com?
For OpEdNews: Ann Kramer
Is Web of Debt being Censored ?
Yesterday I went to Amazon.com to purchase a copy of Ellen Brown's book, Web of Debt. I already own a copy but wanted to send one to a friend. Lo and behold, when I got there, I found this message:
Item Under Review
While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!)
We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
Web of Debt (www.webofdebt.com) has been selling through Amazon for at least two years now (I know because that's when I bought my first copy!) so why suddenly is there something wrong and its come under review?
Web of Debt is a powerful expose of the world's financial systems and you might have noticed that the world's financial systems are coming under tremendous scrutiny right now. Could it be that Ellen's book is being censored because it exposes a truth that the world's financial system would rather not have divulged? Are they putting pressure on Amazon.com to block its sale? The book is only available through online purchase at Amazon.com so when they put it "under review"--it has a tremendous censoring impact for us all.
I don't know the answer to these questions. But I do know that more and more people are becoming aware of how flawed the financial systems are. Web of Debt does a fantastic job of educating people on how these systems were designed and how the flaws could be corrected. With this knowledge, many different groups are discussing how the financial system could be changed. From Ron Paul's call for auditing the Federal Reserve to the rise of discussions about public banking/State banks and even countries like Latvia, Iceland and Greece rejecting the IMFs control over them, obviously a large number of people have become educated and are emerging as a force for change.
That's why I have to ask, "Is Web of Debt being censored" as a way to stifle this potential change? I don't know but I would ask you to write Amazon.com and ask them what's going on.
Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=518316&type=email&skip=true
Another option--post a review/comment on the Web of Debt Amazon page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Web-Debt-Shocking-Truth-System/dp/0979560829/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236784976&sr=8-1
And then pass this on to other folks you know to also write Amazon.com and ask that Amazon.com resume sales of a very important book that should not be censored!
Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Is Web of Debt being censored?
Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers
I'm a Licensed counselor working in OR. I teach clients to build lives based in self-responsibility using a universal model called the Life Puzzle. Its practical, tangible and fills in much of the missing information we never learn in schools. It is (more...)
For OpEdNews: Ann Kramer
Is Web of Debt being Censored ?
Yesterday I went to Amazon.com to purchase a copy of Ellen Brown's book, Web of Debt. I already own a copy but wanted to send one to a friend. Lo and behold, when I got there, I found this message:
Item Under Review
While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!)
We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
Web of Debt (www.webofdebt.com) has been selling through Amazon for at least two years now (I know because that's when I bought my first copy!) so why suddenly is there something wrong and its come under review?
Web of Debt is a powerful expose of the world's financial systems and you might have noticed that the world's financial systems are coming under tremendous scrutiny right now. Could it be that Ellen's book is being censored because it exposes a truth that the world's financial system would rather not have divulged? Are they putting pressure on Amazon.com to block its sale? The book is only available through online purchase at Amazon.com so when they put it "under review"--it has a tremendous censoring impact for us all.
I don't know the answer to these questions. But I do know that more and more people are becoming aware of how flawed the financial systems are. Web of Debt does a fantastic job of educating people on how these systems were designed and how the flaws could be corrected. With this knowledge, many different groups are discussing how the financial system could be changed. From Ron Paul's call for auditing the Federal Reserve to the rise of discussions about public banking/State banks and even countries like Latvia, Iceland and Greece rejecting the IMFs control over them, obviously a large number of people have become educated and are emerging as a force for change.
That's why I have to ask, "Is Web of Debt being censored" as a way to stifle this potential change? I don't know but I would ask you to write Amazon.com and ask them what's going on.
Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=518316&type=email&skip=true
Another option--post a review/comment on the Web of Debt Amazon page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Web-Debt-Shocking-Truth-System/dp/0979560829/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236784976&sr=8-1
And then pass this on to other folks you know to also write Amazon.com and ask that Amazon.com resume sales of a very important book that should not be censored!
Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Is Web of Debt being censored?
Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers
I'm a Licensed counselor working in OR. I teach clients to build lives based in self-responsibility using a universal model called the Life Puzzle. Its practical, tangible and fills in much of the missing information we never learn in schools. It is (more...)
National Irish Bank Moves to Cashless Banking
National Irish Bank Moves to Cashless Banking
Cryptogon
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
What if you want more cash than whatever pissant amount they allow you to remove from the ATM each day? Oh, I almost forgot, only criminals need that much cash.
Via: Irish Times:
IT MIGHT sound like a contradiction in terms, but for the first time one of the main Irish consumer banks is moving to cashless banking in all its branches.
National Irish Bank has written to thousands of its customers this month informing them of a “new style of banking” in which branches will not handle over-the-counter cash transactions.
The letter says branches will no longer handle cash withdrawals and lodgements, night safe lodgements and foreign currency cash. Branches will continue to lodge cheques, drafts and postal orders and issue drafts.
Customers are advised to obtain cash from “ATMs nationwide” or to seek “cash-back” on their debit cards.
A spokesman confirmed that cashless banking was being introduced across the entire NIB branch network over the next 18 months, and had already been introduced successfully in a number of branches.
Cryptogon
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
What if you want more cash than whatever pissant amount they allow you to remove from the ATM each day? Oh, I almost forgot, only criminals need that much cash.
Via: Irish Times:
IT MIGHT sound like a contradiction in terms, but for the first time one of the main Irish consumer banks is moving to cashless banking in all its branches.
National Irish Bank has written to thousands of its customers this month informing them of a “new style of banking” in which branches will not handle over-the-counter cash transactions.
The letter says branches will no longer handle cash withdrawals and lodgements, night safe lodgements and foreign currency cash. Branches will continue to lodge cheques, drafts and postal orders and issue drafts.
Customers are advised to obtain cash from “ATMs nationwide” or to seek “cash-back” on their debit cards.
A spokesman confirmed that cashless banking was being introduced across the entire NIB branch network over the next 18 months, and had already been introduced successfully in a number of branches.
Rare New Year's Eve 'blue moon' to ring in 2010
Email this Story
Dec 29, 3:37 PM (ET)
By ALICIA CHANG
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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.
A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.
"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the full moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.
The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.
However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.
Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
"'Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a 'hunter's moon' or a 'harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.
The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.
Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on. For purists, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a blue moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.
In a tongue-in-cheek essay posted on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm out celebrating, I'll take a peek at that brilliant orb as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."
Email this Story
Dec 29, 3:37 PM (ET)
By ALICIA CHANG
Google sponsored links
Hottest New Year Parties - Get Tickets And VIP Access To Top New Year Parties In San Francisco!
www.clubZone.com/NYE-San-Fra
New Moon at Bing™ - Get the Latest Information About Your Favorite Vampire Saga Today!
www.Bing.com
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.
A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.
"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the full moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.
The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.
However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.
Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
"'Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a 'hunter's moon' or a 'harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.
The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.
Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on. For purists, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a blue moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.
In a tongue-in-cheek essay posted on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm out celebrating, I'll take a peek at that brilliant orb as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."
Prostate cancer sufferers offered hope by molecule discovery
Prostate cancer sufferers offered hope by molecule discovery
Men suffering with currently incurable prostate cancer have been offered hope by the discovery of a molecule that apears to target the tumours.
Published: 8:00PM GMT 28 Dec 2009
The ''monoclonal'' antibody seems to act against the diseas in both its early and advanced stages.
As well as attacking the disease directly, it also helps the immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells.
Tests in mice showed that the antibody, known as F77, wiped out 85% of one type of highly aggressive prostate cancer.
Tumours allowed to grow to a large size were also dramatically reduced in volume.
Each year around 35,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 10,000 die from the disease.
Initially, spreading prostate cancer can be kept under control with therapies that prevent tumour growth being fuelled by androgen male hormones.
But eventually most prostate cancers stop being hormone-sensitive. Few treatment options are then possible and progress of the disease is rapid and lethal.
Up to 45% of patients with local prostate cancer relapse after curative treatments such as surgery and radiotherapy, and their disease begins to spread, or ''metastasise''.
The five-year survival rate for patients with metastatic prostate cancer is only 34%.
Although the new research is at a very early stage, it raises the prospect of an effective treatment for non-hormone-sensitive advanced prostate cancer for the first time.
Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the US scientists said the F77 antibody showed ''promising potential for diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, especially for androgen-independent metastatic prostate cancer''.
The researchers, led by Dr Mark Greene from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, pointed out that while antibodies were already being used to tackle other diseases such as lymphoma and breast cancer, those suitable for use against prostate cancer were rare.
Two under investigation were both ineffective against many advanced non-hormone-sensitive cancers.
F77 on the other hand targeted the most aggressive cancers and responded to those both sensitive and insensitive to male hormones.
Monoclonal antibodies (mABs) are copies of a single type of immune system protein that can be mass-produced in the laboratory.
Like natural antibodies produced in the body, they help identify and neutralise foreign invaders or other potential sources of danger such as cancer cells.
This is done by latching onto a specific ''enemy'' target molecule, or ''antigen''. In the case of F77, the target is a fatty sugar only found on prostate cancer cell surfaces called PCLA (prostate cancer lipid antigen).
The US scientists found that on its own, F77 induced a degree of ''apoptosis'' - a natural process of cell suicide that helps keep rogue cells in check - in cancer cells.
More importantly, it amplified the immune system's ability to recognise and destroy the cancer.
The antibody was tested on laboratory mice injected with highly aggressive non-hormone responsive human prostate cancer cells known as PC3 cells.
The scientists wrote: ''PC3 tumour growth was completely suppressed in five of six mice in the mAB F77 treatment group.''
''Control'' mice injected with PC3 cells but not treated with F77 all developed tumours that grew to a large size within a month.
Another type of prostate cancer cell, called Du145, was used to study the effect of the antibody on already well-established tumours.
A ''significant reduction'' in tumour growth rate was seen in mice injected with F77. After 10 days, the average size of tumours in treated mice had grown from 30 cubic millimetres to 79.7 cubic millimetres.
In untreated mice they grew to 195.8 cubic millimetres.
Dr Sarah Cant, head of policy and campaigns at The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: ''The researchers behind this early-stage study have identified an antibody that seeks prostate cancer cells and aids their destruction, when grown in the laboratory. The antibody was also capable of inhibiting tumour growth in mice.
''What is potentially significant about this study is that the antibody targets both hormone-sensitive and hormone-insensitive prostate cancer. Many men with advanced prostate cancer, where the disease has spread beyond the prostate gland, are treated with hormone therapy, a treatment to which they can become 'resistant'.
''The study could possibly yield interesting developments, either as a new way of diagnosing prostate cancer, or as a new therapy that could be used to treat early and late stages of the disease, perhaps even when it has spread to the bone.
''It is hoped that the development of this type of therapy will be more specifically targeted than current treatments, meaning that it could be more effective and lead to fewer side-effects.
''An example of this type of therapy that is in current clinical practice is Herceptin for breast cancer. ''We need to remember that this is very early stage research that has only been carried out in cells grown in the laboratory and in mice. Any potential therapy would need to undergo more refinement, and large-scale clinical trials would be needed before it could be proven that this is safe and effective to treat prostate cancer in men. However, the development of any new, targeted treatments or diagnostics is to be welcomed. We will be following the development of this research with interest.''
Men suffering with currently incurable prostate cancer have been offered hope by the discovery of a molecule that apears to target the tumours.
Published: 8:00PM GMT 28 Dec 2009
The ''monoclonal'' antibody seems to act against the diseas in both its early and advanced stages.
As well as attacking the disease directly, it also helps the immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells.
Tests in mice showed that the antibody, known as F77, wiped out 85% of one type of highly aggressive prostate cancer.
Tumours allowed to grow to a large size were also dramatically reduced in volume.
Each year around 35,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 10,000 die from the disease.
Initially, spreading prostate cancer can be kept under control with therapies that prevent tumour growth being fuelled by androgen male hormones.
But eventually most prostate cancers stop being hormone-sensitive. Few treatment options are then possible and progress of the disease is rapid and lethal.
Up to 45% of patients with local prostate cancer relapse after curative treatments such as surgery and radiotherapy, and their disease begins to spread, or ''metastasise''.
The five-year survival rate for patients with metastatic prostate cancer is only 34%.
Although the new research is at a very early stage, it raises the prospect of an effective treatment for non-hormone-sensitive advanced prostate cancer for the first time.
Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the US scientists said the F77 antibody showed ''promising potential for diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, especially for androgen-independent metastatic prostate cancer''.
The researchers, led by Dr Mark Greene from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, pointed out that while antibodies were already being used to tackle other diseases such as lymphoma and breast cancer, those suitable for use against prostate cancer were rare.
Two under investigation were both ineffective against many advanced non-hormone-sensitive cancers.
F77 on the other hand targeted the most aggressive cancers and responded to those both sensitive and insensitive to male hormones.
Monoclonal antibodies (mABs) are copies of a single type of immune system protein that can be mass-produced in the laboratory.
Like natural antibodies produced in the body, they help identify and neutralise foreign invaders or other potential sources of danger such as cancer cells.
This is done by latching onto a specific ''enemy'' target molecule, or ''antigen''. In the case of F77, the target is a fatty sugar only found on prostate cancer cell surfaces called PCLA (prostate cancer lipid antigen).
The US scientists found that on its own, F77 induced a degree of ''apoptosis'' - a natural process of cell suicide that helps keep rogue cells in check - in cancer cells.
More importantly, it amplified the immune system's ability to recognise and destroy the cancer.
The antibody was tested on laboratory mice injected with highly aggressive non-hormone responsive human prostate cancer cells known as PC3 cells.
The scientists wrote: ''PC3 tumour growth was completely suppressed in five of six mice in the mAB F77 treatment group.''
''Control'' mice injected with PC3 cells but not treated with F77 all developed tumours that grew to a large size within a month.
Another type of prostate cancer cell, called Du145, was used to study the effect of the antibody on already well-established tumours.
A ''significant reduction'' in tumour growth rate was seen in mice injected with F77. After 10 days, the average size of tumours in treated mice had grown from 30 cubic millimetres to 79.7 cubic millimetres.
In untreated mice they grew to 195.8 cubic millimetres.
Dr Sarah Cant, head of policy and campaigns at The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: ''The researchers behind this early-stage study have identified an antibody that seeks prostate cancer cells and aids their destruction, when grown in the laboratory. The antibody was also capable of inhibiting tumour growth in mice.
''What is potentially significant about this study is that the antibody targets both hormone-sensitive and hormone-insensitive prostate cancer. Many men with advanced prostate cancer, where the disease has spread beyond the prostate gland, are treated with hormone therapy, a treatment to which they can become 'resistant'.
''The study could possibly yield interesting developments, either as a new way of diagnosing prostate cancer, or as a new therapy that could be used to treat early and late stages of the disease, perhaps even when it has spread to the bone.
''It is hoped that the development of this type of therapy will be more specifically targeted than current treatments, meaning that it could be more effective and lead to fewer side-effects.
''An example of this type of therapy that is in current clinical practice is Herceptin for breast cancer. ''We need to remember that this is very early stage research that has only been carried out in cells grown in the laboratory and in mice. Any potential therapy would need to undergo more refinement, and large-scale clinical trials would be needed before it could be proven that this is safe and effective to treat prostate cancer in men. However, the development of any new, targeted treatments or diagnostics is to be welcomed. We will be following the development of this research with interest.''
WHO chief yet to be vaccinated against swine flu
WHO chief yet to be vaccinated against swine flu
(AFP) – 6 hours ago
GENEVA — World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan revealed Tuesday that she has yet to be vaccinated against the swine flu virus, which has killed over 11,500 people world-wide.
"I have asked my medical service to enquire where I can go to get my vaccination," she told reporters in Geneva, pointing out that she has just returned from leave.
The WHO director-general stressed that she would "of course" get vaccinated and that "many of my staff" at the WHO have already taken their jabs against the A(H1N1) virus
(AFP) – 6 hours ago
GENEVA — World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan revealed Tuesday that she has yet to be vaccinated against the swine flu virus, which has killed over 11,500 people world-wide.
"I have asked my medical service to enquire where I can go to get my vaccination," she told reporters in Geneva, pointing out that she has just returned from leave.
The WHO director-general stressed that she would "of course" get vaccinated and that "many of my staff" at the WHO have already taken their jabs against the A(H1N1) virus
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/12/brown_health_ca.html
Brown: Health care bill hurts Mass.
E-mail|Link|Comments (113) December 28, 2009 01:32 PM
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
State Senator Scott P. Brown blasted his Democratic rival in the US Senate race today for her support of a national health care plan that Brown says would raise taxes and fees on Massachusetts residents and businesses without providing any benefits.
"I could be the 41st senator that could stop the Obama proposal that's being pushed right now through Congress," Brown, the GOP nominee for US Senate, said at a news conference in the state Republican Party's headquarters in downtown Boston. "I could stop it and they could bring it back to the drawing board."
Brown's chief rival in the Jan. 19 special election is Attorney General Martha Coakley, who supports the bill that was approved last week by the US Senate.
"This bill offers a real solution to reduce these skyrocketing health care costs while reducing our long-term deficit," Coakley said in a statement when the bill passed. "For Scott Brown to suggest that we should do nothing and continue with the status quo is simply not acceptable."
Brown said this afternoon that everyone should have some form of health care coverage, but much of that should be done on state-by-state basis. And while he supports the landmark health care proposal that Massachusetts approved in 2006, he said, he doesn’t see any benefit to the Bay State that the federal legislation would provide.
"My primary responsibility is to ensure that the people of Massachusetts get the best value for their dollar," Brown said. "I'm not concerned about subsidizing South Dakota or North Dakota or Idaho or other states."
Health care is one of many issues that separate Brown and Coakley. A third candidate in the race, independent Joseph L. Kennedy, also opposes the national health care plan.
"This race is about differences. It's about very real differences between Martha and me," Brown said. "She's a nice woman, but she's wrong on the policies as they affect the average citizens in Massachusetts and their wallets and pocketbooks."
Brown also said he was filing legislation in Massachusetts to ease regulations on insurance companies, which he said have driven up costs. He said companies should not be required to cover so many different medical services, including in vitro fertilization.
Coakley's campaign this afternoon attacked the bill, saying it would allow the removal of mandated insurance coverage for things such as mammograms, minimum maternity stays for new mothers, and hospice care for seniors.
"Scott Brown's apparent solution to controlling health care costs is to cut coverage for consumers and raise profits for insurers," Coakley's campaign manager, Kevin Conroy, said in a statement. "Martha Coakley understands that the solution to health care is expanding coverage, increasing transparency, and reducing health care costs for all."
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
Brown: Health care bill hurts Mass.
E-mail|Link|Comments (113) December 28, 2009 01:32 PM
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
State Senator Scott P. Brown blasted his Democratic rival in the US Senate race today for her support of a national health care plan that Brown says would raise taxes and fees on Massachusetts residents and businesses without providing any benefits.
"I could be the 41st senator that could stop the Obama proposal that's being pushed right now through Congress," Brown, the GOP nominee for US Senate, said at a news conference in the state Republican Party's headquarters in downtown Boston. "I could stop it and they could bring it back to the drawing board."
Brown's chief rival in the Jan. 19 special election is Attorney General Martha Coakley, who supports the bill that was approved last week by the US Senate.
"This bill offers a real solution to reduce these skyrocketing health care costs while reducing our long-term deficit," Coakley said in a statement when the bill passed. "For Scott Brown to suggest that we should do nothing and continue with the status quo is simply not acceptable."
Brown said this afternoon that everyone should have some form of health care coverage, but much of that should be done on state-by-state basis. And while he supports the landmark health care proposal that Massachusetts approved in 2006, he said, he doesn’t see any benefit to the Bay State that the federal legislation would provide.
"My primary responsibility is to ensure that the people of Massachusetts get the best value for their dollar," Brown said. "I'm not concerned about subsidizing South Dakota or North Dakota or Idaho or other states."
Health care is one of many issues that separate Brown and Coakley. A third candidate in the race, independent Joseph L. Kennedy, also opposes the national health care plan.
"This race is about differences. It's about very real differences between Martha and me," Brown said. "She's a nice woman, but she's wrong on the policies as they affect the average citizens in Massachusetts and their wallets and pocketbooks."
Brown also said he was filing legislation in Massachusetts to ease regulations on insurance companies, which he said have driven up costs. He said companies should not be required to cover so many different medical services, including in vitro fertilization.
Coakley's campaign this afternoon attacked the bill, saying it would allow the removal of mandated insurance coverage for things such as mammograms, minimum maternity stays for new mothers, and hospice care for seniors.
"Scott Brown's apparent solution to controlling health care costs is to cut coverage for consumers and raise profits for insurers," Coakley's campaign manager, Kevin Conroy, said in a statement. "Martha Coakley understands that the solution to health care is expanding coverage, increasing transparency, and reducing health care costs for all."
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
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