Vitamin C and the big ‘C’

 

By Natural News | June 7, 2012

Vitamin C can curb the growth of cancer cells according to New Zealand scientists, who provided hard evidence to the connection between the vitamin C and killing “the big C” (cancer).

Vitamin C kills cancer because cancer cells do not have the enzyme catalase to break down hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into water and oxygen. Vitamin C tricks cancer cells into thinking it’s sugar, so the cancer sucks it up. The result: the tumor is killed from the inside out by the resulting H2O2.

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Reuters
The federal government of Australia has granted a total of $652 million in National Health and Medical Research Council grants to boost and help build a progressive and healthier Australia.

Yet back in the good ole USA, the FDA halted a vitamin C cancer study last year “pending a determination as to the off-label status of intravenous ascorbic acid”. But that wasn’t enough as they further attempted to ban all production of IV ascorbic acid for the use of cancer treatment. Same story looking back to 1753 when James Lind showed how to prevent and cure scurvy, with citrus fruits containing vitamin C. Unfortunately, 100,000 British Navy sailors died of scurvy until all the old “experts” had died off and were replaced by new-thinkers.

New ideas, even lifesaving ones are typically ignored by the resident experts even after the ideas are proven correct.

What is vitamin C?

Ascorbic Acid, AKA vitamin C, is a water-soluble vitamin known for boosting the immune system. But vitamin C is also an antioxidant that has been linked to younger-looking skin, contributes to the health of teeth & gums, is required for production of collagen and enhances the absorption of iron, B-12, folic acid, B-6 and vitamin E. A mere 100 mg a day of vitamin C given to an infant can even prevent SIDS! (Not one baby in over 20 years, given “Klenner’s/Kalokerinos Ascorbate Therapy” is known to have died.)

How much vitamin C do we need?

Man does not make his own vitamin C and the RDA for an adult male is a meager 95 mg of vitamin C a day. That is insanely low when you consider that a 150 pound healthy mammal producing their own vitamin C will make up to 14,000 mg per day.

In a cancer battle the amount of oral vitamin C that is needed can be extreme. When the upper limit is reached it is accompanied by gas, bloating or loose stools. However, when vitamin C is given at a dosage below bowel tolerance, in a few days it can generally be brought up to a higher dose. Using bowel tolerance, start with 1,000 mg of vitamin C taken with each meal. A few days later, add 1,000 mg more to one meal making it 2,000 mg at one meal and 1,000 mg at the others. A few days later add an additional 1,000 mg to yet another meal and so on. Slow down on adding more vitamin C if you have gas, bloating or loose stools.

For high doses of oral supplement of vitamin C avoid the sodium and calcium C forms. Instead, look for ascorbic acid with rose hips or just plain ascorbic acid. Keep in mind that 90% of all the vitamin C now on the market in the USA is manufactured in China using GMO corn. Only buy corn free vitamin C to avoid GMO based vitamin C. For IV treatment you will need to find a naturopathic doctor in a state that allows IV vitamin C to be administered for cancer treatments.

Source  http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/349447/20120607/vitamin-c-big-ibtimesau-ibtimes-com-au.htm#.UQQGungSNXE

Expert warning: Resistance to antibiotics to be apocalyptic

 

January 25, 2013 by Lin Edwards in Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

—The chief medical officer for Britain’s Department of Health has issued a warning that resistance to bacteria is a more urgent threat to humanity than global warming, with bacteria becoming resistant to current antibiotics at an alarming rate, and there are almost no new antibiotics in the pipeline

Professor Dame Sally Davies spoke to British members of parliament on a science and technology committee and told them the increasing resistance of bacteria could soon make even a routine operation a deadly option because of the possibility of an infection that would have no effective treatment. She said that the real “apocalyptic scenario” was that within a couple of decades people will die from infections because we will have “run out of antibiotics” and there are no wonder drugs in the pipeline. She added that it is a serious global problem and antibiotics are not being used effectively. The development of antibiotics in the 1940s was one of the greatest advances in medicine, but they are becoming increasingly ineffective as bacteria become resistant to them. Prof. Davies said there is only one effective antibiotic left for gonorrhea and 80% of cases are resistant to tetracycline. Tuberculosis is becoming increasingly resistant and there are around 150,000 deaths globally from multi-antibiotic resistant tuberculosis each year. Staphylococcal and urinary tract infections are now resistant to penicillin, and MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) is increasingly prevalent, especially in health care facilities. Prof. Davies said there is “a broken market model” for the development of new antibiotics, which means there could be no new antibiotics in the future. The pharmaceutical industry is concentrating its efforts on more profitable treatments such as drugs for chronic diseases, which has led to a reduction in research aiming to find or develop new antibiotics. The World Health Organization has also warned of a coming post-antibiotic era in which common ailments cured by antibiotics will once again be fatal. Director-General Margaret Chan said a post-antibiotic era would mean even a common scratch or a strep throat could again lead to uncurable infections and death. In March, Prof. Davies will be releasing her annual report, which will include strategies to solve this global problem. She said it was a serious issue that needs to be tackled urgently, and will be asking the Cabinet Office to add it to the national risk register. She also urged doctors to be more cautious about how they prescribe antibiotics and patients to be more responsible in taking them (by taking the entire course when antibiotics are prescribed). © 2013 Medical Xpress

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-expert-resistance-antibiotics-apocalyptic.html#jCp

Bill O’Reilly: The US dollar will collapse

r  Follow ATS thread       reply posted on 21-1-2013 @ 12:21 PM by fockewulf190

Bill is right. Every single month, the Fed is creating $85 billion a month out of thin air, buying up worthless assets, monitizing our debts, and destroying by debasement, our currency. Every single day, the US sinks a further $5 billion in debt. Bill is also right that many citizens are not smart enough to understand what this means. The debt is the greatest national security threat the US faces, yet many Americans think about nothing else than the here and now, and also vote accordingly. Make no mistake about it, the vast majority of those living today are going to find out first hand how it is to live during brutally hard times….times that make today look like the good ol´days.

Fast Food Meat Scandal

What you are about to see in this video is truly shocking, It will make you think twice about McDonalds, I have explained in other posts about the Satanic origins of The Global Elite

These “Sons of Cain” Own the world and we are nothing more than puppets to them.

It is natural to dismiss such shocking news but I urge you all to do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

Fast Food Meat Scandal

New World Order, Satanic deception, The link

ATS thread   Satanic Zionist Elite Bloodlines Rule Us

Germany Takes Back Gold: US Dollar Collapsing

The dollar crisis, and America’s monetary collapse, has already begun.

Yesterday, Germany, Europe’s financial leader and owner of the world’s second-largest gold stockpile, demanded the United States’ Federal Reserve return over $200billion dollars’ worth of gold reserves to the German central bank. This rush for commodities, gold and precious metals in particular, are an indicator of a global loss of confidence in American fiat money, even despite its status as the world reserve currency. Public figures such as Ron Paul have correctly stated that people naturally move towards commodities such as gold and silver when confidence in a currency is lost; and Germany is no exception. But why is this happening?

The failure of the dollar can be linked to two major factors: debt, and inflation.

First and most importantly, government spending has skyrocketed since the 1960’s. Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” began a massive upswing in spending which continued throughout the decades, culminating in the pervasive welfare state we have currently. Entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are the largest items on the government’s budget, dwarfing even America’s unparalleled military spending. These insolvent programs are simply too massive to be feasibly paid for, even with the most regressive and confiscatory tax plan. But instead of reducing spending, the government decided to simply take on more debt.

US debt has reached unimaginable levels, eclipsing the nation’s entire GDP; and neither party seeks to reduce it. Democrats are particularly fond of merely raising the debt ceiling, in the name of “fiscal responsibility” – like trying to pay off credit card debt with another credit card. But there is another trick up their sleeve: monetization of debt.

Government will issue bonds, which are then bought by the Federal Reserve using newly printed money, and thus increasing the money supply. This increase in the money supply is inflation, and it waters down the value of a consumer’s dollar. Currently, inflation stands at 11% – a rate which reflects the dollar’s 98% loss in value since 1913. Besides rising prices for consumers, other signs of inflation are present, such as Congress’s scheme to model American currency on Zimbabwe’s by printing a so-called “trillion dollar coin.”

In response to this loss of value in American currency, individuals and governments have begun the scramble for commodities like gold, which are worth a great deal on the open market. Germany is the second nation to pull its reserves from American holding. It marks a lack of faith in America’s rapidly inflating currency, and the ability of the American government to pay its debts. The dollar is destined to be worth less than its paper, and only those with hard commodities will have real purchasing power.

Start saving your coins and jewelry, because the dollar, and the government which prints it, are destined for catastrophe.

Source

ATS  Germany Takes Back Gold: US Dollar Collapsing,

WHAT YOU HAVEN’T BEEN TOLD ABOUT THE USDA RECOMMEND ALLOWANCE FOR VITAMIN C:

Vitamin C – What You Don’t Know May Kill You AND Why The USDA is Wrong, page 1

ATS  by Julie Washington

The USDA recommended allowance is set at the level the body can tolerate over the counter supplements without getting diarrhea and barely enough to keep away infectious disease. 

A tolerable upper limit (UL) of vitamin C was set at 2 grams for the first time in the year 2000, referencing this mild laxative effect as the reason for establishing the UL.

… Stone and Pauling calculated, based on the diet of primates (similar to what our common ancestors are likely to have consumed when the gene mutated), that the optimum daily requirement of vitamin C is around 2,300 milligrams for a human requiring 2,500 kcal a day.

Pauling criticized the established US Recommended Daily Allowance, pointing out that it is based on the known quantities that will prevent acute scurvy but is not necessarily the dosage for optimal health.

…the doses required to achieve blood, tissue and body “saturation” are much larger than previously believed.

en.wikipedia.org…

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• When higher levels of Vitamin C are consumed it turns into a “healing therapy”.
• You need high doses to stay healthy.
• You need massive doses when stressed or sick.

A VITAMIN C DEFICIENY CAN CAUSE DEATH!

FOOD AND LIFE YEARBOOK 1939 – USDA:

“…when there is not a single outward symptom of trouble, a person may be in a state of vitamin C deficiency more dangerous than scurvy itself.

When such a condition is not detected, and continues uncorrected, the teeth and bones will be damaged, and what may be even more serious, the blood stream is weakened to the point where it can no longer resist or fight infections not so easily cured as scurvy.

It is true that without these infinitesimal amounts myriads of body processes would deteriorate and even come to a fatal halt.

Its neutralizing action on certain toxins, exotoxins, virus infections, endotoxins and histamine is in direct proportion to the amount of the lethal factor involved and the amount of ascorbic acid given.”

www.orthomed.com…

Yes, that read “vitamin C deficiency can be fatal”

“The number of bacteria that each white blood cell digests is directly related to the ascorbic acid content of the blood. This is one of the reasons why a lack of ascorbic acid in the body produces lowered resistance to infectious diseases.”

vitamincfoundation.org…

COMMON SIGNS OF VITAMIN C DEFICENCY:

Allergies to drugs, foods, plants
Anemia
Asthma
Brittle & painful bones
Cancer
Chronic infections
Decreased ability to ward off infection
Decreased pain tolerance
Decreased wound-healing rate
Depression
Dry and splitting hair
Ear Infections
Easy bruising
Failure to cope with stress
Fatigue
Gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) and bleeding gums
Hemorrhoids
Hernias
High Blood pressure
Muscle Spasms
Nosebleeds
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rough, dry, scaly skin
Senility
Stretch marks
Swollen and painful joints
Varicose Veins
Weakened tooth enamel and loose teeth
Weight Gain
Wrinkles
… and more

UNCOMMON SIGNS OF VITAMIN C DEFICENCY:

Guillain Barr Syndromes
Reyes Syndrome
Rheumatic Fever
Scarlett Fever
Disorders of the Blood

www.orthomed.com…

www.nlm.nih.gov…

www.umm.edu…

www.livestrong.com…

WHY YOU NEED LARGE DOSES OF VITAMIN C

Vitamin C is a cofactor in at least eight enzymatic (large molecules responsible for thousands of chemical interconversions that sustain life.

Reactions including collagen, which supports tendons, ligaments and skin, and is also abundant in cornea, cartilage, bone, blood vessels, the gut, and intervertebral disc.

… there are many tissues that maintain vitamin C concentrations far higher than in blood.

Biological tissues that accumulate over 100 times the level in blood plasma of vitamin C are the adrenal glands, pituitary, thymus, corpus luteum, and retina.[39]

Those with 10 to 50 times the concentration present in blood plasma include the brain, spleen, lung, testicle, lymph nodes, liver, thyroid, small intestinal mucosa, leukocytes, pancreas, kidney and salivary glands.

en.wikipedia.org…

YOUR BRAIN ON VITAMIN C:

Vitamin C is a vital antioxidant molecule in the brain. However, it also has a number of other important functions, participating as a co-factor in several enzyme reactions…

The highest concentrations of ascorbate in the body are found in the brain and neuroendocrine tissues such as adrenal, although the brain is the most difficult organ to deplete of ascorbate.

Combined with regional asymmetry in ascorbate distribution within different brain areas, these facts suggest an important role for ascorbate in the brain.

Ascorbate is proposed as a neuromodulator of glutamatergic, dopaminergic, cholinergic and GABAergic transmission and related behaviors.

Neurodegenerative diseases typically involve high levels of oxidative stress and thus ascorbate has been posited to have potential therapeutic roles against ischemic stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Huntingdon’s disease.

The functions of ascorbate in the CNS and brain are numerous. Essentially effecting neurotransmitters, dopamine and glutamate (learning and memory transmitters) cholinergic receptor (addictions).

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov…

BODY TISSUE THAT NEED HIGH LEVELS OF VIAMIN C:

Adrenal Glands – Release hormones in response to stress and affect kidney function.

Thyroid Glands – Controls how the body uses energy, makes protein and regulates metabolism.
The adrenal glands and the thyroid gland are the organs that have the greatest blood supply per gram of tissue. This may be one of the reasons lung cancer commonly metastasizes to the adrenals.

Pituitary – secretes nine hormones that regulate homeostasis that regulates PH, glucose, body temperature and the regulation of many bodily systems.

Thymus – Educates T-Cells which are critical to the immune system,

Corpus luteum – Involves the production of progesterone which is essential for establishing and maintaining pregnancy in females.

RETINA – We found that cells in the retina need to be ‘bathed’ in relatively high doses of vitamin C, inside and out, to function properly,” said Henrique von Gersdorff, Ph.D., a senior scientist at OHSU’s Vollum Institute and a co-author of the study. “Because the retina is part of the central nervous system, this suggests there’s likely an important role for vitamin C throughout our brains, to a degree we had not realized before.” (*1)

SPLEEN The spleen performs several important jobs such as preventing infection, destroying damaged blood cells and storing red blood cells and platelets. Certain vitamins play a role in keeping the spleen functioning properly. vitamin C helps your body to absorb iron, which reduces the chances of you developing anemia and an enlarged spleen. (*7)

reply posted on 10-1-2013 @ 01:54 PM by Julie Washington

LUNGS: Researchers conclude a high dietary intake of vitamin C or of foods rich in this vitamin may reduce the rate of loss of lung function in adults. This in turn may help to prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. More and more studies are finding dietary factors play a key role in lung function. In particular, there is evidence that individuals with a high intake of vitamin C, A, and E tend to have higher levels of lung function. (*2)

LIVER: Vincent Zannoni at the University of Michigan Medical School has shown that vitamin C protects the liver. Even doses as low as 500 milligrams daily helps prevent fatty buildup and cirrhosis. 5,000 mg of vitamin C per day appears to actually flush fats from the liver. (Ritter, M. “Study Says Vitamin C Could Cut Liver Damage,” Associated Press, October 11, 1986) And vitamin C over 50,000 mg/day (not a misprint) results in patients feeling better in just a few days, and actually eliminates jaundice in under a week. (*3)

THYROID: Researchers studied whether taking vitamin C along with levothyroxine medications (i.e., Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroid, etc.) could affect TSH levels. The results were quite surprising. The research showed that taking vitamin C along with levothyroxine reduced TSH levels substantially, by as much as 27%. (*4)

SMALL INTESTINE: There is compelling evidence suggesting an inverse relation between vitamin C intake and gastric cancer risk. Vitamin C is an important antioxidant and can react with nitrite, preventing the formation of N-nitroso compounds. (*5)

WHITE BLOOD CELLS/LEUCOCYTES: Cells of the body that fight against infectious disease and foreign materials. Evidence is accumulating that AA plays an important role in immunocompetence and in the antioxidant defense system. Recent reports link vitamin C status with lymphocyte blastogenesis, antibody response to viral antigens, and circulating levels of the immunemodulators complement Clq and interleukin-1. New data also demonstrate the importance of AA as a plasma antioxidant, and the in vitro measurement of the ascorbate free radical as a clinical index of oxygen radical attack has been suggested. (*6)

PANCREAS: Currently there are several studies showing promise in treating advanced pancreatic cancer with Vitamin C. The risk of pancreatic cancer declined significantly as intake of antioxidants increased among participants in a large case-control study. The magnitude of risk reduction varied by the quantity and types of antioxidants but reached a maximum of 67% in people who had the greatest intake of vitamins C and E and selenium.
The data suggested a threshold effect for selenium and a trend toward a threshold effect for vitamin E, as well as a significant inverse association between pancreatic cancer risk and serum levels of vitamin C. (*8)

KIDNEYS: Vitamin C and E supplementation saw a decrease in the elements that cause fibrosis, leading to considerably reduced glomerulosclerosis and kidney fibrosis. The study concluded “chronic antioxidant intervention in early experimental renovascular disease improves renal functional responses, enhances tissue remodeling, and decreases structural injury.” (*10) Dr. Levine suggested that the “upper safe doses of vitamin C are less than 1,000 mg daily in healthy people”, although he noted that several earlier studies had not found any association between the incidence of kidney stones and the regular daily intake of 1,000 mg or more of vitamin C. (*9)

Sources:

*1 
www.ohsu.edu…

*2 www.ivanhoe.com…

*3 www.doctoryourself.com…

*4 thyroid.about.com…

*5 gut.bmj.com…

*6 jn.nutrition.org…

*7 www.livestrong.com…

*8 www.medpagetoday.com…

*9 oregonstate.edu/f-w99/kidneystones.html

*10 www.kidneycoach.com…

 by Julie Washington

VITAMIN C CURES CANCER AND MORE:

VIDEO: IV Vitamin C = Liquid Gold

“A new study by Dr. Levine and colleagues was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in March 2006. In this study, the investigators carefully reviewed the clinical cases of three patients who responded especially favorably to high-dose intravenous vitamin C in an attempt to assess the clinical plausibility of this modality in cancer therapy. To accomplish this, the investigators followed the National Cancer Institute Best Case Series guidelines in their analysis. One case involved renal cancer with lung metastases that regressed following the intravenous administration of 65 grams of vitamin C twice per week for ten months. The second patient had invasive bladder cancer. He received 30 grams of vitamin C intravenously twice per week for three months, followed by somewhat irregular infusions for about four years. The third patient had B-cell lymphoma and received 15 grams of intravenous vitamin C twice per week for two months, followed by similar doses given less frequently.

All three patients experienced complete remissions.

Additionally, Dr. Drisko and colleagues at the University of Kansas reported in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition in 2003 two cases of women with late-stage ovarian cancer who experienced complete remissions after receiving 60 grams of intravenous vitamin C twice per week.” 

Oregon State University

Cures Lymphoma
Cures Lung Cancer
Cures Ovarian Cancer
Cures Breast Cancer
Cures Leukemia
Cures Hepatitis C
Cures Aids
Cures Polio
Cures Bird Flu
Cures Flus
Cures Pneumonia
Cures Hay fever
Cures Allergies
Cures Vaccinia
Cures Foot & Mouth Disease
Cures Rabies
Cures Bacterial Infections
Cures Mononucleosis

Additional Vitamin C Benefits:

Reduces Alzheimer’s disease
Reduces Parkinson’s disease
Reduces Huntingdon’s disease.
Reduces Arthritis
Reduces & eliminates symptoms of Hepatitis
Reduces cravings for addictions
Protects and boosts the immune system
Natural Antihistamine
Reduces Asthma
Stimulated Cellular function
Reduces Cardiovascular Diseases
Reduces High Blood Pressure/Hypertension
Reduces risk of stroke
Lowers level of Lead Toxicity in the blood
Produces Collagen
Creates Carnitine which helps burn the fuel for the body’s energy
Protects the brain and nervous system from the effects of stress
Lowers Cholesterol
Works as an anti-oxidant
Fights free radicals that attack tissues and cause illness
Aids in regenerating Vitamin E in the body
Prevents the damages caused by aging
Reduces Cataracts
Reduces Gout
Reduces symptoms and risks of common cold
Enhances antibiotics
Lowers Yeast infections
Reduces Back Pain from Disc Disease
Reduces Herpes
Reduces Shingles
Reduces Crib Death (wow)
Prevents Kidney Stones

Follow ATS Thread on Vit. C

Extrasensory Perception and Quantum Models of Cognition

Patrizio E. Tressoldi, Lance Storm, Dean Radin

 

Abstract

The possibility that information can be acquired at a distance without the use of the ordinary senses, that is by “extrasensory perception” (ESP), is not easily accommodated by conventional neuroscientific assumptions or by traditional theories underlying our understanding of perception and cognition. The lack of theoretical support has marginalized the study of ESP, but experiments investigating these phenomena have been conducted since the mid-19th century, and the empirical database has been slowly accumulating. Today, using modern experimental methods and meta-analytical techniques, a persuasive case can be made that, neuroscience assumptions notwithstanding, ESP does exist. We justify this conclusion through discussion of one class of homogeneous experiments reported in 108 publications and conducted from 1974 through 2008 by laboratories around the world. Subsets of these data have been subjected to six meta-analyses, and each shows significantly positive effects. The overall results now provide unambiguous evidence for an independently repeatable ESP effect. This indicates that traditional cognitive and neuroscience models, which are largely based on classical physical concepts, are incomplete. We speculate that more comprehensive models will require new principles based on a more comprehensive physics. The current candidate is quantum mechanics.

Source

POTENT ANTIOBIOTIC FOUND IN GIANT PANDA BLOOD

Giant panda blood may hold the secret to curing superbug illnesses in humans as well as other diseases, according to new research.

The teddy bear-like animals would hardly seem to be associated with industrial strength cleanser and potent antibiotics, but their link with these possible cure alls now appears to have been forged.

The primary component in giant panda blood is called cathelicidin-AM. It was found after analyzing the panda’s DNA.

PHOTOS: The Top Cutest Baby Animals

WATCH VIDEO: Watch as Mei Xiang and Tian Tian travel from China to the National Zoo.

This compound kills bacteria in less than an hour. Other well known antibiotics take more than six hours to tackle the same job.

Xiuwen Yan, who led the research at the Life Sciences College of Nanjing Agricultural University in China, told theLondon Telegraph: “It showed potential antimicrobial activities against wide spectrum of microorganisms including bacteria and fungi, both standard and drug-resistant strains.”

Yan continued, “Under the pressure of increasing microorganisms with drug resistance against conventional antibiotics, there is urgent need to develop new type of antimicrobial agents. Gene-encoded antimicrobial peptides play an important role in innate immunity against noxious microorganisms. They cause much less drug resistance of microbes than conventional antibiotics.”

Giant pandas are highly endangered, with only about 1,600 left in the wild. The new discovery shows how important it is to save all species — plants, insects, birds and animals — as they could, like the giant panda, hold keys to solving many pressing human health issues.

NEWS: Giant Panda Habitat May Vanish

Thankfully, the scientists don’t have to raise a bunch of pandas in order to keep up the supply of cathelicidin-AM. Yan and colleagues have figured out a way to synthesize the compound artificially in a lab. They did this by decoding giant panda genes to produce a small molecule known as a peptide.

Yan explained, “Antimicrobial peptides are important components in innate immunity — they can provide an effective and fast acting defence against harmful microorganisms. More than 1000 antimicrobial peptides have been found from animals, plants, and microorganisms. Analysis revealed that the panda cathelicidin had the nearest evolution relationship with dog cathelicidin.”

As for why giant pandas have such a powerful antibacterial agent in their blood, the researchers suspect that it boosts the big furry animal’s immune system. This probably protects them from infections when they are living in the wild.

The same scientific team has found other powerful antimicrobial compounds in the mucus produced by snails and in some amphibians.

 

Source

Why the Fiscal Cliff Deal Is Pathetic

By Sasha Cekerevac for Investment Contrarians | Jan 3, 2013

When it comes to making an economic forecast for the U.S. economy in 2013, a huge stumbling block was the uncertainty prior to the deal to avert the fiscal cliff. The just-announced new deal to avert the fiscal cliff is absolutely pathetic and will not accomplish what many were hoping for; a comprehensive long-term deal to lower the U.S. budget deficit and create an environment that will foster long-term gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

The level of uncertainty has recently started to impact consumers. The impact on consumer confidence was noted during the latest Conference Board Index in which consumer confidence fell six percent to 65.1 in December from November, the lowest since August 2012. (Source: “The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Declines,” The Conference Board, December 27, 2012.)

GDP growth is heavily dependent on consumer confidence. Since the majority of the U.S. GDP growth is based on consumer spending, any pullback in confidence by consumer is a worrying sign, with its potential for lowering an economic forecast for 2013.

An interesting dynamic was that consumers assessed that current conditions improved in December from the previous month. Business conditions rose to 17.1% from 14.6% the previous month; however, expectations for business conditions over the next six months declined to 17.6% from 21.3%.

This might seem contradictory, but it really shows that while the current economy is somewhat improving, the political grandstanding and ineptitude to avert the fiscal cliff have been increasing concerns for the future GDP growth of the American economy. This type of uncertainty will certainly put a damper on any economic forecast.

This new compromised deal has plenty of tax hikes but, essentially, no real spending cuts, which have been postponed, instead of resolved. This is the worst-case scenario; politicians hiking taxes that will bring in some marginal revenue to pay for an ever-larger government bureaucracy.

We all know that the problem of the budget deficit is government spending, not revenue. This deal did nothing to solve the most important problem: reducing long-term government spending. By postponing the hard part, which is cutting government expenditures, this administration did nothing but pander to their voters, adding to the long-term problems of generating strong GDP growth for America.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), for every one dollar that was cut from the budget, this deal increases taxes by $41.00—a shockingly one-sided agreement. The CBO estimates that this deal will add $3.9 trillion to the budget deficit over the next 10 years. This deal is not only absolutely pathetic, but it also fails in every meaningful way to generate structural reforms necessary for long-term GDP growth in America. (Source: “Estimates of the Budgetary Effects of H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief act of 2012,” Congressional Budget Office, January 1, 2013.)

In two months, the delayed spending cuts, approximately $110 billion, will again be on the table for discussion. This failure to address the structural reforms in spending will certainly impact any long-term economic forecast for GDP growth.

Higher tax rates were what Democrats wanted to help pay for a larger government, and they got them. While many are pointing to the headline figure of $400,000 per individual as the threshold for increases, the truth is that more than 80% of people making $50,000–$200,000 will pay higher taxes, an average increase of $1,635, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. (Source: “Senate-Passed Deal Means Higher Tax on 77% of Households,” Bloomberg, January 1, 2013.)

GDP growth is already being affected by mass confusion among many companies, both directly and indirectly in the firing line, that are having trouble making an economic forecast. As an example, the Pentagon plans to notify 800,000 employees that they might be forced to take several weeks of unpaid leave, which will increase uncertainty about the future GDP growth potential. (Source: “Unthinkable Cuts Almost a Reality,” Wall Street Journal, December 30, 2012.)

A far worse situation is that the White House has not formally told how the cuts will be issued, confusing matters even more. Federal agencies and contractors, at this point, have no way of knowing, for sure, exactly how much of their departments will be cut, or if they’ll even be cut at all. This is leaving hundreds of thousands of employees and numerous businesses completely in the dark about what’s in store for 2013 and beyond.

This type of uncertainty is ridiculous, and it is certainly causing a drag on GDP growth. No one can make an educated economic forecast with this type of vagueness. Now that it appears that this bill will pass, what we do know is that 2013 will be a year with higher taxes and an unknown amount of spending cuts.

At the moment, spending cuts are essentially nothing in comparison to the tax hikes. What this means is more questions over the future viability of America’s GDP growth potential. As the debt grows ever higher, this continues to raise concerns about the economic forecast for America’s economy.

The U.S. is taking the European road, hiking taxes on the majority of the public without reducing the size of the government. We all know how the poor European model works; why does this administration want to go down this path?

For me, I can only consider downgrading my economic forecast for America’s GDP growth potential, as economies that have a growing government sector and policies that punish successful private businesses tend to underperform over time.

 

Source

U.S. and New Zealand secretly tested ‘tsunami bomb’ designed to trigger tidal waves and destroy coastal cities in WWII

• Countries carried out covert tests of a device designed to use underwater explosions to trigger massive tidal waves
• Testing saw almost 4,000 bombs detonated in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War
• Details of top secret Project Seal unearthed in military files in New Zealand’s national archives by an author researching a new book

By KERRY MCDERMOTT

PUBLISHED: 07:36 EST, 2 January 2013 |

The U.S. and New Zealand collaborated on a top-secret plan to develop a ‘tsunami bomb’ capable of devastating coastal cities, it has emerged.

The countries carried out covert tests of the potential weapon of mass destruction – designed to use underwater explosions to trigger huge tidal waves – in waters around Auckland and the Pacific island of New Caledonia during the Second World War.

Details of the secretive operation, code-named Project Seal, were discovered in military files buried in New Zealand’s national archives by author and film-maker Ray Waru.

‘Absolutely astonishing’: Author Ray Waru discovered details of Project Seal while trawling through New Zealand’s national archives

Mr Waru, who came across the files while carrying out research for his new book, described the evidence of the plot to create a possible rival to the nuclear bomb as ‘absolutely astonishing’.

The files revealed how around 3,700 bombs were exploded during testing, which was launched in June 1944, and indicated that the weapon was feasible.

The tests also revealed a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially result in a 33ft tsunami that would wreak havoc on a coastal city, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

Mr Waru said: ‘It was absolutely astonishing. First that anyone would come up with the idea of developing a weapon of mass destruction based on a tsunami… and also that New Zealand seems to have successfully developed it to the degree that it might have worked.’

‘Tsunami bomb’: The plan was to develop a device capable of devastating coastal cities by using underwater explosions to trigger huge tidal waves

He explained that while initial testing was positive, Project Seal was shelved in early 1945.

Experts concluded it would be necessary to arrange around two million kilograms of explosives about five miles from a shoreline in order to create a successful tsunami bomb.

Details of the shadowy project are included in Mr Waru’s new book Secrets and Treasures, which also incorporates other bizarre findings from his trawl through New Zealand’s national archives.

As well as Project Seal, Mr Waru discovered Defence Department records detailing thousands of UFO sightings.

Members of the public, military personnel and pilots were among those who reported seeing moving lights in the skies over New Zealand.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256003/U-S-New-Zealand-secretly-tested-tsunami-bombs-designed-trigger-tidal-waves-destroy-coastal-cities.html#ixzz2Guk6h4im