Sunday, February 27, 2011

Researchers: Gene therapy may treat depression - USATODAY.com

Researchers: Gene therapy may treat depression - USATODAY.

Most modern depression drugs aim to affect brain levels of the hormone, serotonin, which was recently linked to p11 in its effects on mood. So, Kaplitt and colleagues, who included Nobel Prize-winning brain cell researcher Paul Greengard of Rockefeller University, first sought to cure mice bred to have depressive symptoms such as listlessness by infecting the "reward center" of their brain with a virus carrying a gene for the protein. The team has pioneered safety experiments aimed at treating human Parkinson's patients with gene therapy.

Tea Party Patriots Warn Congressional Republicans - NYTimes.com

Tea Party Patriots Warn Congressional Republicans - NYTimes.com: "Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas, heard the displeasure firsthand when he addressed the conference on Friday night. He called the $61 billion in cuts that cleared the House “the largest spending cuts in history” and a “good start in the right direction,” but Tea Party activists were having none of it.

“More!” the crowd cried."

Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers - NYTimes.com

Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers - NYTimes.com: "Pennsylvania, Ground Zero

Pennsylvania, which sits atop an enormous reserve called the Marcellus Shale, has been called the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.

This rock formation, roughly the size of Greece, lies more than a mile beneath the Appalachian landscape, from Virginia to the southern half of New York. It is believed to hold enough gas to supply the country’s energy needs for heat and electricity, at current consumption rates, for more than 15 years."

But even with recycling, the amount of wastewater produced in Pennsylvania is expected to increase because, according to industry projections, more than 50,000 new wells are likely to be drilled over the next two decades.

Under federal law, testing for radioactivity in drinking water is required only at drinking-water plants. But federal and state regulators have given nearly all drinking-water intake facilities in Pennsylvania permission to test only once every six or nine years.

The Times reviewed data from more than 65 intake plants downstream from some of the busiest drilling regions in the state. Not one has tested for radioactivity since 2008, and most have not tested since at least 2005, before most of the drilling waste was being produced.

My Way News - Mass. company making diesel with sun, water, CO2

My Way News - Mass. company making diesel with sun, water, CO2

Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators | Rolling Stone Politics

Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators | Rolling Stone Politics

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Omar Suleiman: Egypt’s torturer-in-chief threatens to unleash “dark bats of the night… to terrorize the people” - BlackListed News

Omar Suleiman: Egypt’s torturer-in-chief threatens to unleash “dark bats of the night… to terrorize the people” - BlackListed News

This must be why the Israelis like this guy so much

Republican-led House fails to pass short-term extension of Patriot Act - latimes.com

Republican-led House fails to pass short-term extension of Patriot Act - latimes.com

Would you like some more Tea Party?

Alternatives To Mandating Insurance? Maybe : NPR

Alternatives To Mandating Insurance? Maybe : NPR: "Len Nichols, a health economist who teaches at Virginia's George Mason University, says without a requirement for coverage, Congress might have to find another way to make the consequences of not having insurance even more dramatic.

For example, he says, perhaps if people don't buy insurance when it is first available, 'if you ever try to buy insurance again, you'll have to pay three times the market price, and we will put a gold sticker on your forehead and say to all hospitals, 'You do not have to treat this person; this person has forfeited their right to uncompensated care.' '

Nichols is only half serious about that gold star. He is quick to point out that doctors and hospitals are bound by professional standards not to turn away patients in need of emergency care. So he says Congress may want to consider another option: Make the states do the hard work. Lawmakers could withhold federal funding in the health law unless states require people to have health insurance. That's how Congress got states to lower speed limits in the 1970s.

'It would have the virtue of avoiding the constitutional debate,' he says. But 'it would have the downside of enabling states that were not inclined to expand coverage for their populations. They would then have an out, and they would withdraw from the reform.'"

Grain Prices Rally Toward 2008 Records on Shrinking World Supply - Businessweek

Grain Prices Rally Toward 2008 Records on Shrinking World Supply - Businessweek

At least the price is not inflating because of dollar devaluation

China creates rare earth strategic reserves

China creates rare earth strategic reserves

I am sure so they can better share their resources and finished products with the rest of the world!

Janet Napolitano Warns Terror Threat 'Most Heightened' Since Sept. 11, 2001 - ABC News

Janet Napolitano Warns Terror Threat 'Most Heightened' Since Sept. 11, 2001 - ABC News