For Many Patients, Cannabis May Offer The Best Medicinal Pain Relief Yet Discovered

April 9, 2012

Natural News

By Raw Michelle

“Let’s keep something natural that can help people with all sorts of problems illegal so we can keep the prisons full.” –KTRN

By the beginning of the 1980s, after a four decade long lockdown, a re-interest in cannabis arose in the scientific community. In 1982, the American Institute of Medicine published an intriguing report entitled “Marijuana and Health”. The report was a collection of tentative exploratory research and case studies of the use of cannabis as a medicine.

The reappearance of a powerful plant in human pharmacopeia
The studies provided a glimpse of something that intrigued health care researchers. While the plant’s effects were entirely congruent with the goal of healing, the methodology used by the plant’s chemicals was very different from those employed by typical pharmaceuticals. To developers, cannabis suddenly represented a precedent for a whole new type of medicine. With over 88 pharmacologically active substances, cannabis introduced hundreds of new compounds to the medical world. The institute’s report concluded that further research into cannabis’ potential would be of great value to the field.

However, further research was very limited, stifled by cannabis’ legal status and social stigma. The legal status forces researchers to expend an overwhelming amount of time and effort to get permission to conduct the studies. The social stigma causes institutes to be less likely to receive funding for the projects, and that researchers are sacrificing their reputation in the professional world. That also means most of the studies conducted are federally funded. Unfortunately, in addition, successful researchers will still have to face a further publication bias, as journals also risk their reputations and status when publishing cannabis related research. It is ironic that even within a scientific community, researchers are punished for being unbiased. As a result, outlets that focus solely on cannabis related research have arisen. Internet publications have opened a wide market for research that would have previously been buried.

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Face Transplant Man Doing Well After Biggest Operation Yet

April 9, 2012

The Guardian

By Associated Press

“This is when science, medicine and surgery are miraculous.” –KTRN

After 15 years of wearing a mask and living as a recluse, a 37-year-old Virginia man disfigured in a gun accident has been given a new face, nose, teeth and jaw in what his doctors say is the most extensive face transplant yet performed.

Richard Lee Norris, of Hillsville, is recovering well after last week’s surgery, beginning to feel his face, and already brushing his teeth and shaving, University of Maryland medical centre officials said. He has also regained his sense of smell, which he lost after the accident.

Click here for the article and pictures.

Your Cell Phone Makes You A Prisoner Of A Digital World Where Virtually Anyone Can Hack You And Track You

April 9, 2012

Activist Post

By Michael Snyder

If you own a cell phone, you might as well kiss your privacy goodbye. Cell phone companies know more about us than most of us would ever dare to imagine. Your cell phone company is tracking everywhere that you go and it is making a record of everything that you do with your phone. Much worse, there is a good chance that your cell phone company has been selling this information to anyone that is willing to pay the price — including local law enforcement. In addition, it is an open secret that the federal government monitors and records all cell phone calls. The “private conversation” that you are having with a friend today will be kept in federal government databanks for many years to come.

The truth is that by using a cell phone, you willingly make yourself a prisoner of a digital world where every move that you make and every conversation that you have is permanently recorded. But it is not just cell phone companies and government agencies that you have to worry about. As you will see at the end of this article, it is incredibly easy for any would-be stalker to hack you and track your every movement using your cell phone. In fact, many spyware programs allow hackers to listen to you through your cell phone even when your cell phone is turned off. Sadly, most cell phone users have absolutely no idea about any of this stuff.

The next time that you get a notice from your cell phone company about “changes” to the privacy policy, you might want to play close attention. Your cell phone company might be about to sell off your most personal information to anyone that is willing to write a big enough check. The following is from a recent CNN article….

Your phone company knows where you live, what websites you visit, what apps you download, what videos you like to watch, and even where you are. Now, some have begun selling that valuable information to the highest bidder.

In mid-October, Verizon Wireless changed its privacy policy to allow the company to record customers’ location data and Web browsing history, combine it with other personal information like age and gender, aggregate it with millions of other customers’ data, and sell it on an anonymous basis.

Click here for the full report.

Monsanto Threatens Lawsuit Against Vermont for GMO Labeling Bill

April 9, 2012

Natural Society

By Mike Barrett

“Monsanto really has some nerve – thinking it can sue the entire state of Vermont over GMO labeling. Go get ‘em, Vermont.” –KTRN

Even though the state of Vermont is trying desperately to pass a bill which would require GMO foods to be labeled, the state’s efforts are being threatened by biotech giant Monsanto. In retaliation for the GMO labeling bill, Monsanto has threatened to sue Vermont if any such bill is passed.

Sadly, Vermont elected public officials may surrender to the threats and intimidation brought about by the GMO creator.

The bill, known as the ‘VT Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act’, or H-722, was introduced to the Vermont House of Representatives by Representative Kate Webb of Shelburne on February 1st, 2012. The bill would require the labeling of not only products filled entirely with GMOs, but also for those partially created using GM ingredients. What’s more, GMO food manufacturers using promotional labels such as “natural,” “naturally made,” “naturally grown,” “all natural,” and other similar statements, would be prohibited.

Despite a majority (6 to 5) of Agriculture Committee members supporting passage of the bill, and thousands of people voicing their support for the bill, legislators of Vermont are putting the labeling bill on hold and refusing to take a vote. Legislators are calling for more public hearings on April 12, while only four weeks remain until legislature is postponed.

Click here for the full report.

The Many Health Benefits of Raw Honey

April 9, 2012

DrAxe.Com

By Dr. Josh Axe

“Honey is amazing – but it has to be raw and organic.” –KTRN

According to Dr. Ron Fessenden, M.D., M.P.H. the average American consumes over 150 pounds of refined sugar, plus an additional 62 pounds of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). In comparison, we consume just one pound of honey per year. Instead, Dr. Fessenden recommends that increasing the intake of pure “raw” honey and drastically reducing the refined sugars and HFCS would reap enormous health benefits.

A report in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine further backs the benefits of raw honey with their opinion:

“The therapeutic potential of uncontaminated, pure, raw honey is grossly underutilized. It is widely available in most communities and although the mechanism of action of several of its properties remains obscure and needs further investigation, the time has now come for conventional medicine to lift the blinds off this ‘traditional remedy’ and give it its due recognition.”

What is Honey?

Honey is far more than a natural sweetener. It is a “functional food”, which means it is a natural food with health benefits. It contains natural antioxidants, enzymes and minerals including iron, zinc, potassium, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and selenium. Vitamins found in honey include B6, thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and niacin. In addition, the nutraceuticals contained in honey help neutralize damaging free radical activity.

One tablespoon of honey contains 64 calories, yet it has a healthy glycemic load around 10 for 1 Tbsp, which is a little less than a banana. and does not cause a sugar spike and elevated insulin release like white sugar. Although honey is an affordable food, bees spend thousands of hours collecting pollen from around two million flowers to make one pound of pure honey.

Click here for the full report.

Monsanto’s GMO Seeds Contributing to Farmer Suicides Every 30 Minutes

April 9, 2012

Activist Post

By Anthony Gucciardi

“How do the people at Monsanto even sleep at night?” –KTRN

In what has been called the single largest wave of recorded suicides in human history, Indian farmers are now killing themselves in record numbers. It has been extensively reported, even in mainstream news, but nothing has been done about the issue.

The cause? Monsanto’s cost-inflated and ineffective seeds have been driving farmers to suicide, and is considered to be one of the largest — if not the largest — cause of the quarter of a million farmer suicides over the past 16 years.

According to the most recent figures (provided by the New York University School of Law), 17,638 Indian farmers committed suicide in 2009 — about one death every 30 minutes. In 2008, the Daily Mail labeled the continual and disturbing suicide spree as ‘The GM (genetically modified) Genocide’.

Due to failing harvests and inflated prices that bankrupt the poor farmers, struggling Indian farmers began to kill themselves. Oftentimes, they would commit the act by drinking the very same insecticide that Monsanto supplied them with — a gruesome testament to the extent in which Monsanto has wrecked the lives of independent and traditional farmers.

To further add backing to the tragedy, the rate of Indian farmer suicides massively increased since the introduction of Monsanto’s Bt cotton in 2002. It is no wonder that a large percentage of farmers who take their own lives are cotton farmers; the demographic that is thought to be among the most impacted.

Click here for the full report.

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