Author: Personal Liberty News Desk

A newly released public opinion survey suggests that if Sarah Palin decided to run for president in two and a half years, she would not only have to go against the wishes of the majority of Democrats. Chances are, she would also run into trouble convincing her fellow Republicans to offer support.

The CBS News Poll, released on January 19, showed that 71 percent of respondents opposed a potential White House bid by the former Republican vice presidential candidate, and only 21 percent supported a similar plan.

Even among self-identified Republicans, as many as 56 percent said they did not like the idea of the former Alaska governor running for president in 2012. On the opposite side of the political spectrum, a staggering 90 percent of Democrats expressed the same opinion.

Palin’s popularity figures have remained low, as well, as the survey found that 41 percent of Americans have a negative view of her as a politician, and only 26 percent approve of her performance.

The results came despite the release by the former McCain running mate of her best-selling memoir last November, and after she started a new job as a Fox News commentator. Palin is also scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the National Tea Party convention in Nashville, Tenn., in early February.

A recent study from the University of California has found that patients who have coronary heart disease with high blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids may age more slowly than those with the lowest levels of the compound.

Researchers found that patients with cardiovascular disease who had a high intake of omega-3s had slower shrinking telomeres, which are structures at the end of a chromosome that get shorter with time, making them an indicator of biological age, according to Health Day.

"What [researchers are] really saying is that there is quite an impact of omega-3s on cell support and cell functioning," said Suzanne Steinbaum, spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

"If you supplement with omega-3s or eat omega-3s, your cells stay healthier, your cells age less quickly," she added.

In a previous study, the research team found that shortened telomeres were a strong predicator of death and other negative outcomes related to coronary heart disease.

Lead author Ramin Farzaneh-Far added that omega-3s are only one of the factors involved in the shortening of telomeres. Many other health issues, including oxidative stress, also play a role.

According to a new Gallup poll, the majority of Americans believe that President Obama and other Democratic leaders should postpone debate on the current healthcare reform bill and consider alternative legislation that would garner more GOP support.

The poll, conducted by USA Today, found that 55 percent of those surveyed feel that Congress should suspend work on the healthcare bill that was almost assured passage before Democrats lost a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate following the election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown on Tuesday.

Approximately 72 percent of respondents felt that the result in Massachusetts "reflects frustrations shared by many Americans, and the president and members of Congress should pay attention to it," according to the news source.

"We are more than happy to sit down and start over," said Arizona Senator John McCain on the Early Show regarding the healthcare bill. "Not scale back, but start over in a true negotiating process rather than the Democrats going back to try to pick off one or two Republicans."

Survey respondents also offered a mixed assessment of Obama’s first year in office, with 39 percent stating that they are pleased with his progress and 37 percent feeling that he is taking the country in the wrong direction.

<img src="http://pictures.directnews.co.uk/liveimages/Al+Franken_1961_19574288_0_0_7036957_300.jpg" alt="Liberal news radio network Air America set to file for bankruptcy ” align=”right” class=”post_image”>Air America, which some called "the liberal radio’s answer to Rush Limbaugh," has announced it would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and prepare to close down its operations.

Launched by comedian Al Franken, who is now a U.S. senator from Minnesota, in 2004, the talk-radio network has about 100 radio outlets nationwide. But it has fallen victim to declining advertising sales during the recession and hasn’t been able to find new investors, according to Reuters, which quoted Air America Media chairman Charlie Kireker.

In addition, the company has been plagued with rising debt for most of its time in business. In fact, it had an earlier brush with bankruptcy but was bought out in 2007 by New York real estate mogul Stephen Green and his brother, politician Mark Green.

Some broadcast journalists have expressed gratitude for the work Air America has done. "There was a [need for an outlet] for the left on the air," said Carey Curelop, operations director for KPTK-AM 1090, an affiliate station in Seattle, quoted by ABC News.

"We’re totally indebted to Air America for launching the network and allowing us to get our feet on the ground," she added.

However, New York Daily News commentator David Hinkley wrote that, in the end, the scarcity of entertainment and relegation to part-time and small stations caused the network’s message to be drowned out.

Air America will broadcast "encore programming" though January 25 and then cease to air.

According to a large-scale national survey, most current medical students believe that knowledge of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) would greatly benefit Western doctors.

CAM is characterized by a more individualized approach to patient care and utilizes therapies such as yoga, herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage.

Researchers at the University of California sent a 30-question survey to more than 120 medical schools and found that 77 percent of respondents believe that patients would benefit more if their physicians had a strong understanding of CAM in addition to Western medicine.

"Even now, medical schools have the opportunity to train the next generation of medical practitioners in healthcare systems outside of conventional medicine," said study author Ryan Abbot. "Core values of CAM can help students develop a more holistic and individualized approach to patient care."

Researchers also found that the further along a medical student was in school, the more likely he or she was to believe that their knowledge of CAM therapies was sufficient.

A total of 44 academic institutions now comprise the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, which attempts to advance the principles of holistic healthcare.

A recent study has found that adding fish oil to intravenous (IV) solutions may be beneficial for intensive care patients with the life-threatening blood infection known as sepsis, which is caused by an overwhelming immune response to infection.

Researchers at the University of Southampton in England followed 13 patients who received a fish oil supplement with their IV solution and 10 respondents who only received the traditional nutrient solution.

The study found that patients who had received fish oil had better lung function, lower levels of chemicals in their blood and a shorter stay in the hospital.

"This is the first study of this particular fish oil solution in septic patients in the ICU," said researcher Philip Calder in news reports. "The positive results are important since they indicate that the use of such an emulsion in this group of patients will improve clinical outcomes, in comparison with the standard mix."

Cader added that traditional solutions do not contain omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil and may actually promote inflammation rather than reduce it.

Seperate research has found that a high intake of omega-3s can help lower the risk of age-related macular degeneration, heart disease and chronic kidney disorders.

Planned Parenthood is set to open its largest abortion center later this year in Texas, but opponents of the procedure have already started a wave of protests they hope will lead the organization to reconsider.

Located in Houston, the building—which will encompass 78,000 square feet—will be the largest facility offering abortions in the Western world.

A group of some 1,200 pro-lifers already held a silent protest outside the construction site on the Martin Luther King holiday, and some of them suggested the clinic was put in a minority neighborhood to target those mothers for abortion services, according to media reports.

One of the protesters on hand, Lou Engle, a Kansas City preacher, told the local ABC station that 76 percent of abortion clinics are in Hispanic and black American neighborhoods.

However, the news source quoted Planned Parenthood representatives as saying the allegations were "shameful." They added that only 5 to 7 percent of their patient visits are for abortions, while the rest access low cost services such as Pap smears, breast exams and contraception.

Joining pro-life advocates for the opposition rally were Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, and Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, according to LifeNews.com.

President Obama’s long-time friend and political ally Rahm Emanuel has come under fire from a liberal group that claims the White House Chief of Staff has mishandled major issues on the president’s agenda.

Citing Obama’s falling popularity ratings and the Democrats’ growing political woes—most recently represented by their loss of the supermajority in the Senate after the Massachusetts special elections—the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) has urged its members not to support the former Illinois congressman if he ever runs for public office again.

In particular, the group has attacked Emanuel for teaming up with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to give up on the public option, and for helping to put together deals with the drug companies in exchange for their support.

"There’s nobody in Washington who caves at the slightest hint of a fight with corporate interests more than Rahm Emanuel," said PCCC co-founder Adam Green, quoted by CNN.

"We’re making clear to Rahm that when he undermines progressives and the overwhelming will of the American people on issues like the public option, he will pay a political price back home," he added.

Writing for Progressive.org, editor Matthew Rothschild also alluded to the 10 percent unemployment rate and blamed Emanuel for it, saying he pushed Obama to reject the calls of Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, two Nobel Prize-winning economists, for a bigger stimulus package.

On Jan. 19, a group of the youngest victims of the Haiti earthquake arrived in the United States for adoption, just a week after the government announced it would halt deportations of illegal immigrants to their devastated homeland.

According to media reports, approximately 50 orphans who survived last week’s quake arrived in Pennsylvania aboard a military transport plane, while other evacuees, also including orphans, have been arriving in Florida since Saturday.

Moreover, in the wake of the 7.0-magnitude tremor that all but destroyed the island nation’s capital Port-au-Prince, the U.S. government granted "temporary protected status" to tens of thousands of Haitians who are in this country illegally and slated for deportation to their homeland.

This means those immigrants can now remain in the U.S. and hold a work permit for the next 18 months.

However, the move has prompted complaints from some critics who said the temporary provision will become permanent.

"According to past history, they will never be deported," argued William Gheen, president of the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, quoted by Fox News.

He suggested the government should have delayed deportations for at most two months while the intensive recovery efforts continue, or sent illegal immigrants to a part of Haiti that was not affected by the earthquake.

As his first year in office comes to an end, President Obama has touted the benefits of the massive stimulus package he signed just weeks after being sworn in, and he called for additional spending in the coming months.

The president spoke about the quarterly report to Congress prepared by his Council of Economic Advisers, which estimated that the $787 billion Recovery Act, consisting of spending and tax cuts, resulted in a 2009 growth rate that was about 2 percentage points higher than it would have been otherwise. It also saved between 1.5 million to 2 million jobs, according to the Associated Press (AP).

"This analysis shows that we are on track … [to build] a strong foundation for sustainable growth and a more globally competitive America," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in response to the new report.

But most GOP members were unimpressed, calling the stimulus package wasteful and pointing to a persistently high national unemployment rate of 10 percent, and the fact that the economy lost 85,000 jobs in December, as reported by the Bureau of a Labor Statistics.

Pelosi’s response was that "years of inaction and lax oversight crippled our economy—and we have more work to do to help it recover," while president Obama acknowledged that "the road to recovery is never straight."

He also called for an additional $5 billion in future spending on green manufacturing and pledged $2.3 billion in tax credits to promote clean-energy jobs.

Researchers at Nara Women’s University in Japan have discovered that thyme oil may contain inflammatory suppression compounds similar to those found in red wine.

Scientists found that thyme oil—along with clove, rose, eucalyptus, fennel and bergamot oils—can suppress the inflammatory COX-2 enzyme in a manner comparable to resveratrol, the chemical associated with the health benefits related to red wine. COX-2 inhibition is the same principal that enables pain relievers, such as ibuprofen, to lessen swelling.

While all oils showed a considerable inflammatory response, thyme oil was the most effective, reducing levels of COX-2 by as much as 75 percent.

After additional research, lead study author Hiroyasu Inoue and his colleagues found that the primary active ingredient in thyme oil is carvacrol.

When using pure carvacrol extract in their tests, researchers discovered that COX-2 levels decreased by over 80 percent.

The study’s findings offer insight into the health benefits of botanical oils and may provide a roadmap for future anti-inflammatory drugs.

Consuming green tea may lower the risk of developing lung cancer among smokers and non-smokers alike, a new study has concluded.

Researchers from the Chung Shan Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan, found that respondents who drank at least one cup of green tea per day had a five-fold lower risk of developing lung cancer than those who did not.

Among smokers, participants who consumed a minimum of one cup of green tea every day had a 13-fold lower risk than those who drank no tea.

The team also found that the antioxidants in the beverage had a greater therapeutic effect on people with specific growth factor genotypes.

While the results of the study suggest the potential health benefits associated with green tea, doctors warn that it is not a substitute for quitting smoking.

"People will look at this and think, ‘Oh, well, I can smoke as long as I have a few cups of green tea’," said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association, quoted by News Day. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

"The most important thing here is that we don’t want anyone to get the message that it’s okay to smoke so long as I drink green tea," he added.

On Sunday, President Obama spoke about healthcare reform from the church pulpit of the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in Washington D.C., calling the impending bill a victory for "decency."

"This will be a victory not for Democrats," Obama said. "It will be a victory for dignity and decency, and for our common humanity. It will be a victory for the United States of America."

The president also acknowledged his sense of frustration with the slow pace of change seen in his first year in office.

Looking back, Obama recalled his hope that "life would be better from the moment I swore that oath," he said, quoted by CNN.com. "We know the promise of that moment has not been fully filled."

Meanwhile, Democrats working with the president have agreed to exempt union workers from the 40 percent "Cadillac" tax on expensive insurance plans that will help pay for healthcare reform, Fox News reports.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the "special deal" exemption will encourage people to join unions and is unfair to 92 percent of the private sector workforce.

The current recession has revealed significant and dire shortcomings in the nation’s approach to retirement savings, TIAA-CREF has said.

The organization recently reported on research conducted by McKinsey and Company which found that the average American couple will fall $250,000 short of their necessary savings and will only have approximately two-thirds of the income that they will need at the time of retirement.

"It’s time to think of 401(k)s as income in retirement accounts, and to begin with the end in mind, by asking how much income in retirement people need," said Roger Ferguson, TIAA-CREF’s chief executive.

Ferguson recommends a holistic system where incentives are offered to employees and employers to encourage contributions of between 10 and 14 percent of annual income to help people reach the target of replacing 70 percent of pre-retirement revenue.

He also believes that companies should offer a wider variety of 401(k) investment options to provide appropriate diversification in order to properly manage risk.

Moreover, Ferguson feels that the U.S. should provide opportunities for people to begin saving for medical expenses associated with retirement.

A major embarrassment may be brewing for the U.S. government as researchers have allegedly found evidence that NASA scientists manipulated data in order to claim that the year 2005 was the warmest year on record, KUSI-TV has reported.

The San Diego-based TV station presented these findings in a one-hour special that aired on Jan. 14. It told the story of how computer expert E. Michael Smith and meteorologist Joseph D’Aleo discovered extensive manipulation of the temperature data by the government’s two primary climate centers—the National Climate Data Center in Ashville, N.C., and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University in New York.

Smith and D’Aleo claim these centers engaged in data manipulation in order to give the appearance of warmer temperatures than actually occurred by reducing the number and locations of weather observation stations from about 6,000 in the 1970s to about 1,000 now.

"That leaves much of the world unaccounted for," D’Aleo said, with his colleague adding that comparing data from years when the figure was produced by averaging a large number of temperatures with those produced from a small temperature base "is like comparing apples and oranges."

The revelations follow the controversy that accompanied the recent Climate Summit in Copenhagen and which revolved around leaked emails from environmental scientists casting doubt on the validity of the data behind global warming.

Dubbed "Climategate," the issue prompted some conservative members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to call for the rescinding of the Oscar won by former Vice President Al Gore for the environmental movie An Inconvenient Truth.

In addition to producing high heating bills, the cold weather that has gripped much of the country poses health dangers related to hypothermia, especially in the elderly. However, there are ways to protect oneself from excessive loss of body heat both at home and outdoors.

Hypothermia occurs when body temperature falls to 96 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Its symptoms include slowed or slurred speech, sleepiness or confusion, shivering or stiffness in the arms and legs, poor control over body movements or slow reactions as well as a weak pulse.

According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), seniors are particularly vulnerable to hypothermia due to underlying medical conditions and because they tend to be less active than younger people and produce less body heat.

Consequently, NIA experts recommend keeping the temperature of the home at a minimum of 68 degrees. To stay warm inside it is a good idea to wear long underwear, socks and slippers. A blanket can be used to keep legs and shoulders comfortable, while a hat or cap can warm the head.

Venturing outdoors, it is important to wear a scarf and gloves or mittens to prevent loss of body heat through the hands and feet. A hat is particularly important because a significant portion of body heat loss occurs through the head.

In addition, wearing several layers of warm loose clothing can help keep warm air close to the body.

Finally, NIA advises seniors to check with their healthcare providers as some medicines may increase the risk of hypothermia.