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Feeling like you could use a boost? Nutritionist Meghan Telpner, who runs a super foods workshop in Toronto, explains the benefits of super foods and how to make your diet more super on a daily basis.
Q: Can you give me some examples of super … Read more
Cisco brings smart grid router (CGR 2010) and switch (CGR 2520) to the utility marketplace. …
… “The purpose-built, ruggedized routers and switches form a resilient, manageable and highly secure network solution for the substation to integrate Internet Protocol (IP)-based communications with the power grid for intelligent grid monitoring and control. These technologies build on existing Cisco Smart Grid offerings and represent the latest in the company’s efforts to deliver end-to-end solutions that help utility customers address grid reliability, industry compliance and operational expenses.” …
Via Cisco: Smart Grid Product Line (Link).
Long-term obesity is a well-known cause of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. However, a new Boston University School of Medicine study suggests that excess abdominal fat may also be linked to a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
For the study, a research team led by Sudha Seshadri recruited nearly 800 adults over the age of 60 and analyzed their body mass index, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio and percentage of abdominal fat. The investigators also performed an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on each participant to examine their total brain volume and their number of brain infarcts.
As expected, the researchers identified a strong inverse association between increasing body mass and smaller brain volume—a known risk factor for dementia.
"More importantly our data suggests a stronger connection between central obesity, particularly the visceral fat component of abdominal obesity, and risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease," said Seshadri.
While further studies need to be conducted to analyze how obesity prevention can affect dementia risk, the researchers speculate that consuming a low-fat, nutrient-rich diet can significantly improve brain health. 
Early next month a self-described human rights organization will conduct a rally at Ground Zero in New York City to protest the construction of a mosque at the site where terrorists brought down the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) plans the rally for June 6 and has invited anyone interested to join, especially those who lost family or friends, or who were injured on Sept. 11.
"What could be more insulting and humiliating than a mosque in the shadow of the World Trade Center buildings that were brought down by an Islamic jihad attack?" asked SIOA executive director Pamela Geller.
She added that "any decent American, Muslim or otherwise, wouldn’t dream of such an insult. It’s a stab in eye of America."
SIOA says it works to defend human rights, religious liberty and the freedom of speech against "Islamic supremacist intimidation" and to block any attempts to bring elements of Sharia law to the United States.
According to the organization, groups supporting the June 6 event include ACT! for America (ACT! Manhattan chapter), Z Street, Freedom Defense Initiative, Faith Freedom International and the Center for Security Policy.
“It was built against the will of the immortal gods, and so it did not last for long.” Homer, The Iliad
The youngsters that run Wall Street know a lot more about Homer Simpson than they do the Greek poet. But in the wake of riots in Greece and stock market gyrations at home, we may all soon be in for a full fledged tragedy of epic proportions.
The $1 trillion bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Europe to stave off a Greek debt default is just the latest attempt by Big Government to defeat deflation. But the soaring price of gold shows that this latest rescue is mired with problems.
Consider the fact that even the strongest of the rescuers are bleeding debt. Germany, once the hero of fiscal policy in Europe, has seen government debt rise to a whopping 80 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Germany is far stronger than the other weak sisters that make up the euro—Spain, Portugal and Italy.
It looks as if the $1 trillion bailout to Greece may not have stabilized global stock markets and it certainly has not arrested the decline of the euro. Last week The New York Times reported that, “Fear in the financial markets is building again, this time over worries that the Continent’s biggest banks face strains that will hobble European economies.”
Greece is the latest domino in a continuing debt crisis that began with the implosion of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Greece is just another link in a very weak chain. In fact, the IMF warns that “high levels of public indebtedness could weigh on economic growth for years.”
Borrowing Against All Of Our Tomorrows
The world’s budget deficit as a percentage of GDP now stands at 6 percent, up from less than 1 percent before the financial crisis. If public debt is not lowered back to pre-crisis levels, says the IMF, economic growth could decline by half a percentage point annually. That is bad for the world and bad for the United States which is just barely clinging to an economic recovery; a recovery built on cheap money. But how long money will stay cheap is anyone’s guess.
In the not too distant future the U.S. dollar, once the Zeus of all currencies, may topple from the mountain top. Greece has a budget deficit of 13.6 percent of its GDP. Meanwhile the U.S. has a budget deficit of 9.3 percent, and that’s only for this year. In the coming years America’s deficit could easily exceed Greece’s number.
Furthermore, Greece’s national debt now totals 115 percent of its GDP. U.S. national debt totals “only” 85 percent of GDP, but it is expected to reach 140 percent of GDP in the next two decades.
But what the Mexican debt crisis taught us in the 1980s and what Greece is teaching us now is that the bond markets will never allow the U.S. to reach its debt targets.
According to Dr. Edward Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, "There’s a tremendous clash between the bond vigilantes on one side and reckless governments on the other. The bond vigilantes are trying to establish some fiscal and monetary law and order."
You might recall Yardeni from the 1980s when he correctly predicted the Latin debt bomb, the explosion which helped trigger the 1987 stock market crash. Three decades ago Yardeni pointed out that, "If the fiscal and monetary authorities won’t regulate the economy, the bond investor will." Like Homer’s Cassandra, Yardeni has a talent for correctly predicting tragedies but is cursed because no one will believe him.
Just how bad is this crisis which was spawned in Greece, the cradle of learning and democracy? According to Citigroup’s top economist, Willem Buiter, with the exception of wartime, “the public finances in the majority of advanced industrial countries are in a worse state today than at any time since the industrial revolution. Restoring fiscal balance will be a drag on growth for years to come.”
Still, the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve continue to believe they can engineer yet another bailout. In fact, the Fed has opened up new lines of credit to the European Central Bank as part of the European rescue package.
“We didn’t do so out of any special love for Europe,” said Narayana Kocherlakota, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. “We’re American policy makers, and we make decisions to keep the American economy strong.” Yet the Fed president admits that the liquidity problems abroad could soon haunt U.S. financial markets and the recovery itself.
The Federal Reserve and Federal government have already borrowed trillions of dollars to derail the wave of deflation that began in early 2008. To do that and to spark a recovery the Fed pushed short-term interest rates towards zero, the lowest levels America has seen since the 1930s. In other words the U.S. government has shot its bolt. The U.S. simply can’t hit the “re-flate” button again without a major outcry from the bond market.
Gold On Record Run
The knee-jerk reaction from the euro crisis has been for money to go into U.S. Treasuries. But the chart below shows the monumental increase in 10-year Treasury bond yields since the beginning of 2009. Investors have demanded a higher return from Uncle Sam as the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve have been hell-bent on bailing out the U.S. economy with trillions of new dollars.
U.S. loans to buoy European central banks will only accelerate the bond markets woes, and with rising interest rates on the horizon, we can anticipate a bear market. The computer-glitch stock market meltdown that happened earlier this month portends to an American tragedy.
With the euro at four-year lows one might be expecting the greenback to soar. Instead there has been only modest strength in the dollar and record highs for gold. At this writing London gold is trading just under $1,200 per ounce. In November 2008, London gold was $713.50, so the Midas metal has had quite a run since then. In fact gold was $810 when I first recommended it to you last August. Still I believe gold is headed much higher.
Action To Take
Expect short-term strength in the U.S. Treasury market as we go into summer. If you own bonds, use this rally to liquidate them. Higher interest rates are looming and so is a bond market meltdown. Meanwhile, continue to accumulate physical gold. I think $1,500 gold is a realistic target by the end of this year.
Yours for real wealth and good health,
John Myers
Myers’ Energy and Gold Report
P.S.—I thought the quote at the top by Homer is applicable to the U.S. dollar. I am interested to see if you agree.
—JM
Despite the passage of the healthcare reform and the financial regulation bills, a newly released poll has shown that more than half of all United States citizens give President Barack Obama negative job ratings.
While two in five Americans (42 percent) give Obama positive ratings on the overall job he is doing, The Harris Poll found that 58 percent evaluate his performance negatively.
The pollster suggests that among the likely culprits for these lackluster figures is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which has forced the president’s attention from the issues that the public cares about most, namely jobs and getting the economy back on track.
In terms of partisan breakdown, 92 percent of Republicans are disappointed with Obama’s job, as are one-quarter of Democrats (25 percent). However, he also scores poorly with Independents, among whom 68 percent give him negative marks.
The survey also asked whether the country was going in the right direction. It found that while in April 39 percent of Americans believed that to be true, the measure has dropped to 36 percent this month. Meanwhile, 64 percent have said the nation is currently on the wrong track.
According to Harris Interactive, which produced the poll, the president’s numbers are unlikely to increase unless he accomplishes something that will positively impact the economy and calm the volatility of the stock market. 
America’s greatest orator was born on May 29, 1736. I’m referring to Patrick Henry, whose “give me liberty or give me death” speech to the Virginia House of Burgess marked an important turning point in our battle for independence.
Here’s how Paul Johnson, one of America’s greatest historians, describes the moment in his book, A History of the American People. Patrick began his remarks by asking,
“Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have?” Then Henry got down on his knees, in the posture of a manacled slave, intoning in a low but rising voice: “Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!”
He then bent to the earth for a few seconds with his hands still crossed, then suddenly sprang to his feet shouting, “Give me liberty!” and flung wide his arms, paused, lowered his arms, clenched his right hand as if holding a dagger at his breast, and said in sepulchral tones: “Or give me death!” He then beat his breast with his hand holding the imaginary dagger. There was silence, broken by a man listening at the open window, who shouted: “Let me be buried on this spot!” Henry had made his point.
—Chip Wood
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Filed under: Morning Scoop
Each morning, we dish out a few links we love.
This is news I like to hear — regular coffee breaks can make employees more productive.
Worried about your heart health? Here’s some fun advice from medical experts — get busy in the bedroom!
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Filed under: Advice, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
When you’re looking for a sweet mid-afternoon snack that won’t sabotage your health goals or send your blood sugar on a rollercoaster ride, try these delicious almond rice crisps. It will save the day for those of you looking for something to … Read more
Another season of the Biggest Loser ended. There were four people left last night- Michael Ventrella, Ashley Johnston, Daris George, and Koli Palu.
Mike, the 526-pound Chicagoan beat out the others (Ashley and Daris) for the title of being “The Biggest Loser” this season at a total of 264 pounds. Awarded was the $250,000 grand prize. Koli on the other hand, still won the at-home $100,000 prize.
Bob Harper, trainer of the said show is giving his comments on the said show. He described it as one of the most emotionally-charged seasons of the reality show because the contestants are the heaviest ever to participate and that fact made its toll on them emotionally.
The emotional toll made its way particularly on Michael, who began on the show over 500 pounds, and after shedding more than 200 pounds, he realized that he was still obese.
The Biggest Loser Finale fans (primarily the BL fans and Bob fans) are all waiting for the upcoming season finale and are planing for a party. The said event would compose of full two hours of before and after pictures of people who have changed their lives.
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Some of the earliest fears around ACTA concerned some of the earliest draft suggestions, that would increase the power of border patrol/customs officials to look for infringement at the border, including the possibility of searching your laptop or iPod for infringing content. While those provisions mostly seemed to drop out in the negotiations, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t still efforts to get closer to that sort of system. Mart Kuhn, at Public Knowledge, has an interesting post, looking at a bill in the Senate that would give customs the authority to determine if things crossing the border were “circumvention devices” as prohibited by the DMCA. Of course, as the article notes, determining what is and what is not a circumvention device is not particularly easy — as various lawsuits have demonstrated. So it’s quite questionable as to why anyone thinks border patrol agents should be involved in that process at all.
But a bigger issue is the same one at the heart of the debate over whether or not customs officials should have the right to search your laptop at the border. If the point of border patrol/customs is to prevent bad things from getting into the country, it’s pretty ridiculous to try to prevent software at the border, because that software has already totally crossed over the border via the still mostly borderless internet. So this whole thing seems like a charade to look for more ways to take away basic privacy rights in favor of an entertainment industry that is so afraid someone might infringe that it doesn’t realize trying to stop circumvention at the border won’t do anything other than cause serious hassles for legitimate travelers.
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[This post is part of the Metropol Blog Series.]
How do you get 50,000 people gathering in a remote desert to Leave No Trace of their having been there… without a garbage can in sight? How do you encourage a bike, pedestrian and public transportation culture in a country addicted to the automobile? How do you […]
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Attention all athletes: A new study has found that drinking beet juice regularly can improve stamina in exercise. The study, published by the U.K. University of Exeter’s School of Sport and Health Sciences found organic beetroot juice allowed … Read more
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