Diana's Best Resources

Could this Villified Oil Actually Be Healing?

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:59 +0000

A much-maligned oil and tree fruit that’s been the subject of ridicule and disdain for many years could actually be good for you, new research shows. Palm oil is typically used as a cheap cooking oil for fried foods. But now scientists are saying they’ve conducted numerous test-tube studies demonstrating that a form of vitamin E in the oil-palm fruit, tocotrienol, could help fight cancer and prevent strokes. These studies have been ongoing for more than 20 years. Human clinical trials with the new discovery are scheduled to begin soon.

What’s Behind Illinois Stealing Local Hero’s Bee Hives?

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:59 +0000

An Illinois beekeeper whose bee hives were stolen and allegedly destroyed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture has stirred up a hornet’s nest with his questions on why the state did this, and most importantly, what they did with his bees.

The state claims the bees were destroyed because they were infected with a disease called foulbrood. But when the 58-year apiary keeper had his hearing, the state’s “evidence” had disappeared, leaving more questions than answers about the raid on the beekeeper’s hives. Some people, including the beekeeper, Terrence Ingram, suspect the raid has more to do with Ingram’s 15 years of research on Monsanto’s Roundup and his documented evidence that Roundup kills bees than it does about any concerns about his hives. Interestingly, the state’s theft targeted the queen bee and hive he’d been using to conduct the research.

First Statewide Ban of Plastic Bags

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:59 +0000

In a first of its kind in the U.S. the citizens of Hawaii have collectively said NO! to plastic bags. Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle penned the crowning achievement when he signed a bill banning the bags beginning July 1, 2015. While Honolulu's new law gives leeway to retailers who feel like clinging to the stuff for a while, within three years Hawaii will be the first state in the union to have banned the bags everywhere in the state.

The deed was accomplished by each of the state’s counties banning them on an individual basis. Carlisle’s signature in the last county to ban the bags completed the act of essentially making it a statewide rule without ever having to go before the state legislature. Some of the bans are already in place or scheduled to begin next year, with fines of up to $1,000 for each day of violation.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to ban plastic bags at supermarket checkout lanes. The city gave stores 16 months to phase them out. San Jose, San Francisco, and Long Beach, California have already banned them.

U.S. Experts Say No More Routine PSA Tests for Prostate Cancer

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:59 +0000

In a startling reversal of years of pressing healthy men to get routine PSA prostate tests, U.S. health officials now say these tests do more harm than good. What’s more, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) said they aren’t recommending the tests for men of any age. The task force is basing its new stance on research that shows that only one out of every 1000 men who are screened would actually benefit from the exam.

Screening advocates immediately protested, saying the new recommendation will cost lives. But critics of PSA testing responded that, instead, thousands of men will be spared impotence and incontinence that occurs as a result of needless cancer treatment. The PSA is a blood test that measures certain antigens that are specific to the prostate. Radiation oncologist Anthony D’Amico of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston told the news service Reuters that PSA screening does cause overdiagnosis, but he added that he was shocked the task force would “let people die” in order to avoid incontinence and erectile dysfunction in the overdiagnosed cases.

Veteran Reporter Details How Corporate Media Is Bought Off by Corporations

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:59 +0000

It’s not news that some people think news coverage is guided by corporate and political interests and profits. But it is news when someone who’s spent his life reporting the news accuses his own profession of political slant and bias. The slam came from none other than Dan Rather, a former CBS News anchor who’s written a book, “Rather Outspoken,” on his life as a journalist. Currently no more than six companies control 80 percent of the news. And what that means, Rather told Huffington Post, is:

“These large news corporations, they have things they need from the power structure in Washington, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, and of course the people in Washington have things they want the news to be reported. To put it bluntly, very big business is in bed with very big government in Washington, and has more to do with what the average person sees, hears, and reads than most people know.”

Other journalists are beginning to blow the whistle on the marriage of press and corporate and political interests too: recently investigative journalist Robert Parry accused the Washington press corps of being wishy-washy when it comes to asking politicians to answer tough questions. Another journalist, columnist Chris Hedges, has written commentaries about what happens when corporations take over and ultimately cause revolutions like the Occupy movement.

Breaking news: US Senator Rand Paul offers surprise amendment to rein in FDA abuses, disarm the FDA, decriminalize free speech