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Olestra is a fat substitute used to lower or eliminate the fat content of certain foods, especially in the U.S. The brand-name for olestra in the U.S. is Olean. It works by combining sugar and fat molecules, making the resulting olestra molecule so large, it can't be digested. It passes straight through the body and is "pooped out." Thus, olestra also has zero calories. Olestra looks, feels, and tastes like regular cooking oil. It has been used to make U.S.-style "potato chips," "corn chips," and "cookies" targeted at people looking to reduce or eliminate the fat in those products. In terms of taste, texture, and "fullness," products prepared with olestra are virtually indistinguishable from products prepared with vegetable oil. But olestra has not been without controversy. After it initially started appearing in foods in the U.S. in 1998, foods prepared with olestra had to carry a label that warned of "loose stools" and associated symptoms. The label also talked about vitamin absorption (1). As more research was conducted on olestra, the warning label was eventually removed. Concerns remain about whether olestra helps people lose weight or control their fat intake. These concerns, along with the concerns initially expressed on the warning label, have caused olestra to be approved for use only in certain manufactured foods. Recently, the list was expanded to include foods like doughnuts, cakes, and pies. Here's the way I see it. With roughly 1 in 3 Americans struggling with issues related to obesity - such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease - along with the obesity epidemic itself, I think olestra is okay. Even if all the risks associated with olestra are taken in the extreme case, those risks seem minor compared to the kinds of problems olestra may help solve. Some of the concerns about olestra have already been put to rest. The issue of whether malnutrition could result from the fact that vitamins A, D, E, and K were pooped out along with olestra seems overblown. The current formulation of olestra adds these vitamins back in. You should theoretically not suffer from problems with absorbing these vitamins even if you eat products containing olestra all day, every day. As far as "loose stools," it occurs only in about 2% of people who consume products containing olestra. But let's be honest. If you're shoveling in a dozen doughnuts for breakfast, why would you worry about "loose stools?" You've got bigger problems. The main problem many doctors, scientists, and specialists have with olestra is actually related to eating a dozen doughnuts for breakfast. The concern is that foods prepared with olestra will cause people to "go crazy" and "eat like pigs." Well, a lot of these people already have poor eating habits. In studies on humans, olestra did not cause people to eat more than they ordinarily would. The real question here is whether olestra can be used as part of the solution to America's obesity epidemic. How widely available does it need to be in order for it to be successful? Even with full approval, will it ever be widely available? Will fast-food restaurants offer french fries and fried chicken cooked in it? And what about efforts to discourage people with poor eating habits from eating fast foods and snack foods (1)? These are complicated problems. It does not appear Americans are slimming down, though. So I figure olestra could at least help a little. I eat healthy, but I would love some fried chicken cooked in olestra! |
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| NewsKing is not affiliated with these products, and no endorsement is implied. | |
Notes: - 1) The drug "Alli" (Orlistat) has all the same problems that olestra does. Instead of altering the fat you eat, it partially blocks your body's ability to absorb the fat you eat. While many countries (including the U.S.) have approved Orlistat as an over-the-counter drug, most countries have not approved olestra. Many of those countries also do not suffer from the obesity epidemic that the U.S. suffers from. I find all of that very interesting, but it's for another day... Related: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olestra - http://www.zug.com/pranks/olestra - http://www.cspinet.org/olestra - http://www.cspinet.org/olestra/11cons.html - http://www.pgfoodingredients.com/default.asp Artwork (may include photos, images, audio, and/or video): - http://enquirer.com/editions/2000/06/23/fin_canadian_ban_adds_to.html |
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I can't believe I missed this! The article featured in this post is dated November 2011. I found the article after reading "Quickstart" in the current issue of Maximum PC magazine. I've written about batteries before, so this is something I'm interested in, and I'm very encouraged by this new development in lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are used in everything from electric cars and hybrids to smartphones and laptop computers... Imagine a cellphone battery that stayed charged for more than a week and recharged in just 15 minutes. That dream battery could be closer to reality thanks to Northwestern University research. A team of engineers has created an electrode for lithium-ion batteries - rechargeable batteries such as those found in cellphones and iPods - that allows the batteries to hold a charge up to 10 times greater than current technology. Batteries with the new electrode also can charge 10 times faster than current batteries. Generally, batteries have both anode and cathode electrodes. This research was focused on the anode. With current technology, the performance of a lithium-ion battery is limited in two ways. Its energy capacity - how long a battery can maintain its charge - is limited by the charge density, or how many lithium ions can be packed into the anode or cathode. Meanwhile, a battery's charge rate - the speed at which it recharges - is limited by another factor: the speed at which the lithium ions can make their way from the electrolyte into the anode. Harold H. Kung - lead author of the paper - and his research team combined two techniques to combat both these problems. First, to stabilize the silicon used in the new battery and help maintain maximum energy capacity, they sandwiched clusters of silicon between graphene sheets. This allowed for a greater number of lithium atoms in the electrode while utilizing the flexibility of graphene sheets to accommodate the volume changes of silicon during use. Second, Kung's team used a chemical oxidation process to create miniscule holes (10 to 20 nanometers) in the graphene sheets - termed "in-plane defects" - so the lithium ions would have a "shortcut" into the anode and be stored there by reaction with silicon. This reduced the time it takes the battery to recharge by up to 10 times. Next, the researchers will begin studying changes in the cathode that could further increase effectiveness of the batteries. They also will look into developing an electrolyte system that will allow the battery to automatically and reversibly shut off at high temperatures - a safety mechanism that could prove vital in electric car applications. |
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Related: - http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/11/batteries... - http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/2918 Artwork (may include photos, images, audio, and/or video): - http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/lithium-ion... |
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Here's some motivation for everyone that will hopefully get you fired up! "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence and indifference of the good people. Our generation will have to repent not only for the words and acts of the children of darkness, but also for the fears and apathy of the children of light." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. - January 27, 1965, Atlanta, Georgia |
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Related: - http://gettheflick.blogspot.com/2008/08/fired-up.html Artwork: - http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2010/01/2010-30.html |
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| NewsKing is not affiliated with these products, and no endorsement is implied. | |
Notes: - 1) You'll see a lot of these on ingredient labels. Ingredient and nutrition labels are another interesting story. The way I heard it, one woman spent her entire adult life fighting food manufacturers to get the U.S. government to require ingredient and nutrition labels on manufactured foods. I'll have to research the story... Related: - Not again! I've already done this one! HELP! Artwork: - http://foodfetepress.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/stevia-in-the-raw - http://www.misskim.typepad.com/justmisskim/2009/10/10-things-im... - http://stuffmybrainthinks.wordpress.com/tag/truvia - http://www.stratasfoods.com/brandOverview.aspx?brand_id=42 - http://www.akblessingsabound.com/2009/03/truvia-natural-sweetener.html - http://jugalbandi.info/2007/05/artificial-sweeteners - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081210090819.htm - http://www.surebaby.com/blog/2010/01/08/artificial-sweeteners/# |
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[UPDATED: Jan. 24, 2012] This is a cautionary tale to keep in mind as reformers in the U.S. and Britain push their "welfare scroungers" rhetoric. Fashioned to target young, African-American single mothers, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan had, in a vicious, evidence-free campaign against so-called "welfare queens," assured his voting public that people were fraudulently collecting benefits and living it up on welfare. Reagan's punitive, biased-in-favour-of-marriage "PRWORA" legislation introduced lifetime time-limits for benefit eligibility, compulsory attendance at unpaid jobs in return for benefits (workfare), and heavy sanctions (full or partial benefit cuts) for non-attenders. It also devolved responsibility for managing (and cutting) welfare rolls to states. That development (or deterioration) in the labor market structure is the real issue. It's worth noting that in that structure, paid employment doesn't necessarily reduce a worker's need for some state support either. David Ward, from the Direct Care Alliance in New York, told sources that careworkers his organization represents are often paid so poorly that they rely on food stamps and Medicaid and other support to make ends meet. That's the experience of many low-paid workers across the U.S. Their problem isn't laziness, or scrounging. Their problem is that their wages are so low they can't feed their families on their earnings. Workfare simply gives companies and organizations another pool of very cheap, and disposable, workers. Unions certainly saw that point in New York. Several years into the city's workfare program, District Council 37, a union which represented municipal employees, took former New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani to court, saying that his workfare program "had illegally replaced nearly 2000 unionized clerical workers with unpaid welfare recipients in three agencies." PRWORA was engineered by enemy of reason Newt Gingrich and other Republicans like Eugene Clay Shaw, who were emboldened by sweeping mid-term victories. PRWORA established TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) as the main welfare program for families with dependent children under 18. All states had to put a percentage of their welfare populations in work-related activities (like workfare) for about 30 hours a week, enforce sanctions for non-attenders and cut benefits to people who'd reached those new eligibility time limits. Unsurprisingly, the number of people on welfare dropped dramatically as TANF was rolled out. Some may have found jobs and enough hours at them to make up their low pay. Others simply disappeared - into the grey economy, or the growing band of poor and homeless as we saw last time in New York. The aim of modern welfare reform is to slash welfare rolls. Neither need, nor entitlement, bulk large in the minds of welfare-to-work architects. Britain isn't perfect. But their welfare system offers something that everyone can be proud of. It's a comforting thought that if tomorrow you lost your job, your home, or even a limb, society would be there to help you through it. At least until now. The government's Welfare Reform Bill is just weeks away from becoming law and is the biggest threat the welfare system has faced in its history. The Bill will take vital lifelines from the most vulnerable people in society. Right now, 500,000 families stand to lose their homes. Others will become imprisoned in them. Half a million will lose their disability allowance, including disabled children. People with terminal illnesses will be forced into work, and 3.2 million will be put through cruel tests that are pushing some to take their own lives. Millions of people - pensioners, low waged workers, the disabled, sick and unemployed - will fall deeper into poverty. The government's excuse for all this? The deficit, of course. Yet it continues to turn a blind eye to the billions in tax dodged by corporations and rich individuals every year, a sum greater than the projected savings of Britain's Welfare Reform Bill. Telecommunications giant Vodafone's brand new tax dodge alone could pay for all of the cuts to the British Disability Living Allowance, which affects 500,000 people. British leaders like Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and Co. are choosing to inflict suffering on sick and disabled people rather than tackle rich tax dodgers, because they think the poor and vulnerable are invisible - that they won't or can't make a fuss - and the rest of us don't care. On Saturday, January 28th, in central London, a group of disabled, sick, and elderly people are going to engage in a daring and disruptive act of civil disobedience, and they've asked for our support. If you're in London, meet at 11:30am at Holborn tube station with a charged Oyster card, ready to travel to a secret location. |
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Links: - https://www.facebook.com/ukuncut - http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23hardesthit - http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2012/01/minister-for-work-says-unemployed... Related: - http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/failure-of-workfare-in-the-us - http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/the-cruel-truth-about-us-workfare - http://ukuncut.org.uk/blog/message-from-the-invisible - Linked text was not listed here for simplicity, but click on it! Artwork (may include photos, images, audio, and/or video): - http://ukuncut.org.uk/blog/message-from-the-invisible |
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ACTA is yet another attack against the sharing of culture on the Internet. ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is an agreement secretly negotiated by a small "club" of like-minded countries (39 countries, including the 27 in the European Union, the United States, Japan, etc.). Negotiated instead of being democratically debated, ACTA bypasses parliaments, legislatures, and international organizations to dictate a repressive logic dictated by the entertainment industries. ACTA would impose new criminal sanctions forcing Internet actors to monitor and censor online communications. It is thus a major threat to freedom of expression online and creates legal uncertainty for Internet companies. In the name of trademarks and patents, it would also hamper access to generic medicines in poor countries. Click HERE to take action against ACTA now! |
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| Click the play button above to start the video. | |
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| Click the play button above to start the video. | |
Related: - http://www.laquadrature.net/acta - http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/How_to_act_against_ACTA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=citzRjwk-sQ&feature=g-all-f&context... - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmQN93NqqDM&feature=g-user-lik... Artwork (may include photos, images, audio, and/or video): - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=citzRjwk-sQ&feature=g-all-f&context... - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmQN93NqqDM&feature=g-user-lik... |
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Let's face the facts. This blog - this whole site - moves at the pace of a snail crawling across the back of a turtle (in the opposite direction). I still have a huge backlog of "ideas" I want to write about. There's probably a lot of stuff I should just put in "Hot Topics," but I think, "No, I'll write about that; 'Hot Topics' doesn't do it justice." Then everything sits around for years in my bookmarks. I can't just dump "ideas" into "Features and Announcements" anymore, either. That got way out of hand and it's hard to clean up. It's better to post something and delete it if I don't like it, I think... Today I'm going to ride my bicycle (indoors, on the trainer, so I can wear shorts in the cold weather), but I also need to tighten the bottom bracket. That requires disassembly. I could have more time on the computer by waiting to tighten the bottom bracket, but if the left crank arm is pulled to the right any further, it will damage the crank arm (eventually) and cost me hundreds of dollars to repair. Anyway, I'd rather be watching PBS or the Discovery Channel or some shit and screaming about the graph in a Wired article. But tonight, I'm going to do a post on ACTA and another post on Welfare reform in Britain (and in the U.S. - this is a good one!). It'll only be a start, but a lot of the work has been done for me. And the issues are important to me. Sorry about the way this is. But let's get real! |
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Artwork (may include photos, images, audio, and/or video): - http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/how-to-draw-a-turtle.htm - http://www.busymomdahl.org/2009/06/kayleighs-snails-are-snoring |
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I checked out Occupy DC and took some pictures - Here they are! I met a lot of cool people and had a very nice time. The Occupy Movement is still going strong. Be sure to check out my other posts (which include more photos from Occupy DC), and participate in the movement! |
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Links: - Information: http://october2011.org; http://occupydc.org - Travel and Hotel: Info - http://twitter.com/#!/StopTheMach2011 - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-the-Machine-Create-a-New... - http://www.occupytogether.org - http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23occupydc (#OccupyDC) - http://occupydc.org Donate: - Paypal donation listed by October2011.org - Call 202-544-9355 to donate to October2011.org - Paypal & Bitcoin donation listed by OccupyDC.org - WePay donation for solar power at occupation - FireDogLake donation for various occupations - Call 202-477-7685 to donate food from Henry's Soul Cafe - Call 202-667-0032 to donate food from Jumbo Pizza - Donate food through Food Not Bombs online See Also: - Occupy Movement - Occupy Wall Street |
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Happy New Year! |
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