Trevor Mallard is acting like a dickhead again, which is nothing new, really

Trevor Mallard is scaremongering by warning people not to look for jobs with firms that hire fewer than 20 people (which is most firms) because they will only be fired before their 90-day probation period us up.The "fire at will" bill (as some have called it) comes into force today.

Now that' the sort of comment you'd expect from The Standard, not a former Cabinet Minister who is now the Opposition spokesperson on labour, therefore speaking on behalf of the Opposition. Obviously Mallard can't name one employer that is likely to fire an employee because of the 90-day probation period and probably won't be able to name one that has done so in 90 days time, either.

What a dickhead.

Mummfication Museum lecture - Osiris Chapels Karnak

Excavations and Epigraphic work in the Osiris chapels to the North of the great hypostyle hall at Karnak Dr Laurent Coulon

He wishes to propose a new interpretation that after the New Kingdom Osiris became more important and there were specific chapels for specific functions of Osiris. From 21st dynasty to early Roman times. Every sanctuary claimed that they were the tomb of Osiris. Osiris of Koptos has a chapel at the back of the Amun temple. The temple of Opet celebrates the birth and rebirth of Osiris built in 25 dynasty by Taharka and Ptolemy VIII. A papyrus in the Louvre mentions various festivals.

During the 25th 26th dynasty there was another processional way from the Amun temple to the Ptah temple and these chapels are along this way. There are 3 chapels named Osiris Master of Life, Osiris Maters of Food and Osiris Master of Eternity. They were erected by the God’s wives of Amun in 1570-1526. There is evidence of Ankhnesneferbre see sarcophagus British Museum EA32 and JE36907 a stele. Her official Sheshonk has tomb TT27 which is a big tomb as he is a big man. Like Senemut is to Hatshepsut.

Wennefer Master of Food was partial excavated by Antony Harris and le Grand. They started in 2000. There is a ramp to the first door, then a hypostyle hall, second door and finally the Naos. Excavation of the surrounding mudbrick walls has given them a plan of 95% of the structure. In 2005 the found a service room dating 4th century BC which they are trying to clarify the function of. They also found inscribed blocks of Ammenemes offering Maat in the foundations which indicate that this was a religious site in the early New Kingdom. There is evidence that the structure was destroyed by fire in 25th dynasty and this could possibly be the Persian invasion. Also remains of copper and coins indicate there was possibly a Ptolemaic mint.

The chapel was rebuilt with 26 dynasty blocks. They have being trying to reconstruct the chapel with the scattered blocks in the area. Foundation blocks have a star pattern indicating clearance of the chapel in 30th dynasty, There is use to a very unusual title Amun p3 nfr shr the one whose places are perfect. In the chapel there are the same scenes in Seti I temple at Abydos showing the fetish of Abydos. This was a reliquary of the head of Osiris but not throughout history and is frequently pictured in temples at Abydos. There is a 3rd Intermediate Period private statue JE 36967 which shows Ptah Sokar onside and the fetish of Abydos on the other. In TT158 there is the same scene. Surrounded by 4 spitting fire cobras. Also see BM808. In the Salt Papyrus it mentions 4 flame goddesses.

There is no trace of the fetish and it was probably destroyed by Persians in 525 BC. However the cache of bronze objects JE35107 which he believes decorated this chapel. They found 5 Osiris statues in the foundations.

Louvre object N3958 shows the process of the fetish UC14409 the Ear Stele also shows fetish.

DWM #406 Details

The cover for Doctor Who Magazine issue 406 has now been released and as you can see it features David dressed to impress for Comic Relief. Inside the issue he will be talking about what we can expect on the night as he will be kicking off proceedings by presenting the first hour of the show with Davina McCall.
Doctor Who Magazine issue 406 will be released on Thursday, the 5th of March at the RRP of £3.99.

Doctor Who Filming Update

Click here to view the full set of photos...

David has been in Newport filming for the next, as yet untitled, Doctor Who special.
Thanks to Matthew Robinson we have some photos from last night's filming here.

Food for Thought

Manage your budget and blood glucose with a low GI diet
If you want to cut costs in the supermarket, turn away from the high GI, super processed, energy-dense, prepackaged food aisle. Make the most of ‘feel full’ foods like slow digesting low GI carbs, lean protein-rich foods and foods that have lots of fibre and water. They will satisfy your appetite faster and keep you feeling fuller for longer by giving you plenty to chew on. Here are some tips that will have you living within your means, reducing the overall GI of your diet, shedding pounds without pangs (or maintaining that hard-won weightloss), and eating better than ever.

Photo: Ian Hofstetter, the Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook

• Eat more feel full, less processed foods like barley, beans and lentils. They are easy on the budget, great for the blood glucose and you’ll be less likely to pick, pick, pick between meals.
• Choose seasonal fruits and veggies and store them separately (so vegetables don’t ripen too fast), and at the right temperature (cold can actually damage produce like squash, tomatoes and oranges) to reduce wastage.
  
• Opt for cheap cuts, the lower priced lean meats. They are really flavoursome but may take a bit longer to cook. However, if you make double quantity and put half in the fridge or freezer for another day, you’re ahead of the game.
• Stretch recipes with low GI legumes. Meat, chicken and fish are generally the most expensive items on the shopping list (even mince), so buy a little less and stretch the recipe. Make a spaghetti bolognese with mince and lentils, add beans to soups and casseroles and you'll be serving up delicious one-dish dinners with leftovers for lunch or another meal for another day.
• Serve up dinner in the kitchen and just put the salad bowl or veggies on the table. It reduces the temptation to keep on eating just because it’s there! So if you make double quantity of a casserole (or if the recipe is for four and there’s only two of you), immediately put half in the fridge for lunches or later in the week.
• Create from scraps by making the most of leftovers (start by storing them properly in airtight containers). It’s amazing what you can do when you set your mind to throwing together a meal with bits of this and that from the fridge and whatever’s in the pantry (pasta, low GI rice, some lentils or split peas).
• Minimise waste. The Big Shop is a bit of a trap and most of us, if we are honest, have to ’fess to throwing out greens that turned yellow. Shopping more often, making a rough weekly meal plan, writing a shopping list all help.
• Store food properly. It’s estimated we trash around 15% of the food we buy because it spoils!
  

GI News—March 2009

• Low GI diet significantly helps improve blood glucose control
• 'Maybe it is time to start using the GI more' says ADA spokesperson
• Manage your budget and blood glucose with a low GI diet
• Why weekends can be the worst enemy of weight loss
• Johanna Burani’s flourless chocolate hazelnut cake
• Is flaxseed oil as good as fish oil?

In this issue of GI News, we report on the recent Cochrane systematic review which finds that a low GI diet significantly helps people with diabetes to improve blood glucose control. Cochrane reviews are rather like the Gold Standard of evidence-based medical practice. Commenting on this review, American Dietetic Association spokesperson, Angela Ginn-Meadow, a certified diabetes educator at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Baltimore says: ‘Maybe it is time to start using this tool [the glycemic index] more than we currently use it’. Since childhood obesity and long-term obesity are also strong risk factors, keeping weight down is also important in diabetes prevention and management. ‘Using glycemic index as a goal really helps, because people with diabetes can feel hungrier and using glycemic index helps with satiety,’ Ginn-Meadow said. ‘Using glycemic index as a tool could be one thing people can do to stay satisfied longer.’

Good eating, good health and good reading.

GI News Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web Design and Management: Scott Dickinson, PhD

Food of the Month with Catherine Saxelby

Culinary spices and herbs – a surprising source of antioxidants


Catherine Saxelby

Culinary spices and dried herbs are the latest ingredients to move into the nutrition spotlight. They are surprisingly rich in antioxidants and phyto-chemicals and are packed with vitamins and minerals. With their hit of flavour they can help you cut back on excess salt or sugar in your cooking so are proving a winner with dietitians and nutritionists. Try this for yourself:

• Next time you cook a curry or laksa, don’t add any salt. Use LOTS of chilli, turmeric, cumin seeds and ginger and I bet your taste buds will be so mesmerised by the burst of flavour, you won’t notice the lack of salt.
• Another example: cook some cinnamon-infused pears in syrup with only half the usual sugar. Be generous with the cinnamon cassia. The aroma is enough to overcome that drop in sugar. You won’t miss it.

ORAC antioxidant ranking In terms of antioxidants, spices and dried herbs are always at the top despite the differences in testing methods. For instance, when you look at the ORAC lab test, you’ll see foods like cinnamon, cloves, pomegranate juice, blueberries, cranberries, oregano, chilli and turmeric listed as star performers. Dried herbs score higher than fresh for antioxidants as drying removes water and so concentrates the remaining leaves.



ORAC (PDF) stands for Oxygen Reducing Capacity and was developed by USDA and Tufts University. It is a well-recognised way to rank foods by their ‘antioxidant strength’.

Seven super spices and dried herbs: The McCormick Science Institute (an independent research centre funded by McCormick and based in the US) has identified seven ‘super spices’ chosen due to their extremely high antioxidant score (based on ORAC) and the bank of other published scientific research behind them. In addition, these seven are the easiest to consume in higher quantities than usual which is important if you want to get a clinical benefit. They are:

• Cinnamon cassia – helps stabilise blood sugar after a meal
• Oregano – anti-bacterial with one of the highest antioxidant counts
• Turmeric – adds vivid yellow colour due to curcumin component; may delay dementia;
• Ginger – fights nausea; anti-inflammatory
• Thyme – traditional cough remedy, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory
• Paprika – similar properties to chilli; rich in beta-carotene
• Rosemary – one of the Big Three Mediterranean herbs and may help slow ageing

How much to use? Here’s the big barrier with culinary spices. We only use a pinch here, a sprinkle there. According to the McCormick Spice Institute, we probably need to be taking in 1/2 teaspoon per serving of a spice (or a combination of spices and herbs) to gain a health benefit and they are carrying out ongoing research in this area.

As an example, a recipe for home-made beef burgers can take 3 teaspoons of dried oregano leaves and 3 teaspoons of dried thyme leaves with the 500 g mince, along with the usual onion, tomato sauces, eggs, breadcrumbs and grated carrot. And importantly no added salt. This quantity makes 12 burger patties and tastes delicious. No suffering here.

Catherine Saxelby is an accredited dietitian and nutritionist and runs the Foodwatch Nutrition Centre. For more information on spices and herbs and healthy eating, visit www.foodwatch.com.au.



Tuck into the benefits of culinary spices and herbs
Dip into spice guru Ian ‘Herbie’ Hemphill’s books and discover the world of culinary spices and herbs and how you can include more of them in your meals.

• If you live in the US, Canada or the UK, check out: The Spice and Herb Bible.
• If you live in Australia or New Zealand, check out: Spice Notes & Recipes or Sticks, Seeds, Pods and Leaves: A cook’s guide to culinary spices and herbs available from www.greatideas.net.au.
  

News Briefs

Low GI diet significantly helps people improve blood glucose control
The aim of diabetes management is to keep blood glucose levels as close as possible to the normal range (4–8 mmol/L, which translates to 65–110 mg/dL), to improve quality of life (and life expectancy) and reduce the risk of complications, heart attack and stroke.

A recent Cochrane systematic review that analysed 11 randomised controlled trials of either low GI or low glycemic load (GL) diets finds that following a low GI diet significantly helps people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to improve their blood glucose control. In fact, the researchers found that HbA1c levels decreased by 0.5% with a low GI diet, and point out that the findings are significant both statistically and clinically. (HbA1c stands for glycated hemoglobin A1c, a measure which gives a picture of a person's blood glucose control over several weeks or months.)



Lead review author, Dr Diana Thomas, from the Center for Evidence-Based Pediatrics, Gastroenterology and Nutrition at the Children's Hospital at Westmead says: ‘The 402 participants were adults in most studies; however, there were two studies in children, all of whom had type 1 diabetes. So, the results are relevant to both adults and children, with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes.’

‘Now that the principles of eating low GI foods are clear,’ she said, ‘this way of eating should be incorporated into daily living.’ The point ‘is to lower the GI or GL of the diet, rather than to follow specific diet plans, which over the longer term can be very difficult to maintain,’ Thomas said.

What are Cochrane systematic reviews? The Cochrane Collaboration is an international not-for-profit organisation providing up-to-date information about the effects of health care. It was set up to collect and collate healthcare data independently and create transparent, systematic, unbiased reviews of the published medical literature on everything from drugs, through surgery, to dietary and community interventions. At the online Cochrane Library you will find its free plain language summaries and abstracts.

A growing concern: more gestational diabetes, more bigger babies
The percentage of babies born heavier than 4 kg (8.8 lbs) has risen from 10.9% in 1990 to 12.1% in 2005 in New South Wales (Australia), according to data collected from midwives and published in annual Mothers And Babies reports. Having a big baby can lead to delivery complications, increased likelihood of having a caesarian, and the baby is more likely to be overweight as a child and develop health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and fatty liver disease.



A major cause of bigger babies is gestational diabetes which affects almost 5% of pregnant women in ANZ, the US and the UK and is on the rise – it increased by 45% in New South Wales between 1995 and 2005. The main reason for the increase is maternal overweight/obesity. In any pregnancy, insulin resistance develops naturally as a pregnant woman’s insulin needs are 2–3 times her normal needs. If a woman is overweight during pregnancy, it’s worse. If her body cannot produce enough insulin to overcome the insulin resistance, her blood glucose levels increase above normal, placing the baby at risk of growing too big in the womb.

To provide simple dietary solutions that will help reduce the risk of ongoing health problems for mothers with gestational diabetes and their babies, an Australian research team including endocrinologist Dr Tania Markovic and Prof Jennie Brand-Miller have launched a 2-year study where they will monitor women with diabetes on low GI diets and measure their babies’ body fat as well as health.

Low-carb diets better at controlling type 2 diabetes said the headlines.
Dig a bit deeper …
In a six-month comparison (funded by the Atkin’s Foundation) between a low-carb diet (based on Dr Robert Atkins’ books) and a low GI diet (based on Rick Gallop’s GI books), ‘patients who followed the no-glycemic diet (Atkins) experienced more frequent reductions, and in some cases elimination, of their need for medication to control type 2 diabetes,’ according to lead author Eric Westman, MD, of Duke University Medical Center. The findings are published online in Nutrition and Metabolism. ‘Low glycemic diets are good, he said. ‘but our work shows a no-glycemic diet is even better at improving blood sugar control,’ he says.

In the study, 84 volunteers with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to either a low-carb ketogenic diet (less than 20 grams of carbs per day) or a high carb (55%), low-glycemic, reduced calorie diet. Both groups attended group meetings, had nutritional supplementation and an exercise regimen. The low-carbers were instructed to eat: ‘unlimited amounts of animal foods (meat, chicken, turkey, other fowl, fish, shellfish) and eggs; limited amounts of hard cheese (cheddar or Swiss, 4 ounces per day), fresh cheese (cottage or ricotta, 2 ounces per day), salad vegetables (2 cupfuls per day), and non-starchy vegetables (1 cupful per day). Participants were encouraged to drink at least 6 glasses of permitted fluids daily.’

According to the findings, of those who completed the study, the volunteers in the low-carb diet group had greater improvements in hemoglobin A1c. Diabetes medications were reduced or eliminated in 95% of the low-carbohydrate volunteers, compared to 62% in the low-glycemic group. The low-carb diet also resulted in a greater reduction in weight.

This is the story that hit the headlines around the world. If you read the paper itself (and don't just rely on the selected findings and quotes from the press release as many journalists did), you'll find that although it’s a dietary study, there's virtually no information on the low GI diet at all. Many health professionals incorrectly assume that all high fibre foods are low GI food. In this study, the researchers don't say what the average GI was.


Alan Barclay

‘That’s a vital piece of missing information,’ says Dr Alan Barclay, Chief Scientific Officer of GI Limited. ‘A GI of 45 or less is a reasonable definition of a low GI diet or meal,’ he says. ‘This is because what we now know from numerous observational cohort studies around the world is that the average GI of the diet of people in the lowest quintile (20% of the population) is about 40–50. Similarly, in a recent meta-analysis of 15 experimental studies investigating the role of low GI diets in managing diabetes, the average GI was 45. Since this average GI has been proven to have significant health benefits in people with existing diabetes and in reducing the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes, and importantly, people can and do achieve it in real life, we believe a GI of 45 or less is what we all need to be aiming for.’

It wasn't all good news for the low carbers in the study either. ‘Bad’ LDL cholesterol went down in the low GI diet and rose on the Atkins diet and side effects like headaches, constipation and diarrhea were greater for the no-carbers. It had a significantly greater dropout rate too.

GI Group: Our position remains the same, whether the low carb option works for you and managing your blood glucose, or if you really enjoy your carbs (in sensible portions of course), you need to make sure it’s the smart, low GI ones you include in your meals and for snacks.

Low GI Recipes of the Month

American dietitian, Johanna Burani invites GI News readers to try recipes from her Italian kitchen (photographed by Sergio Burani).


Johanna Burani

Flourless chocolate hazelnut cake
This cake isn’t an Italian recipe at all, but it was a huge hit in my household over Christmas in Friuli. It is built around rich and nutty tasting ingredients that melt in your mouth. Empty-calorie, high GI white flour is replaced by fibre-rich, vitamin-and mineral-dense ground hazelnuts. The lasting mouth feel is the result of the primarily unsaturated fat in the nuts. This cake stands proudly on its own – no frosting or ice cream can add to its most satisfying taste. If you must, try just a slight dusting of powdered sugar on the top of the cake. Because of the amount of sugar, the GI will be moderate. Enjoy it for dessert when entertaining and special occasions like birthdays. It will feed a crowd. And if you are worried about the calories, just have a sliver instead of a slice!
Serves 12



3½ cups ground roasted hazelnuts (approx. 375 g/13 oz)
1½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla essence
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa (approx. 70 g/2½ oz)
12 egg whites

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Coat a spring-form pan with vegetable spray.
• Mix the hazelnuts, sugar, vanilla and cocoa in a medium sized bowl. Beat egg whites until stiff and dry. Gently fold them into the chocolate nut mixture.
• Pour the batter into the greased pan. Bake for 40–50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

Per slice (when cut into 12 slices)
Energy: 1402 kJ/ 334 cals; Protein 9 g; Fat 20 g (includes 2 g saturated fat and 0 mg cholesterol); Carbs 34 g; Fibre 5 g

Visit Johanna’s website: www.eatgoodcarbs.com.

UK dietitian Azmina Govindji shares recipes from her new book (with chef Sanjeev Kapoor) Healthy Indian Cooking for Diabetes photographed by Yuki Sugiura.It’s available from bookshops in the UK, from Amazon and in ANZ online from Great Ideas in Nutrition.


Azmina Govindji

Gujurati yoghurt curry
(Gujarati kadhi)
Serve this kadhi or curry piping hot and mixed with steamed rice – basmati of course. Jaggery is an unrefined sugar sold in a block that’s made from sugar cane. In Mexico and South America, it is known as panela. Use brown sugar as a substitute. Use a little crushed garlic instead of the asafoetida if you wish.
Serves 4



1 oz (25 g) gram flour (besan)
18 oz (500 g) low-fat plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon grated jaggery
2 green chillies, minced
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
8–10 curry leaves
2 dried red chillies, broken in half
3–4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
Pinch asafoetida

Whisk together the besan and yoghurt until smooth. Add 3¼ cups (800 mL) water, mix well then stir in the jiggery and green chillies. Cook on a low heat, stirring continuously until the curry reaches the right runny consistency. Add the salt.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan, then add the mustard and cumin seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, cloves, cinnamon and asafetida. When the seeds begin to crackle, stir this mix into the curry.

Per serve (without the rice)
Energy: 476 kJ/ 112 cals; Protein 8 g; Fat 3 g (includes 0.9 g saturated fat); Carbs 15 g; Fibre 0.7 g

Visit Azmina's website: www.govindjinutrition.com

Beautiful soup, so rich and orange!
Editor’s report: I loved this soup from Lisa Drayer’s new Beauty Diet book which provides generous serves plus leftovers to freeze for another day. It’s also packed with spices and, as Catherine says in this issue, they are a great source of antioxidants. We estimate this recipe will borderline low GI – orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are moderate GI (65) and carrots are low (41) and it is amazingly rich in fibre. It’s available from bookshops and Amazon in the US and in ANZ from Great Ideas in Nutrition.



US nutritionist and dietitian, Lisa Drayer M.A., R.D., explains why sweet potato is one of her top 10 beauty foods in her new book, The Beauty Diet available from good bookshops and Amazon. ‘Sweet potatoes are on my list of Top 10 Beauty Foods because of their big boost of beauty-enhancing beta-carotene, a fat soluble pigment found in many orange vegetables and fruits. It is a powerful antioxidant that protects our cells (including skin cells) against damage caused by free radicals. Additionally, the body converts beta-carotene to vitamin A, which helps keep your skin soft and smooth. My Beauty Diet includes all the nutrients you need for beautiful skin and avoids those problem foods that have too many high GI carbs, sugar, and poor-quality fats.’

Spicy carrot and sweet potato soup
4 servings (2 cups each)



1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, crushed
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed
¼ teaspoon hot red pepper (chilli) flakes
1 lb (450 g) carrots, peeled and chopped
2 lb (900 g) orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 x 14 oz (400 g) cans fat-free chicken broth (stock)
3 cups (750 mL) water
3 tablespoons peanut butter
¼ teaspoon salt (kosher or sea salt)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (coriander), for garnish

• Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the onion, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, coriander and red pepper (chilli) flakes. Sauté until tender, about 5 minutes, then add the carrots and sweet potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes and add the broth and water.
• Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are just tender (about 25 minutes). Remove from the heat, lift out the cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon and, using a hand blender, blend until slightly chunky. Stir in the peanut butter, season with salt if using and serve, garnishing each bowl with chopped cilantro.

Per serve (2 cups)
Energy: 1396 kJ/ 331 cals; Protein 9 g; Fat 10,5 g (includes 1.9 g saturated fat and 0 mg cholesterol); Carbs 54 g; Fibre 10 g

Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior

Myth: Flaxseed oil is just as good as fish oil


Nicole Senior

Fact: A client once told me she poured flaxseed oil over her breakfast cereal. My initial (private) thought was ‘yuck, that can’t taste good’, but I was also intrigued. A web-search on flaxseed oil advertisements yielded claims bordering on the miraculous. I felt relieved she wasn’t swigging it straight from the bottle! There’s a lot to the omega-3 story, but here’s a taste.

There are two types of omega-3 fatty acids: the long chain marine types (EPA, DHA, DPA), and the short chain plant type (ALA). Both the plant and marine type of omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for good health, and especially important for a healthy heart. It is recommended we consume around 2 g of short chain ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid) daily to reduce heart disease risk. Flaxseed oil (also called linseed oil) is one of the richest sources of ALA. One gram of flaxseed oil yields around 0.6 g of ALA. Some quick maths shows 3-4 g of flaxseed oil (less than a teaspoon) will give an optimal amount of ALA. Pouring it over cereal is a bit over the top.



If you prefer ALA in a tastier form, try a small handful of walnuts (30 g), it provides 3 g ALA – your entire day’s optimal amount, plus some change. Canola oil, mustard-seed oil, soybean oil, breads and cereals containing linseeds, and high-omega eggs also contain good amounts of ALA, while small amounts are present in a range of other foods such as soy beans, green leafy vegetables, oats and wheatgerm. The practical advantage of canola and soybean oils is you don’t need to keep them in the fridge. Flaxseed oil is very unstable and will go rancid (oxidise) quickly just left in the cupboard. For the same reason, don’t even think of cooking with flaxseed oil.

Both short chain and long chain omega-3 are needed, but when it comes to protection against dying from cardiovascular disease, it is the long chain omega-3s that have shown the most convincing benefit because of their potent anti-inflammatory and anti-arrhythmic effects (among others). Both the American Heart Association and the Heart Foundation (Australia) recommend people who have already had a heart attack, or currently have angina, need 1000 mg (1 g) of long chain omega-3s a day from food and/or supplements for further prevention. The rest of us should consume on average 500 mg (1/2 a gram) daily. You can get this from 2–3 small serves of oily fish per week, such as swordfish, salmon, sardines, herring and tuna (check your local recommendations on fish and mercury content). These long chain omega-3s are not found in flaxseed oil.

In the past it was believed the body could convert short chain ALA to the long chain forms, and the more ALA you consumed the more EPA and DHA your body would make (thus the flaxseed on the breakfast cereal I guess). Studies have since shown this elongation process is limited, inadequate, and varies widely between individuals. Conversion estimates vary from 0.1%–10%, and one third of the population are unable to convert any at all. We need to get the pre-formed long chain omega-3s as well as the short chain ALA. So, the long and the short of it is, I’m off to shallow fry some Atlantic salmon in canola oil, and I’ll be pouring low fat milk on my cereal tomorrow for breakfast. Bon appetit!

For more information about omega-3s, food sources, and high omega-3 recipes, grab a copy of Eat to Beat Cholesterol by Nicole Senior and Veronica Cuskelly from Great Ideas in Nutrition and check out www.eattobeatcholesterol.com.au

Move It & Lose It with Prof Trim

Why weekends can be the worst enemy of weight loss
For many people (men in particular), the week’s eating, exercise and lifestyle pattern is quite different to that on the weekend. Attitudes and behaviour tend to be a little more relaxed towards the end of the week with socialising and less constraint on over-indulgence. So does this matter in the grand scheme of things for weight loss?



According to a group of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, it does. In a study published in Obesity they compared weight loss on a calorie restricted diet with that on a one year long exercise program with 48 healthy adults over one year. When they found less than expected weight losses in both groups, they couldn’t understand why, as weight measured during the week seemed to be going in the right direction.

On closer examination, the researchers found that while weight decreased from Monday to Friday, it actually stayed stable on Saturday and Sunday to compensate for this in the calorie restricted (CR) group, and increased in the exercise group. It was shown that this was because the CR group increased their food intake on weekends, while the exercise group did less exercise on Sundays than any other day.

It should be a warning to those taking on a different persona from Friday to Sunday.


Dr Garry Egger aka Prof Trim

For more information on weight loss for men, check out Professor Trim.

Curly Questions

If, say, one eats a high GI meal, how much lemon juice needs to be consumed to bring the reading down to low GI? I am not at all suggesting this as a way of life, but I want to understand how I can overcome a problem, if it comes up.
Research findings over the past decade have indicated that a realistic amount of lemon juice or vinegar just as a salad dressing eaten with a mixed meal has significant blood glucose lowering effects. For example, as little as 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in a vinaigrette dressing (with 2 teaspoons of oil) with an average meal lowered blood glucose by as much as 25-30%.



I have heard that Brewer’s yeast is a good source vitamin B. What are the benefits? Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of? (I have reduced my blood glucose levels by losing a considerable amount of weight.)
Dietitian Nicole Senior says: ‘Brewer’s yeast is simply a natural source of B vitamins, as well as some other nutrients. It is the dead yeast left over after brewing beer. It will have no adverse impact on your weight loss and blood glucose results. You could also source the nutrients you get from Brewer's yeast in yeast-extract spreads such as Vegemite or Marmite (acquired tastes and they are high in sodium). Brewer’s yeast also contains small amounts of other nutrients such as chromium (which may assist in blood glucose control), selenium, zinc, phosphorous and magnesium.’

Email your curly question about carbs, the GI and blood glucose to: gicurlyquestions@gmail.com

Your Success Stories

‘Learning about the GI is just like learning to ride a bike or swim.’ – Jack
‘I am 74 years old and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 5 years ago. I have relatively good control. My A1C is in the low 7s. I purchased The New Glucose Revolution book in early 2008 (The Low GI Handbook is the title of the new Australian edition) and modified my eating regimen to more closely adhere to the lower GI foods. As a result I have been more consistent in my daily readings and my quarterly A1C levels have been more predictable and I no longer get lows. I exercise 3–4 days per week with a 4-mile (6.4 km) speed walking program trying to keep myself to 13–14 minutes per mile and find the agony of getting started and finishing is easier now because I have more energy. The changes have helped my daily exercise program and routines as I am not as sluggish after the morning’s efforts. My appetite is still vigorous but I do not crave eating as I did after exercising before I started the GI awareness in my eating. I also do not get the hunger pangs a couple of hours after my meals when I felt so full when I left the table. I do not consider myself on a diet, merely eating smarter. Learning about the GI is like learning to swim and once you are doing it, eating the low GI way takes no real thinking – you are not depriving yourself of anything.’

Robert updates his weightloss and fitness success story
In September 2008 we reported on Robert’s 25 kg (55 lbs) weightloss on The Low GI Diet. When he started the diet he had two goals: to lose 20 kg (44 lbs) by 6 November 2008 (he lost 20 kg in 18 weeks) and to run a competitive 400 m (1/4 mile) at the Sydney International Athletics Centre in November 2008. Here’s what happened:

‘Whilst a September 2008 calf strain to the left leg pushed goal 2 into 2009, I did compete on Saturday 13 December 2008 for the first time in 39 years in a track and field competition. The event was the over 35 years high jump and I cleared the bar at 1.25 m. I was the oldest in the group and my competitors were clearing 1.30 m and 1.35 m. The goals for 2009 are now to clear 1.30 m, to run the 400 m, and possibly run an 800 m in early 2009.’ – Robert

The GI Symbol Program and GI Testing

Contact the GI Symbol Program
Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Glycemic Index Ltd
Phone: +61 2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 2 9785 1037
Email: alan@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com.au

Contact an accredited GI testing laboratory
North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
36 Lombard Street, Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2X3 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson



Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

New Zealand
Dr Tracy Perry
The Glycemic Research Group, Dept of Human Nutrition
University of Otago
PO Box 56 Dunedin New Zealand
Phone +64 3 479 7508
Email tracy.perry@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Web glycemicindex.otago.ac.nz

See The New Glucose Revolution on YouTube

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Alfie Patten, the alleged 13-year-old parent, may open his DNA test live on TV

Alfie Patten, who was pictured the other day in a hoody top giving a middle-finger salute to the media outside his mum Nicola’s house, is allegedly considering an offer to have the DNA results opened on a television talk show.

His father Dennis, 45, who does not live with the boy and deserted his family soon after the boy was born, has "discovered" his son and has reportedly boasted about how much money he can make from the situation. It is he who is allegedly considering an offer to have the DNA results opened on the talk show.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse - but knowledge of the law can get you off

It's clear that those who have knowledge of the law and are in a position of authority use that knowledge to get off crimes. Being legally correct is better than being morally right.

Now, we all know that many in the police are morally corrupt, but if you were out drinking one night and a police officer stopped at your door after you drove home drunk, would you agree to being breath tested? Under the law you don't have to unless you have been pursued at the time. Would you tell the cop that you've been home all night. There is no law against lying.

Now, read this and see what the head of Police prosecutions at Police National Headquarters did . After refusing an initial breathtest, I wonder if he was asked to take an evidential breath test.

Refusing the second breath test is an offence. But we won't know whether he was asked to do so as nobody is answering questions on that.

High costs figure into death penalty debate, but Texas holds firm

Death penalty opponents across the country are using the plight of strained state budgets as an added reason to abolish the final sanction. The argument appears to be gaining traction in some states but not in Texas, the nation's leading death penalty state.

"I don't think it's driving the effort in Texas the same way we're witnessing in other states," said Kristin Houl, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Legislators in eight states are considering abolition bills, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, and the issue of money has been raised in all of those discussions.

The cost of the death penalty includes not just the cost of high-security incarceration and the execution itself, but years of appeals. The issue of expense has been raised before but "resonates a lot more" because of the fiscal crisis, Dieter said.

But "that doesn't mean it's the only issue people are considering."

State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, co-author of an abolition bill, said the cost issue is not his primary concern. "We're doing this on moral grounds," he said.

But he believes capital punishment is "not worth what it costs. Our money could be better spent in the correctional system."

He doesn't expect the cost issue to change many minds because, he said, state policymakers are more interested in vengeance.

"It disappoints me that the very people that will talk about, 'We need to be rational and look at the cost-benefit analysis of everything we want to do,' are pandering to an emotion," he said. "And it's a bad emotion."

Dieter said numerous studies show "the bottom line is, it's costly," but death penalty advocates are not convinced. They say such studies don't take into account the deterrence effect of the death penalty or the money saved through plea agreements spurred by fear of the death penalty.

And even if capital punishment is more costly, expense "should not be the primary factor," said Dudley Sharp, who monitors death penalty legislation. "It's like saying, 'Incarceration costs more than probation, so we should get rid of incarceration and only probate people.' It's ridiculous."

The primary reasons to retain the death penalty have nothing to do with cost, he said. "First is, it's just and deserved, and the 2nd is that it helps protect us. And so those 2 things take precedent over cost savings."

Source: Dallas Morning News, Feb. 27, 2009

Message from SAVE THE HERITAGE OF HASSAN FATHY

Dear members and supporting institutions,

As you may know the Association SAVE THE HERITAGE OF HASSAN FATHY has been created a year ago. Since then, a lot of work has been done to safeguard the village of New Gourna. The association put all its efforts in alerting the Egyptian authorities, writing scientific and press articles, submitting demands for classification as protected heritage.
The main events that are carried out in 2009 are the international expertise mission that took place on 22-27 January 2009 and the international symposium that will be held on 30-31 May at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
All our actions necessitate means and SAVE THE HERITAGE OF HASSAN FATHY is a non-profit organization and the membership is free of charge. This is the reason why we making an appeal for your spontaneous contribution which can be donated to the following account:
Postfinance Switzerland
Account: 10-790917-0
IBAN: CH53090000001079
BIC: POFICHBEXXX
We warmly thank you for your supporting our endeavours and for spreading this message.
You shall receive the program of the international symposium very soon and we are looking forward to seeing you in Alexandria.

Living in a recession

So, families with two incomes, two cars, several cellphones and two mortgages - one on an investment property or bach - are going to find it tough this year in a recession if their income drops.

Well, they are not going to find it tough, they just have to live a little more simply. They may have to sell the investment property, they may have to reduce to one car - even share a cellphone. They may not be able to buy clothes when they feel like it. They may not be able to go away on overseas holidays and stay in top motels - they could holiday in New Zealand and say in a cabin. They may not be able to pay the debt on their credit card as fast as they would like with income they no longer have. They may not be able to spend $500 on their kids' birthday parties. They may have to look at the specials in the supermarket. They may have to paint the house themselves rather than getting tradespeople.They may have to get out in the garden and grow veges on Saturday mornings instead of going to cafes for brunch. Especially if they are on one income.

Welcome to the real world, where people live within their means. As many of us have been doing all our lives. However for families that live like money grows on trees - and lose their income because both partners have lost their jobs , they are going to find it really tough adjusting to living within their means on a ReStart package - even before going on the dole.

Headway Essex Appeal

Headway Essex would like to thank all of you who donated to their appeal by purchasing a card signed by David. Your support will help people living with brain injuries and their families and carers.
They are delighted with the success of the campaign and have raised a brilliant £38,000!
All cards have now been sold, but there will be details of a new campaign on the site in the future!

At least 350 executions in Iran in 2008

Iran Human Rights, Oslo, 24 February 2009 - According to the “Annual report on death penalty”, at least 282 people have been executed in 2008 in Iran. The report is published by the web site of independent network of the human rights defenders, Iran Human Rights (www.iranhr.net). The network has monitored reports published by the official Iranian media from January 1st to December 31, 2008.

The actual number of the executions in Iran is much higher. The international network of “Iran Human Rights” is currently in the process of confirming additional 70 reports on death penalty in 2008. In case of confirming these cases, the actual number will exceed 350, which is higher than the 317 cases of death penalty in 2007, according to Amnesty International’s annual report on death penalty in 2007.

According to a recent report by Amnesty International, at least 346 people have been executed in 2008 in Iran.

At least two people were stoned to death in 2008 in Iran.

“The increase in number of the executions is in line with a general deterioration in the human rights situation in Iran” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam the spokesperson of Iran human Rights” network. “At least 58 people have been executed since the beginning of 2009” added Amiry-Moghaddam.

The “Iran Human Rights” network- which does not belong to any political party or organization”- monitors reports on death penalty with focus on death penalty to minor offenders and women.

Among the 282 people executed in 2008, there were 4 women and at least 9 minor offenders among those executed, 7 of which were announced by the official media (3 in Isfahan, 2 in Bushehr, 1 in Sanandaj and 1 in Shiraz). The 2 other minors whose executions were reported by unofficial sources were executed in Shiraz and Sanandaj. The youngest victim in 2008 was Mohammad Hassanzadeh. He was only 16 years and 11 months when he was hanged in the prison of Sanandaj convicted of a murder allegedly committed at the age of 14 years and 10 months.

At least one minor offender has been executed in 2009 in Iran. Molla Gol Hassan (an Afghan citizen 21 years old) was the first minor offender executed in 2009: he was hanged on January 21th in Tehran’s Evin prison convicted of murder at the age of 17.

“At the present moment, there are at least 150 minor offenders on the death row in the Iranian prisons” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

He continues: “ Execution of minor offenders is a serious violation of international conventions that Iran has ratified. We ask the UN and world community to mobilize against the death penalty, especially death penalty for minors, in Iran. We need to make an alliance consisting of Western countries as well as countries in the Muslim world. EU has a particular responsibility in this matter. EU upgraded its economic and diplomatic relations with Iran at the end of 90’s on the condition of improvement in the human rights situation. Not only we have not seen any improvement, but the human rights situation in Iran is getting worse day by day. It is necessary that EU reconsiders its relations with Iran and signalizes to the Iranian authorities that it takes lack of improvement in the situation of human rights seriously".

Source: Iran Human Rights, Feb. 26, 2009

Review of The Bionic Broad's™ Low-Carb Blog

The Bionic Broad's™ Low-Carb Blog

Pat says: “I have one foot in two very controversial communities - someone who has the Lap-Band, and someone who lives a low-carb lifestyle. Between the two, I've gone from 245 honking pounds to a more-svelte 175. To someone the size of a twig, I'm sure that this sounds immense, but for me, it's practically Paris Hilton. Not that I look like Paris, of course...I'm much cuter.”

That last line made me laugh!

Pat is someone most people can relate to. She is a wife, mother, hard-working teacher, low-carber and blogger. I believe she is an English teacher. Anyway, that is apparent from her blog posts. They are very well written and her sense of humor makes the reading easy and lots of fun! She brings to our attention fun reading and serious reading (studies with food for thought). She has lost 60 lbs and as such is an inspiration for thousands of people. One of her blog posts that I really enjoyed was one where her stick-thin doctor with his low-fat dietary views was probably shocked out of his skull by her excellent blood work: nanny-nanny-boo-boo

Pat doesn’t take herself too seriously, and as such I find that trait so refreshing and honest. Sometimes I’m like that in real life…but I’m more stiff and starchy on my blog. Here is an example of Pat letting her hair down with her writings before Christmas – could be she is exaggerating just a tad – the art of exaggeration to embellish a story. She did make the story of not fitting into her jeans a lot funnier though!:

“I know full well that, except for the turkey, there won't be a speck of food for me to eat on Thursday, unless I bring my own. And if I do that, it will hurt some feelings. How deeply do I believe in the low-carb lifestyle?

If I crack open the carbage door even a fraction of an inch, I'll still be face down in the trough come March. I can remember, many moons ago, gaining almost thirty pounds in ten days during Christmas. I literally couldn't wear home the clothes I came in. It was when Levi's brass-button jeans were popular, and my trying to get those pants fastened turned those buttons into deadly projectiles. My grandmother had dents in her ceiling for years, and she never knew where they came from.”

One thing I take away from her blog is that she is an avid low-carber and even if she falls off the wagon, she gets right back on, because she knows what is good for her. Not only that, she encourages everyone else as well. Even if she is not losing weight and is in a stall, she is still gung-ho.

She says:

“The bottom line: High fat, medium protein, low carb.

Do you want to lower your triglycerides? Leave the fructose and other carbs alone.

Do you want to lower your "bad" cholesterol and raise your "good?" Eat lots of saturated fat, and cut the carbs.

Do you want to lose weight? Cut the carbs.

Do you want to starve cancer cells while lowering your risk of cancers developing? Cut the carbs.

She is adamant that this is not just her making up stuff, but that she has science on her side and plenty of it!

For instance, she does the reading – as she says in a much older post: "I'm currently trying to get through Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, but with working eleven-hour days, I don't have as much discretionary time as I used to. What stands out the most so far is that the research that shows the benefits of a low-fat diet is so flawed as to be useless. Mr. Taubes uses President Eisenhower, who fought his cholesterol levels all his life, and who suffered multiple heart attacks, as a prime example of someone who was at the mercy of such poorly done research. The lower in fat his diet, the higher his cholesterol numbers. Eventually, the man was practically eating nothing, and still died of heart disease after a miserable life, health-wise. A high-fat, medium-protein, and low-carb diet would've given him a much better quality of life, and a longer one, to boot. Long live lard!

The Bionic Broad out."


Remember to visit Pat’s site – you’ll enjoy her honest, down-to-earth, humorous writing.

Ads in Google News search results

Posted by Josh Cohen, Business Product Manager

If you're in the US, starting today you may notice something a bit different when you search Google News.

Last November, we announced plans to begin experimenting with ads on a number of Google properties, including news query refinements within Google search. Today, we're continuing a similar experience for users by introducing ads on Google News search-results pages in the US. What this means is that when you enter a query like iPhone or Kindle into the Google News search box, you'll see text ads alongside your News search results--similar to what you see on regular Google searches or Google Book Search.

In recent months we've been experimenting with a variety of different formats, like overlay ads on embedded videos from partners like the AP. We've always said that we'd unveil these changes when we could offer a good experience for our users, publishers and advertisers alike, and we'll continue to look at ways to deliver ads that are relevant for users and good for publishers, too.

Missouri high court upholds execution procedures

The state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the means by which Missouri adopted its lethal injection procedures, clearing a barrier that had halted executions.

Although once among the annual leaders in executions, Missouri has not put anyone to death since October 2005 because of various legal challenges to its method of lethal injection.

It was not immediately clear when executions would resume as a result of Tuesday's ruling. In Missouri, execution dates are set by the state Supreme Court separately from its rulings on cases. The court did not immediately schedule any executions.

The Department of Corrections released a statement Tuesday saying it was ready to carry out executions.

The Missouri attorney general's office previously had requested execution dates for more than a dozen convicted murderers. Those requests still stand, spokesman Travis Ford said.

In 2006, a federal judge declared Missouri's lethal injection process unconstitutional after the surgeon who previously oversaw the state's executions testified he sometimes transposed numbers and operated without written procedures or supervision.

The Department of Corrections responded in July 2006 by adopting written execution procedures detailing the precise amounts and order of the chemicals to be injected into condemned inmates. A federal judge upheld the protocol last year.

But a group of 17 condemned prisoners, 5 relatives, 3 clergy members and 2 Democratic lawmakers subsequently sued in state court on grounds that the procedures should have been adopted as an official rule, which would require a public comment period.

A Cole County judge dismissed the lawsuit in August and the case was appealed.

In a 4-3 decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling and decided that execution procedures did not have to be adopted as formal rules.

The case hinged on definitions in state law.

Missouri law defines a rule to be an "agency statement of general applicability" that implements or interprets a law or describes agency procedures.

Among the things not considered a rule under Missouri law are "a statement concerning only inmates" or "a statement concerning only the internal management of an agency (that) does not substantially affect the legal rights of, or procedures available to, the public."

Writing for the majority, Judge Mary Russell said the execution procedures affected only inmates. To the extent that medical professionals are involved in performing an execution, their "role is purely mechanical," Russell wrote.

She also cited a state law specifically making the execution protocol a public record as evidence that legislators did not consider it part of the rule-making process, which would have automatically been public.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Richard Teitelman said the execution procedures don't relate exclusively to inmates but also to medical professionals. He pointed to the law making the execution protocol a public record as evidence that lawmakers wanted it to be subject to public rule-making procedures.

The inmates had been represented before the Supreme Court by Joe Luby, an attorney with the nonprofit Public Interest Litigation Clinic in Kansas City.

"This is a question of which the state Supreme Court has the last word," Luby said Tuesday. "It's a question of Missouri law, and while we disagree with the court's opinion, we certainly respect it."

Source: The Columbia Missourian, Feb. 25, 2009

Citing Cost, States Consider Halting Death Penalty

When Gov. Martin O'Malley (pictured speaking) appeared before the Maryland Senate last week, he made an unconventional argument that is becoming increasingly popular in cash-strapped states: abolish the death penalty to cut costs.

Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat and a Roman Catholic who has cited religious opposition to the death penalty in the past, is now arguing that capital cases cost 3 times as much as homicide cases where the death penalty is not sought. "And we can't afford that," he said, "when there are better and cheaper ways to reduce crime."

Lawmakers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire have made the same argument in recent months as they push bills seeking to repeal the death penalty, and experts say such bills have a good chance of passing in Maryland, Montana and New Mexico.

Death penalty opponents say they still face an uphill battle, but they are pleased to have allies raising the economic argument.

Efforts to repeal the death penalty are part of a broader trend in which states are trying to cut the costs of being tough on crime. Virginia and at least 4 other states, for example, are considering releasing nonviolent offenders early to reduce costs.

The economic realities have forced even longtime supporters of the death penalty, like Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, to rethink their positions.

Mr. Richardson, a Democrat, has said he may sign a bill repealing capital punishment that passed the House last week and is pending in a Senate committee. He cited growing concerns about miscarriages of justice, but he added that cost was a factor in his shifting views and was a valid reason in this era of austerity and tight budgets."

Capital cases are expensive because the trials tend to take longer, they typically require more lawyers and more costly expert witnesses, and they are far more likely to lead to multiple appeals.

In New Mexico, lawmakers who support the repeal bill have pointed out that despite the added expense, most defendants end up with life sentences anyway.

That has been true in Maryland. A 2008 study by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan public policy group, found that in the 20 years after the state reinstated the death penalty in 1978, prosecutors sought the death penalty in 162 felony-homicide convictions, securing it in 56 cases, most of which were overturned; the rest of the convictions led to prison sentences.

Since 1978, 5 people have been executed in Maryland, and five inmates are on death row.

Opponents of repealing capital punishment say such measures are short-sighted and will result in more crime and greater costs to states down the road. At a time when police departments are being scaled down to save money, the role of the death penalty in deterring certain crimes is more important than ever, they say.

"How do you put a price tag on crimes that don't happen because threat of the death penalty deters them?" said Scott Shellenberger, the state's attorney for Baltimore County, Md., who opposes the repeal bill.

Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, an organization in Sacramento that works on behalf of crime victims, called the anticipated savings a mirage. He added that with the death penalty, prosecutors can more easily offer life sentences in a plea bargain and thus avoid trial costs.

But Eric M. Freedman, a death penalty expert at Hofstra Law School, said studies had shown that plea bargaining rates were roughly the same in states that had the death penalty as in states that did not.

"It makes perfect sense that states are trying to spend their criminal justice budgets better," he said, "and that the first place they look to do a cost-benefit analysis is the death penalty."

States are looking elsewhere as well.

Last year, in an effort to cut costs, probation and parole agencies in Arizona, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey and Vermont reduced or dropped prison time for thousands of offenders who violated conditions of their release. In some states, probation and parole violators account for up to 2/3 of prison admissions each year; typical violations are failing drug tests or missing meetings with parole officers.

As prison crowding has become acute, lawsuits have followed in states like California, and politicians find themselves having to choose among politically unattractive options: spend scarce tax dollars on expanding prisons, loosen laws to stem the flow of incarcerations, or release some nonviolent offenders.

The costs of death penalty cases can be extraordinarily high.

The Urban Institute study of Maryland concluded that because of appeals, it cost as much as $1.9 million more for a state prosecutor to put someone on death row than it did to put a person in prison. A case that resulted in a death sentence cost $3 million, the study found, compared with less than $1.1 million for a case in which the death penalty was not sought.

In Kansas, State Senator Carolyn McGinn introduced a bill this month that would abolish the death penalty in cases sentenced after July 1. "We are in such a dire deficit situation, and we need to look at things outside the box to solve our budget problems," said Mrs. McGinn, a Republican. Kansas is facing a budget shortfall of $199 million, and Mrs. McGinn said that opting for life imprisonment without parole rather than the death penalty could save the state over $500,000 per capital case.

But skeptics contend that prosecutors will still be on salary and will still spend the same amount, just on different cases. In Colorado, lawmakers plan to consider a bill this week that would abolish the death penalty and use the savings to create a cold-case unit to investigate the state's roughly 1,400 unsolved murders. While the police must continue investigating these cases, there is no money in the budget for that. A group of families who lost relatives in unsolved murders has lobbied lawmakers on the bill.

In Virginia, competing sentiments are evident in the legislature.

While lawmakers have proposed allowing prison officials to release low-risk offenders up to 90 days before the end of their sentences, citing a potential saving of $50 million, they are also considering expanding who is eligible for capital punishment to people who assist in killings but do not commit them and to people convicted of murdering fire marshals or auxiliary police officers who are on duty.

It is considered unlikely, however, that Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who opposes capital punishment, would sign such a bill.

In 2007, New Jersey became the 1st state in a generation to abolish the death penalty.

That same year, a vote in Maryland to abolish the death penalty came up 1 vote short of passing. In December, however, a state commission on capital punishment recommended that Maryland abolish the death penalty because of the high cost and the danger of executing an innocent person.

Source: New York Times, Feb. 25, 2009

*CHILI TO WARM THE COCKLES OF YOUR HEART* (GF)

CHILI
This chili recipe from More Splendid Low-Carbing is actually meant to be served without kidney beans! However, 1/2 to 1 cup canned black beans (tastier than kidney beans and lower in carbs) will add 1 or 2 g carbs respectively. I skipped the pepperoni and used canned black beans for the bowl of chili in the photo. I served it sprinkled with grated Cheddar cheese alongside lovely, fresh warm bread (2 g carbs), buttered with my healthy butter.

1 lb lean ground beef (0.454 kg)
1/2 cup chopped onion (125 mL)
23 fl oz Classico® Spicy Red Pepper
Sauce, or similar tomato sauce (680 mL)
11/2 cups water (375 mL)
1, 14 oz can sliced mushrooms, (284 mL)
drained
2 oz chopped pepperoni (60 g)
2 tbsp tomato paste (25 mL)
1 tbsp instant beef stock mix (15 mL)
1/2 tsp hot chili powder, OR to taste (2 mL)

In large electric frying pan or nonstick saucepan, brown beef and onions. Pour off fat. Stir in Classico® Spicy Red Pepper Sauce, water, mushrooms, pepperoni, tomato paste, beef stock mix and hot chili powder. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered about half an hour.

Yield: 8 servings
1 serving
192.7 calories
13.7 g protein
11.9 g fat
6.6 g carbs

Large newspaper to shut down?

The San Francisco Chronicle is a big newspaper. Founded in 1865, it is San Francisco's main paper, employs 275 news staff and is the 12th-largest in the United States, according to the U.S. Audit Bureau of Circulations, with average weekday circulation of 339,430. It is the 19th-largest paper by Sunday circulation. It is read by more than 1.6 million people weekly. It also operates SFGate, among the nation's 10 largest news Web sites.

But it lost more than $50million last year and may be forced to shut down if there is no buyer next month. Advertising revenue has not even enabled the paper to break even for some time. Perhaps people are getting sick of all the gay marriage stories.

Cairo bombings

I am sure we all read of the sad tidings in Cairo. But let us all take heart, this is an international problem, all the governments of the world take it seriously and respond quickly.

I was asked today and said the safest place to come is the one just targeted as the police are so hard and protective.

HAMDUALLAH today I got 4 bookings, people know that these incidents are minority acts of idiots and not the genuine loving attitude of the Egyptian through the ages who loves (and protects) his tourist

Lets all promote Egyptian tourism and confound the terrorists.

House panel backs bill banning death penalty in Colorado

A House committee Monday night, after hearing hours of emotional testimony, approved a bill that would ban the death penalty in Colorado.

In a more than six-hour hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, families of murder victims along with former prosecutors and others argued for and against HB 1274, which would make life in prison without parole the highest punishment available to prosecutors.

Under the bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, any savings from not trying the expensive cases in court would go to investigating unsolved homicides.

"You can debate the morals (of the death penalty) forever," Weissmann said. "You can debate the question of deterrence forever."

But what can't be debated is the cost savings from not pursuing the death penalty, which Weissmann estimated to be millions of dollars per year. A legislative analysis, though, estimated the figure at $369,041 per year, a sum Weissmann said was far too low.

Weissmann sponsored a similar bill last year, but it narrowly failed on the House floor. The lawmaker, though, this year became House majority leader, an influential position that could give it more weight if it makes it to the floor.

Thirteen states have abolished the death penalty, and in eight other states, there is either a moratorium or de facto ban on executions.

Proponents of the bill, which included the crying relatives of murder victims, said there were more than 1,400 homicide cases that had not been cleared. They said the resources now used to put prisoners to death would be better spent hunting down killers still walking the streets.

Richard Bloch, a former prosecutor in Arapahoe County and now a criminal defense attorney, said death-penalty cases consume an enormous amount of resources in the legal system.

"I can tell you that the death penalty, in my opinion, is morally wrong and has no effect" on deterring crime, Bloch said.

But Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, a member of the committee and a career police officer, disagreed.

"How do we find justice for the Timothy McVeighs and Ted Bundys of the world that are just cold-blooded killers?" King asked.

"It is not justice to take a life for a life," Bloch said. "The justice system is not there to heal people."

Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican, argued that some crimes are so heinous that life imprisonment without parole is "an inadequate societal response."

The committee approved the bill on a 7-4 party-line vote, with the majority Democrats voting in favor.

Source: denverpost.com, Feb. 24, 2009

Schwarzenegger changes strategy in execution debate

In a bid to hasten the return to capital punishment, California will submit revised lethal injection rules for public review rather than keep appealing court decisions that deemed them illegal.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his lawyers have switched strategies in the legal battle to resume executions, agreeing to submit revised lethal injection protocols for public review rather than continue appealing state court decisions that the redrafted rules are illegal.

Although the move is intended to speed up a return of capital punishment, conservative law-and-order advocates and victims' rights groups expressed frustration over the persistent delays.

State officials predict the execution procedures could be approved by a state panel in six months to a year, clearing the way for a federal judge to lift a moratorium on executions.

San Quentin's death row, the nation's largest, houses 680 prisoners.

The state attorney general's office, on behalf of the corrections department, had been fighting a Marin County judge's ruling 14 months ago that the way the new procedures were drafted violated state law. The 1st District Court of Appeal upheld the Marin County judge in November, and the period for appeal to the California Supreme Court has expired.

"We took a look at the case, and our determination is that the most expeditious way for us to resume the will of the people and carry out capital punishment is to go through the Administrative Procedures Act process in spite of the fact that we disagree with the court rulings," said Seth Unger, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The act requires that any policy changes affecting more than one institution submit to a 60-day period for public comment. It also requires review by an independent state agency.

Throughout the challenges, the governor and state lawyers have disputed the contention that the new rules needed to go through the paces of the Administrative Procedures Act because only one prison, San Quentin, carries out executions.

While complying with the Administrative Procedures Act for the sake of expediency, Unger said the corrections department was simultaneously asking the California high court to "depublish" the November appeals court decision on grounds that it was "wrongly decided." He said department lawyers were concerned that the ruling could create administrative havoc across the prison network.

Executions have been on hold for three years while the state, as well as the nation, probed concerns that the three-drug injection regime may have failed to render some condemned men unconscious before the fatal last dose, exposing them to unconstitutional pain and suffering.

California's last execution was in December 2005, when 76-year-old Clarence Ray Allen was put to death.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel issued a ruling that led to the state's moratorium on Feb. 21, 2006, when he effectively stayed the execution of convicted murderer Michael Morales. The judge ordered review of claims that the procedures violated the 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Under the former as well as the pending protocols, a barbiturate is supposed to anesthetize the recipient before a second drug induces paralysis and a third stops the heart. If the first drug fails, the second would leave the inmate incapable of expressing the intense pain inflicted by the final dose.

A task force created by the governor in 2007 redrafted execution procedures to ensure proper doses and improve staff training.

But before Fogel could review the changes, Morales' attorneys brought his challenge in Marin County, where San Quentin is located.

Morales attorney Brad Phillips said he interpreted the state lawyers' change in tactics to having "simply realized that we are right about the law."

Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, criticized the state for failing to pursue the public review at the same time it appealed the state court's ruling.

"If they were going to go the administrative route, they could have started that two years ago when all this came up," said the top lawyer for the law-and-order group.

Scheidegger also said he was not optimistic that Fogel would move quickly after the state issue is resolved, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that similar protocols challenged in Kentucky met constitutional scrutiny.

"Crime victims are going to be outraged," said Nina Salarno Ashford, executive director of Crime Victims United of California. A witness to five executions who has pronounced them "humane," Ashford blamed the governor for the latest delay.

A spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, Lisa Page, would say only that the governor isn't the official state party in the case brought against the corrections department.

But Schwarzenegger has been an ardent champion of capital punishment, recently observing that he would resume executions "immediately -- yesterday," once the legal obstacles were removed.

Source: Los Angeles Times, Feb. 24, 2009

War Child Heres Advert

As we previously told you last month, David has recently narrated TV and radio adverts for a new album for the War Child charity.
Released by EMI through its Parlophone label, the album sees some of the biggest names in music history select one of their personal favourite songs from their own back catalogue, and nominate a musician from the next generation to create a modern reworking of it.
Tracks include a version of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" sung by Duffy, Franz Ferdinand's version of Blondie's "Call Me", and a cover of U2's "Running to Stand Still" by Elbow.
The album was released on February 16, and all profits made will go towards helping protect children caught in the conflict of war.

Some older releases

The Orb has made a very nice mix for Resident Advisor (released 8 Jan 2009). The page also contains interview with Youth. You can download the mix for free from here (it's not available from Resident Advisor site anymore). The tracklisting is not given, but I was able to reveal most of the tracks, so it goes like this:

1. Ulf Lohmann - Audrey (4:05)
2. Ulf Lohmann - Kristall (3:50)
3. unknown (3:48)
4. The Orb - The Forest of Lyonesse (0:21)
5. Andrew Thomas - I Am Here Where Are You (3:42)
6. The Orb - Snow Bow (2:03)
7. Gas - Gas 1 (9:46)
8. Klimek - Sun(rise) (4:14)
9. Köhncke/Heimermann - Albatros (8:03)
10. Thomas Fehlmann - With Oil (3:04)
11. Ulf Lohmann - Nicht die Welt (2:22)
12. Markus Guentner - Chrom (6:41)
13. Ulf Lohmann - Audrey (4:10)

Most of the tracks are taken from various Pop Ambient compilations. Track 3 is still a mystery to me. If anyone knows what is it - let me know.


Paterson has also returned to make remixes. Last year we were able to have remix for Infadels (made by Alex and Tim Bran): Circus of the Mad (orb remix) (5:40) released on A Million Pieces single (details) and a mix available on Verve//Christmas Remixed compilation. It's track 5: Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World (the orb remix) (5:31) (details - made by Alex and Thomas Fehlmann). Both mixes are totally different - Infadels one is in The Dream fashion and Armstrong is more Okie Dokie-ish.

Iran: three hanged

Iran Human Rights, February 23: Three men were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison early Sunday February 22, reported the government daily newspaper Iran.

The men were identified as Mansour (34), Aziz (25) and Hasan (25), and all were convicted of murder according to the report.

Sixteen convicts have been transferred to Evin prison for execution, the Human Rights Activists in Iran report, which signals for more executions to be carried out in the coming days.

Sources: Iran Human Rights, Iran Press News, Feb. 24, 2009

Saudi Arabia: two police officers beheaded

So far for 2009, there have been 11 beheadings in the Oil Kingdom. The record was set in 2007 with 153 such executions.

Corporal Shaalan Bin Nasser al-Qahtani and Lance Coporal Fah bin Hassan al-Sebeyi, convicted of rape in Saudi Arabia, were beheaded by the sword on February 21, 2008. This brings the number of beheadings in the oil kingdom to 11 announced for 2009 as of February 21. Rape, like apostasy, adultery, armed robbery, and drug trafficking, carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, where executions are held in public.

The 2 police officers stopped a man and a woman late at night at a checkpoint. After beating the men and locking him in a police car, the pair then raped the man's niece. The incident was reported shortly afterward and the officers were arrested.

The year 2007 holds the gruesome record of 153 executed in the land where Islam was founded, which applies a strict observance of shariah Islamic law. In 2006, 37 persons were executed while the previous record was reached in 2000 with 113 executions. In January 2009, 2 men were beheaded for raping another man.

Source: Energy Publisher, Feb. 24, 2009

Saudi Arabia: new execution

A Saudi man sentenced to death for murder was beheaded today in the western port city of Yanbu, the interior ministry announced, the 12th execution in the kingdom this year.

Mohammed al-Hubaishi al-Juhani was executed for his role in the robbery and murder of Fuad bin Qarnabish.

Together with 2 accomplices, Juhani lured Qarnabish into an empty house, tied him up and robbed him, the ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA.

Working alone Juhani then took the victim and threw him in the Red Sea to drown.

Juhani's accomplices were given heavy jail terms and lashes for their role in the crime.

The execution brought to 12 the number of beheadings announced by the Saudi authorities since the beginning of the year.

A total of 102 people were executed last year while in 2007 a record 153 people were executed in the country, which applies a strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.

That figure compared with 37 in 2006 and the previous record of 113 in 2000.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, where executions are carried out in public.

Source: Melbourne Herald Sun, Feb. 24, 2009

Sharon Keller hearing justified

Sharon Keller, the state's head criminal appeals judge, embarrassed Texas with her "we close at 5" rejection of a death penalty appeal in 2007. The execution was carried out a few hours later, magnifying this state's image as cavalier about putting people to death.

It's fitting that Judge Keller will have to defend her actions and her job in a rare hearing before the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Texas must have courts that are dispassionate, fair and soberly mindful of their life-and-death authority. Judge Keller's actions cast doubt about whether she measures up, and her opportunity to address that will clarify her level of commitment to justice over vengeance.

Judge Keller has made other injudicious comments, such as a campaign statement that she is a "pro-prosecution" jurist. Properly applying the law rules out being "pro" anything aside from "pro" justice. That boils down to a matter of competence, one area of inquiry before the commission.

Charges against Judge Keller don't question whether an innocent man was executed. There has been no indication that convicted killer Michael Richard was anything but a murderer. But that's not the question. The state Constitution guarantees access to the courts, and any abrogation of that right especially with an execution pending is an outrage.

As if admitting a deadline blunder, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later adopted a written policy about taking appeals on pending executions. For example, defense lawyers may now deliver filings via e-mail, a practice already used in other appeals courts.

The charges against Judge Keller come at an opportune time. With the Legislature meeting in Austin, lawmakers will be sorting through proposals to heighten the level of scrutiny in capital cases. One of them, filed by Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston, would give a condemned inmate the right to attend, either in person or by telephone, a clemency hearing by the parole board.

That is the level of access a defendant should be afforded, and the level of attention that the justice system must pay, when the state is about to end a person's life.

For more on Judge Keller on this blog, please use the search field at the top of the page.

Source: Editorial, Dallas Morning News, Feb. 20