GI News—October 2009

• Does organic food have more nutrients?
• Looking for healthy ways to eat well and lose weight – start a cookbook club
• High meat diets and diabetes risk
• Catherine Saxelby on why tomatoes are tops
• Two new recipes from the GI News kitchen
• Michael Pollan on why NOT cooking may be bad for our health
• Check out the new GI Symbol

‘People are always looking for healthy ways to eat and lose weight and a cookbook club is a great way to do both,’ suggests GI News subscriber, Darlene from Arizona. ‘It has been fun for us to come together every week to try new things and it has opened up new ways of combining good foods with recipes that are easy to make and affordable. Here’s how we started our Cookbook Club. I purchased a copy of Glycemic Index Cooking Made Easy a few months ago to lose weight and try new foods – especially vegetables that I am a stranger to. I brought the cookbook to the office and it received so much interest that several of us joined together to take turns preparing a recipe to share. We discuss the recipe and make notes in the cookbook. There are approximately ten of us now and we meet every Wednesday.

At our recent Cookbook Club lunch I tried a dish that contained tuna. I have not had tuna in 30 years and it was very good recipe. Comments from our club regarding the recipes have been – “inexpensive”, “easy”, “great for potluck” and “I would never have thought to mix this or that into a salad but it works very well and I will definitely make it again.” You asked about our favorites so far? All the recipes we have tried so far are favorites! We visit your website and obtain helpful information from your newsletters and share it with the group.’



Good eating, good health and good reading.

Editor: Philippa Sandall
Design: Scott Dickinson, PhD
Web management: Alan Barclay, PhD

Food for Thought

Off the couch and into the kitchen

In a typically thought provoking piece in the New York Times magazine, ‘Out of the Kitchen, onto the Couch’, Michael Pollan writes: ‘...here’s what I don’t get: How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves? For the rise of Julia Child as a figure of cultural consequence – along with Alice Waters and Mario Batali and Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse and whoever is crowned the next Food Network star – has, paradoxically, coincided with the rise of fast food, home-meal replacements and the decline and fall of everyday home cooking …



Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up); that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking and cleaning up when Julia arrived on our television screens. It’s also less than half the time it takes to watch a single episode of “Top Chef” or “Chopped” or “The Next Food Network Star.” What this suggests is that a great many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves – an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have the time for.

Cooking’s fate may be to join some of our other weekend exercises in recreational atavism: camping and gardening and hunting and riding on horseback. Something in us apparently likes to be reminded of our distant origins every now and then and to celebrate whatever rough skills for contending with the natural world might survive in us, beneath the thin crust of 21st-century civilization.

But to relegate the activity of cooking to a form of play, something that happens just on weekends or mostly on television, seems much more consequential. The fact is that not cooking may well be deleterious to our health, and there is reason to believe that the outsourcing of food preparation to corporations and 16-year-olds has already taken a toll on our physical and psychological well-being.’ Read the whole article HERE.


Michael Pollan

News Briefs

Does organic food have more nutrients? Glenn Cardwell comments on a UK study.

A report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition came to the conclusion that organically grown produce and livestock had a similar nutrient offering to conventionally grown food. The reviewers trawled all the research for the past 50 years and found only 55 good quality research studies comparing organic and conventionally grown food, many conducted this century. The comparison did not include pesticide residue or the environmental impact.



In many cases, it won't matter how you dress up organic produce because most people won't be prepared to pay the premium price. The other critical factor is that less than one in ten adults eat enough fruit and vegetables to be good for them. Most adults need to double their vegetable intake to get the benefits they provide, before they start to wonder whether they should go organic or not.

Fresh produce in Australia is tested for pesticide residues. Most farmers will ensure that they meet the withholding times to ensure they are below the Maximum Residue Limits for pesticides, which are set by international scientific agreement. A lot of fresh produce has no detectable pesticide or herbicide residue at the point of sale. All the same, this will not appease many people who prefer no pesticides to be used in the first place (and if they weren't used then fruit and vegetables will be a lot more expensive than they are now).

If you can afford it, and you eat plenty of organic produce, then keep buying it. Many of you already are, as the organic market is rapidly growing. It sends a message that you prefer food that is a little more gentle on the environment. For those of us with plenty of mouths to feed and a modest budget, then feel comfortable eating good quality conventionally grown food, as the nutrient levels are very similar to organic produce. Remember that how you look after fresh produce after it has been bought will have the greatest impact on its nutrient content. Eat fresh food as soon as you can after purchase to get the most nutrients from your meal.


Glenn Cardwell

For good health we need carbohydrates

‘Carbohydrates have been and will continue to be an essential part of any human dietary requirement for hundreds of years, unless a fundamental mutation occurs,’ says Christian Nordqvist in Medical News Today.

‘The obesity explosion in most industrialized countries, and many developing countries, is a result of several contributory factors. One could easily argue for or against higher or lower carbohydrate intake, and give compelling examples, and convince most people either way. However, some factors have been present throughout the obesity explosion and should not be ignored: Less physical activity, fewer hours sleep each night, higher consumption of junk food, higher consumption of food additives, coloring, taste enhancers, artificial emulsifiers, etc, more abstract mental stress due to work, mortgages, and other modern lifestyle factors.

In rapidly developing countries, such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico, obesity is rising as people’s standards of living are changing. However, for their leaner nationals of a few decades ago carbohydrates made up a much higher proportion of their diets. Those leaner people also consumed much less junk food, moved around more, tended to consume more natural foods, and slept more hours each night. Saying that a country’s body weight problem is due to too much or too little of just one food component is too simplistic – it is a bit like saying that traffic problems in our cities are caused by badly synchronized traffic lights and nothing else.

It is true that many carbohydrates present in processed foods and drinks we consume tend to spike glucose and subsequently insulin production, and leave you hungry sooner than natural foods would. The Mediterranean diet of the people in Greece or the island of Corfu, with an abundance of carbohydrates from low GI sources (think pasta, or legumes) plus a normal amount of animal/fish protein, have a much lower impact on insulin requirements and subsequent health problems, compared to any other widespread western diet. Dramatically fluctuating insulin and blood glucose levels can have a long term effect on your eventual risk of developing obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions. However, for good health we do require carbohydrates. Carbohydrates that come from natural unprocessed foods, such as fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and some cereals also contain essential vitamins, minerals, fiber and key phytonutrients.’

High meat diets may increase the risk of diabetes
Eating more than 120 g (4 oz) a day of red meat, or more than 50 g (1½ oz) a day of processed meat like hamburgers, frankfurter sausages and bacon, may lead to a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes according to a study published in Diabetologia that summarised data from 12 studies from around the globe.

Red meat intake was investigated in 10 of the 12 studies and included a total of 12,226 cases of type 2 diabetes from a total of 433,070 participants. There was a 21% increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes for those with the highest compared to the lowest red meat intake. The results of this study are consistent with previous findings of a 35–50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes among vegetarians compared with omnivores.

There are various possible explanations for these findings including the high total and saturated fat content of many red and processed meats which may increase the risk of being overweight or obese; the fact that they are rich in haem-iron which may interfere with glucose metabolism; and the presence of nitrites and nitrates in processed meats which can be converted to nitrosamines which in turn may have toxic effects on the insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells.

‘The key message from this study,’ says Dr Alan Barclay, ‘is that eating large quantities of red meat, and processed meat, is not necessarily good for your health. Diabetes is a serious condition for the individual and society. Its rapidly increasing global prevalence is a significant cause for concern. It’s currently estimated that around 246 million people worldwide have type 2 diabetes and this figure is expected to rise to 380 million by 2025. The evidence is piling up that high meat diets are not the solution for healthy people or a healthy planet. A moderate consumption of red meat (65–100 g/2–3½ oz of cooked meat), fish (80–120 g/2½–4 oz, cooked), or vegetarian alternatives such as beans, lentils or chickpeas (½ a cup, cooked) each day, is sufficient for most of us and we should limit eating processed meats to just once a week.’

Plate Smash!
‘I believe most people would like to eat the right amount, if only they knew what that was. My new Plate Smash Game makes you stop and think about how many calories you are putting on your plate for one meal,’ says dietitan Amanda Clark. ‘Go over the right amount and your plate will smash!’

Foodwatch with Catherine Saxelby

Tomatoes are tops in any healthy diet



Cherry, egg, vine-ripened, ox-heart or teardrop; raw, grilled, oven-roasted or sun-dried; canned, bottled or in paste form – whichever way you eat them, tomatoes are a versatile ingredient of any healthy diet and a top super food. In terms of consumption, they are our second favourite vegetable after potatoes. Much of our intake is from canned whole tomatoes, tomato pasta sauces, tomato paste, tomato juice (GI 38), canned tomato soup (GI 38) and sun dried/semi dried tomatoes. And of course there’s that barbecue icon, tomato sauce or ketchup.



As with most veggies, you can tuck into them without thinking about their GI. They are so low in carbohydrate that they have no measurable effect on your blood glucose levels, but they do provide you with some fibre, vitamins, minerals and lots of lycopene, all for a mere 73 kilojoules (17 calories) in a medium-size tomato.

What’s lycopene? It’s a powerful antioxidant which has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer of the prostate and possibly cancer of the colon, bladder and lungs. Several studies have found that men who have the highest intakes of lycopene from tomato-based foods had a much lower risk of prostate cancer. And it appears to protect white blood cells, our body's first line of defence against infection. Interestingly processed tomato products – sauces, soups and juices – provide the most lycopene. Cooking and processing softens the tough cell walls of the tomato and increases the availability of the lycopene.

Tomatoes are sometimes avoided by arthritis sufferers, along with other members of the nightshade family like capsicum and eggplant. Reasons given are that they are too ‘acid’ or cause a flare-up of swollen joints or stiffness. But it could really be due to their high natural treasure chest. Along with their flavour, tomatoes contain high levels of salicylates, amines and glutamates, three natural compounds that are often the villains in migraines, digestive upsets and other allergic-type reactions collectively called food sensitivity. As with other culprit foods, it seems if a food consistently causes problems for someone, then it’s best to avoid it (and it’s estimated that around 30% of arthritis sufferers have some sort of food intolerance). At this stage, however, there's not enough evidence to ban tomatoes for everyone with arthritis.

Tips to add more tomatoes to your diet:

• Add sliced tomato to your sandwiches or melts – it's a perfect partner to cheese or ham (add a little Dijon mustard as well).



• Oven-roast Roma tomatoes and stir though a barley risotto with basil, mushrooms and little parmesan. Or just serve them on toast!



• Throw 1 cup of cherry or grape baby tomatoes through a salad. Or use red ripe ones as the basis of that ever-popular Greek salad with steak or chicken.

Why not make your own Salsa di Pomodoro? This recipe is from Mary Taylor Simeti’s Sicilian Food – a delightful book on the food, traditions and recipes of Sicily that’s full of authentic recipes from the author's family and friends on the island.

Ingredients: 1¾ kg (4 lb) fresh very ripe tomatoes, 1 medium onion, 4 sprigs parsley, ¼ cup olive oil, salt, sugar (optional)

Method: Wash the tomatoes and remove the stems, which if cooked would make the sauce bitter. Place the tomatoes in a saucepan with just enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pan, cover, and bring to the boil over a medium low flame. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain well and cool slightly before passing through a food mill. Discard skin and seeds. Mince the onion and the parsley, and sauté in the oil. When the onion begins to turn golden, add the tomato puree. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, season to taste with a little salt, and if the sauce seems to acid, add a pinch of sugar. Makes approximately 3½ cups sauce.

Catherine Saxelby is an accredited dietitian and nutritionist and runs the Foodwatch Nutrition Centre. Her latest publication is The Shopper's Guide to Light Foods for Weight Loss (available as a PDF). For more information, visit foodwatch.com.au.

In the GI News Kitchen

American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI from her Italian kitchen. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is HERE.



Frittata with fresh herbs
A frittata is an open-faced omelet. Italian cooks usually welcome in springtime with a recipe like this one because the herbs in their gardens are lush enough to start snipping at their sprigs and leaves. When I’m not in my Italian home, I’m a city girl, with nothing more than a few potted herbs and tomato plants on my deck. In early fall, before the cold sets in, I start cooking with whatever herbs I still have growing. The beauty of this recipe is that you can choose whatever herbs you may have at arm’s length and your frittata will be as sumptuous as this one. I try to include at least three different herbs. When I make this, we have our ‘primo piatto’ first, which is pasta so I just serve it with a hearty salad. If you are making a meal of the frittata, serve it with some low GI bread too if you wish.




Serves 2

3 eggs
½ cup egg substitute or 2 extra egg whites
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives
2 heaping tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, stems removed
2 heaping tablespoons minced fresh, flat leaf parsley, minced
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, ripped into tiny pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
vegetable oil spray
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

• Place the eggs, egg substitute or extra egg white, the herbs and the salt and pepper in a medium sized bowl. Whisk until all the ingredients are blended.



• Cover the bottom of a 10-inch (25 cm) frying pan with vegetable spray. Heat over a medium flame. Add the olive oil and, when it is warmed, add the egg-herb mixture.



• Cook the frittata for 5–6 minutes, using a spatula to lift the edges away from the pan. When the bottom looks cooked, use the spatula or a flat cover or plate to flip it over to the other side and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Serve immediately or at room temperature with a salad.



• The combined flavors of the herbs are even more pronounced the following day if you have leftovers.

Per serving (without bread or salad)
Energy: 370 kJ/ 201 cals; Protein 16 g; Fat 10 g (includes 3 g saturated fat and 320 mg cholesterol); Carbs 3 g; Fibre 1 g. Because the carbohydrate content is minimal, this frittata will have little impact on your blood glucose levels.

Cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh-tasting, easily prepared, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with Money Saving Meals author Diane Temple. For more recipes, visit Diane’s website.

Creamy bean soup with sage & parmesan
Pulses or legumes are an important part of a low GI diet which is why it’s a good idea to try and include them in your meals at least twice a week – more often if you are vegetarian or vegan. One serve is equivalent to ½ cup cooked beans, lentils or chickpeas. This is an easy recipe for a quick smart meal on the run as it only takes about 10 minutes to whip up and the leftovers can be reheated for lunch or popped into the freezer. Makes 4 serves @ $1.10 per serving
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
½–1 teaspoon dried sage (or thyme)
2 × 400 g cans cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups water or vegetable stock
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes or until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. Stir in the sage.



• Tip the beans into the saucepan and pour over 3 cups of water. Cover and bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Scoop out 1 cup of the liquid and set it aside.



• Whiz the soup to a creamy puree, adding the reserved liquid for a thinner soup if you prefer. Stir in the cheese and season with freshly ground black pepper. Reheat, ladle into bowls and serve topped with a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.

Per serving
Energy: 1040 kJ/ 248 cals; Protein 15 g; Fat 8 g (includes 2 g saturated fat and 7 mg cholesterol); Carbs 27 g; Fibre 8 g

Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior

Myth: Some foods burn fat.


Nicole Senior

Fact: Burning body fat (losing weight) requires an energy deficit and individual foods are unlikely to make a big difference to your waistline.
The idea that some foods have inherent fat-burning properties has been around for some time. Until I typed ‘fat-burning foods’ into my search engine I had no idea so many foods were recommended for this amazing ability. Bananas, chilli, ginger, garlic, grapefruit, pineapple, low-fat dairy products, kidney beans, green tea, eggs and even olive oil get a mention. There is obviously some confusion about the difference between healthy foods to include in a weight loss diet and actual ‘fat-burning foods’, but is there any evidence to back up any such claims? A perusal of the scientific literature revealed several foods showing some promising effects: green tea, caffeine and chilli. Contrary to the diet book of the same name, evidence for the fat-burning power of grapefruit is conspicuously absent.

Green tea contains antioxidants called catechins which have been found to increase metabolic rate and fat oxidation (the sciency term for fat-burning). But before you go out and drink your own body weight in green tea you need to know the research is far from conclusive and any effect is likely to be somewhat modest. On the plus side, green tea is typically consumed without milk and sugar and without sticky buns and chocolate biscuits. Even without the fat-burning benefits, green tea is a zero kilojoule/calorie source of fluids with the bonus of antioxidants.

Caffeine is well known for its effect in enhancing exercise performance. It actually releases stored fat to fuel exercising muscles. The stimulant effect also helps to reduce fatigue and make exercise feel easier. As expected, there is a down side – too much caffeine is harmful. There are also practical aspects to consider. For instance, a cup of instant coffee or tea before your morning jog is likely to have benefit, whereas an ‘energy drink’ loaded with sugar or an iced coffee on whole milk with whipped cream without exercise will not.

Chillies have an active ingredient called capsaicin, which is the substance that makes them taste hot. The studies on chilli are small and show a variety of responses between individuals, however they do support the idea that daily ingestion increases metabolic rate and increases ‘fat burning’. However the positive impact is limited by the small amounts typically consumed, and eating it daily poses a challenge. On the practical side, chilli is popular in Tex-Mex cuisine and it is easy to see how any advantage could be lost amidst the corn chips, cheese and sour cream! On the other hand, chilli in high concentration may forcefully put the brakes on eating because of the pain, and comes with the added bonus of clearing out your sinuses. There is no need to suffer pain in your quest for health because enjoying comfortable levels of chilli within healthy, balanced meals is one of the many natural highs you can get eating great-tasting food flavoured with healthful herbs and spices rather than the demon salt.

For more information about heart-friendly foods and enjoyable healthy eating including recipes, check out eattobeatcholesterol.com.au.

Talking Turkey with Prof Trim

True or false?

1. You have to bust a gut to lose a gut.




2. Sit-ups will not help reduce fat off the waist.




3. Exercise is better than dieting for weight loss.




4. Swimming is better than walking for weight loss.




5. Exercise before breakfast is better for fat loss.




6. Sauna baths are good for fat loss.




7. Weight lifting is good for fat loss.




8. The best measure of body fat is Body Mass Index (BMI).




9. You lose more weight doing exercise you are good at.




10. An overweight person can be fit and healthy.

The Answers:


Click on the table for a full-sized view


Dr Garry Egger aka Prof Trim

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

Your Success Stories

I’m frustrated and angry at being ignored for so long. I fell through the net. My experience should become a case study to avoid the problem occurring for other people. – Angus

‘Some 20 years ago when I went home to visit my family in Scotland I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and put on oral medication. When I returned home to Adelaide, my doctor conducted the normal HbA1c test and was delighted at the result which showed I had perfect diabetes control and discontinued my medication.

Over the years, numerous health professionals assured me that despite some of my pathology reports showing fasting blood glucose levels on the high side, my HbA1c tests showed I was maintaining excellent control of my diabetes. But I knew my diabetes management was far from perfect. I continually felt unwell and my own blood glucose monitoring showed my levels were high, especially under job related stress. I eventually stopped taking my BGLs as I didn’t see the point.

Frustrated that no one would listen to me, I entered into a research program for people with diabetes. Over a five-year period I had blood samples taken every six months to measure my HbA1c. Again, the results came back showing that my diabetes was continuing to be well-managed.

Eventually, I saw another endocrinologist, who finally solved the mystery of why numerous laboratory-based tests performed over almost 24 years showed my HbA1c readings were within normal range. He ordered a frucosamine test, which measures blood glucose over a shorter period, and following further investigations, told me that I had haemoglobinopathy

I had never heard of haemoglobinopathy so I went away and researched to find out what it all meant. In fact it is an hereditary, uncommon blood abnormality and a pitfall in diagnostics because it interferes with the HbA1 readings. After my diagnosis, I was put on additional oral medication and my diabetes management is back on track.

My story highlights the need for a greater focus on patient-centered care. Health professionals need to listen to what patients say and when results don’t continually add up, people need to be referred to specialist services. When blood glucose results obtained at home over an extended period of time differ substantially from the HbA1c tests, it’s important to consider so called “interfering factors”, one of which could be haemoglobinopathy.’

GI Symbol News with Alan Barclay

Alan Barclay

Facelift for the GI Symbol
Look out for the new and much brighter GI Symbol in your supermarket. The new Symbol, which started appearing on products on supermarket shelves in Australia at the end of September, has all the same trusted credentials as the old one. We have just given it a facelift to make it much brighter and help you make your healthy choices, even easier choices.



The GI Symbol is your trusted guide to healthier food choices. You can be confident that when you choose a food that carries the GI Symbol, that the GI value stated near the nutrition information panel is accurate and the product meets the GI Symbol Program’s strict nutrition criteria.

The Glycemic Index Symbol Program is an international public health program which provides accurate and balanced information on the glycemic index. The Program guarantees that a food carrying the GI symbol has been independently GI tested by an accredited laboratory and meets very strict nutrient criteria, which include specified limits for carbohydrate, energy (kilojoules or calories), total and saturated fat, sodium and, where appropriate, fibre and calcium. Manufacturers pay a licence fee to use the Symbol on food labels and this income is channelled back into research and education.

The Program is run by the Glycemic Index Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation established by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the University of Sydney, and Diabetes Australia who are all represented on the board. The Foundation is committed to promoting healthier lifestyles through a combination of low GI diets and sound nutrition.

Contact
Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
CSO, Glycemic Index Ltd
Phone: +61 2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 2 9785 1037

Email: alan@gisymbol.com
Website: http://www.gisymbol.com/

GI Update

The latest GI values with Fiona Atkinson

New low GI breakfast cereal
‘It’s good to have some low GI flaked cereals available on the market that taste great and are nutritionally sound,’ says SUGiRS manager Fiona Atkinson. ‘GI testing the Goodness Heart 1st cereal was really easy as the volunteers loved the toasted flakes, oats and dried cranberries.’

Goodness Heart 1st, Goodness Digestive 1st and Goodness Protein 1st are flake type breakfast cereals manufactured with the low GI flour power of BARLEYmax (see GI News May 2006) – a non-genetically modified barley grain with enhanced nutritional benefits developed by Australia’s CSIRO.

We have yet to taste them here in the editorial office, but we have heard enthusiastic reports such as: ‘stays crunchy’, ‘doesn’t go soggy with milk’, and ‘bloody delicious’. According to the ingredient panel they contain rolled barley flakes, golden syrup and (Digestive 1st – sultanas, diced apple and honey) and (Protein 1st – soy flakes and amaranth).
So how does a bowl of these cereals (45 g or 1½ oz a serving) rate in the GI stakes (served with low fat milk)?


Goodness Heart 1st – GI 46 (available carbs 20 g)
Goodness Digestive 1st – GI 39 (available carbs 18 g)
Goodness Protein 1st – GI 36 (available carbs 17 g)

For more information: goodnesssuperfoods.com.au

Fruit juice Q&A with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller

'Does fruit juice have a low GI? If people are craving a sweet drink, are they better off drinking a small glass of fruit juice than a non-diet soft drink, cordial or sports drink?'
Yes, fruit juices have a low GI in most cases (40–50) and they contribute valuable micronutrients that you won't find in alternative beverages. Some fruit juices are not low GI, e.g. Ocean Spray cranberry juice/drinks, which are around 60. Most non-diet soft drinks are in the range 60–70. Sports drinks can be 70–80.

'Does the very high amount of fructose in fruit juice have any effect on the release of glucose?'
When it comes to any sugary product (natural or otherwise), you have usually have a mixture of sucrose, glucose and fructose. Sucrose is digested quite quickly to glucose plus fructose before absorption. While glucose is generally absorbed rapidly, it can be slowed by acidic solutions (e.g. all fruits are acidic). Fructose absorption is a much slower process and doesn’t raise glycemia anyway. The high proportion of fructose in fruit and fruit juice is one reason why they have a low GI. But it’s not the only reason. Very large amounts of fructose (70 g a day or more) from any source can have adverse effects on blood lipids (fats). The old adage applies: enjoy in moderation.

'Are there any advantages to drinking fruit juice, or should people always opt for the whole fruit? So long as people limit themselves to one small glass a day, can 100% fruit juice be part of a healthy diet, or should people consider fruit juice an occasional treat?'
Opt for whole fruit if you want to feel fuller (satiated) for a longer time. but as long as people limit themselves to one small glass a day, 100% fruit juice can be part of a healthy diet. I can’t think of any advantage of drinking fruit juice (I avoid them myself). It's much more satiating to eat the same portion as the whole fruit. But I'm pragmatic too ... if there's no fruit on hand, then fruit juice is better than no fruit, and superior to a soft drink.

Bear in mind that some researchers believe that sugars in solution (whether soft drinks or fruit juice) bypass the satiety centre in the brain, i.e. we don't register them properly and therefore don't take their calories into proper account. I’m actually quite sceptical of this idea. Milk is a solution of sugar but babies seem to grow at the right rate.

GI testing by an accredited 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 http://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 http://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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By Clicking on the Photos.....

usually it takes you to another screen where the photo can be viewed as a larger, more attractive image.

This is useful, I think. :-)

Happy Low-Carbing!
Jennifer

Society has no place for death penalty

THE death penalty has no place in modern society. It is the most abhorrent act available to man - the deliberate taking of a human life in the name of justice.

The absolute truth of these statements came to me on February 3, 1967, the day that Ronald Ryan was executed at Pentridge Prison - the last man to be hanged in Australia.

I was a witness to the execution.

Together with 11 other journalists, I watched as Ryan was led to the gallows in the centre of a catwalk spanning the first level of the D Division cell block.

I watched as the hangman looped the noose around his neck. I watched as the hood was pulled down over his face.

As the hangman leapt for the lever and the gallows crashed open, sending Ryan to his death at the end of the rope, I closed my eyes - it was too much to bear.

It was the most deliberate, callous and barbaric act I have ever witnessed.

The memory haunts me to this day - that I saw a man deliberately killed in the name of the law.

I walked into Pentridge that day with no clear views on capital punishment. The execution was the biggest story of the year and I had a job to do in reporting it.

I walked out of Pentridge determined to work in whatever way I could to try to have capital punishment abolished, and that work continues today.

The case of Leigh Robinson this week brings back so many memories from that dreadful day in 1967.

Robinson was found guilty this week of the execution-style murder of Melbourne mum Tracey Greenbury last year.

In the immediate post-Ryan era, Robinson was one of the recipients of the virtual mandatory commutation of death sentences by the Government until the death penalty was wiped from the Victorian statute books in the 1970s.

I feel deeply for Pam and Max Greenbury with the news that the killer of their daughter Tracey last year was convicted of murder 41 years ago.

Leigh Robinson should never have been released from prison after his conviction in 1968 for the murder of Valerie Ethel Dunn.

He was sentenced to death, later commuted to 30 years' jail. He was released after 15 years.

Surely this is not good enough in the 21st century.

The alternative to the death penalty must be severe, in my view.

That alternative should be life imprisonment. No parole. No dispensations. Deprivation of a convicted killer's freedom - for life.

It is wonderful to read reports that Pam and Max Greenbury are opposed to the death penalty despite the enormous trauma they have experienced.

They share the view that Robinson should be locked up in jail forever.

One hopes that if that happens, it will bring some comfort to them in their terrible loss.

The death penalty must never be allowed to return in Australia.

It is heartening to know that many countries around the world are abolishing it or moving towards abolition. Our Federal Government has a continuing role to help ensure that this movement continues.

The execution of Ronald Ryan was the most callous and brutal act I have ever witnessed. The details are etched indelibly in my memory. I still cannot talk about it without the horror and emotion almost overwhelming me.

I came away from Pentridge Prison in 1967 firmly opposed to capital punishment - simply because when I continue to ask myself time and again what that act achieved, I find only one answer: it achieved nothing.

By Brian Morley, Herald Sun, October 01, 2009

Study Finds Fish Won't stop Heart Failure

While eating fish does appear to help protect against heart attacks and other cardiovascular disease, a new Dutch study finds it doesn't seem to guard against the development of heart failure.

Heart failure is a degenerative condition, but with the right treatment and lifestyle people are living longer with it. In fact, some 5.7 million Americans are living with heart failure, and 670,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, according to the American Heart Association.

"We examined whether the intake of fish and its omega-3 fatty acids could protect against the development of heart failure in people who had no history of coronary heart disease," said lead researcher J. Marianne Geleijnse, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Wageningen University. "However, we found no association except for a possible protective effect of omega-3 fatty acids against heart failure in a subgroup with diabetes."

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Opposition ignores Vote Re-count

The opposition candidates have said they do not support of the court’s move. Nonetheless, Constitutional Court President, Marie Madeleine Mborantsuo, is quoted as saying bailiffs would act as both officers of the court and representatives of the candidates.

Meanwhile, one of the opposition candidates, Andre Mba Obame is also quoted as saying "This re-count has no value for us, nor for the fact that we are looking for." A senior official of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), which backed Ali Bongo, said he was not anxious.

"The election took place openly. Whether you re-count once or 100 times, it doesn't change the consequences," said PDG Secretary General Faustin Boukoubi. The re-count was postponed for a day while officials met opposition leaders.

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Powerful shake, tsunami hit Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga

Four Australians, including two young children, are dead and five are missing after the shocking earthquake and Pacific tsunami across Samoa.

The family of holidaying Ballarat school teacher Vivien Hodgins said they believed she died in the flood of water.

Ms Hodgins, 55, sent a text message from a Samoan beach to her daughters soon after the earthquake, which 20 minutes later spark the tidal waves, the Herald Sun reports.

She described the scene as "spooky". Her travel partner, Claire Rowlands, survives and was recovering last night in hospital.

Tasmanian woman Maree Blacker, celebrating her 50th birthday on Samoa, was also killed. Her husband, prominent racehorse guide John Blacker, suffered broken bones

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PM's old school to clash closure

The board of Prime Minister John Key's old primary school has vowed to fight a choice by the Education Ministry to close it. Aorangi School representatives said Education Minister Anne Tolley confirmed to them that the end, mooted earlier in the year, would go ahead.

The Christchurch school was put in the dismissal line because of a falling roll, costly building work and the fact there were other schools in the area. The board said today the decision flew in the face of overwhelming society support for it to stay open and the consultation process involved leading up to the decision was a sham and lawfully flawed.

Spokesman Andrew Oh said the school was preparing a further submission outlining its concerns with the process and the decision.

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Alonso joins Ferrari on three-year contract

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has signed for Ferrari on a three-year contract, the Formula One giants announced on Wednesday. Alonso will put back 2007 world champion Kim Raikkonen in Ferrari's line-up for next season.

Raikkonen is reported to be headed for McLaren to replace fellow Finn Heikki Kovalainen, with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica moving to Renault to fill the gap left by the long-anticipated exit of Alonso. "We are very arrogant to welcome to our team another winning driver, who has demonstrated his amazing talent by winning two world championships in his career to date," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali told their executive Web site.

Alonso will pair up next season with the currently sidelined Brazilian Felipe Massa, with Giancarlo Fisichell acting as preserve driver.

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Social media an attractive target for cybercriminals

It's your birthday. And thanks to your Facebook profile, everyone knows that. Your wall fills up with well wishes from hundreds of "friends."

Sure, it's nice to be noticed. But security experts are skeptical about whether sharing information, such as birthdays, with broad spectators is a bright idea.

"It's all about providing the bad guy with cleverness," said Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDtheftsecurity.com. "Back in the day, spy organizations planted someone on the inside to get proprietary data. Social media is the man on the inside. We're giving away all the cleverness for free."

Many people use their birthdate in passwords and private identification numbers, and security questions often ask for it to resend a lost password. So broadcasting a birthdate could help cybercriminals pose as others as they log on to a variety of Web sites, experts warned.

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Worries over cancer vaccine as schoolgirl dies

The death of a 14-year-old girl in England after she received a vaccination for Human Papilloma virus (HPV) has encouraged a widespread freeze on the country's national vaccination program.

More than 1.4 million girls have received the injection in England since the National Health Service (NHS) started administering it in September 2008.

Natalie Morton's sudden death Monday occurred within hours after she received a shot of the vaccine Cervarix at the NHS at her school in Coventry.

Three other girls at the Blue Coat Church of England school suffered mild symptoms of dizziness and nausea after receiving the medicine, according to media reports.

It remains unclear if the vaccine caused Morton's death. Only an autopsy will be able to decide the accurate cause of death.

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Car lovers seek green power, not gas guzzlers

Daniel Gray loves automobiles so much that it almost feels wrong to drive another motor vehicle: "I'll admit it. I love my car, but I cheat on it with a different car every week," he said.

The Belle Mead, New Jersey, occupant runs the car-review Web site mpgomatic.com with a focus on fuel efficiency, but even he strays over to public transit every now and then. Nowadays, even the biggest car lovers are taking notice of energy maintenance.

Readers may not understand a guy who revs engines for a living might need a ride back home after dropping off a test car in New York. In these cases, he usually takes a train most of the 55-mile trip and gets a car ride for the rest of the route.

Gray shared an iReport video explanation how he decided - for one day only, he emphasizes - to see whether he could go entirely without the support of an automobile on the return trip. His journey was successful, but he spent an extra hour fumbling around with local buses and taking an unintentional detour to a local mall.

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Scores dead, villages crushed in shocking Samoan tsunami

Survivors of a deadly earthquake-triggered tsunami which hit the Samoan islands Tuesday have described how they watched the Inrushing Sea consume up coastal towns and villages leaving damage in its wake.

At least 111 people are confirmed killed in Samoa, neighboring American Samoa and Tonga. But officials in the Polynesia region have expressed fears the toll will rise as rescue workers struggle to reach outlying villages flooded and flattened by the wave.

"All of a sudden we heard on the radio everybody had to run for security," she said. "Right after the quake, the tsunami came."

Faumatu and others stayed on the mountain for two or three hours until the caution was lifted, watching as the sea swallowed Pago Pago, island's capital, and then receded.

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Bloggers, lift your game, not your hit rates

I used to read a lot of blogs. I don't read so many now. Some of the ones I used to read a lot have lost their mojo, others are way better than most of the top 20 of the Tumeke Rankings. I have adjusted my blogroll and, on the top of that blogroll have highlighted 10 good political blogs that I think are are worth reading. The list will change. Some are not on that list because they dont blog often enough. Many are not in the Tumeke top 10.

Here they are in alpha order:
david.farrar
frog.blog
kiwipolitico
liberation
lindsay.mitchell
no.minister.
no.right.turn
pundit
red.alert
tumeke!

SO, who do you think should be in that list that is not?

Dead Man Talking

Survivor of Ohio's latest botched execution reveals breathtaking incompetence

Romell Broom achieved a macabre notoriety this past month when he became the first man to survive his date with the needle. Not just in Ohio, but anywhere.

The convicted rapist and murderer endured more than two hours of poking and stabbing before his date with death was called off indefinitely. His executioners could not find a vein to plant intravenous shunts, and they prodded him with needles at least 18 times to no avail, says Tim Sweeney, his lawyer.

The eyes of the world are on Ohio now, and many are questioning our death-penalty apparatus.

It was the first time an execution was called off while in progress, but it wasn't the first time our executioners unintentionally prolonged their work. In 2006, inmate Joseph Clark uttered "It don't work" as his handlers bungled an IV attachment and delayed his doom for more than an hour. In 2007, techs took close to two hours to find a vein and put down obese inmate Christopher Newton; at one point, they granted Newton a restroom break.

Broom lived to tell his tale in an affidavit filed in Columbus federal court days after surviving the death chamber. He described his time on a prep table as two technicians (he called them "nurses") struggled to find veins in his arms. Blood gushed as they pricked him. At one point, "The female nurse left the room," writes Broom. "The correction officer asked her if she was OK. She responded 'no' and walked out.

"I tried to assist them by helping to tie my own arm," recounts Broom. Witnesses said Broom turned on his side and flexed his arms to further assist. A third tech came into the room, and the workers repeatedly stabbed Broom in the arms, right ankle, lower right leg and right hand. Broom said he bled, bruised and felt a needle hit his ankle bone. The executioners' futile attempts left scores of puncture marks.

When Ohio prison director Terry Collins came into the room to tell Broom that the execution would be postponed, "Collins indicated that he appreciated my cooperation and noted my attempts to help the team."

Complications have confounded the Ohio execution team in one out of every 11 lethal injections. Prison officials have defended their employees, a group of at least a dozen men and women whose anonymity remains protected by court order.

In the face of international scrutiny, prison officials continue to defend Ohio's death team. "We believe they do a job most people couldn't do," says Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. "We believe they do it professionally and appropriately."

Walburn says the state is not preparing a formal report in response to the Broom episode.

All states that practice capital punishment maintain strict privacy policies, with California ranking as the most open, says Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. This shroud poses a fundamental problem for states looking to defend their actions when questions arise. "With the fact that these mistakes happen, the explanation of 'Trust me, we're doing this right,' loses credibility," says Dieter. "There needs to be access, observation, to see what's claimed is what really happens.

"This is about keeping control of public perception, that lethal injection is antiseptic, a pain-free method," he continues. "It could be said that a firing squad or the guillotine are quicker and painless, but people don't want to go there."

Critics of the death penalty say a lack of public review fosters secrecy and denies accountability. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed a public-records request in an attempt to learn more about execution preparations, says Carrie Davis, the organization's staff counsel. There's no way to judge execution teams' credentials or work history, and because the state does not request autopsies of the dead inmates, there's no way to determine if the drugs were administered correctly.

"These people are carrying out a state-sanctioned killing in our name," says Davis. "These are our tax dollars at work. This is not a private enterprise. They are state employees."

What little we know about execution team members emerged in March in a federal lawsuit by Ohio death-row inmates challenging lethal injection. Ohio's former executioner (he retired in July, according to the Associated Press) testified while hidden behind a shield. He rattled off a job history that included hospital aide, paramedic and a manager for inmate vocational programs. Neither he nor his understudy — also an EMT —received training on the use or exact effects of the drugs in relation to certain dosages, according to court records. Instead, through his mirrored window, the 53-year-old career prison worker watched dying inmates "for vital-sign changes, watching for movement changes, just watching the person as I would if it was a person in my care."

Dr. Jonathan Groner takes issue with what he deems unqualified personnel using the instruments of his vocation — IVs, syringes and drugs — to kill. Groner, a professor of clinical surgery at the Ohio State College of Medicine and a staunch death-penalty abolitionist, says Ohio is caught in a "Hippocratic paradox." Those most qualified to help the state in executions — doctors, nurses, practicing EMTs — are forbidden from taking part in executions by codes of ethics and state boards. (Recently, the Ohio board that governs EMTs ruled that the state's executioners, despite their EMT certification, were outside the board's jurisdiction and thus free from sanction because they are not representing themselves as EMTs during the executions. At least two emergency medical technicians are part of a squad largely comprising prison guards, according to the Associated Press.)

Trained medical professionals are more likely to handle unexpected situations with success than the people the state uses in executions, says Groner. "People who put in IVs everyday — such as city paramedics, nurses in a hospital — they don't have these [technical] problems. For a person who does it for a living, it's like driving a car." In the pressure cooker that is the state death chamber, he adds, "you match the most difficult cases with the least experienced" personnel.

Problems with lethal injection forced Florida governor Jeb Bush to temporarily delay capital punishment in 2006 after an autopsy showed that the chemicals had infiltrated Angel Diaz' muscle tissue instead of his bloodstream. New Jersey temporarily halted the death penalty as it revised its execution procedures, but abolished the practice in 2007 after a greater debate on the capital punishment. Maryland, California and North Carolina have frozen their systems as they debate policy.

Ohio is the only state that has a law that requires a quick and painless execution, and Broom's lawyer, Tim Sweeney, argues that the state has not fulfilled that requirement.

"I think there are serious questions of whether the state is using the right people to carry out a relatively complex procedure," says Sweeney. "If the drug isn't administered properly, the inmate will assuredly be tortured to death."

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost plans to hear Broom's arguments in Columbus on November 30 — well after the state's next execution, scheduled for October 8. Newspaper editorials have called for a halt. Ohio secretary of state and U.S. Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner recently became the highest-ranking state official to call for a moratorium.

Governor Ted Strickland's office has received more than 1,100 messages about the death penalty," says his spokesperson Amanda Wurst. She said Strickland cannot legally issue a blanket moratorium, and he has yet to issue a clemency ruling for Lawrence Reynolds, the next inmate in line for execution.

Broom's victim was a 14-year-old East Cleveland girl named Tryna Middleton. As she walked home from a football game, Broom kidnapped her at knifepoint, raped her and fatally stabbed her seven times. I visited her parents on Friday with the hopes of getting their take on this swirling debate.

Bessye Middleton answered the door, but deferred to her husband, a tall, burly man who came out onto his porch to speak with me. David Middleton accepted my handshake and listened coolly, but he did not want to be interviewed. He said that he's tired of exploitative reporters on his front yard and tired of the whirlwind events that have swept his family into the national spotlight.

When I told him that I had witnessed an execution in 2004, he perked with curiosity, and we chatted a bit more. I shared with him my haunting recollection of Lewis Williams' death. I asked him if the execution room was as dark as I remembered it. "Like a horror movie," he said.

Then he noted that his daughter was never coming back. It was difficult to look him in the eye when he said this. He wants to be left alone, he said. This isn't a horror movie for him; this is a tragedy he never asked for. I wished him the best and left. "I'm through with this," he said as I walked away. "Whatever happens, happens."

Source: ClevelandScene, Sept. 30, 2009

Texas Fugitive caught by HPD gets reprieve

A Texas death row inmate won a reprieve Tuesday from a federal appeals court a day before he was scheduled for execution for a triple slaying in Amarillo almost 12 years ago.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief one-paragraph order stopping the lethal injection of John Balentine, set for Wednesday evening, "pending further order of this court." Balentine's appeal to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit said lower courts had not properly resolved his earlier appeals.

The Texas Attorney General's Office was appealing to get the order lifted, spokeswoman Lauri Saathoff said.

Balentine, 40, would have been the 19th prisoner executed this year in the nations most active death penalty state.

Balentine was condemned for the January 1998 shooting deaths of Mark Caylor Jr., 17; Kai Brooke Geyer, 15; and Steven Watson, also 15. Caylor was the brother of Balentine's former girlfriend, and prosecutors said the shootings capped a feud between Caylor and Balentine.

Evidence showed all 3 victims were shot once in the head as they slept in a tiny house where Balentine also once lived.

When he was pulled over in Houston in July 1998 and gave a traffic cop a false name, the alias was detected as one used by a man wanted in the shooting deaths of the 3 teenage boys earlier that year in Amarillo, 600 miles to the northwest.

Balentine, who had a lengthy criminal record in his native Arkansas, was arrested and confessed. He was tried in Amarillo for capital murder, was convicted and sentenced to die.

In appeals, Balentine's attorneys argued his trial lawyers were deficient for failing to develop mitigating evidence to show his childhood of poverty, domestic violence and abuse. They also contended a pool of state-appointed appeals lawyers to represent death row inmates like Balentine in initial appeals included unqualified or deficient attorneys.

"The ability of a prisoner to obtain relief is wholly dependent upon the luck of the draw," Lydia Brandt, a Dallas-area lawyer representing Balentine, told the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition seeking a review of the case. "Mr. Balentine was one of the unlucky death-sentenced prisoners."

She said the claims never were raised earlier, and were blocked now in the lower state courts, because of a broken system.

"The state corrective process as a whole was ineffective, Brandt insisted.

Texas law provides for appointment of a lawyer in death penalty cases but "the provision does not create a right to complain" about the outcome of that legal representation, the Texas Attorney General's Office responded. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has refused to hold that an inmate's lawyer must be "constitutionally effective" and has declined to turn a "legislative act of grace" into a constitutional right, state attorneys added.

In a tape recorded statement to police played at his trial, Balentine said he moved out of the Amarillo house because of drug use there, then said he learned later that Caylor was looking to kill him because he had "jumped on his sister." He slipped into the house and "shot Mark in the head and shot the other 2 in the head," he said.

"Mark had threatened my life, threatened my brother, girlfriend and the kids, waving a gun and talking about what he was going to do to me and whoever else come over there looking for me and stuff," he said.

He also said he didn't know the other 2 victims.

A neighbor heard a gunshot and called police. An officer responding spotted Balentine walking down a street. Balentine identified himself as John Lezell Smith, had no identification but a records check showed outstanding traffic warrants for Smith.

The officer handcuffed him and in a search found an unspent .32 caliber bullet in his pocket. A police supervisor told the officer since it was not illegal to be carrying a bullet, Balentine could be released.

Later that day, police were called to scene of the 3 homicides, 50 yards from where Balentine was questioned.

It would be 6 months before he was picked up in Houston.

Balentine, from Jackson County, Ark., northeast of Little Rock, had previous prison terms in his home state for burglary, kidnapping, assault and robbery.

"It was a strong circumstantial case," Randy Sherrod, one of Balentine's trial lawyers, recalled. "They found evidence that matched the bullet that was on him a very short time after the 3 kids were shot. The main thing I remember about that case is we raised enough questions with the prosecutors that they offered life sentence."

Balentine refused it, went to trial and got death. He declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his scheduled punishment.

Source: Associated Press,Sept. 30, 2009

Nebraska: 3-drug combo is execution cocktail

Nebraska corrections officials propose to execute condemned prisoners with a 3-drug combination.

The drugs would be the same used in all other states that carry out the death penalty by lethal injection an anesthetic, a paralyzing agent and a drug to stop the prisoner's heart.

Death penalty critics attack the drugs, saying they can cause prisoners to suffer and that veterinarians have rejected using them to euthanize animals.

But the three-drug protocol is outlined in draft rules and regulations for Nebraska executions officials released Monday.

The proposed rules would carry out the state's new lethal injection law. A public hearing is set for Nov. 16 at the State Office Building in Lincoln.

Robert Houston, director of corrections, said staffers who developed the draft protocol did not consider other drugs.

"Those are the most accepted," he said. "We believe that that protocol follows state law and reflects the best procedures from around the country."

But Mike Nelsen, an Omaha attorney who has defended people on death row, predicted that the protocol would become an immediate target for legal action:

"This will prompt a substantial legal challenge, and the state will spend money needlessly that they could spend on other things."

Nelsen said a botched execution in Ohio this month illustrates some of the problems with lethal injection.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland ordered a halt to the execution of Romell Broom, 53, on Sept. 15 after technicians tried for 2 hours to get an intravenous line started. Appeals are pending on whether the state can try again.

Houston said Nebraska officials would study the Ohio case in hopes of avoiding similar problems.

The state's draft protocol calls for a team of at least 12 people to carry out an execution.

None would have to be licensed health care professionals, although two team members would have to get training as emergency medical technicians and in drawing blood and starting IV lines.

The execution team would include the department director, the Nebraska State Penitentiary warden, the penitentiary staff communicator, at least seven people to escort the prisoner and a 2-person IV team. The IV team is to start an intravenous line and administer the drugs when the director orders.

The draft rules spell out the order and dosage of the drugs.

The warden is to do consciousness checks after the 1st drug is administered. The checks are to determine whether the prisoner is anesthetized before giving the 2nd drug, a paralyzing agent.

Houston said he expects to draw the team members from among corrections staff.

Nebraska was the last death penalty state to adopt lethal injection as its method of execution. State lawmakers approved the change earlier this year.

The Nebraska Supreme Court had declared the previous method of execution the electric chair to be cruel and unusual punishment in March 2008.

Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty is studying the draft protocol and won't have specific comments until later, said Jill Francke, the group's statewide coordinator.

But, she said, the state's proposal doesn't address major flaws in the death penalty process.

"We certainly don't see this as any sort of improvement to fix a system that is clearly broken," Francke said.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said the state learned from others in crafting its lethal injection protocol.

It also has the benefit of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that upheld Kentucky's lethal injection law. The 2 dissenting judges in the case recommended the consciousness checks.

Bruning said he expects the rule-making process to be completed "within the next few months." By law, the attorney general and governor have to review and approve the rules.

Source: Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 29, 2009

Ohio: Condemned inmate Lawrence Reynolds wants execution delayed

A death row inmate has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to delay his upcoming execution in light of problems with the state's last scheduled lethal injection.

Attorneys for Lawrence Reynolds filed a motion with the state's highest court today, days after a similar filing with a federal appeals court.

Reynolds execution scheduled for Oct. 8 would be the 1st since the state's unsuccessful attempt at putting Romell Broom to death on Sept. 15. The lethal injection procedure was halted by Gov. Ted Strickland after executioners struggled for 2 hours to find a usable vein.

Broom's execution has been delayed until at least Nov. 30.

Reynolds' lawyers argue that Ohios lethal injection system should be investigated before he goes to the death chamber.

Source: Cleveland.com, Sept. 30, 2009

Five people were hanged in north-eastern Iran

Five people were hanged in the prison of Taybad, north-east of Iran reported the official news site of the Iranian police.

Those executed were convicted of drug trafficking and none of them were identified by name. No further details were given in the report.

The executions took place at about 9 pm, September 28, according to the report.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Sept. 30, 2009

Ohio: Freeze on lethal injections sought

The ghosts of problem executions past combined with an aborted attempt two weeks ago are haunting state prison officials as death-penalty foes argue that Ohio's lethal injections should be halted, at least temporarily.

The Ohio public defender, in motions filed yesterday in state and federal courts, contends that the botched attempt to execute Romell Broom on Sept. 15 - coupled with problems in two previous executions - warrants postponing the scheduled lethal injection of Lawrence Reynolds next week.

"Until a thorough and proper review of Ohio's lethal injection protocol is conducted, executions should not be allowed to proceed in the state," Kelly L. Schneider, head of the public defender's death-penalty section, told The Dispatch yesterday. "It seems like the logical thing to do is to take a step back and see what's going on here."

The prison execution team "demonstrated that it is wholly incapable of administering Ohio's lethal injection protocol" in line with the federal and state constitutions and Ohio law, the public defender said in a motion filed in the Ohio Supreme Court. A motion also was filed in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

Further, the public defender cited the "inadequacy of Ohio's lethal injection protocol" and lack of a contingency plan in its attempt to get a stay of execution for Reynolds.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray's office, in a response to the federal filing, countered that "the difficulties in accessing Broom's veins and the postponement of (his) execution are not indications that the execution of Reynolds or other prisoners cannot be conducted appropriately."

Further, the state said, Broom was not subjected to "cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The relatively minor pain he experienced does not rise to the level of extreme pain or torture prohibited by the Eighth Amendment."

The Ohio Supreme Court has set four additional execution dates in the following four months: Darryl Durr of Cleveland on Nov. 10, Kenneth Biros of Trumbull County on Dec. 8, Vernon Smith of Lucas County on Jan. 7 and Mark Brown of Mahoning County on Feb. 4.

In her appeal, the public defender cited two previous problem executions. Joseph Clark was stuck 19 times during his execution in 2006, and the next year Christopher Newton's IV process took so long that he was allowed to take a bathroom break.

With Broom's execution now pushed back by at least 60 days, the attention has turned to Reynolds. Barring court intervention, the 43-year-old killer from Akron will be put to death at 10 a.m. Oct. 8 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville. He was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Loretta Foster, a 67-year-old neighbor, on Jan. 1, 1994.

The court late last week set a hearing in Broom's case for Nov. 30. A new execution date would have to be after that date.

Broom, 53, of Cleveland, was sentenced to death for abducting, raping and stabbing to death 14-year-old Tryna Middleton on Sept. 21, 1984.

Broom's would-be executioners struggled unsuccessfully for two hours to attach IV lines, reportedly sticking the convicted killer 18 times, sometimes striking muscle and bone and causing severe pain, according to the inmate's deposition. The execution was abandoned when Gov. Ted Strickland granted a temporary reprieve.

Within hours, Ohioans to Stop Executions called for a halt to executions, saying Broom's case made it "obvious that no amount of adjustment to the death penalty process can achieve an outcome absent of pain and suffering for victims' family members, witnesses, corrections workers and the condemned inmate."

The American Civil Liberties Union also weighed in on the Broom case, and the death-penalty center at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law is providing resource and communications support to the public defender.

Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Sept. 29, 2009

EU supports highway network

Prime Minister, Philemon Yang conveyed the government’s message of kindness to the EU head of mission to Cameroon, Javier Puyol while commissioning the 63km Muea - Kumba stretch of road in the Southwest area of the country.

Acknowledging a 50-percent involvement of the EU, to the tune of FCFA 31 billion cost of the Muea - Kumba road, Yang expressed thanks to the EU for the project and for all what they have been doing in the country.

The Prime Minister reminded Cameroonians that the Muea - Kumba road is now theirs but the defense is not only the concern of the government.

useful links: transport rankings 
“It is the responsibility of all. We have to respect traffic rules and not make the road a death trap,” he advised.

Yang said the road, which originally took off with the 12 km Mutengene - Muea stretch, still in the Southwest Region, is the continuance one of the one to Kumba.

1918 Flu Closings May present Lessons for Today

An study of disease control measures used during the 1918 influenza pandemic offers lessons for commerce with the issue of school closures this fall in response to the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, say U.S. investigators..

Last spring, school closures were a common and contentious strategy for controlling the spread of the H1N1 virus. Intense discuss about this type of action will likely occur again if the swine flu pandemic continues or worsens this fall, according to researchers at the University of Michigan and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

They studied how 43 American cities and their public school systems responded during the 1918 flu pandemic and found that school conclusion were almost always issued with community-wide nonpharmaceutical interventions, such as quarantine, isolation and bans on public gatherings.

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Websites help families continues connected

Many Australian mums are using social networking websites to maintain relationships with their children, a review has found.

The State of the Nation reports that a analysis of 1200 Australian mothers, conducted on behalf of Telstra in August, shows 70 per cent of Australian mothers, including many aged between 45 and 65, are adopting skill as a way to stay connected to their family.

Despite the effort being made by mums - many of whom admit to not being certain using social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, the review found many children declined online friend requests from their parents.

Children over the age of 16 are most likely to refuse friend requests from their parents to avoid the embarrassment of baby photos and grammar corrections on their home page, the review showed.

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Changing your mind about the death penalty

A lot of people opposed to the death penalty have stories of conversion, but none could possibly be more powerful than those who have been victimized by the crimes eligible for such a punishment.

The family members of murder victims are often assumed to be of one mind on the death penalty. I know of no study that quantifies what percentage may be opposed, and I doubt we could ever really know, but the group Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights has asked some of its members to walk us through their own conversion stories. It's powerful reading.

Here's part of one mother's story: "It was expected by everyone that I would want the death penalty. Not a single person ever sat down and talked with me about other options..."

Click here to read this feature in full.

Source: The Dallas Morning News, Sept. 29, 2009

Fake police officer sought in Chch

Christchurch Police have issued a caution as a man, impersonating an officer, has been knocking on doors, asking for people's bank cards, PIN numbers and cheque books.

Police Communications shift commander Tony Ellis said the man was elderly in his late 20s to early 30s and has been targeting the elderly in eastern areas of Christchurch over the past two days.

He has been successful in obtaining cards and cash on three instances, including once on Tuesday evening in New Brighton.

The man does not have a uniform, but has been telling people he is a police officer and there has been a banking trouble, or something similar, which he needs their cards and details to fix.

useful links: transport rankings  

Dementieva joins seeded fatalities in Tokyo

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva became the newest seeded casualty at the Pan Pacific Open, going down 6-2 6-7 6-1 to Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in the second round in Tokyo.

The third-seeded Russian, who was winner here in 2006, double-faulted twice on a break point and once on match point to lose to her 33rd-ranked challenger.

"There was nothing mistaken with my serve. I was serving good today," Dementieva told reporters in spite of serving 11 double faults.

With the top two seeds, Dinara Safina and Venus Williams, both deafening out on Monday, Dementieva's exit left U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark as the top-seeded player remaining.

useful links: transport rankings