Lefty Blogs
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....
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iwilltryit video..
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thepartyline
jfaughnan 28/04/2006 10:25AM
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counterpunch
.............
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......
almuajaha defunct
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4Jul06

17 April 2009

Cardiac supplements

Cardiac supplements

Essential

Omega 3 Fish oil ++
• baby aspirin
the enemy is inflammation, arachidonic acid in particular



Very good


Niacin B3 start low build up - it may make you itchy
• Coenzyme Q - not super cheap, one brand Q-gel seems better absorbed (NZ study)
• Lecithin - the fat you have when youre not having fat
• Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid..reduce levels of..homocysteine


Looking good

• Sesame seeds toasted
• L-Carnitine & Taurine - the body makes these from meat, but might be worth taking if you can buy cheap.- probably need 3 grams+ so some kind of drink ("Red Bull"??)
• evening primrose GLA ?? watch your Ω 6 / Ω 3 ratios
• Tomato sauce





Price: Vitamin prices in NZ are a scandal. Blackmore's B vitamins are 8 times the USA price
So go Mail order.
I like swansonvitaminsSwansons, they have low prices and wide range
- you might like to use a special email account just for them, they do seem to sell your email address on...



Notes:


Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid or vitamin B3, has long been regarded as one of the most effective weapons in managing cholesterol. It can lower levels of triglycerides, fatty acids and to a lesser extent, the "bad" kind of cholesterol (LDL) while at the same time powerfully increasing the "good" kind (HDL). But there's a catch – a big one. Patients don't like to take niacin because in most of them, it causes embarrassing, uncontrollable intense flushing, a rush of blood to the face and other skin surfaces accompanied by a prickling sensation.
vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and selenium. The study results showed that the increase in HDL levels seen in patients receiving statin-niacin therapy was eliminated when they also received the antioxidants.
(nb small study.. but Mega C may not be useful... also 'Vitamin E' means different things... beta-carotene may well harm smokers? ...

..........................
emedtv
Niacin : start low, increase slowly
- or get a prescription slow release...

• Week 1 -- 100 mg three times daily
• Week 2 -- 200 mg three times daily
... • Week 12 and beyond -- 1000 mg three times daily

niacin 50 mg administered by mouth 2 times daily for 3 months. - low dose is effective, avoids 'flushing'
.................................
CoQ10
double blind, placebo controlled study researchers gave subjects who recently suffered a heart attack either 120 mg of CoQ10 or a placebo B-Vitamin. At the start of the study both groups were very similar in their characteristics and approximately 50% of the subjects in each group were on a Statin drug. After one year the study reported some astounding results! The group that was given the CoQ10 had 42% less sudden cardiac death, 47% less fatal heart attacks, 46% less non-fatal heart attacks, 69% less angioplasty or bypasses, 54% less stroke and 45% less cardiac deaths. In addition, only 6.8% off the group who was given the Coq10 suffered from fatigue versus over 40% of the group give the B-vitamin placebo.

Although this study was small (144 subjects) i

.........................................................
NZ study shows Q-Gel is best
nzma
Thus it is clear that there are important differences. There is at least a four-fold variation in the increase in plasma CoQ10 achieved by different supplements, and some people get no increase when they take the less effective supplements at typical doses.
The high bioavailability of Q-Gel may be due to the presence of both non-ionic surfactants and the natural surfactant lecithin. The Radiance and Blackmores brands showed the next highest bioavailability, and these brands also contain lecithin........................
......................
26. Jeejeebhoy F, Keith M, Freeman M, Barr A, McCall M, Kurian R, et al. Nutritional supplementation with MyoVive repletes essential cardiac myocyte nutrients and reduces left ventricular size in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. Am Heart J 2002;143:1092-100.
A more recent trial26 using coenzyme Q10 in combination with carnitine and taurine did find modest clinical improvement.
Am Heart J 2002;143:1092-100.
ncbi
CoQ10, taurine, and carnitine levels ..
.........................
taurine, L-carnitine .
Several clinical trials indicate that L-carnitine and propionyl-L-carnitine can help reduce symptoms of angina and improve the ability of those with angina to exercise without chest pain.
1.5 - 2 g per day

Carnitine & Taurine are made from meat, suggests that lean meat may . be ok?

Taurine 3-5g /day
"red bull" springerlink
vitacost
1000mg * 240 = US$14 6c/gram - sems cheap enough... I bet NZ shop prices are way higher

--------------------------
Lecithin - the fat you have when youre not having fat. People who go on radically low-fat and low-egg diets get miserable. Lecithin is the non-fat part of tri-glycerides. May cheer you up , keep your nerve membranes shiny. I tried a teaspoonful in soup, seems to make it more fatty-satisfying. I dont know if the soy-based lecithin is free of soy phyto-estrogens.


Vitamins in NZ are usually way too expensive (fish oil isnt too bad)
Blackmores seem to have a death-grip on megaB NZ33c for a mega with 50mg b6 (shop price) around nz33c
online 75 tabs nz$23.50 = 19c USD
cf Swansons 100mg B6 multivit US$14.19 = 2.365c for 50mg equivalent
so NZ price is 8 times the USA price.

So Buy On-Line!
Swanson Q-Gel Mega 100 100 mg 60 Sgels $21.89

cf a nz web site nz$92.8 = us$53.71 ratio = 2.5


dietfacts
Dr Sears likes toasted sesame seeds - regular 'refined' sesame oil may lack the polyphenols?
, sesame oil and especially toasted sesame oil has been held with the same high regard in India and the Far East. Why? We now know the health benefits of both lies with a group of chemicals known as polyphenols. In high enough concentrations, these polyphenols act as anti-inflammatory agents that inhibit the genetic expression of pro-inflammatory proteins. Toasting the sesame seeds prior to extraction produces other polyphenols, such as sesamol, that inhibit the formation of arachidonic acid and stimulate the production of fat-burning enzymes.

the ideal would be to lightly toast sesame seeds, then to grind them.

Sears is the Zone Diet guy
zonediet
I also like udo erasmus "Fats that heal, Fats that kill.
I believe Udo & Sears may have some disagreements, but they are both techie, detailed, and analytical..........................
Udo isnt keen on fish oil, but I am, Udo is big on flax-seed oil. However most folks are getting a lot of W6 already
Its all about ratios





biomedexperts id & password gill.yoda gill.yoda
Tomato juice


.....................

More Esoteric supplements
c/o nutralegacy

Artichoke Leaf Extract... elimination of bad LDL cholesterol.
• Curcumin, .. Turmeric that helps protect blood vessel integrity and reduce inflammation.
Green Tea..can therefore help decrease high triglycerides.
• Hawthorne Berry is an excellent source of flavonoids ..strengthen the heart and blood vessels.
• Policosanol, derived .from sugar cane,.as effective as some statin drugs at lowering both total and LDL cholesterol levels.
Guggulsterones.. is a traditional Indian herb..help fight the build-up of blood vessel plaque on the inside of arterial walls.. can improve both cholesterol and triglyceride readings.
• Red Yeast Rice, a natural food product from China, has been clinically demonstrated to lower total and LDL cholesterol. It has been in used medicinally for over 1,000 years.
Cayenne pepper, another well known and revered spice, is great to use to improve circulation. It is a warming stimulant that helps decrease the “thickness” of the blood.
Garlic, one of the most prominent foods and healing spices


..............................
re: the above 'small study" suggestion that anti-oxidants are not useful:
vitamin C supplement use was associated with a significantly lower risk of CHD (RR = 0.72; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.86).
onlinejacc



sciencedirect
About one half of American cardiologists take supplemental vitamin E, about the same number as take aspirin. In fact, one study suggests that aspirin plus vitamin E is more effective than aspirin alone. ..some supplementation appears prudent now.

.

14 April 2009

Fiji, Pattaya, Factoring

Fiji
Copy of a posting on Bowallyroad that appeares on Google Reader, but not on the actual blogsite.
A technical rss thing? A regret by Chris Trotter? Censorship by a secret cabal of all-white male judges?
I hope I am not breaching any agreements that Chris may have made to cease to criticise White Judges & Kiwipolitico
bowalleyroad - this link broken??? Apr 11, 2009??

ONE can only admire the intellectual consistency of "Lew" at Kiwipolitico. His condemnation of Fiji's military rulers' entirely predictable response to the neo-colonialist diktat of the all-white (and Australian to boot!) judges of the Fijian Court of Appeal, is all of a piece with his energetic defence of the equally disconnected judgements of the NZ Geographic Board.

"Lew" is, after all, the same man who sneeringly refers to his fellow countrymen as "settlers" - happily echoing the ideas of the kupapa pakeha responsible for allowing the politically reactionary agenda of Maori nationalism to gain such firm purchase in this country's key institutions.

When the most progressive elements of the Fijian people, having been prevented from modernising their country by democratic means, resort to the force majeure of military intervention to achieve their goals, one might have hoped the likes of "Lew" would offer their solidarity and support.

Especially when the government overthrown by Commodore Frank Bainimarama was itself the product of a coup d'etat staged by para-military forces bought-and-paid-for by external commercial interests, and facilitated by a reactionary gaggle of self-serving hereditary chiefs and right-wing Methodist fundamentalists.

etc etc

I am somewhat startled to hear that Commodore Frank is a left hero. I was dismayed in Auckland, in 1987 to hear (from an Austrian woman) that the Rabuka coup was in line with Maori land rights, because the ethnic Indians were not indigenous, and had too much economic power. This from a Viennese woman who said that before WWII Jews owned all the banks in Austria. Was there a certain consistency there? I evidently lack learning in critical aspects of Fijian politics. As I also lack learning in the correct spelling of Nova Zeelandia

........................
Update:

Trotters full post is preserved at
lefthandpalm
Lew 'Kiwipolitico' has a rather tedious 'analysis' of Fiji & Thailand. which says nothing at all. Trotter at least drops hints of an analysis in his (now deleted) rant
If forced to choose sides, I'll go with Trotter against lefthandpalm & Kiwipolitico.
Thats despite Trotters tacky christian bad-art posts. I wish he wouldnt. I had enough sentimental sacred bleeding heart of Jesus as an altar boy holding bibles for grumpy bishops.
Its unbecoming for a serious lefty to post saccherine xtian art.



Pattaya

What is the world coming to if a bunch of Potentates and PrimeMinisters cant spend a weekend in a hotel at a fading Sex&Sand resort. Oddly, I have never been to Pattaya, despite my predeliction for B-Girls & fleshpots. Perhaps I will attempt a dignified posture, just like RNZ announcers, by pretending to not know how to pronounce Pattaya correctly, as if to say "what?, a seedy sex resort? never heard of it"
rawstory


Factoring is not NP-complete, may not even be hard...rjlipton

couple of years ago, while on a panel at a conference, Adi Shamir stated that he thought that public-key crypto-systems would be broken in the next decade. He based this on the terrific work that the Chinese have already done in breaking hash functions. We’ll see.

I used to understand complexity, sort-of, back when I had the fastest Miller-Rabin around.



nytimes
aaa

Brilliant graphics, in this case about imigratiuon to usa -
I'm not so much interested in migrants, I am more interested in great ways to visualise data
__________________________________________________


Nano-Bio-Power
newscientist
Electric Batteries grown from Virus

treehugger
bacteria use electrons to convert CO2 to CH4

. When living on the cathode of an electrolytic cell, the organism can take in electrons and use their energy to convert carbon dioxide into methane.

13 April 2009

Pirates, Sailing, Real Estate

Somali pirates... seems they have amidst their booty containers of 'corn& soy blend' which is 'aid' for poor folks in Somalia... [or not, some sources claim "Maersk Alabama" is sailing on, only the captain has been taken...]
Could someone tell Helen Clark that it costs $158 to pay an African farmer to produce a ton of grain, $285 to buy it in the local market, and $600 to buy it in USAnia? (figures crudely made up from vague memory)
I may eat soy as Lecithin, to boost my neural membranes, in an attempt to avoid throwing my body into the harbour, but should Helen be boosting Monsanto? Or actually helping locals to thrive?
[update the US navy has shot 3 pirates, while 'negotiating' with the 4th. The hostage is safe? OK from here on in who will ever negotiate with the US?]


sailingscuttlebutt Orange II at speed mesmeric video
Sometimes at night I fancy I am on a giant catamaran
24-hour distance record 706.2 miles at an average speed of 29.42 knots
36.8 metres long

I dont know why I despise 'gin palaces' and their plutocrat owners, whilst I admire Orange II, Undoubtedly a french plutocrat somewhere there
Something about no oil involved.
in the 1860s the clipper record Plymouth to NZ was 68 days. Orange II did a circumnavigation in 50 days

Other extreme sailing:

aaa
48 knots sailboat record

youtube
50knots kitesurfing sailing record
____________________________________________________________________________
aaa
aaa
I eat meat. Hell I eat trans-fat-GM-soy-laden meat pies. I dont lose sleep over millions of lab-rats driven insane in their plastic containers.
But, somehow Im glad the Animal Liberation Front is disturbing cretinaceous 'scientists' who are torturing primates with dumb projects. Particularly droogs.

Good News section: counting bed nests indicate there are a lot (140,000?) of lowland gorillas.
__________________________________________________

Pando lives on. It weighs in at over six million kilograms, and is likely more than 80,000 years old (although it might be much older).
discovermagazine


Real Estate
Everywhere I have lived with cheap rents, 5 or 10 years later hoards of yuppies have begged on bended knees, beseeching their bank managers to allow them to mortgage their lives away so they might experience a taste of the reality that I have experienced.
Bad luck Ygen or lateBoomers, money cant buy reality.

In this finite universe, Koh Samui of the 70s will never recur. If there is an infinitude of worlds, then an infinite series of my younger self sits, feet in sand, at a beach-side cafe, finishes a mango shake, accepts a bamboo bong of Buddha from a German girl, and watches a fiercely coloured centipede scuttle across my foot.

Decades later desperate ygens pay $400 at a 'spa', high rise hotels and jet-skis trash the very experience they hunt.
Reality is that half-second between the snick as a rifleshot clips a leaf overhead, and the sound arrives. Or the weary glance from a rice-transplanter bent in the fierce sun as a westerner high on shrooms picks his way on the berm between paddis.

When I built my house, it was in a place beyond the reach of Google Maps - really, the map finishes before my place. There is now a cloud free fuzzy image of my lane, but I remain sure that you could never find my house.

Places I have lived,, and boosted the 'real' estate value of
Freemans Bay, Herne Bay Auckland
Bay Ridge, Lower East Side NY
Darlington Sydney
Notting Hill, Balham, Shepherds Bush London
(Londons drowning and I live by the river))
All these places were cheap rent and real, soon come yuppies, mortgages, unreal.
(Not sure about Bay Ridge, its a long time since Saturday Night Fever was filmed there)

Freemans Bay 1976 .. I had a job as a lab tech at Auckland Gas. On the site of the old 'gas works' where 'town gas' was made by heating coal. A toxic and suicidal brew. By the 70s it was 'natural' gas and the old gasometers at the bottom of Western Park were redundant. I was a feckless attendant. My chief task was to drive a Morris van throughout South Auckland, along the gas pipeline route, and take voltage readings, to see if the Magnesium sacrificial cathodes were protecting the pipe. So I knew many of the streets, before Pacifica arrived. I reckon that cathodic protection is of very limited utility, you need to pump current down with transformers if you want to protect a pipeline
Anyway, back at the lab, I pilfered a variety of fancy lab glassware to use as bongs, and was entranced by the HP35 scientific calculator.
This is the machine that introduced the E for Exponential notation eg light speed 2.99792458 E8 m/s which is the HP35 way of saying 2.99792458 x 108

Lying awake after midnight, I spy a bright star in the southfacing window. Clear skies in this windswept southern capital. After an hour or 2, the star has moved left, East. Beneath the southern pole, undoubtedly Alpha Centauri. Numeric meditations sooth my restless mind. I find that the star is E16 +metres away.
Roughly, good enough for ballpark mental calculations.
I know that light = 3E8m/s, 1 year is 3.2E7sec+ , and alpha Centauri is 4.5LightYears away. Current rockets do 2E4 m/s so the trip will take 5E11 seconds = E4+ years. (10,000+ years)
See the benefit of "E" notation for mental musings.

How can the journey be made? Biological wetware is unlikely to last E4 years. Good planets may be E5 or E6 years away.
The answer comes to me: ECC ... Error correction codes. Every thousand years or so the rocket must wake up, read its script, correct for any damage, and re-write the script , and rebuild the minimal set of nano-bots required to copy the rocket when it reaches its first target.
ECC codes. In the year of my birth, Claude Shannon proved that no matter how noisy the channel, with enough error correction codes the message could get through.
Wet-ware biology has only the crudest form, redundancy. We have algorithms beyond junk-genes, the probes will get through. Unless they lose their urge, cant be bothered. Even robots may get weary.



Its Eastertime too
Up on Housing Project Hill, it's either fortune or fame
You must pick one or the other though neither are to be what they claim
If you're looking to get silly, you better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you and man, they expect the same
In honour of the season, not in honour of Zimmerman, who has turned out to be a disgusting old man