The season finale of The Guild came up a bit ago, and I am absolutely dying. I’m going to spoil everything for you, so go watch it if you haven’t.

Fawkes and Codex? Who woulda thunk it? Well actually a lot of people.  I’ve been crossing my fingers that something would happen between them, ever since Fawkes showed up in that hot little kilt (I’m gross). Fawkes has shown interest in Codex, remember when she confronts him and he does that whole Freudian chat about how since she invited him alone, and wants him subconsciously. And come on, Codex has got to be the cutest MMORPG player ever.

While some may think it’s weird that Vi is bangin’ Wesley, I’m actually pretty excited to see how this turns out. They’re both smart, but I wonder whether Fawkes’ only interest is “getting back” at the Knights or whether he actually likes her. Personally, I’m hoping they end up liking each other and Codex tries to hide the relationship from the guild. Can you imagine what Clara will say?! Or Zaboo? Or Tink, or Bladezz, or Vork?

Also, what’s Fawkes’ real name? Does he know her as Cyd? Do they just call each other by their CHARACTER NAMES? That’s weird.

When we began Carlson Laboratories in 1965, the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was attempting to classify nutritional supplements as Drugs so they could limit what was sold and limit RDA levels. Passed in 1974, The Proxmire Bill prevented the FDA from limiting availability or dosage. DSHEA, which passed in 1994, clarified the law further.

Now, a new Bill has been introduced into the US Senate by Senator Durbin of Illinois. Bill S-722, the so-called Dietary Supplement Safety Act, would greatly expand the Federal Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority over dietary supplements and undermine the hard-fought victory the Nutritional Supplement Industry achieved with DSHEA, which sought to restrain the FDA’s historical abuse of discretionary authority over dietary supplements. And, despite its tit]e, this Bill will provide the consumer with no more protection than current law provides.

If passed into law, this bill will, however, subject nearly all vitamins, minerals, herbal products and other supplements to a level of scrutiny that is unwarranted, unnecessary and costly. By questioning the safety of any dietary supplement that receives even one complaint, hundreds of products that have been safely and beneficially used could be removed from the marketplace. This Bill threatens not only manufacturers, suppliers and health food stores, but consumers’ rights as well.

A unified industry effort is needed! We must inform the public of this Legislation and how it affects them and urge them to contact their state senators nationwide to oppose it. We need your help!

I am asking all readers to send a letter to their Senator to oppose S-722. Without your support, this bill stands a good chance of passing into law and affecting the health freedoms we take for granted now.

Susan Carlson, RPh

J.R. Carlson Laboratories, Inc.

15 College

Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004-1985

847-255-1600

Fax 847-255-1605

Date–

Dear Senator–:

I urge you to oppose any efforts by your fellow Senators to enact S-722, which has been erroneously named the Dietary Supplement “Safety” Act by its sponsor Senator Durbin.

This bill would allow the FDA to take away my dietary vitamin and mineral supplements.

Under existing law, the FDA has been given broad, legal authority to regulate all aspects of manufacturing, marketing and distributing dietary supplements. Rather than encouraging the FDA to start aggressively enforcing existing law, Senator Durbin’s bill would grant the FDA new enforcement powers without any corresponding increase in the protections accorded to consumers under the existing law. These new enforcement powers would include wide discretionary authority that would enable the FDA to remove from the market safe and healthful dietary supplements. This would completely undermine the primary goal of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (“DSHEA”) to restrain the FDA’s historical abuse of discretionary authority over dietary supplements.

If adopted, this Bill would unjustifiably subject vitamins, minerals, herbal products and other supplements to an unwarranted level of government scrutiny. Beneficial products that have been used safely for hundreds–and in some cases, thousands–of years would be subjected to clinical evaluation using ambiguous standards. This would permit the FDA to fabricate safety concerns and remove safe, nutritious dietary supplements from the market.

Under the Durbin Bill, if a single report of an adverse experience occurring while taking a dietary supplement is received, even though it is not known to be causally related to the dietary supplement, the FDA can initiate procedures resulting in the termination of the marketing of the ingredient. All of these procedures are left entirely to the unbridled discretion and whim of the FDA.

Already, adverse experiences have been filed for: Vitamin C; Echinacea; Multivitamins; Glucosamine; Calcium and more.

I encourage you to oppose this extreme and unnecessary legislation and use your authority to encourage and support the FDA in fully exercising its already adequate enforcement powers.

Respectfully yours,–

Signature–

Name (print)–

Address/City/State/Zip–

“There is an entire industry with an inborn economic interest to obstruct, suppress/hide and deny/discredit any information about the eradication of any/all diseases. The pharmaceutical/drug  industry makes over one trillion dollars from selling drugs for ongoing diseases. These drugs may relieve symptoms, but they do not cure, but they make other things worse. We have to realize that the mission of this industry is to make as much money from ongoing diseases as possible.

(You ever notice the difference between the  doctor who’s salary depends on how many surgeries he does as to a doctor’s salary who always stays the same?   …The doctor who’s salary depends on the # of surgery’s  will perform more surgery’s JUST BECAUSE he needs money. Not because you need it.))

The cure or eradication of a all disease leads to the collapse of a couple multi-trillion dollar markets of pharmaceuticals/drugs, and Medicine. (When the drugs don’t work you have to go to the hospital more …the “hospital” industry is also multi-trillion “business”.

If you have discovered the value of such products as vitamin C and oil of oregano, what would you do if you were to find out that such products can no longer be purchased from your local health food store but must be prescribed to you through a licensed medical doctor? What if your medical doctor decided that your health condition did not warrant the use of these natural, non-pharmaceutical products?

This scenario may sound far-fetched but, in reality, what is known as Codex Alimentarius is being adopted worldwide at record breaking speed. In Australia, Canada, and parts of Europe, they have already banned many nutritional supplements. Remember that America is also a member of the U.N. and will be adopting these Codex standards in the near future. If this happens, no more supplements would be available in health food stores. All organic foods will be banned from the market; Genetically Engineering crops will be law (Research Monsanto); Vitamins will be labeled as Toxins We would have to “pay for a visit to a doctor,” and then we would have to “pay for a prescription” — just to purchase our vitamins. The pharmaceutical companies would have complete control over pricing of food supplements and vitamins. The cost of vitamins would be three to four times the cost of what they are now with many supplements simply being “unavailable.”

Both doctors and those vested in the pharmaceutical companies would benefit from such an arrangement. There would be no system in place to protect the consumer. The people would lose. Their overall health would decline, and “free choice” would be curtailed since millions of Americans would not be able to afford vitamins — especially since so many of their jobs are being “outsourced” to other countries.

This is a very serious issue for all of us. Many are not aware of what has already been in the works. Below is information on what many consider the most important legal challenge happening today — one whose outcome will affect the health rights of consumers worldwide. This legal challenge to the implementation of Codex Alimentarius in Europe is vital for ALL health freedom loving Americans to support — and they need our financial support. If you want to ensure your right to purchase oil of oregano and vitamin C without a doctor’s prescription, we suggest you donate to this cause via the addresses at the end of this article.

So how did we get top this point and who is leading the charge to oppose these Codex directives? Louise McLean of Zeus Information Service (www.zeusinfoservice.com) beautifully summarizes the answer to this question:

“The battle between the rights of consumers, natural health practitioners and health food manufacturers versus corporate health care and the pharmaceutical giants is presently being stepped up worldwide. The natural health industry — which is thriving and growing in our polluted world — is constantly under attack.

“The pharmaceutical cartel is extremely powerful and its agenda is being followed and adhered to by governments around the world. It is involved in the creation, distribution and consumption of food, cosmetics, toiletries, veterinary products, insecticides, and vaccines worldwide, not to mention the $billion drug industry.

“The pharmaceutical industry lobbies governments and trade groups, bringing pressure to bear on newspaper editors and media outlets. As a result, health and medical writers often write negative articles about natural health therapies and products.

“During the last few years, it has been organic high potency vitamins, minerals and food supplements receiving bad press, as well as any therapy such as herbs or homeopathy that involves taking pills or capsules since these therapies are in direct competition with orthodox medicine. These products and therapies cause the pharmaceutical industry to lose $millions each year.

“Many of my favorites — arnica, echinacea, evening primrose, black cohosh, St. John’s Wort, gingko and chapparrel have been subjected to “scientific” trials in an attempt to show they don’t work. A scientific trial can, of course, be made to show any desired outcome. After all, we know scientific trials of pharmaceutical drugs are conducted, leading to product approval, and then years later these products are taken off the market when they have been shown to cause harm.

“The reason for these attacks and the current push for worldwide implementation of Codex directives is the fact that these pharmaceutical cartels want to take over and control this highly lucrative market in order to produce synthetic, low dose vitamins, supplements and herbal preparations of questionable benefit to consumers. Presently, many vitamin and supplement manufacturers are being bought out by pharmaceutical companies.

“The EU Food Supplements Directive was transposed into UK law on July 3, 2003. This Directive will be followed by the EU Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive and the EU Pharmaceuticals Directive. These are highly controversial and restrictive Directives.

“On October 13, 2003, the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) mounted a legal challenge to the EU Food Supplements Directive and is seeking ways to recommend modifications of the other two Directives.”

Alliance for Natural Health Legal Challenge: Court Hearing

Friday, January 30, 2004, 10:30 AM in the High Court of Justice, London.

ANH’s application (which will be heard jointly with that of the National Association of Health Stores and Health Food Manufacturers Association) to bring Judicial Review proceedings challenging the validity of the Food Supplements Directive ban on vital nutrients will be heard in Court on this day. This is a public hearing and anyone can attend.

Why American companies and consumers need to act immediately in support of the ANH lawsuitfrom the Alliance for Natural Health

from the Alliance for Natural Health

Divergent views on the EU Directives

Manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, practitioners and consumers in Europe have received a very wide range of sometimes conflicting messages about the likely impact of the EU legislation. Information filtering across the Atlantic is even more inconsistent. With so much confusion, many companies are doing nothing. (See article on Council for Responsible Nutrition page 15)

Summary of key EU Directives

Amendments to the Pharmaceuticals Directive

This amends the existing Pharmaceuticals Directive (which governs the supply of drugs in the EU) by expanding the reach of the definition of a drug still further so as to enable reclassification of any supplement as a drug if it “restores, corrects, or modifies physiological functions” in the body. The proposed wider definition will cover practically all natural health products so that they are at grave risk of being reclassified as drugs.

It also extends jurisdiction of the Pharmaceuticals Directive so that it takes precedence over any product defined as a drug under the wide definition, even if that product was already regulated and permitted under other EU legislation (e.g. Food Supplements Directive, Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive, Cosmetics Directive).

The Food Supplements Directive (passed into EU member state laws by 31 July, 2003)

Creates a “safe harbor” for “food supplements” (so that they are not classified as drugs) but limits the spectrum of nutrients, initially only vitamins and minerals, and could in the near future substantially limit the potency of nutrients in such products by reducing maximum permitted levels. It provides a severe restriction on freedom of speech by preventing publicity over inadequacies of a normal diet. By 2007 it will also apply to other nutrient groups such as fatty acids, amino acids, fiber, plant extracts, etc. The Directive has already passed into EU law and is now being transposed into the law of member states. ANH began its challenge against the legality of this Directive in October 2003 (see www.alliance-natural-health.org).

Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive

This Directive, currently working its way through the EU legislature, creates a new class of “traditional herbal medicinal products” by providing for a “simplified pharmaceutical registration” (e.g. avoiding provision of safety and efficacy data). This applies to specific “’traditionally used’ herbal medicinal products” — but only if the products contain the same combination of herbal ingredients and complies with a range of conditions — including having been in safe use for 30 years (15 of which must be in the EU). This will mean that herbs from traditions outside of the EU, that have yet to be used in the EU, would not be eligible and could only be used following compliance with a full drug approval and registration regimen.

The reality is that a clutch of EU legislation is making its way through the EU lawmaking pipeline covering the full spectrum of dietary supplements, including herbal products, so-called “borderline products,” fortified foods, and sports nutrition products. In addition, new EU regulations on health claims have recently been proposed and these are more or less identical to those just proposed in the U.S. For many it is the combined effect of all the EU laws that is of greatest concern.

Fortunately, only one directive has so far been passed in to EU law and EU member country legislation, this being the Food Supplements Directive. Therefore, there is still considerable scope to amend and shape the other legislation — assuming European and international interests get behind the appropriate campaigns.

One of the reasons the Food Supplements Directive managed to scrape through the European Parliament is that major international and European trade associations advised their member companies that the directive was going to be generally beneficial for the industry and they should plan ahead to comply with it. In contrast, it has been consumer, retailer and practitioner groups, especially in the UK, Sweden and Ireland, that have consistently claimed that the legislation could be catastrophic for particular sectors.

Since the directive’s passage into EU law, many of the leading companies and associations with interests in the innovative sector of the European dietary supplement industry have come together under the umbrella of the pan-European and international Alliance for Natural Health.

A detailed look at the legislation suggests that the primary reason for discrepancies in viewpoints over the Food Supplement Directive’s impact is the difference in the impact of the legislation on different sectors of the industry. Innovative suppliers and those who are dependent on their products will inevitably be hit hardest. Companies manufacturing or selling relatively low-dose, synthetic vitamins and inorganic minerals will actually be set to gain considerably from the legislation, benefiting from the single market conditions across the 15 EU member countries (soon to be enlarged to 25).

But for others, the loss of many food-state vitamins (e.g. mixed tocopherols, tocotrienols, natural carotenoids, methylcobalamin (a form of B12), a range of minerals such as sulphur, boron, vanadium, silicon and many chelated or plant-derived forms is of great concern. Since the Food Supplements Directive (FSD) is incremental in its effects, with even the bans on nutrient forms not coming into force until August 1, 2005, many detractors argue that future effects could cumulatively have catastrophic impacts on innovators, independent retailers and practitioners.

Food Supplements Directive: Four primary concerns about the FSD

1. Limited range of nutrient forms allowed on the “positive list” (Annex I & II of FSD).

The UK Food Standard Agency has determined that there are at least 270 ingredients (nutrient forms) that are presently used in the UK that are not included on the positive list. The National Association of Health Stores has, in fact, determined that this is an understatement, the real figure being in excess of 300 ingredients. These “missing” ingredients are included in some 5,000 products on the UK market only. The Irish Association of Health Stores has determined that around 85 percent of vitamin/mineral products in Irish health stores contain one or more missing nutrient forms and would require reformulation to comply with the directive. One of the greatest concerns of the ANH is that many of the missing forms are food-forms that are more bio-available (and generally safer) than the synthetic or inorganic forms included on the positive list.

2. Difficulties and costs in submission of dossiers (Article 4.6) to allow derogated use of off-list nutrient forms.

The key issue here is that most supplement companies are, in fact, formulation companies who buy products from a limited number of raw ingredient manufacturers or producers. If these manufacturers choose not to supply a dossier for a specific ingredient, then the formulation company would not be able to use it.

However, if one manufacturer submits (and has approved) a particular dossier, any formulator can use that ingredient (at least until December 31, 2009). Costs for dossiers vary greatly according to the amount and nature of existing data, but estimates vary from — 20,000 to over — 300,000, depending on the ingredient.

In addition, because the time frames are limited (July 12, 2005), there may not be sufficient time to generate all the data for some ingredients.

3. Reductions in Maximum Permitted Levels via unnecessarily low Upper Safe Levels (USLs), being developed by the SCF/EFSA without a procedure that allows open consultation with outside scientists or other experts.

The Alliance for Natural Health Expert Committee has determined that some of the science being used by the SCF is flawed and it appears that it is being used in order to justify very low maximum levels of nutrients in food supplements (the consequence of this is that higher levels will still be regarded as drugs and can, therefore, only be administered by doctors, as is currently the protocol in many of the countries with less permissive legislative regimes [Article 5]).

4. Future restrictions on nutrients other than vitamins and minerals as of 2007, such as amino acids, fatty aids, phytonutrients, enzymes, fiber, probiotics, etc.

These restrictions could be brought in via a positive list system (Recitals 6 & 8, Article 4.8).

It seems that the intended purpose of the FSD is to protect the simplest, low-dose, food supplements, of the type typically sold in European supermarkets and pharmacies. The more specialist forms, particularly those using food-form nutrients, will only be able to remain on the market after August, 2005, if dossiers for their ingredients are submitted and accepted in spite of all the contingent difficulties inherent in the procedure.

For many companies there is simply not enough time to conduct the necessary safety studies given there has never been any incentive or reason to do this work for a large proportion of the food-form nutrients.

For others the task is too expensive. Take for example, selenomethionine, the most common form of selenium found in foods and well known as a very important antioxidant mineral: This form of selenium was rejected by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, formerly the Scientific Committee on Food [SCF]) in 1999 because long-term safety studies had not been conducted.

Instead, EFSA has allowed use of two inorganic forms of selenium (sodium selenate and sodium selenite) that are both more toxic and less beneficial as antioxidants.

For many consumers this is very confusing, as they hear on one hand that we should increase our consumption of Brazil nuts which contain high doses of selenomethionine, yet the EU Commission does not approve on its positive list use of this safe form of selenium simply because the studies are not available.

Are food manufacturers being asked to provide safety data on natural products? For example, who has been required to prove via clinical trials that fruits and vegetables are safe?

Legal challenge of the Food Supplements Directive

The ANH is working with its scientific Expert Committee, out-house lawyers, public affairs and media specialists to either annul or positively shape key EU legislation that is otherwise set to severely impact the innovative supplement industry and its beneficiaries. Although there is plenty that can still be achieved by effective lobbying on the amendments to the Pharmaceuticals Directive and the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive, and ANH is hard at work on this, options are far fewer for the Food Supplements Directive.

There is still some room to influence the maximum permitted levels and positive lists for nutrient groups other than vitamins and minerals, but the directive has already passed into European law and gets its full teeth once the directive is implemented fully in EU member states two years after its transposition into their laws, in August 2005.

So, on behalf of innovators and practitioners, the ANH is proposing to challenge the validity of this directive later this year and is working on this case with its out-house lawyers who are among the most experienced European lawyers in the EU.

Challenging the directive would make no sense unless there were reasonable grounds and probabilities of success. The ANH has retained the only legal team that has ever overturned an EU Directive — and after a detailed examination of the FSD, this team has given the ANH a green light to proceed (www.alliance-natural-health.org; see Latest News, 8 August 2003). The case is being built on a number of grounds, but of particular importance are EU constitutional grounds that suggest there is a real chance of annulling the directive.

In addition, it appears that the effects of the directive can be challenged on grounds of proportionality, based on the fact that it will impact certain sectors of the industry, notably those associated with innovative products, in a disproportionate manner.

The challenge was mounted on October 13, 2003, but this is just the start of it. Legal, scientific and commercial experts remain hard at work on the case to strengthen the already solid foundations of the case. Interestingly, if the directive is annulled, all national laws reliant on the directive are likely to be invalid.

Dr. Robert Verkerk, Executive Director of the ANH, said, “the case will allow the real science of nutrients to be showcased to the Commission, to the Parliament and to the public generally. People will understand that supplementation of a good diet with high quality nutrients is a valid and effective way towards optimum health. There is no scientific rationale for accepting synthetic vitamins and a limited range of inorganic mineral forms while rejecting the plethora of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.

Winning the case will pave the way to a very bright future for the food supplement industry. We are not suggesting that there should be no directive at all, but the existing directive needs to be replaced with a re-worked version that allows for high quality, effective supplements across the whole of Europe. It’s about harmonizing to good standards, not bad ones.”

It is time for all manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and practitioners who believe their businesses are at risk to join the ANH campaign — and support the legal challenge. Contact Henrietta Lee, the ANH Campaign Manager at info@alliance-natural-health.org or phone + 44 1252 371 275 to find out how you can join the campaign and be part of the ANH’s rapidly expanding Support Base. Support is needed NOW. www.alliance-natural-health.org

The other Directives

The two key EU directives that will regulate basic supplements will be the FSD (but only those containing ingredients on the positive list or for which dossiers have been approved) and the amended pharmaceutical directive (PD) 2001/83/EC, of which the traditional herbal medicinal products directive (THMPD) is a part. So if a product is not able to be controlled under the FSD, it will default to the PD. If it falls under the PD, it will either require a full drug license (with the very substantial data requirements and costs required for drug approvals) or, if appropriate, botanically-based products can be classified as “medicinal herbs” and benefit from a “fast-track” licensing scheme. This “fast-track” THMPD procedure requires that the applicant demonstrate 30 years of safe, traditional use in lieu of safety data (the major component of data required for market authorization as a drug).

The THMPD is passing through the European regulatory process now and one particularly contentious issue is the requirement in the EU Commission’s proposed legislation for 15 years EU use, out of the total 30 years of traditional use.

The Alliance for Natural Health, along with several other organizations, have tabled amendments and are campaigning to allow 30 years demonstrated safe use be from anywhere in the world. They argue that limiting non-EU use will prevent interesting and beneficial herbs discovered in parts of the world with very strong herbal cultures (e.g. China, India, South East Asia, South Africa, South America) from being brought into Europe. It will therefore strongly impact future innovation. The legislation would essentially have the effect of freeze-framing the industry in the early 1990s.

In addition to this, further directives are being prepared by the EU Commission on sports nutrition products and fortified foods. Draft Health Claims Regulations were tabled in Brussels in July 2003.

Conclusion

The U.S. dietary supplement industry has flourished in the face of what must be regarded relatively as very liberal laws. There are steps being taken by the FDA and others to alter this, but it seems the industry together with its huge consumer support base has so far defended itself very well against unnecessary and restrictive legislation. The U.S. campaigns against Durbin’s Bill S722 is a good example of how a diverse range of interested parties can work together.

The U.S. industry is, without question, the world leader in this field, and there is growing evidence that nutrients in dietary supplements may be used very successfully in the prevention, or even treatment, of diseases (assuming they are biologically active, and made properly.)

Owing to the trends towards global harmonization and, in particular, increased pressure towards trans-Atlantic harmonization, the EU Directives have a direct influence on the shape of future U.S. laws. In addition to this, many U.S. companies have substantial and growing markets in Europe, which will, following enlargement in two years time, have a population of some 450 million people.

The Alliance for Natural Health developed initially as a diverse range of largely European interests who were not against legislation per se, but were concerned about legislation that would potentially kill off innovation in the future. It has now developed an increasingly strong support base across Europe as well as in the U.S.

The joint international committee of the NNFA and AHPA in July unanimously put forward a motion that supported the ANH’s legal action against the Food Supplements Directive. Some have gone so far as suggesting that the EU Directives are an even bigger threat to U.S. industry than the original proposal for the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which was positively amended in 1994 following huge protests in Congress.

Time is of the essence — and every company or individual with interests in the future of the dietary supplement industry, both in Europe and the U.S., should now very seriously consider whether they want to accept the Food Supplements Directive, or be part of the potentially ground-breaking challenge that could pave the way to a very bright future for the food supplement industry.

Fire…

Motto:

* Învaţă să priveşti fără imaginaţie, să asculţi fără distorsiuni, asta-i tot. Încetează să mai atribui nume şi forme la ceea ce este în esenţă fără nume şi formă, realizează că fiecare modalitate de percepţie este subiectivă, că ceea ce este văzut sau auzit, pipăit sau mirosit, simţit sau gândit, aşteptat sau imaginat, este în minte şi nu în realitate. *   ( Nisargadatta Maharaj )

*******

Solitude…

s-au frânt tăcerile-mi de rouă catifea,

strivindu-se de colţii hâzi ai unei rime…

sărutul umbrei s-a prelins pe o mărgea

doinindu-se a toamnei taină pentru, nimeni…

Sibilla

Şi dacă-aş îndrăzni să te cuprind  sărut, în chihlimbarul dorului baladă… Oare-ai putea să te abandonezi cum vânt, să-mi răvăşeşti mirările, dar, să-ţi rămân întreagă ?… ( Sibilla )

Stai… să-ţi mai spun de… roşu şi de-ţi fură, * ispita * dor şi nu observi, cu lipsa-ţi de*  măsură *…  Sau nu, te du. Te du acum, m-ai intristat… de vei mai reveni, cândva… nu vreau să ştiu nimic, te iartă, rogu-te, de-ai mai putea… Privesc, frunzişu-ţi frământându-se, mă minunez… nu eşti mesteacănul ce strâmb stătea, în cuget însă totdeauna drept… Să fie astfel, sau mă-nşel… balade ce ne leagă aripi de demult, rămâne-vor străjeri, arc peste hule dacă eşti, vei reuşi să redevi la fel… se cheamă că pe mine sau ispita treci prin rug… Te taci! Mă tac şi eu…  cum toamnele ce peste noi se curg, se curg…  Nu vreau să-aud, pricepi? Nici elegia lacrimei ce-am devenit n-o mai ascult… din stâncă de m-oi mai zvâcni arar, doar tu vei ştii că-s eu, o ciută-n cale de-ţi tresar… Acum, sunt numai micul fulg de-amurg…  ( fire… – Sibilla )

*******

Nimic nu e… întâmplător din câte par să se întâmple, nici rândurile aşezate Scări, nu dor, cum ignoranţa celui ce să urce vrea… neînfruntându-şi patimi mai întâi şi-ajunge, să nu mai ştie care treaptă e a sa şi care-l ispiteşte-n mreje, piază rea … doineşte dar, vocalele-a blândeţe, dă-i şansei de-a-ţi rămâne ţie, Tu… fii Înnţelept şi şezi deoparte de-ale multora * reţele * sau… * poveţe *…   ( Sibilla )

* Nu există fericire de care să-ţi aminteşti fără tristeţe. *   ( Octavian Paler )

* Nu proştii au făcut ca inteligenţa să aibă ieşire la zâmbet. *   ( Vasile Ghica )

* Voinţa de a crede că viaţa e un miracol ne permite să asistăm la miracole, nu aşa-numitele “ritualuri secrete” sau “ordine iniţiatice”. Hotărârea omului de a-şi împlini destinul îl face pe om să fie adevărat, nu teoriile pe care el le dezvoltă pe seama misterului existenţei. *   ( Paulo Coelho )

* Destinul nostru este harta gândită de Dumnezeu înainte de a ne naşte, hartă concepută cu libertatea necesară de a ne descurca pe ea. *   ( Viorel Muha )

* Dacă nu găseşti nicio cale de ieşire, încearcă privind în Sus *….    ( anonimus )

Sibilla

imagini preluate de pe google.ro

citate preluate de pe www.citapedia.ro

]]> http://neoshinka.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/fascination/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:10:13 +0000 Charz http://neoshinka.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/fascination/

” I think all the boys wanted to be Herlock.”

Mainichi : Could you please conclude with a general statement about manga and anime?

Simona Stanzani : I think that manga and anime are a very important part of Japanese culture, and that, at their highest level, they have a pivotal role in modern communication art.

It is time to get rid of the ancient, outdated concept of “if you read manga you become stupid” or to consider them mere commercial entertainment; of course a big share of them is made to sell, but even the most commercial titles do have artistic and cultural value.

Japanese should be proud of anime and manga, because they are very strong and unique means of expression, and a symbol of excellence for Japanese culture in the world.

Manga fascination: An interview with translator Simona Stanzani, Mainichi, November 21, 2009

First Published Monday 23rd November 2009 here at Ace Gamez - Admitting you were wrong takes a lot of guts in this industry. Any developer willing to throw its hands up and come clean about its shortcomings is to be applauded. But rather than champion these studios, the typical reaction is one of scepticism from gamers who feel burned by a lacklustre title or by promises the developer failed to keep.  Just look at Sega which, year after year claims to have listened to the opinions of Sonic the Hedgehog fans desperate to see their favourite platform hero restored to his former glory, only to be disappointed time and time again. Ubisoft Montreal suffered a terrible backlash over the original Assassin’s Creed and, to be frank, the whole thing became an absolute circus for no good reason. Sure the game was repetitive and the stealth mechanic was broken in several places, but as a technical yardstick, it was highly impressive.

Two years on, the launch of Assassin’s Creed II was in some ways a lot more exciting than the release Modern Warfare 2. The gaming majority knew Infinity Ward’s shooter would be good, but how would Ubisoft’s sequel stack up to the original? Would it make good on the developer’s promise to make things right again or would it fall completely flat? With so many questions surrounding the story and how the war between the assassins and the shadowy templars would play out this time around, it was surprising to see Ubisoft scale back on the pre-release media hype. The game was visible, but it was promoted with a muted confidence that seemed to suggest the studio was on to a winner.

So after much waiting and debating, the game has finally been released and thankfully, it is indeed a vast improvement over the original in almost every aspect. But instead of hitting the ground running, the opening 20 minutes are more of an awkward stumble as we see Desmond and Lucy escaping the Abstergo labs and engaging in some clunky stealth sections and clumsy fighting. Don’t let this put you off however as the core of the campaign will have you hooked, delivering a balance of well-paced action and a narrative that is rammed-full of gripping twists and turns. Before the escape sequence, Desmond hops onto the Animus one last time to pin point the birth date of Ezio Auditore, the lead character of Assassin’s Creed II and the potential key to bringing down the templars once and for all. We see him being born in the 15^th century, shortly accompanied by a brief control tutorial that shows baby Ezio learning how to use his hands, feet and head.

It’s a touching scene that is let down slightly by your arrival at the assassin’s hideout. Once there, you meet two awkwardly stereotypical characters; one being a chap that takes an instant disliking to Desmond and the other is a quirky tech girl with a screw loose and an annoying voice. When compared to Ezio himself, this pair is as deep and as colourful as a murky puddle. You quickly learn that the assassins have busted Desmond out of Abstergo to hook him up to the Animus 2.0 and learn years of master assassin training in just a few hours thanks to the machine’s bleeding effect. It’s the same effect that unlocked Desmond’s latent eagle vision power at the end of the first game.

Once you boot up, you are whisked away to sun-drenched Florence and guided through a combat tutorial that sees Ezio and his brother scrapping with members of the Pazzi, a rival family that cause you a great deal of grief throughout the campaign. Many of the vast improvements on the original are apparent from the outset and while the combat system still sees enemies circling you and politely attacking one at a time, the pace has been ramped up here and you now have a greater range of attacks at your disposal. In fact, Ezio is much more adept than Altair was at the start of the first game, with improved speed, fighting skill and free-running ability, making things all the more enjoyable from the outset.

The first few hours follow Ezio as he runs errands for his father, defends his sister’s honour by beating up her unfaithful boyfriend and evading guards after being caught in the sack with his love interest. He’s a great character, coming across as a loveable rogue but he also hides a ruthless temperament that explodes into a flourish of violence at several points throughout the campaign. It is only after his family gets caught up in a conspiracy that we see his transcendence from street fighting nobleman to cold blooded assassin out to get revenge. In order to bring those responsible to justice, Ezio must work his way closer to the truth by completing missions for key figures around the cities of Florence, Venice and Rome.

While the original game suffered from a lack of mission variety, Ezio will have to prove his worth by completing a wealth of tasks ranging from simple courier errands to the key assassinations that drive the plot forward. There are also plenty of hidden collectibles to distract you from the core mission strands, but rather than serve as bragging rights, these actually have a purpose in the greater scheme of things. Treasure boxes are hidden in every nook and cranny of each city and these can be ransacked for Florets that can be spend on armour, clothes, maps and other useful items. Ezio can also pickpocket currency from civilians and thankfully, this is much simpler to execute than the erratic system of the first game.

Feathers replace flags in this game and these can be collected to complete pieces of a much bigger story, as well as glyphs that have been coded into the Animus by the mysterious Subject 16, Abstergo’s previous test subject. These well-hidden symbols unlock puzzles that all relate to the Pieces of Eden, a mysterious set of relics hinted at by Altair’s leader Al Mualim. Once you crack each puzzle, you are given a piece of an encoded video called ‘The Truth’ that, when completed, will reveal the truth behind the original of the Pieces of Eden. It’s genuinely intriguing stuff that keeps you pressing on to reveal more snippets of the overarching plot.

Each glyph is hidden on landmarks dotted around the cities and will require a lot of climbing to reach. Thankfully, Ezio is an adept free-runner, leaping and bounding across a vast playground of architecture with little effort. Another welcome addition to this instalment is the ability to swim. While you are restricted to swimming on the surface and unable to dive down, it does remove all of the annoyances of the first game’s instant-death water. Walking the streets has also become less laborious this time around. If you remember back to the first game, Altair had to walk painfully slow to avoid arousing the suspicion of guards and even the slightest increase in pace would send a handful of guards bearing down on your position with extreme prejudice. In short, it was annoying, but now Ezio is free to stroll around without too much hassle thanks to a brilliant notoriety system.

City guards are not permanently suspicious of you and are more or less likely to react to your presence based on your notoriety. For example, as you pickpocket, scrap with the Pazzi and kill targets, the guards will become even more aware of you and will try and stop you for questioning. Unless you evade their line of sight or distract them somehow, they will turn violent and attempt to kill you. Notoriety can be reduced by tearing down wanted posters with your face on them or bribing city officials. It’s a great mechanic that asks you to walk fine line between meeting your goals and keeping your status in check.

Status and wealth also play a significant role in the Auditore home town of Monteriggioni, which is where Ezio meets with his uncle Mario to further his assassin training. This serves as a central hub and by paying local architects you can restore the dilapidated town to its former glory and unlock new mission strands along the way. It is here that you first come across the pages of a mysterious codex that was written by Altair many years ago. Each page contains vital information regarding the methodology of the assassins, as well as blueprints for the tools of the assassin trade. These can be passed back to Leonardo da Vinci, a close friend of the Auditore family, who can then make new equipment such as dual wrist blades, concealed firearms and even a hand glider. The pages can also be taken back to Monteriggioni and re-arranged to reveal a greater truth about the assassins.

Needless to say, Assassin’s Creed II is a game full of intrigue and mystery that will keep you engrossed from the awkward opening to the epic finale. However, this is not a game that relies solely on myth or the creation of more and more questions. Ubisoft Montreal has worked wonders to salvage the series and deliver the game it always intended. While the combat still feels disjointed and at points, turn-based, it is the only slight downside in a game packed full of positives and although the campaign will take you around 20-30 hours to complete, you will be entirely captivated for the duration. Surely a measure of how to improve on an original design and one that other developers might do well to acknowledge.

93%

Your right to eat healthy food and use supplements & vitamins of your choice is rapidly vanishing, but every effort has been made to keep you in the dark about the coming nutricide. Codex Alimentarius is scheduled for full global implementation on December 31, 2009, and not a word has been spoken in main stream media about this threat to humanity. Yet, according to the projections based on figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a minimum of 3 billion people will die from the Codex mandated vitamin and mineral guideline alone.

Former Nazi is father of contemporary Codex

Codex is the enemy of everyone except those who will profit from it. Codex has an association with those who committed crimes during the Nazi regime. At the end of World War II, the Nuremberg tribunal judged Nazis who had committed horrendous crimes against humanity and sentenced them to prison terms. One of those found guilty was the president of the megalithic corporation I.G. Farben, Hermann Schmitz. His company was the largest chemical manufacturing enterprise in the world, and had extraordinary political and economic power and influence with the Hitlerian Nazi state. Farben produced the gas used in the Nazi gas chambers, and the steel for the railroads built to transport people to their deaths.

While serving his prison term, Schmitz looked for an alternative to brute force for controlling people and realized that people could be controlled through their food supply. When he got out of prison, he went to his friends at the United Nations (UN) and laid out a plan to take over the control of food worldwide. A trade commission called Codex Alimentarius (Latin for food code) was re-created under the guise of it being a consumer protection commission. But Codex was never in the business of protecting people. It has always been about money and profits at the expense of people.

In 1962, the timetable was set for Codex to be fully implemented on a global level by December 31, 2009. Under Codex, committees were established to create guidelines on such topics as fish and fisheries, fats and oils, fruits and vegetables, ground nuts, nutrition, food for specialized uses, and vitamins and minerals. There were 27 committees in all, creating a huge bureaucracy. Under Codex there are over 4,000 guidelines and regulations on everything that can be put into your mouth with the exception of pharmaceuticals which are not regulated by Codex.

Codex is a weapon being used to reduce the level of nutrition worldwide

Codex is an industry dominated regulation setting organization, and as such has no legal standing. Participation in Codex is said to be voluntary. But Codex has risen to the level of de facto legal standing because Codex is administered by the WHO and FAO. They fund it and run it at the request of the UN. Since the WHO and FAO are supposed to be about health, there is conflict of interest. The committees of Codex work up guidelines, rules and regulations, and present them to a Codex commission for ratification. Once they are ratified and approved by consensus, they become mandatory standards for any country that is a member of the WHO.

Codex was accepted when the WTO was formed in 1994 as a means of harmonizing food standards globally for easy trade between countries. As a result, countries must harmonize with Codex if they want to have any standing in a trade dispute. When disputes arise and countries are pulled in to WTO, the one that is Codex compliant automatically wins, regardless of the merits of its case.

Codex has become a weapon to make every nation scurry to become compliant to its mandated decline in nutritional standards. Compliance in the U.S. will mark the end of its consumer protection laws. Codex will not serve consumers. Codex will serve the interests of the medical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, and big agricultural industries.

Under Codex, nutrients are classified as poisons

The Dietary Substances Health and Education Act (DSHEA), was signed into law in 1994 for the purpose of ensuring that safe and appropriately labeled products would remain available to those who wanted to use them. In the findings associated with this law, Congress stated that there may be a positive relationship between sound dietary practice and good health, and a connection between dietary supplement use, reduced health-care expenses, and disease prevention. Under DSHEA, nutrients and herbs are classified as food. There is no upper limit set, and access is freely given. Americans are allowed to have any nutrients they want, because under English common law, anything that is not expressly forbidden is permitted.

Codex, on the other hand, is based on Napoleonic law and is much more restrictive. In 1994, the same year DSHEA was signed, Codex had nutrients declared to be toxic and poisonous. And as poisons, they claimed people must be protected from them through the use of toxicology and risk assessment, under which scientists test small doses on animals until they are able to discern an impact. They then take the first sign of the most minimal impact and divide this amount by 100 to establish a safety margin required from these poisons. This means that the largest dose of any nutrient allowed under Codex is 1/100th of the amount shown to produce the first discernable impact.

Nutrients allowed under Codex are limited to those on the positive list, expected to contain only 18 nutrients, one of them being fluoride. Although fluoride has no biological benefit whatsoever, it does make people complacent.

The Codex proponents now have several bills before Congress designed to overturn and get rid of DSHEA. Once this is accomplished, the U.S. will have been harmonized with the vitamin and mineral guidelines of codex. High potency, therapeutically effective, significant nutrients will then be illegal in the way that heroin is illegal. They will not even be available by prescription.

Codex supports toxic food additives, pesticides and GM foods

Codex poses a significant threat to the food supply, according to Dr. Robert Verkerk, founder and director of the Alliance for Natural Health. About 300 dangerous food additives that are mainly synthetic will be allowed under Codex, including aspartame, BHA, BHT, potassium bromate, tartrazine, and more. Dr. Verkerk is particularly concerned that no consideration has been given to potential risks associated with long-term exposure to mixtures of additives.

Codex sets limits for the dangerous industrial chemicals that can be used in food, but they are incredibly high, and the list of chemicals that can be used is long. In 2001, 176 countries including the U.S. got together and decided that 12 highly toxic organic chemicals, known as persistent organic pollutants (POPS), were so bad that they had to be banned. There are many more than 12 toxic chemicals used on food, but these 12 were unanimously declared to be the worst. Of these, 9 are pesticides.

Under Codex, 7 of the 9 forbidden POPS will again be allowed in the production of food. All together, Codex allows over 3,275 different pesticides, including those that are suspected carcinogens or endocrine disrupters. There is no consideration of the long-term effects of exposure to mixtures of pesticide residues in food.

Organic food governance will be dumbed down to suit the interests of large food producers. Various synthetic chemical additives and processing aids will be allowed, and food labeled as organic may be irradiated. Labeling will permit the use of hidden, non-organic ingredients.

Monsanto, a member of Codex, will benefit greatly as production of genetically modified (GM) foods are stepped up and more GM plants are given the green light. Terminator seeds will be approved for international trade. GM food animals will also be on the way.

Under Codex, every dairy animal can be treated with growth hormone, and all animals in the food chain will be treated with sub-clinical levels of antibiotics. Codex will lead to the required irradiation of all foods with the exception of those grown locally and sold raw.

Codex is food regulations that are in fact the legalization of mandated toxicity and under-nutrition. Of the 3 billion people initially expected to die as the result of the Codex vitamin and mineral guidelines, 2 billion of them will die from the preventable diseases that result from under-nutrition, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and many others. Those who will live will be the wealthy elites who are able to somehow provide themselves with sources of clean food and other nutrients.

Codex is legalized genocide

Dr. Gregory Damato, Ph.D., writing for Natural News, has characterized Codex as “population control for money”. He sees Codex as run by the U.S. and controlled by the big pharmaceutical corporations and the likes of Monsanto with the purpose of reducing the population of the world to a level considered sustainable by those promulgating the New World Order. This would mean a reduction of approximately 93 percent of the current world population.

Once Codex standards are adopted there will be no turning back. When Codex compliance is instigated in any area, as long as the country remains a member of the WTO, those standards cannot be repealed, or altered in any way.

The time for modifying Codex guidelines is rapidly disappearing

Some hope remains. Over the years, the WTO has accepted Codex standards as presumptive evidence of the rules of trade between countries. However, several times in history, the WTO has refused to make Codex the single and only standard to be used in trade disputes. Under Codex`s own statutes, their guidelines are claimed to be “advisory”, and nations are able to set up their own guidelines as long as they are more restrictive than those of Codex.

Since compliance with Codex standards is simply presumptive evidence, and not finally determinative, a nation can opt out of the guidelines in an effort to protect its traditional foods and remedies. The Codex two step process is a legal strategy developed to help nations wanting to do this. Under step one, the country develops its own food and health guidelines that may be at variance with Codex guidelines. For example, it may be much stricter on the issues of toxins in the food supply or on the issue of genetically modified foods. It may require, for example, that companies using GM ingredients be required to indicate them on food labels. In countries that refuse to use GM foods, this can be indicated on their label too, so that people can make informed choices. The second step is to adopt a national law that implements those guidelines on a sound scientific basis.

Normally, in a trade dispute before the WTO, the country that has adopted Codex guidelines will be the winner of that dispute based on those guidelines being presumptive evidence. However, when countries have gone through the two step process to create their own guidelines, there is no such presumption, and the WTO will look at the science behind the guidelines.

In the U.S. the door is open to Codex

In 1995, the FDA issued a policy statement saying that international standards such as Codex would supersede U.S. laws governing all food. Under the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which is illegal under current U.S. law, but is legal under international law, the U.S. is required to conform to Codex as it stands on December 31, 2009, unless it creates its own guidelines and gets them approved under the two step process. Given current government sentiment, this seems unlikely. Besides, as guidelines are one-by-one chiseled into standards, time is running out.

The United States has come to a decision point on nutritional supplements. Choice A is to continue participating in the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which could be hazardous to public health by setting limitations on supplements, and Choice B is to pass the Health Freedom Protection Act (HFPA), which could revolutionize the health supplement industry and greatly benefit public health, in part by no longer allowing the FDA to prohibit disease treatment claims for foods and supplements.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said in his Nov. 10, 2005 speech before the U.S. House of Representatives, “Because of the FDA’s censorship of truthful health claims, millions of Americans may suffer with diseases and other healthcare problems they may have avoided by using dietary supplements.” Paul cited the FDA’s four-year prohibition of telling consumers that folic acid reduces birth defects, which resulted in an estimated 10,000 cases of preventable birth defects, as evidence that the FDA’s current policy obstructs good public.

We’re at a fork in the road, so to speak. If the United States’ participation in Codex continues, things could get much worse than they are already. However, if Congress passes the HFPA, the U.S. could be entering a new era in health care, when consumers will be allowed to make informed decisions about which nutritional supplements they want to use to support good health.

The Health Freedom Protection Act is relatively simple, yet it could mean so much, not only to proponents of alternative medicine, but to public health care in general. In Paul’s words, the HFPA merely allows consumers to have access to information about nutritional supplements: “Specifically, the Health Freedom Protection Act stops the FDA from censoring truthful claims about the curative, mitigative or preventable effects of dietary supplements, and adopts the federal court’s suggested use of disclaimers as an alternative to censorchip.”

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA)

This topic of disclaimers first came up in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), which first decreed which statements nutritional supplement companies could and could not make about their products. The law reads, “Under DSHEA, firms can make statements about classical nutrient deficiency diseases — as long as these statements disclose the prevalence of the disease in the United States. In addition, manufacturers may describe the supplement’s effects on ’structure or function’ of the body or the ‘well-being’ achieved by consuming the dietary ingredient. To use these claims, manufacturers must have substantiation that the statements are truthful and not misleading and the product label must bear the statement: ‘This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.’”

As any trip down the supplement aisle of your local grocery store or health food store will tell you, nutritional companies are following the DSHEA’s disclaimer guidelines to the tee, yet the FDA still insists on censoring these products’ proposed health benefits — statements that definitely fall under the category of “the supplement’s effects on ’structure or function’ of the body,” such as the DSHEA allows.

In his Nov. 10 speech, Paul went on to say, “The Health Freedom Protection Act also stops the FDA from prohibiting the distribution of scientific articles and publications regarding the role of nutrients in protecting against disease.”

One of the DSHEA’s main goals is for the public to have access to scientific information on nutritional supplements, stating, “The DSHEA provides that retail outlets may make available ‘third-party’ materials to help inform consumers about any health-related benefits of dietary supplements. These materials include articles, book chapters, scientific abstracts, or other third-party publications.”

FDA suppression of health information and free speach

Now, 12 years after Congress’ passage of the DSHEA, the FDA continues to limit the public’s access to the very information that the 1994 act prescribes. Paul addressed this issue in his speech, accusing the FDA of violating First Amendment free speech rights. “FDA bureaucrats are so determined to frustrate consumer access to truthful information that they are even evading their duty to comply with four federal court decisions [such as the 1999 case Pearson v. Shalala] vindicating consumers’ First Amendment rights to discover the health benefits of foods and dietary supplements.”

Furthermore, free speech (or the lack thereof) is a major factor in both the FDA’s and the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) restriction of the nutritional supplement industry. By Paul’s reasoning, the FTC’s censorship on supplements’ health claims completely reverses the U.S. government’s notion of free speech, a concept that has been essential to the United States since its birth as a nation. Paul explains, “Under traditional First Amendment jurisprudence, the federal government bears the burden of proving an advertising statement false before censoring that statement. However, the FTC has reversed the standard in the case of dietary supplements by requiring supplement manufacturers to satisfy an unobtainable standard of proof that their statement is true.”

Paul isn’t alone in his belief that the FDA’s standards for nutritional supplement companies are unrealistic. In fact, in the 1999 case of Pearson v. Shalala, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Court decided that, in the case of nutritional supplements, “the mere absence of significant evidence in support of a particular claim does not translate into negative evidence against it.”

Even after the 1994 DSHEA and the 1999 case of Pearson v. Shalala, the FDA regularly suppresses health benefit information on nutritional supplements and sometimes even the distribution of the supplements themselves. Though the FDA often overlooks the DSHEA’s goal of making scientific information on nutritional supplements more available to the public, it readily exercises the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD & C), most specifically its definition of drugs. The FD & C, which is best-known for making it mandatory to list food coloring additives in 1938, states that, “the term ‘drug’ means … articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals.” In other words, whenever a nutritional supplement claims to prevent disease, the FDA can, based on the FD & C, term it a “drug” and apply the same standards demanded of a new pharmaceutical before allowing the nutritional supplement to enter the consumer market.

This is where the problem arises. Because products of nature cannot be patented, it is simply not economically feasible for companies to run millions of dollars of tests on a nutritional supplement, which is a natural substance. This is why pharmaceutical companies take natural substances and break them apart at a molecular level to make the isolated active ingredients patentable.

FDA suppression in action: Optimal Nutrients

The FDA’s Feb. 2, 2005 letter http://www.fda.gov/cder/warn/cyber/ to Tim Lally of Optimal Nutrients offers a sad but remarkable picture of this “unobtainable standard of proof” in action. Dr. Susan J. Walker, the director of the FDA’s Division of Dietary Supplement Programs, begins a letter to Lally by listing the “offending” products listed on his website and referencing the FD & C’s definition of drugs:

“This is to advise you that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed your website … and has determined that the products Borage, (Fish Lipid Concentrate), Flax (100% Organic Flax Seed Oil), Evening Primrose Oil, Attention Support, Barley (Barley Juice Powder), Cat’s Claw, CoQ10 (Co-Enzyme Q10), DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone), St. John’s wort and Valerian Root are promoted for conditions that cause these products to be drugs under section 201(g)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) [21 U.S.C. § 321(g)(1)]. The therapeutic claims on your website establish that these products are drugs because they are intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of diseases.”

Flax seed is a drug? Of course not, but according to Dr. Walker, Optimal Nutrients’ following statement makes it a drug under FD & C: “Flax Seed Oil is an important source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an Omega 3 series of essential fatty acids. ALA is the precursor to EPA and the Series 3 prostaglandins … 3PGEs protect the body against the deleterious effects of high blood pressure.”

It’s interesting that, throughout the entire letter, Dr. Walker never references the much more recent DSHEA, especially considering that, again, the 1994 act specifically states that “manufacturers may describe the supplement’s effects on ’structure or function’ of the body or the ‘well-being’ achieved by consuming the dietary ingredient.” In its claim about flax seed oil, the company simply describes ALA’s “effects on ’structure or function’ of the body” (“ALA is the precursor to EPA and the Series 3 prostaglandins … 3PGEs protect the body against the deleterious effects of high blood pressure pressure”), which is of course permissible by DSHEA standards.

Then, later on in the letter, Dr. Walker takes the second step in the FDA’s classification of nutritional supplements as drugs by requiring Optimal Nutrients’ natural products to go through the same approval process as new pharmaceuticals. She writes:

“Furthermore, your products are not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced conditions and therefore, these products are … ‘new drugs’ under section 201(p) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 321(p)]. New drugs may not be legally marketed in the U.S. without prior approval from FDA as described in section 505(a) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 355(a)]. FDA approves new drugs on the basis of scientific data submitted by a drug sponsor to demonstrate that the drugs are safe and effective.”

Obviously it would not be economically feasible for Optimal Nutrients to run millions of dollars worth of tests on substances that, as products of nature, are not patentable. Today, the Optimal Nutrients http://www.optimalnutrients.com site has no products listed on it and reads that it is “under construction.” Unfortunately, this is just one of many nutritional supplement companies oppressed by the “unobtainable standard of proof” that Paul spoke of in his speech before Congress.

Don’t put your health freedom in the hands of the government

As if this present war against nutritional supplements was not enough, the situation could get worse. In their Congrsseional http://www.iahf.com Oversight Letter, Paul and fellow U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) express concern about the United States’ participation in the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which is part of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) Food Standard Program. Through Codex, the WTO hopes to “harmonize” food and other safety regulations of all WTO countries; however, it also serves to put power in the hands of national and international agencies and out of the hands of consumers. For example, Codex’s 2005 http://www.codexalimentarius.net Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements reads, “Vitamin and mineral food supplements should contain vitamins/provitamins and minerals whose nutritional value for human beings has been proven by scientific data and whose status as vitamins and minerals is recognized by FAO and WHO.”

The field of nutrition is constantly growing with new and remarkable products. With this in mind, putting the sole right to judge a product’s worth on FAO and WHO severely limits consumers’ rights to choose groundbreaking products that FAO and WHO may simply not be aware of yet.

Codex’s use of the term “harmonization” gives the illusion that the WTO is working to better the world, bringing diverse nations into a state of harmony, but that is not the reality. Codex is little more than an attempt by Big Business to further control the global economy and put more money in pockets that are already deep. In fact, in their Congressional Oversight Letter, Paul and Defazio give this warning: “Harmonization may be beneficial for the large corporations and international businesses that control the WTO, but it would be a disaster for American consumers of dietary supplements!” In other words, don’t let the choice words fool you. As is all too often the case with public policy, money talks louder than the public good.

If the United States’ participation in Codex continues, Paul and DeFazio worry that the WTO will pressure the United States to enforce draconian policies on nutritional supplements. They write, “We are concerned that the end result of this process will force the United States to adopt the same strict regulations of dietary supplements common in European countries such as Germany, where consumers cannot even examine a bottle of dietary supplements without a pharmacist’s permission.”

Can you imagine living in a society like that? Most consumers would not want to live in such a society and, according to Paul and DeFazio’s interpretation of past legislation, neither would Congress. “By participating in this process, the FDA is ignoring the will of Congress as expressed in DSHEA and in the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, which expressively forbid the FDA from participating in the harmonization process, as well as the will of the American people,” they explain.

Paul and DeFazio end their Congressional Oversight Letter with the following wish: “We also express our hope that Congress will act to protect the freedom of American consumers from overregulation of dietary supplements whether imposed by the FDA or through the back door by an international organization such as the WTO.”

Paul’s proposed Health Freedom Protection Act is a step toward making that simple yet profound hope a reality. Currently, 10 congressmen co-sponsor the HFPA. They include Paul, DeFazio, Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Rob Bishop (R-Utah), John J. Duncan (R-Tenn.), Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), Butch Otter (R-Idaho) and Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). Hopefully, this number will grow. You can do your part by visiting the http://www.healthactioncenter.org Action Center web site and sending the online letter to your U.S. representative. It will take only one or two minutes to do, and it won’t even cost you a postage stamp. Remember, you don’t want to live in a nation in which you need a pharmacist’s permission to look at a bottle of

Archeologist Nico Robin

Emperor Akihito, marking the 20th anniversary of his coronation Thursday, says he is concerned young people are forgetting their history.

“What worries me most is that the history of the past will gradually be forgotten. The reign of my father began at a very difficult time. There are many lessons that we can learn from the 60-some years of his reign. He viscerally knew the importance of peace“.

Emperor, on 20th anniversary of accession, concerned young people forgetting history, 12th November 2009

Lex Luthor ~ Hero Of Humanity

Not a man.

Not even close.

Yet most accept him like a member of the family. Grown-up little girls and boys, certain that the uncertain will bully them, find comfort in their…big brother from an another planet.

He’s made himself appear so much like us he has almost everyone forgetting he’s not one of us.

Almost.

Lex Luthor in Lex Luthor: Man of Steel

Those with power can wipe the past clean, and can rule the future.
Master Erigor

How History is Written…

In writing these plays, Shakespeare had nothing to help him except the standard history books of his day. The art of the historian was not very advanced in this period, and no serious attempt was made to get at the exact truth about a king and his reign. Instead, the general idea was that any nation that opposed England was wrong, and that any Englishman who opposed the winning side in a civil war was wrong also.

History Is Written by the Victors, Insights, 1994

Due to the rather unique collection in our library and our location, we depend pretty heavily on electronic journals and ebooks. I am dealing with a lot of problems with pdf ebooks for research at the moment, and I also read a lot of fiction (Mobipocket and an old Palm T|X at the moment) in ebook format, and I’m struck at the differences.

We are at a transition period in how we consume information, and it appears that we have simply carried forward the information access issues that existed at the turn of the last millenium.

I’m talking, of course, about the scroll and the codex.

A scroll is a single long sheet with words printed from top to bottom. A codex is a book as we would recognize one. I’m dealing with both in interfaces optimized for the scroll.

PDF ebooks have been particularly difficult to deal with. To have the text at a readable level, you have to zoom in significantly. This puts the top and bottom of the page outside of the viewing window of most modern computer screens, especially with the standard 17 inch screens at most workplaces. AJAXy interfaces like Library Press Display make even less sense on small screens. This is because our standard screens work best with an internet-pages, which imitate a scroll.

The small screen on my palm T|X suffers from the same problem, however using the Mobipocket reader converts everything into a scroll.

The scroll is fine for end-to-end reading. It has it’s own built in bookmarking feature. However, it is useless for reference purposes.

The codex is great for reference purposes. It bookmarks well, but not as good as the scroll. It’s more portable and durable than a scroll.

Why are we forcing something so revolutionary and different, viz the electronic book, into these two formats? Using PDF files, which force a codex form on a scroll, or plain text/mobipocket/EPUB files which roll out like a scroll, but suffer from a serious lack of precision in layout and destroy the benefits of the codex.

So, what’s the solution? I’m just a librarian, not a software engineer. Stick with the format that fits. Scroll-type ebooks are great for novels.Forced-codex PDF files are good for making sure that the text and pictures look good when they’re printed out (and very little else). Paper books still have a pretty good advantage over both despite the weight  and size problems. We still don’t have a format for printed words out there that takes the advantage away from the evolutionary, revolutionary, incredible paper book.

The development of practical manufacturing omni-tools allows modern militaries a great deal of flexibility in equipment loadouts.

A vast number of field modification kits, or ‘upgrades’, are available for common equipment such as weapons armour, omni-tools, biotic amps, and even grenades.

An upgrade kit typically consists of less than a dozen unique parts and an optical storage disc.  When loaded into an omni-tool, the OSD (On-Screen Display) provides all technical specifications required to manufacture the tools, and additional parts necessary to install the upgrade onto another piece of equipment.

Assembly is typically modular, and installation can be completed in less than a minute.

Since omni-tools are designed to use common battlefield salvage materials such as plastics, ceramics, and light metals (rendered into semi-molten ‘omni-gel’ for quick use), it is quite possible for a trained soldier carrying upgrade kits to customise gear on the battlefield, to fit the current tactical situation.

50,000 years ago, the Protheans were the only space-faring species in the galaxy.  They vanished in a swift ‘galactic extinction’.  Only the legacy of their empire remains.

They are believed to have built the mass relays and the Citadel, which have allowed numerous species to explore and expand throughout the galaxy.

Prothean ruins are found on worlds across the galaxy.  While surprisingly intact for their age, functioning examples of Prothean paleotechnology are rare.  Time, and generations of looters have picked their dead cities and derelict stations clean.

Some believe the Protheans meddled in the evolution of younger races.

The Hanar homeworld of Kahje, for example, shows clear evidence of former Prothean occupation.  The presence of a former Prothean observation post on Mars has caused a rebirth of ‘interventionary evolutionists’ among Humans.

These individuals believe the god-myths of ancient civilisation are mis-remembered encounters with aliens.

The Terminus Systems are located on the far side of the Attican Traverse, beyond the space administered by the Citadel Council or claimed by the Human Systems Alliance.

It is populated by a loose affiliation of minor species, united only in their refusal to acknowledge the political authority of the Council or adhere to the Citadel Conventions.

Their independence comes at a price; the Terminus is fraught with conflict.  War among the various species is common, as governments and dictators constantly rise and fall. The region is a haven for illegal activities, particularly piracy and the slave trade.

At least once a year, a fleet from the Terminus invades the nearby Attican Traverse.  These attacks are typically small raids against poorly defended colonies.

The Council rarely retaliates, as sending patrols into the Terminus Systems could unify the disparate species against their common foe, triggering a long and costly war.

‘Light Lag’ prevents sensing in real time at great distances.

A ship firing its thrusters at the Charon Relay can be easily detected from Earth, 5.75 light-hours (6 billion kilometers) away, but Earth will only see the event 5 hours and 45 minutes after it occurs.

Due to the light-speed limit, defenders can’t see enemies coming until they have already arrived.  As there is FTL (Faster Than Light) travel and communications but not FTL sensors, frigates are crucial for scouting and picket duties.

Passive sensors are used for long-range detection, while active sensors obtain short-range, high quality targeting data.

Passive sensors include visual, thermographic, and radio detectors that watch and listen for objects in space.

A powered ship emits a great deal of energy :

• the heat of the life support systems
• the radiation given off by power plants and electrical equipment
• the exhaust of the thrusters

Starships stand out plainly against the near-absolute zero background of space.

Passive sensors can be used during FTL travel, but incoming data is significantly distorted by the effects of the mass effect envelope and doppler shift.

Active sensors are radars and high resolution ladars (LAser Detection And Ranging) that emit a ‘ping’ of energy and ‘listen’ for return signals.  Ladars have a more narrow field of view than radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging), but ladar resolution allows images of detected objects to be assembled.

Active sensors are useless when a ship is moving at FTL speeds.

Humanity’s first contact with an alien race occurred in 2157.

At that time, the Alliance allowed survey fleets to activate any dormant mass relays discovered, a practice considered dangerous and irresponsible by Council-aligned races.

When a Turian patrol discovered a Human fleet attempting to activate a relay, they attacked.  One Human vessel survived, retreating to the colony of Shanxi.

The Turians followed, quickly defeating the local forces.

Shanxi was occupied, the first – and, to date, only – Human world to be conquered by an alien species.

The Turians believed the handful of ships they defeated represented the bulk of Human defenses, so they were unprepared when the Second Fleet under Admiral Kastanie Drescher launched a strong counter-offensive, evicting them from Shanxi.

The Turians mobilised for full-scale war, drawing the attention of the rest of the galaxy.

The Council quickly intervened, forcing a truce.  Fortunately for Humanity, the First Contact War was ended with a diplomatic solution.

Born on Earth, I never knew my parents.

A child of the streets, I quickly learned to live by my wits and gut instincts, surviving in the hidden underbelly of the megatropolises of Humanity’s home world.

Eager to find a better life, I joined the Alliance military when I came of age, and was immediately assigned to the campaign to rid the Skyllian Verge of Batarian slavers and other criminal elements.

The final battle came when Alliance forces laid siege to Torfan, a slaver base built miles below the surface of a desolate moon.

The superiority of our fleet was wasted in the assault on the underground bunker, but I led a small corps of elite ground troops into the heart of the enemy base.

Nearly three quarters of my squad perished in the vicious close-quartered combat… a price I was willing to pay, to make sure not a single slaver made it out of Torfan alive.

Haruhi-sama is not amused

Manga Compared to a Plague

Israel Punzano : Lo que parece seguro es que a este ritmo dentro de poco estaremos todos leyendo manga. El éxito del cómic japonés entre los jóvenes no presagia nada bueno para los autores europeos.

Moebius : El manga es una plaga. La invasión ha sido total, como demuestra las cuotas de mercado que ha conseguido. Es una epidemia. Me recuerda a lo sucedido con las abejas de la Amazonia que suben hasta Norteamérica y matan a las especies autóctonas. En Francia, los camarones han desaparecido porque echaron en nuestras aguas una especie foránea que acabó con ellos. Los nuevos también están buenos, pero no son los mismos… Tienen un acento espantoso. El problema es que el manga llega a Europa, pero el cómic europeo no va a Japón. Eso es lo injusto.

“El ‘manga’ es una plaga”, El Pais, 15/11/2009

Google Translation

Israel Punzano : What seems certain is that at this rate, soon we’ll all be reading manga. The success of Japanese comics among youth does not bode well for European authors.

Moebius : Manga is a plague. The invasion has been complete, as demonstrated by market share that has been achieved. It’s an epidemic. It reminds me of what happened to the bees that go up the Amazon to North America and kill native species. In France, the shrimp have disappeared because they threw in our waters a foreign species that killed them. New also are good, but not the same … They have an awful accent. The problem is that the manga comes to Europe, but European comics is not going to Japan. That is wrong.

“El ‘manga’ es una plaga”, El Pais, 15/11/2009

See Also : Axis Powers Hetalia ~ Korea Declares War on Otakudom over Anime Dispute

2069 – Armstrong Outpost at Shackleton Crate becomes the first human settlement on Luna.  It is formally founded on July 24th, the 100th anniversary of the first lunar landing.

2103 – Lowell City in Eos Chasma becomes the first human settlement on Mars.

2137 – Eldfell-Ashland Energy Corporation demonstrates helium-3 fuel extraction from the atmosphere of Saturn.

2142 – Construction of Gagarin Station (Jump Zero) begins beyond the orbit of Pluto.

2148 – Prospectors discover the Prothean ruins at Promethei Planum on Mars.

2149 – Translation of Prothean data leads humans to the Charon mass relay.  Systems Alliance founded to co-ordinate exploration and colonisation of extra-solar worlds.

2151 – A shipping accident at Singapore International Spaceport exposes downwind communities to containers of dust-form Element Zero.  Alliance begins construction of Arcturus Station.

2152 – Roughly 30% of the children born in Singapore after Element Zero exposure suffer from cancerous growths.  Systems Alliance begins settlement of Earth’s first extra-solar colony world, the planet Demeter.

2154 – Loxy Shepard born.

2155 – Systems Alliance occupies completed portions of Arcturus Station as a headquarters.

2156 – Some children of Singapore exhibit minor telekinetic abilities.

2157 – Turians encounter Human explorers; First Contact War.  Occupation and liberation of the Human colony of Shanxi.

2158 – Humans learn potential of ‘Biotics’.  An international effort to track Element Zero exposures begins.  Roughly 10% of exposed children show some level of Biotic ability.

2160 – Systems Alliance Parliament formed.

2165 – Humans establish embassy on Citadel.

2170 – Batarian slavers attack the Alliance colony of Mindoir.

2176 – Skyllian Blitz – Pirates and slavers attacked Elysium; the Human capital in the Skyllian Verge.

2177 – Thresher Maws devour the Alliance colony of Akuze.

2178 – In retalliation for the Skyllian Blitz, an Alliance fleet wipes out an army of slavers on the moon of Torfan.

2183 – Current date.

Roughly 1200 years ago, the Turians were invited to join the Citadel Council to fulfill the rol of galactic peacekeepers.  They have the largest fleet in Citadel space, and they make up the single largest portion of the Council’s military forces.

As their territory and influence has spread, the Turians have come to rely on the Salarians for military intelligence, and the Asari for diplomacy.

Despite a somewhat colonial attitude towards the rest of the galaxy, the ruling Hierarchy understands they would lose more than they would gain, if the other two races were ever removed.

Turians come from an autocratic society that values discipline, and possesses a strong sense of personal and collective honour.

There is lingering animosity between Turians and Humans over the First Contact War of 2157, which is known as the ‘Relay 314 Incident’ to the Turians.

Officially, however, the two species are allies and they enjoy civil, if cool, diplomatic relations.

Spectres are agents from the Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance and answer only to the Citadel Council.

They are elite military operatives, granted the authority to deal with threats to peace and stability in any way they deem necessary.

They operate independently or in groups of two or three.  Some are empathetic peacekeepers, resolving disputes through diplomacy.  Others are cold-blooded assassins, ruthlessly dispatching problem individuals.

All get the job done, one way or another, often operating outside the bounds of galactic law.

The Spectres were founded after the Salarians joined the Council.

For many years, they operated in secrecy, as back-room ‘problem-solvers’.  Only after the Krogan Rebellions did their activities become publicised.

Assignment of a Spectre is less contentious than a military deployment, but makes it clear that the Council is concerned about a situation.