Report Says Irish Bishops and Police Hid Abuse

ABUSE SIGHTINGS

In Dublin, 700 Pages on the Church's Sins
Priests were blatant, notorious abusers, but were allowed to continue without punishment or censure.

By Sarah Lyall

The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/world/europe/27ireland.html?

LONDON

The Roman Catholic Church and the police in Ireland systematically colluded in covering up decades of child sex abuse by priests in Dublin, according to a scathing report released Thursday.

The cover-ups spanned the tenures of four Dublin archbishops and continued through to the mid-1990s and beyond, even after the church was beginning to admit to its failings and had professed that it was confronting abuse by its priests.

But rather than helping the victims, the church was concerned only with “the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church, and the preservation of its assets,” said the 700-page report, prepared by a group appointed by the Irish government and called the Commission of Investigation Into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.

For the Full Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/world/europe/27ireland.html?


Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.

Pinnacle Foods Group (Blackstone) to acquire Birds Eye Foods

BUSINESS NEWS

Birds Eye Foods in Private Equity Deal
Company had filed for an initial public stock offering to raise up to $350 million

Trading Markets .Com

Pinnacle Foods Group, LLC has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Birds Eye Foods, Inc., a producer and marketer of processed food products, for $1,300 million. Both the companies are based in the US.

Pinnacle Foods is a unit of US-based private equity firm The Blackstone Group L.P. and manufactures and distributes branded packaged foods.

Birds Eye Foods is controlled by Vestar Capital Partners, Inc., Pro-Fac Cooperative, Inc. and the management of Birds Eye.

Pinnacle Foods expects to fund the transaction using a combination of new debt financing at the company and a significant new equity contribution from Blackstone. The debt financing for the transaction is provided by Barclays Capital, Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Bank of America Corporation, HSBC Bank plc and Macquarie Capital Group Limited in the form of senior secured credit facilities and senior unsecured bonds.

Blackstone Advisory Services L.P., Barclays Capital, Bank of America, Credit Suisse are acting as financial advisors, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal advisor to Pinnacle Foods. Centerview Partners, LLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are acting as financial advisors, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal advisor to Birds Eye Foods.

The transaction is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2010.

The acquisition will provide Pinnacle Foods the opportunities to create value and strengthens its financial position. The combination creates a leader in both the frozen and shelf stable business segments and enables them to better serve its consumers and customers.


© Copyright 2009 The Connors Group, Inc.

Obesity Costs to Quadruple

HEALTH

Obesity Costs to Quadruple
The U.S. could save nearly $200 billion in health care costs, the data show.

Garden of Healing®

WASHINGTON, DC

Spending to treat the health effects of obesity will quadruple over the next decade, and almost half of U.S. adults will be obese by 2018, according to the annual America's Health Rankings study.

Obesity is defined as being 20 percent or more above an individual's recommended weight.

Doctors who participated in the study warned that if obesity rates keep rising, spending on the health effects of obesity will grow to $344 billion by 2018.

If obesity rates hold at current levels, though, the U.S. would save nearly $200 billion in health care costs, the data show.

The study, released this week by the United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention, has the attention of lawmakers on Capitol Hill as they look to cut costs with a health care overhaul.

"It's an epidemic that is preventable," said Representative James Moran, D-Virginia.

Doctors and lawmakers agree that obesity prevention must begin with younger generations, and begin soon.


© 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

Alzheimer's Gardens Heal With Nature

GARDENS OF HEALING

Alzheimer's Gardens Heal With Nature
Gardens Give Sanctuary to Alzheimer’s Patients

Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96563&page=1


Elizabeth Brawley was set to pursue her fortune as an interior designer for the rich and famous.Then her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and confined to a nursing home. That was 20 years ago, and her life and work since then has taken a radically different course.

“I had never been in a nursing home before then. When it became necessary to put my mother in a home I was stunned by what I saw,” she said.

What Brawley saw, in a mid-80’s nursing home, were aging adults with little chance to get outside, often staring at the same painting on the wall, the same view through a window or the television. Since then, she has devoted her professional life to “designing for Alzheimer’s” — everything from handrails and chairs to lights and entire rooms that fit the needs of adults with dementia, a fatal condition most commonly caused by Alzheimer’s.

Her most recent project is the American Landscape Society of America Alzheimer’s Garden Project — a series of nine gardens designed to accommodate those with Alzheimer’s. “We know that just getting outside is good for you. For Alzheimer’s patients it can help reduce anxiety, improve sleep patterns and give the caregiver a break,” says Jack Carman, a landscape architect who is Brawley's partner in the garden project.

Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96563&page=1


Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures. All Rights Reserved.

Viacom Wins U.S. TV Rights For Michael Jackson Film

ENTERTAINMENT

MTV acquires 'This Is It' starting in 2011
Sony Pictures film has already pulled in $200 million in world-wide box office returns

Garden of Healing®

Look for Michael Jackson's music documentary 'This Is It' to air on MTV in 2011.

Viacom Inc. says it has won exclusive rights in the U.S. to air the film on its MTV and BET cable networks.

The Sony Pictures film, featuring rehearsal footage from the London concerts Mr. Jackson was planning when he died, has already pulled in $200 million in world-wide box office returns.

Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009.

Viacom said Tuesday its rights to the movie last six years. Terms weren't disclosed.


© 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

HeartMate II; New Device Improves Heart-failure Survival

HEART DISEASE

Study: New device improves heart-failure survival
Heart pump greatly improves survival of people with severe heart failure.

Garden of Healing®

ORLANDO, FL

Doctors say that a new type of heart pump greatly improves survival of people with severe heart failure. It could become the first one of these devices to be widely used as a permanent treatment.

The device - called the HeartMate II and made by Thoratec Corp. of Pleasanton, CA - is the first of a new generation of smaller pumps that push blood continuously rather than simulating a heartbeat as older pumps do. A wire from the patient's abdomen connects the device to a small computer and batteries the patient wears in a belt pack.

The device is implanted next to a patient's own heart to help it pump.

In a study, the new device increased by four times the number of patients who survived at least two years, compared to an older pump that is used now just for short periods to keep people alive until a heart transplant can be done.

The big issue is cost. The pump costs $80,000, plus $45,000 for the surgery and hospital stay to implant it.

"It will allow older people who are not heart transplant patients to stay alive but at a higher cost. It's all about who's going to pay," said Cleveland Clinic heart chief Dr. Steven Nissen, who had no role in the research.

The pump was approved last year for use in people waiting for a transplant. The new company-funded study tested it in very sick heart failure patients not eligible for a transplant.

It enrolled 200 people as young as 26 and as old as 81 at several sites in the United States. Two-thirds got the new device; the rest received an older HeartMate pump. After two years, 46 percent of those on the new pump and 11 percent of those on the old one were alive without having suffered a stroke or needing an operation to fix or replace the device.

Results were presented Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference and published by the New England Journal of Medicine.


© 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

Niacin Better than Statin Drug for Arteries

NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

Niacin Better than Statin Drug for Arteries

Source: The Natural Products Insider

NETHERLANDS

The use of a pharmaceutical form of the B vitamin niacin to raise HDL cholesterol levels was more effective than using the drug ezetimibe to lower LDL cholesterol levels for patients at high cardiovascular risk who also took statins, reports a new study (New England Journal of Medicine). The study found Niaspan (an extended-release, prescription-only formulation of niacin made by Abbott) was more effective than Zetia (a statin-lowering drug from Merck & Co. Inc.) at reducing the artery plaque buildup after 14 months.

The patients enrolled in the study had a high risk of vascular events and had used statins for an average of six years. Researchers found “a clear superiority of niacin over ezetimibe” and further found niacin reduced buildup in the arteries whereas ezetimibe only prevented more buildup.


N Engl J Med. 2009 10.1056/NEJMe0908841
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMe0908841

Source:
http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/news/2009/11/niacin-better-than-statin-drug-for-arteries.aspx#


Copyright © 2009 Virgo Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.

UW-Madison Dietary Supplement Research Study involving Estrogen

RESEARCH STUDY

Dietary Supplement Study measuring Estrogen balance levels
University of Wisconsin Madison conducts research study to measure estrogen balance involving supplements

Garden of Healing®

MADISON, WI

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UW-Madison is conducting a research study open to women testing a dietary supplement commonly found in vegetables to see how it affects the balance of estrogen in the body.

Women of all body sizes are encouraged to participate.

You may be eligible to participate in this study if:

1) You are a woman between 30 and 50 years of age
2) You have a regular menstrual cycle
3) You are NOT taking any type of hormonal contraception (such as oral birth control pills) and are NOT on hormone therapy

This study is being conducted to learn more about preventing certain cancers. Participants will receive an incentive payment following study completion.

For more information, please call: (608) 265-6385.


© 1996 - 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

FDA targets alcohol-energy drinks

BUSINESS NEWS

Alcoholic Energy Drinks Under Fire from FDA
Beverage makers given one month to hand over evidence that the combination of caffeine and alcohol is safe

Garden of Healing®

30 beverage makers received letters from the FDA Friday, giving manufacturers 30 days to prove that their beverages are safe.

The move came after 19 state attorneys general complained alcohol-infused energy drinks appeal to underage drinkers and encourage reckless behavior. Larger companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) have already removed caffeine from their alcoholic energy drinks.

The FDA has not yet approved caffeine for use in alcoholic beverages nor have they determined it to be hazardous. The FDA action has been taken on the suspicion that caffeine masks the effects of alcohol, leading to increased consumption and reckless behavior.

In their letter to the FDA, the attorneys general say caffeine can disguise the effects of alcohol, leading to "increased risk-taking and other serious alcohol related problems such as traffic accidents, violence, sexual assault and suicide," according to their letter.

MillerCoors acknowledged these hazards in December when they agreed to eliminate caffeine from Sparks, the most popular of alcoholic energy beverages.

Sparks and drinks of its kind make up 1% of total beer sales, roughly $1 billion annually.


© 1996 - 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

Smoking Rises Again; 20% of Adults Say They Smoke

HEALTH NEWS

Smoking rises for the first time in 14 years
CDC Survey Finds Adult Smoking Declines Have Stalled, Shows Elected Officials Must Step Up Fight Against Tobacco

Garden of Healing®

WASHINGTON, DC

Cigarette smoking rose for the first time in 14 years in 2008, federal health officials said.

The government's report stated that adult smoking declines have stalled since 2004, and that this is an urgent warning to elected officials that it is premature to declare victory over tobacco.

Tobacco continues to be the number one preventable cause of death in the United States.

Just more than 20% of adults said they smoke. That's up from 2007, when 19.8% said they were smokers.

"Clearly, we've hit a wall in reducing adult smoking, " said Vance Willmore, spokesman for the advocacy group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

PRESS RELEASE:
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/Script/DisplayPressRelease.php3?Display=1180


© 1996 - 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

UNICEF: Hunger Stunts Growth of Millions in Poor Countries

WORLD HUNGER

Hunger Stunts Growth of Millions in the Developing World
Future generations in jeopardy unless urgent efforts are made to tackle undernutrition

Garden of Healing®

NEW YORK, NY

Nearly 200 million children in the developing world suffer from stunted growth resulting from chronic maternal and childhood undernutrition, according to a UNICEF report released Thursday titled ‘Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Nutrition’.

The report was published a day before a three-day internationals summit on world hunger.

The head of a U.N. food agency called on the world to join him in a day of fasting ahead of the summit to highlight the plight of 1 billion hungry people.

UNICEF Press Release:
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_51692.html


© 1996 - 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

Doping Officials Hint at New Tests

SPORTS BRIEFING | Drug Testing

Doping Officials Hint at New Tests

By The Associated Press

TOKYO, JAPAN

The World Anti-Doping Agency is studying a new method that would allow wider testing of the banned blood-boosting hormone EPO. Arne Ljungqvist, vice president of WADA, did not provide details about the new process Sunday at a symposium in Tokyo on blood doping, saying its effectiveness needed to be verified. He said that if the new technique proved successful, it could be used much more widely than the existing system, which is expensive and complicated.


Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Cereal Giant Kellogg Drops Immune-Boosting Claims for Sugary Cereal

NUTRITION

Kellogg Drops Immune-Boosting Claims for Sugary Cereal
Can Rice Krispies be helpful in resisting bubonic plague or athlete’s foot?

Garden of Healing®

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Eating Rice Krispie Treats won’t be of much help to you in avoiding the flu.

Cereal giant Kellogg announced last week Wednesday that they were removing the claim that Cocoa Krispies “now helps support your child’s immunity” which was plastered across the package in type not much smaller than the name of the product.

Coincidently, only one week before, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera had sent a letter to the company taking them to task for those claims, calling them "a potential violation" of California's Unfair Competition Law, which may "undermine critical public health efforts to prevent the spread of [H1N1 virus] that the President has declared to be [a] national emergency".

Kellogg began the ad campaign after it had increased the levels of antioxidants and other nutrients in the cereal.

The San Francisco City Attorney’s office gave Kellogg 30 days to respond with documentation verifying their claims the sugary cereal marketed to children could boost their immunity. Kellogg decided to simply drop the matter altogether but is dodging questions about whether city attorney Herrera’s letter had anything to do with it.

There’s no word yet on whether Rice Krispies might be helpful in resisting bubonic plague or athlete’s foot.


© 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

Unemployment hits 10.2 Percent in October, Highest in 26 Years

ECONOMY

Unemployment highest in 26 years
Obama calls it "a sobering number that underscores the economic challenges that lie ahead."

Garden of Healing®
The Star Raconteur™

CHICAGO, IL

The Economy relapsed Friday with a return to double-digit unemployment for the worst joblessness since the Great Depression.

As the unemployment rate surged to 10.2 percent in October, it suddenly seemed possible that the nation might yet have to buckle down for even more bad news.

In the six decades since the government began compiling such data, the highest level of unemployment came at the end of 1982, when it hit 10.8 percent.

President Barack Obama called it "a sobering number that underscores the economic challenges that lie ahead."

Obama signed a measure to extend unemployment benefits and extended a tax credit for homebuyers.

Despite the widespread assumption that the recession has already ended, and even as the economy has resumed growing, the government’s latest snapshot of the labor market released Friday testified to the uncomfortable truth that expansion had yet to translate into jobs.

The sharp rise in unemployment — which climbed from 9.8 percent in September, as the nation lost another 190,000 net jobs — intensified pressure on the Obama administration to show results from the $787 billion package of spending measures unleashed early this year to spur the economy.

Unemployment at 11 percent would be a post-World War II record.

One faint sign of hope: Temporary employment grew by 33,700 jobs, its third straight month of gains after steep losses this year.

Employers are likely to add temporary workers before hiring permanent ones.


© 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. The Star Raconteur™. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to The Star Raconteur !

Welcome to The Star Raconteur !