[Medicine] Tumorcidal Olive Oil May Kill Cancer

For the last few thousand years, humans have been battling cancer (yes, they have indeed found that cancer isn't a "new" thing whatsoever. There are apparently findings of tumorous bones and such from thousands of years BC).

There are some new turn of events in the fight against cancer (breast cancer in this case) when scientists found that there may be a couple of tumorcidal components that inhibit the growth of certain kinds of breast cancer. One of these components is the compound EVOO. Apparently the research doctors at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Spain say that going out and consuming massive quantities of EVOO is NOT a good resolution (as ironic as that sounds).

One of the types of EVOO can "rapidly split into inactive compounds" when they are consumed. This would prevent them from assisting in handling the cancer; however, they still might help with development of cancer-fighting drugs and such.

Lignan compounds found in EVOO (Lignan compounds are primarily found in plants, heavily found in flax seed) "may represent a different molecular scenario," say Javier A. Menendez, PhD and his fellow scientists. In testing on mice, the scientists have noticed that the tumors in the mice accumulated lignans. This might suggest "that the anti-cancer activity of lignans may be due to their direct local effects on the breast cancer tissues." *WebMD

As far as NatGeo is concerned, there may be some more proof to support these thoughts as it appears that Greeks have a lower record of heart disease and cancer. *National Geographic

That's certainly some exciting news as far as developing some assistance in fighting cancerous tumors. Definitely something we can use as a species that's for sure. If I am recalling my statistics correctly, over half a million (~566k) people die each year to cancer in the US... This is a horrific number if you look at the statistics of when people actually FIND their cancers. The majority of people don't even realize they have cancer until they have reached stage 3 or 4, which means it's already started to spread. They have a near 10-20% chance of survival at that point. We spend so much money trying to kill cancer that it may prove that we have a better chance at just learning how to detect the cancer sooner without invasive procedures and catching the cancer in stage 1 where there is about a 90% survival rate. Sounds pretty dramatic, right? Exactly. Detection is more important than killing. We're just so caught up in saving those of us who already have the disease that we aren't looking to keeping future members of our species from even GETTING to the point where it is really life threatening.

Remember, detection not destruction... That's likely to be the key to our "defeating" cancer.

Take care.

[Gaming] My XBox Boots to Red Ring of Death

It may seem that there could be a problem with your XBox 360, right? Well, luckily us 360 owners have been given a little more leeway with the Red Ring of Death by having our warranties extended by an additional three years. Sounds great, right? Well, yeah, but there's also the problem of the system being known to scratch disks while playing them.

Everyone that uses a system that utilizes disk technology to store the game itself knows that this can always be a problem, so what's the big deal right? Here's the big deal: Apparently Microsoft has known of these issues.

"This is...information that we as a team, optical disc drive team, knew about," Microsoft program manager Hiroo Umeno said in a deposition. "When we first discovered the problem in September or October, when we got a first report of disc movement, we knew this is what's causing the problem."

"Because these greater gyroscopic forces are combined with both a weak magnetic force for holding the disc in place, and a tray-loaded design that can be oriented vertically, uncoupling of a disc during normal console use was a predictable result."

There have also been proposed fixes for the issue that have all been turned down by Microsoft due to various seemingly unnecessary side effects such as having negative effects on the tray opening and closing (increased magnetism on the game disk) to longer load times (slowing down the drive speed) to the not so unnecessary 35-75m cost for Microsoft to fix the drive itself by installing bumpers.

As a response to their liability to the scratching of disks, a representative told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the following statement:

"While we have had some users contact us with concerns about scratched discs, it is less than one-half of 1% of the total Xbox 360 user base," a Microsoft representative told the Post-Intelligencer. "Xbox 360 is designed so that it will not damage a game disc as long as the console is not moved while the disc is spinning. Too much movement of any game console, not just Xbox 360, can cause scratches on a disc. That's why we put a warning on the face of the disc tray, which the user has to physically remove before the initial use of the system. We also have warnings posted online and in hard copy instruction manuals."

Here's my issue... Who reads the manuals!? It's not a legal liability to read it and thus is an unnecessary request of the user.

I love Microsoft and how easy they have made it for the millions of non-technical users out there; however, there's a point where they need to be slapped on the hand for cutting corners and need to own up to their mistake.

Take Care.

[Science] You are not the center of the galaxy... A black hole is.

So, I was going to leave up the Grandmaster Flash post up for a while to get a little more out there (shit, not like he NEEDS it, but it's my little part of the whole!), but something more important... Bigger than GMF... Bigger than me... Bigger than you.

When a coworker showed me a CNN news article telling me this, I was in awe. Scientists in Bulgaria have found what they think is a massive black hole in the center of our galaxy. I know. How crazy is that?

This has more than scientific consequences as I'm sure you can imagine. If we can find out how quickly the galaxy may be deteriorating through the will of the black hole, we may be able to tell how long the galaxy has existed (these are my own ramblings of course, I'm no scientist!). Imagine... The galaxy created by an explosion which is in its reverse cycle of destruction (each action has an equal and opposite reaction) of that which it created...

This could be a major landmark in the decline of organized religion. I know that sounds weird as many people try to believe in the fact that science cannot answer how the universe/galaxy/planet/us were created; however, if we know that there is an entity that is reversing the creation process we can more closely identify how matter is created in the first place. And once the entry of the matter into the black hole has been completed WHERE does that matter go? We have long believed that energy never ceases to exist, but the only way this would be true would be for the energy to go somewhere else when it enters into the black hole.

So... After we validate that the black hole exists, we can figure out how they function (as we will be able to actually WATCH what's happening). Of course, it's hundreds of thousands of light years away, but yeah... We'll see. :)

Some links
CNN - Black hole found...
Space.com - Surprising second black hole found...
MSN - Black hole at center of galaxy downsized

Now, please mind the dates of the second and third articles. They are solely for information to help understand the new article (the first one).

Let's hope they find all of these amazing new things because of potential confirmation!

Take care.

[Music] Hip Hop & You - Exciting News

Ok, so we'll play a little game. I'm going to list off some names and I want you to just consciously think about your initial reaction.

Lordikim Allah, Almighty Thor, Mann Child, Big Daddy Kane, Hedonis Da Amazon, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes... Grandmaster Flash... that's right Grandmaster Flash.

So, most of you kids my age and younger will be all "Grandmasta WHO?" I just ask WHEN?



Ok, enough of the playfulness: Grandmaster Flash is going to release a new album for the first time in about two decades (a little more, actually). Now, it's not his only WORK for that time, but it's been a long time since he released his own album.

The names listed above are just some of the people that will be featured on his new album to be released next Spring titled The Bridge: A Concept of A Culture.

The track listing that seems to be floating around the net is pretty much spot on with eachother. I'd venture a guess that it's accurate, at least for now. :)

1. Welcome
2. Shine All Day (Feat. Q-Tip, Jumz, & Kel Spencer)
3. We Speak Hip Hop (Feat. KRS-One, Afasi, Kase-O, Maccho, Abass)
4. Here Comes My DJ (Feat. DJ Kool & DJ Demo)
5. Bounce Back (Feat. Busta Rhymes)
6. Swagger (Feat. Red Café, Snoop Dogg & Lynn Carter)
7. What If (Feat. KRS-One)
8. Unanswered (Interlude)”
9. Tribute To The Breakdancer (Feat. MC Supernatural)
10. Grown & Sexy (Feat. Mr. Cheeks)
11. When I Get There (feat. Big Daddy Kane & Hedonis Da Amazon)
12. Connection (Interlude)
13. I Got Sumthin’ To Say (Feat. Lordikim, J-Flo & Almighty Thor)
14. Can I Take You Higher (Feat. Mr. Cheeks, Granmaster Caz & Tito)
15. Unpredictable (Feat. Syndee & Big Daddy Kane)
16. Those Chix (Feat. Byata, Princess Superstar & Hedonis Da Amazon)
17. Bronx Bombers (Feat. Lordikim, Almighty Thor & Mann Child)
18. Zuka The Sound (Interlude)
19. Oh Man (Feat. Syndee & Natacha Atlas)

Now this could do one of two things: It could either a) turn out to be similar to the other Old School hip hop artists that basically released a new album with similar sounds to today's music and almost none of the life and vigor that made them popular back in the day or b) it could put the hip hop industry into the timewarp and we might get some really cool, Old School authentic music (which is what I hope)...

My hopes? Let's do the time warp...

It's just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right
Put your hands on your hips
You bring your knees in tight
But it's the pelvic thrust
That really drives you insane
Let's do the time warp again!
Let's do the time warp again!

Sorry. Had to do it. Love the movie and the theatre show. ;)

Anyways, spread the news and spread the love. Grandmaster Flash is a living legend. Those of you youngsters that still have no clue who the hell I'm talking about, you might recognize the song from the video below as a soundtrack to the video game Thrasher Presents : Skate and Destroy.

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five ft. Melle Mel : White Lines


If you want to hear an interesting cover of White Lines, Duran Duran did one that is actually pretty good. You just have to remember the time that it was made. :D

Enjoy. I always smile when I hear GMF's old music. Hopefully his new music will make me feel the same.

Take care.

[Society] Auto-Industry Bailout? No thank you.

Ok, so here's the next topic of discussion for me... The auto-industry bailout...

I'd find it very interesting to see the government tell the auto-industry to get bent. Really. We all saw how the "insurance bailout" went. The companies didn't even so much as thank the citizens who would be footing the bill and proceeded to spend grossly and without conscience. Do we really believe that hundred year old companies could have put themselves into these dire situations simply through the greed of a few men? Henry Ford would be rolling in his grave if he could.

The idea of capitalism is something that we all have been programmed to love. Open, free market where the best product wins. Unfortunately, the companies that provide the bulk of the products we were purchasing created sub-par devices in countries other than ours and then shipped the parts/completed items back to the US to sell. Don't believe that? Go do some research on where Ford's vehicles are put together. You'll see it all too clearly.

If we believe in capitalism so much, WHY are we bailing out companies that aren't surviving the Survival of the Fittest mentality that IS capitalism? WHY are we giving tens and hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars to the large corporations that have raped our people of their money for hundreds of combined years? I say let them fall. Let them fall and let us get new companies (remember when Saturn first started? No one would buy their cars and they had to give incentives to the first few generations of owners such as replacing the older car with a newer one for VERY cheap... now they sell as normal. The same idea with Kia, though they used different tactics.) that actually give a shit about what we think, what we want and what we need.

Don't believe in that? Then you don't believe in capitalism and free trade/market. The "Mom-n-Pop" stores have stayed open because they have a loyal following of regular customers as well as (mostly) honesty, friendliness and most importantly CUSTOMER APPRECIATION. They APPRECIATE their customers. They are not numbers. They are not "just another face." They are customers that the owners, and the employees as a whole, treat as though they were regulars in their store SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY APPRECIATE THEM. Why not go and ask around about how many people felt important the last time they were approached by a car salesman. Or the last time they went to a corporate office for their insurance company and didn't feel out of place. I don't mean that large corporations do not treat their customers well... They just do NOT appreciate that the 16,000 dollars the young couple spent on their new bottom of the line car was a HUGE investment to that person. That they took a risk on the company in trusting that their product would be GOOD for them and in THEIR best interest. Unfortunately that isn't the case.

I say let the Ford and Chrystler companies figure their financial problems out on their own. They have spent the last hundred years (slightly less, I know) gouging the rest of us for products that we HAVE to have in order to live (ever try walking 2-4 miles to work each day? or perhaps taking the bus in a large, crowded city? Very few public transit systems are as efficient as the NY subway system.). It used to be that you could get a decent car for 16k. Now you are looking at getting financed for 40k for the same damned car model with accessories. I know, I know, "inflation." Inflation doesn't triple the cost of a product within 10 years as a whole from what I can tell (of course, I'm not an economist... I'm just calling it like I see it.).

Anyways, just thought that I'd touch that topic as it is something that I'm sure many of us are thinking but don't want to say aloud. I say stop being afraid of talking. Talking is simply conveying opinion and belief... We shouldn't be afraid to talk. And we shouldn't be afraid of others talking... but that's a topic for another day.

Take Care.