Smart Economy

Hydrated Fullerenes (C60-HyFn) and diabetes (Type 1)

We continue our review of the multiple health effects of water soluble or hydrated fullerenes (C60-HyFN's) Today we look at type 1 diabetes.

NANO-PARTICLES OF WATER-SOLUBLE FULLERENE C60 REVERSE CYTOSKELETAL ALTERATIONS AND ATTENUATE OXIDATIVE STRESS IN BRAIN OF DIABETIC RATS Tykhomyrov A.A.1, Nedzvetsky V.S.2, Andrievsky G.V3.

1 - Dnipropetrovsk State Agrarian University; Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine; E. mail: artfullerene@gmail.com

2 - Dnipropetrovsk National University; Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine;

3 - Institute of Physiologically Active Compounds, Kharkiv, Ukraine. E. mail: yard@kharkov.ua

Diabetes mellitus is the most common serious metabolic disorder.  Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes is a well-characterized experimental model for insulinopenic Type I diabetes mellitus and provides a relevant example of endogenous chronic stress.  The present study examined the protective effect of hydrated form of fullerene C60 (C60HyFn) against reactive gliosis and oxidative stress in rat brain affected by STZ-induced diabetes.  Reactive astroglia displays both increasing cell hypertrophy and proliferation.  It is accepted that one of the main feature of astrogliosis is elevation of synthesis of cytoskeletal intermediate filament protein - glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP).  Wistar rats were injected with STZ (50 mg/kg body weight) to induce hyperglycaemia.  Diabetes caused a significant increase of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and protein oxidative modification (POM) levels in the brain tissue.  Furthermore, diabetic rats were characterized by marked elevation in the level of GFAP in hippocampus and frontal cortex.  It has been shown a strong correlation between severity of oxidative injury, astroglial reactivity and behavioral disturbance in hyperglycemic rats.  Alterations of metabolism and morphology of astrocytes could interfere the recycling of neuromediators, expression and operation of adhesion molecules as well as energetic supplement of neuronal cells.  This may lead to the disturbing of glial-neuronal interaction and sequent learning and memory impairment.  It has been found that injections of C60HyFn in nano-molar concentrations significantly reduced both LPO and POM levels in STZ-treated rats.  Moreover, C60HyFn administration has normalized the expression of GFAP and decreased the level of glial reactivity.  The above mentioned effects can be explained by high efficacy of chemically non-modified C60-fullerene at regulation of free radical processes in nervous tissue.  Besides, ?60HyFn has been observed to possess sedative and adaptogenic effects preventing behavioral disturbance accompanying diabetic neuropathy.  C60HyFn acts as effective antioxidant displaying beneficial effects under hyperglycaemia but not affecting significantly the sugar level in blood.

When will the recession end? recovery start? Part 87 Weak, anemic, mixed US economic growth

With the stock market tumbling around the world today, it a good time to look at what certain US economic indicators are saying today.

One of my favorite indicators which rarely gets any mainstream press is the Chicago Fed National Activity Index which looks at general broad, US  economic activity.

http://www.chicagofed.org/webpages/publications/cfnai/index.cfm 

Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI)

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) is a monthly index designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure.  The CFNAI is a weighted average of 85 existing monthly indicators of national economic activity.  It is constructed to have an average value of zero and a standard deviation of one.  Since economic activity tends toward trend growth rate over time, a positive index reading corresponds to growth above trend and a negative index reading corresponds to growth below trend.

The 85 economic indicators that are included in the CFNAI are drawn from four broad categories of data: production and income; employment, unemployment, and hours; personal consumption and housing; and sales, orders, and inventories.  Each of these data series measures some aspect of overall macroeconomic activity.  The derived index provides a single, summary measure of a factor common to these national economic data.

The April 2010 CFNAI  continued to improve month to month but at a very sluggish, weak and anemic pace in April- or +0.29 over average trends (compared to previous recoveries), except for consumer consumption and housing which is down or negative. And this is the result of two years of multi-billion dollar bailouts since 2008 in the USA and Canada.

The Chicago Fed tries to but the best positive spin on the +0,29 index number:

Led by continued improvements in production- and employment-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index increased to +0.29 in April, up from +0.13 in March.  April marked the highest level of the index since December 2006 and the third time in the past four months that the index indicated above-average economic activity.  Three of the four broad categories of indicators that make up the index made positive contributions in April, while the consumption and housing category made the lone negative contribution

Is +0.29 anything to cheer about? Not yet.

CFNAI-MA3 and Business Cycles

You can see from the above chart that all previous recovery periods where quicker and steeper-this one is very anemic.

http://www.chicagofed.org/webpages/research/data/cfnai/historical_data.cfm

 Notes: Shading indicates official periods of recession as identified by the National Bureau of Economic Research; the vertical line indicates the most recent business cycle peak. 

A CFNAI-MA3 value below –0.70 following a period of economic expansion indicates an increasing likelihood that a recession has begun. 

A CFNAI-MA3 value above –0.70 following a period of economic contraction indicates an increasing likelihood that a recession has ended.   

A CFNAI-MA3 value above +0.20 following a period of economic contraction indicates a significant likelihood that a recession has ended.

CFNAI-MA3 and Inflation Cycles

The above chart shows that inflation is no  where to e seen-which contradicts many analysts who are predicting not just imminant inflation but hyperinflation. Recent consumer prices have surprised most mainstream economic analysts pointing  to deflation in recent weeks.

http://www.chicagofed.org/webpages/research/data/cfnai/historical_data.cfm

Notes: Shading represents periods of substantial inflation increases. 

A CFNAI-MA3 value above +0.70 more than two years into an economic expansion indicates an increasing likelihood that a period of sustained increasing inflation has begun. 

 A CFNAI-MA3 value above +1.00 more than two years into an economic expansion indicates a substantial likelihood that a period of sustained increasing inflation has begun.

Walter Derzko, The Opportunity Clinic, Smart Economy

Pending Ukrainian Russian nuclear tangle from potential of nuclear missiles on Russian Black Sea Fleet

While Iran and North /South Korea have been considered nuclear hotspots on the globe, a third hotspot is emerging. The Crimean pennisula in Ukraine, which leased port space for the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Ukraine, which is nuclear weapon-free state, does not allow nuclear weapons on its territory according to its constitution. Ukraine wants to monitor if the Russian Black Sea Fleet in carrying nuclear missles, but Russia is denying access and independent verification, just like Iran denied monitoring access and verification to the UN.

In a story called: Experts view return of Russian security agents to Crimea as threat to Ukraine; ( BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union.  London: May 21, 2010.  Glavred, Kiev, in Russian 19 May 10/BBC) political scientists express their concern:

Why do the Russians not allow verification in the fleet?

Russia today "will lay down its life to prevent verification, checks of  the weapons and contents of the vessels that come to us", political  scientists Yevhen Zherebetskyy noted.

In his words, Russia is planning seriously to change and upgrade its fleet. Under this plan, big ocean-going ships will soon be moved somewhere or simply dismantled, and in their place corvettes and short  range missile ships will appear for inland seas. Because Russia does not need big ships strategically speaking, the expert said.

"There also exists a problem connected with nuclear weapons. For example, at present the flagship Moskva has 16 tactical missiles, but what else it has is unknown. Although nuclear warheads can be placed on it. In other words, ammunition on all missile ships and helicopters can be replaced by nuclear weapons. And we cannot check this, because we have no apparatus for remote verification of the type of weapons on ships of the Black Sea Fleet. There is such apparatus on one helicopter, but even that belongs to the Black Sea Fleet," Mr

Zherebetskyy said, explaining the essence of the problem. Ukraine is a non-nuclear state and so there cannot be military units on its territory carrying nuclear weapons on board. "If we renounced nuclear weapons and Russia is a guarantor of our security, then we have an absolute right to check whether there are such weapons on Russian ships stationed on the territory of our state. The Russians are not allowing this. And correspondingly, Russian counter-intelligence will work hard to prevent our intelligence agents from finding out about these things," Yevhen Zherebetskyy said.

Credit: Glavred, Kiev, in Russian 19 May 10

Implications: 

Concerned groups need  to urgently raise this issue with the Canadian government and Foreign Affairs as a nuclear security concern before the G8 and G20 summits begin in Toronto in June , since Canada, The USA and NATO are guarantors of Ukraine’s security for giving up nuclear weapons on its territory.

See Story below:

Experts view return of Russian security agents to Crimea as threat to Ukraine Anonymous.  BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union.  London: May 21, 2010.  "

Glavred, Kiev, in Russian 19 May 10/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC

The planned return of Russian counterintelligence officers to the Russian Black Sea Fleet's base in Crimea is fraught with negative consequences for Ukrainian national security, a website has reported.  Quoting experts Rostyslav Pavlenko and Yevhen Zherebetskyy, it said that the legalization of the presence of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) will help the FSB to expand its agent network in southern Ukraine.  It will create a mechanism for exerting greater influence on Ukraine.  The following is the text of the article by Nadiya Mayna, entitled "Experts: we are seeing an invitation to Russian special services to come to Ukraine" published on the Ukrainian website Glavred on 19 May; subheadings are as published:

Officers of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation are returning to the Black Sea Fleet, and soon the FSB and the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] will sign the relevant agreement about it.  Recently 19 Russian counterintelligence officers left Crimea at the insistence of the SBU.  The reason was the "unfriendly" behaviour of officers of the Russian special services.  The director of the Political Analysis School of the Kiev Mohyla Academy National University, Rostyslav Pavlenko, and political scientist Yevhen Zherebetskyy talked about the significance for Ukraine of the stationing of Russian counterintelligence in Crimea and also about possible risks connected with it.

…[..]..

Possible consequences of the stationing of Russian counterintelligence in Crimea

Today the new authorities view the question of the stationing of Russian counterintelligence in Crimea differently, Rostyslav Pavlenko, director of the Political Analysis School of the Kiev Mohyla Academy National University, is sure.  "Today we are effectively seeing an invitation to the Russian special services to come into the territory of Ukraine," he believes.

In Mr Pavlenko's opinion, in the context of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation left on the territory of Ukraine, one can talk immediately about several important consequences for Ukraine of the stationing of FSB officers in Crimea.

First, the stationing on the territory of Ukraine of the Russian special services means a legalization of their activity, the political scientist believes.  "The agreements between the FSB and the SBU on not being permitted to work against each other and about other aspects are being observed very 'creatively'.  In spite of all the violations of these agreements, legal bases are being created today for the Russian side to work on the territory of Ukraine.  And this, correspondingly, raises the question of the national security of our state," the specialist said.

Second, there a collision of legislation.  Counterintelligence has to carry out certain measures to render spies harmless or conduct operational investigation work.  The legislation of Ukraine specifically forbids such activity to be carried out on the territory of the state.  "In theory, FSB officers stationed on the territory of Ukraine should have to apply to the Ukrainian special services for help in conducting operational investigation activity.  But in that case the question arises as to why then are they stationed on the territory of Ukraine at all, if by law they are obliged to apply for help to their Ukrainian counterparts?"  Rostyslav Pavlenko explained.  Apart from that, the stationing of Russian counterintelligence in Crimea undermines the prestige and effectiveness of the Ukrainian special services that are losing their monopoly on actions on their territory, the specialist believes.

Third, certain geopolitical and geostrategic problems may arise.  "The Russian Federation's Black Sea Fleet will stay in Ukraine for a long time, thereby demonstrating the Russian presence and creating bases and possibilities for drawing Ukraine into operations that Russia will carry out," the political scientist said in explaining the threat.

The expert notes that 25 years is a long enough time during which a situation is not ruled out where the Black Sea Fleet, in particular the special services there, can be used in actions running counter to the interests of Ukraine.  "We saw this in the example of the Georgian conflict, when the Black Sea Fleet in effect acted as party to the conflict and conducted combat actions against Georgia without agreeing its actions with the Ukrainian side," the political scientist said.

…[..]…

What do the Russians need a network of agents for?

It is very important for the Russians to gain control of Crimea, political scientist Yevhen Zherebetskyy is sure.  The expert explained this need for Russia by the fact that "after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia in effect does not have any warm water, non-freezing deep water ports".  Whereas we have Odessa.

"If everything continues to develop so 'well' as at present, then the Russians will try to spread their influence to Odessa, Kherson and Mykolayiv, making a sort of arc from the Dniester region, our entire Black Sea coast with its ports and Crimea up to Abkhazia, which they already have," the political scientist warned.

It is precisely for spreading its influence to Crimea and Ukraine that Russia needs a wide network special service agents, the specialist believes.  What is more, he said that the situation was fairly complicated, since "in the period of independence the Ukrainian leadership has done nothing to ensure that Ukraine gained full power on the territory of Crimea".

"The return of FSB agents to Crimea is a means of creating a mechanism of influence on Ukraine"

In the opinion of Rostyslav Pavlenko, director of the Political Analysis School of the Kiev Mohyla Academy National University, the interest of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was always protected by military counterintelligence, which operates constantly in the fleet without asking anyone for permission.  "Therefore the official establishment of the return of FSB agents to Ukraine signifies steps towards the development, legalization and creation of possibilities absolutely not connected only with the protection of the Black Sea Fleet.  Obviously they will serve as a means of creating a mechanism of influence on Ukraine," the expert believes.

Apart from that, the political scientist stressed that representatives of the Russian Federation's Black Sea Fleet were noting with satisfaction that with the change of power there had been an end to attempts by the Ukrainian police to hinder the movement of Black Sea Fleet cargo around Sevastopol.  "If you remember, it was movement last summer - weapons were being moved without agreement, missiles and other things potentially dangerous for the civilian population.  Now they are noting with satisfaction that the Ukrainian side is not making use of its right to check it all," the specialist says.

For this reason Mr Pavlenko expressed the suspicion that the same thing would happen with a point in the future protocol between the FSB and SBU according to which FSB candidates being sent to serve in the Black Sea Fleet will be agreed with the Ukrainian side.  "Proceeding from the attitude of the new authorities, it is entirely likely that this agreement will be purely formal," he explained.

Why do the Russians not allow verification in the fleet?

Russia today "will lay down its life to prevent verification, checks of the weapons and contents of the vessels that come to us", political scientists Yevhen Zherebetskyy noted.

In his words, Russia is planning seriously to change and upgrade its fleet.  Under this plan, big ocean-going ships will soon be moved somewhere or simply dismantled, and in their place corvettes and short range missile ships will appear for inland seas.  Because Russia does not need big ships strategically speaking, the expert said.

"There also exists a problem connected with nuclear weapons.  For example, at present the flagship Moskva has 16 tactical missiles, but what else it has is unknown.  Although nuclear warheads can be placed on it.  In other words, ammunition on all missile ships and helicopters can be replaced by nuclear weapons.  And we cannot check this, because we have no apparatus for remote verification of the type of weapons on ships of the Black Sea Fleet.  There is such apparatus on one helicopter, but even that belongs to the Black Sea Fleet," Mr Zherebetskyy said, explaining the essence of the problem.

Ukraine is a non-nuclear state and so there cannot be military units on its territory carrying nuclear weapons on board.  "If we renounced nuclear weapons and Russia is a guarantor of our security, then we have an absolute right to check whether there are such weapons on Russian ships stationed on the territory of our state.  The Russians are not allowing this.  And correspondingly, Russian counter-intelligence will work hard to prevent our intelligence agents from finding out about these things," Yevhen Zherebetskyy said.

Credit: Glavred, Kiev, in Russian 19 May 10

Risk of E.coli O157:H7 crop contamination from California wildlife everpresent but low

E. COLI 0157:H7 PRESENT BUT NOT COMMON IN WILDLIFE OF NATION'S SALAD BOWL

 

The disease-causing bacterium E. coli O157:H7 is present but rare in some wildlife species of California's agriculturally rich Central Coast region, an area often referred to as the nation's "salad bowl,"

reports a team or researchers led by a UC Davis scientist.

 

 

The researchers, who are nearing completion of a massive field study to help identify potential sources of E. coli O157:H7 near Central Coast farms, presented their findings today during the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego. They reported finding occasional E. coli O157:H7 infections in fecal samples of wildlife species common to the area, including cowbirds, coyotes, crows, mice and feral pigs.

 

Based on their findings, the researchers recommend that farmers in this region continue to follow "good agricultural practices," a set of accepted, on-farm procedures designed to protect crops from contamination during production and harvest (<http://ucgaps.ucdavis.edu/>).

 

The study was spurred by a 2006 nationwide E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to fresh, bagged spinach grown in California; the outbreak resulted in 205 reported illnesses and three deaths.

"The study helps us better understand the possible risk of crop contamination from wildlife and allows us to compare that to the risk of contamination from other possible sources such as livestock and irrigation water," said lead study author Michele Jay-Russell, a veterinarian at UC Davis' Western Institute for Food Safety and Security.

"We are sharing this data with the produce industry, regulators, and conservation groups to help improve prevention strategies that protect public health and preserve native wildlife populations and their habitats," she said.

E. coli O157:H7 poses a serious human health threat, commonly causing abdominal cramps and diarrhea, sometimes bloody. Severe infections may be require hospitalization and result in kidney damage and even death. People most at risk for serious complications include young children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

From 2008 through 2009, the team collected and tested 1,133 fecal samples from wild birds and mammals on 38 private properties in Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo counties in California. All three counties are home to farms that grow fresh spinach, lettuce and other produce.

Laboratory tests revealed that E. coli O157:H7 was present in samples from two cowbirds, two coyotes, five crows, one deer mouse and 10 feral pigs. Samples from deer, opossums, raccoons, skunks, ground squirrels and other bird and mouse species all tested negative for the bacterium.

Robert Mandrell, principle investigator and research leader from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, said that the discovery of a low level of E. coli O157: H7 among Central Coast wildlife was somewhat surprising.

"The fact that we have identified two bird species with an incidence of E. coli O157:H7 of more than 3 percent, feral swine with about a 4 percent incidence and several coyotes and rodents that tested positive for O157:H7 suggests there are at least several sources of pathogen movement in this region," Mandrell said.

"We have no evidence that the concentration of the pathogen was high in the feces of the animals that tested positive, so the significance of wildlife as a source of direct contamination associated with outbreaks remains unclear," he said.

Mandrell said the researchers are comparing the genetic makeup of the E. coli O157: H7 strains found in wildlife to that of strains isolated from other sources including cattle, soil and water. They hope these comparisons will help them to better assess the movement of the bacteria in this agriculturally important region.

Following up on these findings, the study team is evaluating other potential wildlife sources of E. coli O157:H7, including amphibians and reptiles, and is conducting focused research to refine best practices that promote appropriate management to protect both food safety and the environment.

The collaborative research team included microbiologists and epidemiologists from the Agricultural Research Service and the Western Regional Research Center and Wildlife Services, both of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security and the Western Center for Food Safety, both at UC Davis; and the University of California Cooperative Extension.

The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

 

Source: University of California, Davis, May 24, 2010

 

Walter Derzko, The Opportunity Clinic, Smart Economy, Toronto

West should not be fooled by Russia's positve posturing of collaboration; "Leaked" foreign policy document compromises Russian minister

"Leaked" foreign policy document compromises Russian minister - website

 

 

Anonymous.  BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union.  London: May 21, 2010. Yezhednevnyy Zhurnal website, Moscow, in Russian 20 May 10/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC

 

Text of report by anti-Kremlin Russian current affairs websiteYezhednevnyy Zhurnal on 20 May

 

 

[Commentary by Aleksandr Golts: "Realism For Official Use"

(Yezhednevnyy Zhurnal Online)]

Realism for official use

Our colleagues from Russkiy Newsweek, who last week published a certain MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] document for official use, which had supposedly been approved by the president back in February, initiated a heated discussion among foreign political commentators.  Some -like the authors of the journal article itself, believe that the text entitled,

"Programme of Effective Application of Foreign Political Factors on a Systematic Basis For Purposes of Long-Term Development of the Russian Federation," testifies to a radical shift in domestic foreign policy. Supposedly, following Medvedev's advice to "stop puffing our cheeks," MFA officials have concentrated on how to help modernization.  It is not enough that they have defined specific economic projects that should be promoted with each of the world countries.  It turns out that they have also come to a conclusion that is entirely revolutionary in terms of its boldness.  You will not believe it, but it turns out that, in the matter of modernization of Russia, we cannot do without the West.  And therefore, we are in for a decisive international warming.

No!  - Dmitriy Sidorov decisively objects to them on the pages of Yezhednevnyy Zhurnal.  The entire document is a clever setup, organized by Sergey Lavrov's competitor -the head of Putin's pocket MFA, Yuriy Ushakov.  All the words about improvement of relations, Sidorov believes, are merely a ploy.  Meanwhile, Sergey Lavrov himself spoke out rather vaguely about the publication: "I have several times noted the aforementioned journal and the aforementioned author as a master of sensations.  If those who make up these sensations carefully read the Russian Federation President's Message to the Federal Assembly, which posed the corresponding tasks of increasing effectiveness of utilizing foreign political factors for solving the problems of the country's development, there would be less sensation.  This is absolutely planned work at the direct instruction of the president."  It would seem that he expressed some reproach, but at the same time did not refute the authenticity.

And so, we have before us a frank document, not intended for publication, about the tasks of our country's foreign policy.  The most amazing thing is that, having familiarized myself with it, I certainly did not find that over which my colleagues are arguing.  And specifically, any hints of the desirability to improve relations withthe West. 

 

Rather, quite the opposite. "The world financial-economic crisis is a reflection of the crisis of the formulated Western-centric system of US-dominated global management, as well as the stage of globalization that corresponds to it," Sergey Lavrov tells the president in the accompanying letter, and not without some degree of gloating.  Just as the United States was our geopolitical rival, so it remains: "The priority direction of US policy is still to neutralize actions undertaken by the energy resource-exporter countries that are not controlled by the West on strengthening their positions and coordinating work on the energy markets."  Although Obama is trying to reject the policy of domination, it is unlikely that he will be successful in this: "The inertia of militarization of foreign policy, like that of the economic and technological development of the country, is too deep in America for the political forces that profess the traditional US foreign policy philosophy and the corporate interests that back them not to try to turn back time."

Our foreign policy strategists are demonstrating no less positiveness and desire for compromises in their approach to specific international problems: "To oppose the broad internationalization of the Arctic problems," "to achieve US rejection of unilateral actions in deployment of elements of global missile defence in Europe," etc., etc.

 

The document's entire positive aspect consists specifically of the conclusion that the world economic crisis, as it turns out, is advantageous to Russia: "Favourable foreign conditions are already being created for solving the problems of modernization and technological breakthrough.  Specifically, the global crisis has to a certain degree leveled the starting positions of states at the stage of post-crisis development, depriving the group of leading developed countries of a significant part of the advantages that they had accumulated."  The matter lies not even in the fact that such a realistic conclusion is being drawn by diplomats of a state whose economic decline was much deeper than in the aforementioned "leading developed countries," and most likely, there is no discussion of any leveling of starting conditions. 

 

And it is not even that the real hopes for foreign investments are directly associated with the West's emergence from crisis, but with the fact that it will be hit by a "second wave."  (recession or depression)-Walter Derzko 

 

 

In essence, we are told in open text: They are in trouble, so let us make use of this.  Such a positive agenda must undoubtedly inspire our partners. 

 

 (see Implications Below-mutually assured global financial collapse?--Walter Derzko

For the sake of fairness, I will note that such realism extends not only to the Western states.  Specifically, the document recommends "devoting particular attention to monitoring the increasing role of China in international affairs, including under the vantage point of consequences of Beijing's activity for our global and regional interests."  At the same time, it becomes clear that Moscow has an excellent instrument of influence on Podnebesnaya ["Celestial Kingdom"]: In the Security Council, "the Chinese often need our support more than we do theirs."  The discussion, as one might guess, is about the fact that the PRC [People's Republic of China] would not like to be alone in exercising the right of veto in voting on the sanctions against Iran.  That is, on the matter that is most important for the US (by participation in which the Americans will judge Moscow's degree of sincerity), Russia will act on the basis of the positions... of China.

When the matter comes to the CIS countries, diplomats do not stand on ceremony at all.  Here is the mutually advantageous project they intend to promote in the fraternal Ukraine, for example: "To support efforts of Russian oil companies, who are striving to use the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline in the reverse direction, which would limit Ukraine's access to Caspian oil."  That is, the main task is to bind our partner hand and foot.  This looks particularly amusing in light of the current endless talk about mutually advantageous cooperation with Kiev.

And the MFA pragmatism reaches its final apogee when the discussion turns to peacekeeping.  The document calls for "strengthening and providing outside multi-component aid to peacekeeping activity under the auspices of the UN, so as to obtain preferences in the future in establishing economic ties with states that have emerged from conflict."  Certain naive people believe that peacekeepers must be principally neutral.  But what kind of neutrality is possible here, if the most important thing for Russia is economic preferences?  If we are guided by such logic, then we should support whatever side promises us the most.

The same is true of countries that are found in international isolation: "To strive for specific economic return, including preferential conditions (most favoured status for goods, investments, preferential transit, etc.) from the Russian Federation's consistent support of a number of countries (specifically, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Cuba, Syria, Serbia) as they emerge from international isolation."  I will not say why Serbia and Armenia found themselves on the same board as Iran and Cuba on this list, but I know for sure that these are hopes built on sand.  As experience shows, having emerged from isolation, states begin to orient themselves towards those who are advantageous, and not towards those who previously gave them consistent support.

I think that those who organized the leak of this document really seriously compromised Sergey Lavrov.  Because it is rather difficult to engage in foreign policy in the 21st Century guided by the dogma of Realpolitik of the 19th Century.  Leaders of any state will think 10 times before deciding to participate in such important projects for Russia.  Why facilitate the modernization of a country that professes openly imperialistic approaches

Surely, it would be better if our MFA officials puffed their cheeks and expounded on the endless topic of getting up off of our knees.  Then, at least, there would be the illusion that they are consciously fooling around and playing up to the public.  But now, it becomes clear that this realism for official use really is their ideology.

Credit: Yezhednevnyy Zhurnal website, Moscow, in Russian 20 May 10

 

Implications: Mutually assured global financial  collapse ?

 

Senior Reagan Administration offficials have boasted that invetsment banks manipulated trading in oil and gas prices to bankrupt the former Soviet Union, who could not survive financially on lower energy prices. Someone  (China ? Russia? or  even maybe  even the US government) started selling off billions of dollars in treasury bills, that led to the US financial crisis, the $787 Billion in bailouts( for 2010 the US congress has set aside $14Trillion dollars for bailouts)  and the global econmic collapse two years ago  last fall. Russia dumped Fannie May and Freedie Mac stocks to percipitate the collapse. Both Russia and the USA see each other in a weakened position and may instigate an artificial collapse--a doule dip depression and inflict  a final economic death blow--Waltrr  Derzko

Real Reason for death of Polish president Kaczynski in Smolensk Russia: Scent of Polish Shale gas a threat to Russia

Since the tragic death of Polish president Lech Kaczynski last month, along with the entire planeload of his accompanying dignitaries, who were  heading to Smolinsk Russia to commemorate the Russian massacre of Polish officers in Katyn forest in 1940 during World War 2, the chat on the internet  and many Polish people have claimed that this event wasn't a random accident, but a cleverly orchestrated assassination, secretly planned by Russia.

What is less clear and has gotten little speculation and  media attention is why would Russia attempt such an assassination attempt on such a grand scale and what was so threatening to Russian security to even contemplate this?

Surprisingly, several Russian English-language papers offer one plausible scenario....the start of Shale gas drilling by American gas concerns in Poland could in the future severely disrupt and outflank Russian gas flow  to the EU.

Russia has already been running this "disruption strategy" with Ukraine for the past 60 years so why not Poland?

Why does Russian want to despirately  control Ukrainian aging rusting gas pipelines, when it already has down-stream control of Ukrainian oil refineries? So that Ukraine can't develop it's own oil and gas industry, which was flourishing 100 years ago in Western Ukraine in places like Drohobych and Dashava, but was allowed to become obsolete up until the dieing days of the Soviet Union. Ukraine used to be totally energy independent but is now totally reliant on Russia. Most people don't realise that it was Ukrainian  engineers and oil and gas experts that built Gasprom and the Siberian gas capability and not Russians. The current stalemate with the demarcation of the Black Sea and Azov Sea has more to do with undersea shale gas and the 200 mile offshore exploration and mining rights then with settling boarder issues bewteen Russia and Ukraine.

Scent of Shale Gas Hangs Over Katyn

By Yulia Latynina

During Putin’s rule, Katyn has become the main obstacle in Russian-Polish relations.

In 2006, relatives of the Polish officers killed in the Katyn massacre of 1940 filed a lawsuit to force the Russian government to release its archives on the tragedy, but the prosecutor general rejected the case. In 2008, Moscow’s Khamovnichesky District Court threw out the same request, as did the Supreme Court in a 2009 ruling.

At the same time, the Kremlin-controlled media went on the offensive on two fronts. Russian readers were told that, first, it was the Germans who actually shot the Polish officers and, second, that the Katyn shootings were revenge for Red Army soldiers who had been killed in prisoner-of-war camps following the war with the “White Poles.”

An interview with historian Natalya Narochnitskaya published in Komsomolskaya Pravda just before Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s August visit to Poland caused a big scandal in Poland by suggesting that Polish prisoner-of-war camps served as a prototype for German concentration camps.

Then it all ended unexpectedly, as if on cue. Putin traveled last week to Katyn along with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

What caused such a dramatic shift?

The Wall Street Journal on April 8 reveals the answer. According to the article, “U.S. [energy] giants will start drilling for shale gas in Poland within the next few weeks.”

There’s your answer. All of Russia’s neo-imperialism has been built upon the fact that it has “peaceful gas” (similar to the Soviet Union’s “peaceful atom”) and that it can shove its gas pipelines through Poland just like the Kremlin did with Ukraine. But what if Poland becomes a shale gas exporter?

The Kremlin realized that the question of how much shale gas Poland extracts will depend on which political party wins the next elections there. One option: the party of late Polish President Lech Kaczynski. He was an ardent anti-Communist and a man who experienced deep personal pain over the Katyn massacre. Kaczynski made a point of attending commemorations at the site every year.

The other option is the party of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a pragmatist who is ready to be friends with everyone, except Kaczynski — the two refused to even speak to each other.

And then the two prime ministers — Putin and Tusk — met at Katyn. They especially came in advance so as not to invite Kaczynski and to outflank him.

Three days later, Kaczynski — the unpopular, bad-tempered and despondent man whom opinion polls indicated would lose his re-election bid to any other contender  — flew to Smolensk. He took the entire Polish elite with him in hopes that his personal visit would outdo the pre-emptive showing by the archrival Tusk and the despised Putin.

And when he was told that dense fog shrouded the area and that flight controllers were attempting to reroute the airplane to an alternate airport, it was undoubtedly Kaczynski who gave the command to land anyway, suspecting that the fog was just a political ruse instigated by Putin to disrupt Kaczynski’s participation in the Katyn ceremony.

Putin and Tusk landed at the same airport three days before the crash to participate in their own commemoration ceremonies. For their arrival, special navigation equipment was brought to the Smolensk airport to provide additional safety. It is possible that this equipment was removed before Kaczynski’s plane landed. That would add even more fog to the mysterious crash.

Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio

One of several Russian sources: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/scent-of-shale-gas-hangs-over-katyn/403877.

 

 

Contaminated USA Groundwater Used for Public Water Supply

Contaminants in USA Groundwater Used for Public Supply

[Along with the toxic effects of GMO's, is it any wonder that we are seeing a spike in cancer rates throughout North America--Walter Derzko]

More than 20 percent of untreated water samples from 932 public wells across the nation contained at least one contaminant at levels of potential health concern, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. 

About 105 million people — or more than one-third of the nation’s population — receive their drinking water from one of the 140,000 public water systems across the United States that rely on groundwater pumped from public wells

The USGS study focused primarily on source (untreated) water collected from public wells before treatment or blending rather than the finished (treated) drinking water that water utilities deliver to their customers.

“By focusing primarily on source-water quality, and by testing for many contaminants that are not regulated in drinking water, this USGS study complements the extensive monitoring of public water systems that is routinely conducted for regulatory and compliance purposes by federal, state and local drinking-water programs,” said Matthew C. Larsen, USGS Associate Director for Water. “Findings assist water utility managers and regulators in making decisions about future monitoring needs and drinking-water issues.”

Findings showed that naturally occurring contaminants, such as radon and arsenic, accounted for about three-quarters of contaminant concentrations greater than human-health benchmarks in untreated source water. Naturally occurring contaminants are mostly derived from the natural geologic materials that make up the aquifers from which well water is withdrawn.

Man-made contaminants were also found in untreated water sampled from the public wells, including herbicides, insecticides, solvents, disinfection by-products, nitrate, and gasoline chemicals. Man-made contaminants accounted for about one-quarter of contaminant concentrations greater than human-health benchmarks, but were detected in 64 percent of the samples, predominantly in samples from unconfined aquifers.

N.B. A chemical-free drilling technology that uses vibration combined with drilling instead of just conventional rotary drilling and doesn't need the 350 chemicals used in fracking for shale gas has been developed by Ukrainian scientists more then 20 years ago.  But it has been largely ignored by the oil/gas industry in the west.

“Detections of contaminants do not necessarily indicate a concern for human health because USGS analytical methods can detect many contaminants at concentrations that are 100-fold to 1,000-fold lower than human-health benchmarks,” said lead scientist Patricia Toccalino. “Assessing contaminants in these small amounts helps to track emerging issues in our water resources and to identify contaminants that may warrant inclusion in future monitoring.”

Scientists tested water samples for 337 properties and chemical contaminants, including nutrients, radionuclides, trace elements, pesticides, solvents, gasoline hydrocarbons, disinfection by-products and manufacturing additives. This study did not assess pharmaceuticals or hormones.

Most (279) of the contaminants analyzed in this study are not federally regulated in finished drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The USGS also sampled paired source and finished (treated) water from a smaller subset of 94 public wells. Findings showed that many man-made organic contaminants detected in source water generally were detected in finished water at similar concentrations. Organic contaminants detected in both treated and source water typically were detected at concentrations well below human-health benchmarks, however.

Additionally, the study shows that contaminants found in public wells usually co-occurred with other contaminants as mixtures. Mixtures can be a concern because the total combined toxicity of contaminants in water may be greater than that of any single contaminant. Mixtures of contaminants with concentrations approaching benchmarks were found in 84 percent of wells, but mixtures of contaminants above health benchmarks were found less frequently, in 4 percent of wells.

This USGS study identifies which contaminant mixtures may be of most concern in groundwater used for public-water supply and can help human-health researchers to target and prioritize toxicity assessments of contaminant mixtures. The USGS report identifies the need for continued research because relatively little is known about the potential health effects of most mixtures of contaminants.

Wells included in this study are located in 41 states and withdraw water from parts of 30 regionally extensive aquifers, which constitute about one-half of the principal aquifers used for water supply in the United States.

Human-health benchmarks used in this study include U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Maximum Contaminant Levels for regulated contaminants and USGS Health-Based Screening Levels for unregulated contaminants, which are non-enforceable guidelines developed by the USGS in collaboration with the EPA and other water partners.

Treated drinking water from public wells is regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Water utilities, however, are not required to treat water for unregulated contaminants. The EPA uses USGS information on the occurrence of unregulated contaminants to identify contaminants that may require drinking-water regulation in the future.

This study and additional information about public wells can be found on the Quality of Water from Public-Supply Wells in the United States website.

People served by public water systems can obtain information about their drinking-water quality from their water supplier. Selected water suppliers provide an annual water-quality report; some reports are available on EPA's Consumer Confidence Reports (CRR) website.

Companion USGS studies on the transport of contaminants to public supply wells are online. In addition, a comparable study on the quality of water in domestic wells is online.

Walter Derzko, The Opportunity Clinic, Smart Economy, Toronto

Semi-synthetic Life; Scientists swap entire natural bacterial genome for artificial man-made genome

Scientist Craig Ventner and his team have inserted an entire synthetic genome into  bacterial cells, that took over the operation of the cell from the natural genome. This follows previous successes in inserting snipets in DNA from species to species and transplanting the entire natural genome from one bacterial species into another.

Significance:

This could be rated as one of top 5 discoveries for 2010.

Proof of concept  that bacterila genomes can be swapped by synthetic versions of entire genomes. Leads to the next stage-interting unique bio-apps in to bacterial, viruses, fungi or algae-.like new apps (applications) for your smart i-phone. Creating semi artificail bacterial or algae that convert C02 in butyl alcohols or higher chain gasoline or gasohol. (ETA 2015-2020)

Will we be seeing basement biologists hacking and tinkering with life? Not very soon. A Science Commentary this week reports:

"The synthetic genome created by Venter's team is almost identical to that of a natural bacterium. It was achieved at great expense, an estimated $40 million, and effort, 20 people working for more than a decade. Despite this success, creating heavily customized genomes, such as ones that make fuels or pharmaceuticals, and getting them to "boot" up the same way in a cell is not yet a reality. "There are great challenges ahead before genetic engineers can mix, match, and fully design an organism's genome from scratch," notes Paul Keim, a molecular geneticist at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff."

Background:

Negatively stained transmission electron micrographs of dividing M. mycoides JCVI-syn1. Electron micrographs were provided by Tom Deerinck and Mark Ellisman of the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at the University of California at San Diego.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have developed the first cell controlled by a synthetic genome. They now hope to use this method to probe the basic machinery of life and to engineer bacteria specially designed to solve environmental or energy problems.

The study will be published online by the journal Science, at the Science Express website, on Thursday, 20 May.

The research team, led by Craig Venter of the J. Craig Venter Institute, has already chemically synthesized a bacterial genome and it has transplanted the genome of one bacterium to another. Now, the scientists have put both methods together, to create what they call a "synthetic cell," although only its genome is synthetic.

"This is the first synthetic cell that's been made, and we call it synthetic because the cell is totally derived from a synthetic chromosome, made with four bottles of chemicals on a chemical synthesizer, starting with information in a computer," said Venter.

"This becomes a very powerful tool for trying to design what we want biology to do. We have a wide range of applications [in mind]," he said.

For example, the researchers are planning to design algae that can capture carbon dioxide and make new hydrocarbons that could go into refineries. They are also working on ways to speed up vaccine production. Making new chemicals or food ingredients and cleaning up water are other possible benefits, according to Venter.

In the Science study, the researchers synthesized the genome of the bacterium M. mycoides and added DNA sequences that "watermark" the genome to distinguish it from a natural one.

Because current machines can only assemble relatively short strings of DNA letters at a time, the researchers inserted the shorter sequences into yeast, whose DNA-repair enzymes linked the strings together. They then transferred the medium-sized strings into E. coli and back into yeast. After three rounds of assembly, the researchers had produced a genome over a million base pairs long.
 

The scientists then transplanted the synthetic M. mycoides genome into another type of bacteria, Mycoplasm capricolum. The new genome "booted up" the recipient cells. Although fourteen genes were deleted or disrupted in the transplant bacteria, they still looked like normal M. mycoides bacteria and produced only M. mycoides proteins, the authors report.

Enlarge

The assembly of a synthetic M. mycoides genome in yeast. Figure from Gibson, D. G., J. I. Glass, et al. 2010. Creation of a bacterial cell controlled by a chemically synthesized genome. Science, Published online May 20 2010.

"This is an important step we think, both scientifically and philosophically. It's certainly changed my views of the definitions of life and how life works," Venter said.

Acknowledging the ethical discussion about synthetic biology research, Venter explained that his team asked for a bioethical review in the late 1990s and has participated in variety of discussions on the topic.

"I think this is the first incidence in science where the extensive bioethical review took place before the experiments were done. It's part of an ongoing process that we've been driving, trying to make sure that the science proceeds in an ethical fashion, that we're being thoughtful about what we do and looking forward to the implications to the future," he said.

More information: 20 May 2010, Science, "Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome."
J. Craig Venter Institute announcement: http://www.jcvi.org/cms/press/press-releases/full-text/article/first-self-replicating-synthetic-bacterial-cell-constructed-by-j-craig-venter-institute-researcher/

Provided by American Association for the Advancement of Science

Will 2010 be known as the year of the "Black Hurricane"? Wild Card Scenario; Hurricanes carry Gulf of Mexico oil across Southern USA, contaminating fields, ground water, aquafers, lakes and streams killing crops, fish, wildlife and people?

Back in January I speculated  on the increase in risk of earthquakes, volcanos and methane burps.

Less then a month and a half ago, the possibility of a mass uncontrolled oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by an uncontrolled methane release, was a distant possibility and an improbable wild card.

Now that it's a reality, very few people are considering an even more dangerous set of consequences.

BP is unsuccessfull in capping the spill and oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico. Imagine a hurricane picking up oil polluted Gulf of Mexico water and carrying it across the Carribean, Mexico,  to Florida or across the US southern states.

Crop lands would face immeasurable damage and contamination, along with lakes, rivers, aquafers and ground water from contaminated runoff. Spontaneous oil fires caused by lightening could  accelerate forest blazes and  become a new problem. Both food crops, wildlife and man would be at risk. The ensuing economic spinoff consequences could lead to a double dip depression in the USA and curtail food exports to Canada and around the world.

Walter Derzko, The Opportunity Clinic, Smart Economy, Toronto

UPDATE: May 25, 2010

Original Message -----
From: Barbara Lupien
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:26 PM
Subject: .[..].. It is raining oil in Florida - fourwinds10.com

http://fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/environment/pollution/news.php?q=1274767889

It is raining oil in Florida >> Four Winds 10 - fourwinds10.com
It is raining oil in Florida
Hi all,

Making this quick, don't feel well. About 4:15pm or so eastern, coming back from Tampa, Florida north on Veteran's Expressway...about 7 miles perhaps from SR 54...it sprinkled some gray watery and solid black oil on my car. Thought it was bugs, but so fast did not make sense and windshield wipers just smeared it. Got out of car at store and looked on the paint and solid black dots on my car...I touch? huh? it's wet? it's OIL!!!!!

I had several folks verify it before I sprayed it off and it came off easier than the few love bugs. Two hours later still wet like OIL! nope, not water, smell it, OIL!!!

Anyone on Gulf try not to smear touch it as it is harder to wash off if it happens to you. Bands of storm clouds coming this way from Gulf of Mexico...has not actually rained at least where I have been, just ran through the sprinkle. I smell it now I am inside the house...it's just hard for me to believe also. One can think of a other things...oh maybe it was a vehicle in front of you...there was no vehicles near me at the time. So coincidence oil spill in the gulf and it rains oil on my car? okay believe what you will...but I know my gut and what happened to me, what I saw, others witnessed, I took pics of (sorry don't know how to post them, and it photos could be debatable anyway, take my word or not whichever...but we are in deep hocky doo folks.

I was noticing that big black blotch closer to west coast FL on some images that someone posted yesterday on Disasters board...wondering. Well, maybe wrong board but felt more may see it here and ones that live here. Be careful, if it gets on your clothes, pets, hair, eyes, skin...it won't be so easy to wash off as a well waxed car is.

Not checking this for now, gotta wash out my ears, eyes, nose and lay down...change clothes as I smell it now inside the house on my clothes. I did not smell it while out though and my nose is now desensitizing, but I feel nauseated. I am really sensitive though, some may not be so much or get the heavy warnings I do.

Thanks for letting me post this bopp, if you want to move it, okay with me I understand...maybe nobody pay attention anyway and I am not super pops here as it is!

~Eve

  

Government sponsored Eco-Terrorism; Looking for sightings of airglow in the ionosphere just before an earthquake or volcano

Dear Colleagues,

I'm looking for legitimate examples of airglow, or bright unexplained lights in the ionosphere just before a major earthquake or volcano.

I don't need unreferenced sighting posted on conspiracy websites or blogs, but documented examples referenced by journalists in mainstream media.

In a 2003 paper called: Weather Modification with Transboundry Effects - The Technology, The Activities and the Rules, in the Hague Yearbook of International Law; " …the author states:

The US Government admitted to operating, some 2600 secret, cloud seeding operations over a period of five years in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  Lightening, hurricane modification, precipitation enhancement and fog projects have been associated with the Vietnam war…ie Project Popeye, Skyfire and Stormfury.

Canada, in partnership with the US military, investigated whether lasers and chemicals could damage the ozone layer over enemy territory, causing damage to crops and human health through exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays…[..]…at times in co-operation with the United States, Russia has experimented with ionospheric, Telsa* related activities….[..].. ELF (extra low frequency) technology has been associated with Soviet Project Woodpecker, when in 1976, an earthquake in Tangshan China (killing 650,000 people) was preceded by an airglow said to be a result of Soviet ionospheric heating activity.  In 1984, the UN Chronicle stated, " with modern technology a volcanic explosion could be artificially induced as an effective weapon of war."  ..[..].. In 1997, US Secretary of State, William Cohen made the following statement at the Conference on Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and US Strategy, in Athens Georgia: "Others are engaged even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter climate, set off earthquakes and volcanoes, remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves." ...[…]… in its 1987 Our Common Future report, the World Commission on Environment and Development ( WCED) identified the deliberate manipulation of the environment, " …for example through artificial earthquakes and floods" as a fourth weapon of mass destruction.  Unlike the first three categories of weapons of mass destruction( atomic, chemical and biological), weather modification has yet to be extensively regulated and outlawed by international agreement.'

I'm looking for legitimate airglow references in any language related to recent +7.0 magnitude earthquakes or volcano's around the world.

Blogs and chat rooms have cited such unexplained airglow examples right before recent earthquakes in Haiti, China and Chile, but without providing references  (See my blog post on Haarp and Haiti)

Please respond to me privately or to my comments section on my blog below.

Thanks in advance

Walter Derzko, The Opportunity Clinic, Smart Economy Toronto

*re Tesla

N.B. "Nikola Tesla revealed in an interview with The New York World newspaper that an earthquake which drew police and ambulances to the region of his laboratory at 48 E. Houston St., New York, in 1898, was the result of a little machine he was experimenting with at the time which 'you could put in your overcoat pocket''." Source: Black-tech -- the new battlelines of military technology > http://www.asylum.co.uk/2010/05/19/black-tech-the-new-battlelines-of-military-technology/