INTERESTING TIMES

This was passed on by a health-interested friend on facebook:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/228583-Scientists-cure-cancer-but-no-one-takes-notice

My reply was along the lines of:

Interesting, but I wonder; why haven't I heard about this? The article says I can access the original science "here" but the hyperlink isn't there. And I wonder, can the same effect (as is claimed for dichloroacetate) be had by modulating metabolism by other means? They don't postulate a mechanism for the action on mitochondria. I remain skeptical. Show me the science.

A little research reveals that it is indeed a hoax.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/cancercure.asp
http://www.cancer.org/AboutUs/DrLensBlog/post/2010/05/14/More-On-Dichloroacetate-(DCA)-In-Cancer-Treatment.aspx

According to the World Economic Forum, that is. The US held second until last month, now Sweden and Singapore have passed the US. Switzerland just passed the US to take the #1 spot last year. China's moving up and has reached #27. Germany's also climbing the scale, now in the #5 spot. Japan's #6. Finland is #7 and Denmark is #9 putting Scandinavia as a whole in the top 10. Netherlands is #8 and Canada is #10. At the moment. Things are definitely shifting.

The rating is based on 12 variables: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.

SOURCE
http://www.weforum.org/en/media/Latest%20News%20Releases/NR_GCR10

Alert of the Week from Organic Bytes on Monsanto and Generation M--the first generation to be raised on genetically modified foods.
( Text here. )

As of this week, you cannot cross the Mexico-US or Canada-US border without a passport. There are many people who routinely cross the border who do not have passports. As of this week, those people have to choose a country, and stay there. Too bad if their family is on the other side from their job.
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Two airlines (Westjet & Air Canada) have instituted policy to clarify the service that the Canadian Supreme Court says they must offer. The legal decision from last November is that an obese person, because they are disabled, should be given two seats for the price of one. On January 8 the Canadian Transportation Agency ordered the airlines to make extra seating freely available to disabled and obese travellers who require it. The original thinking of the disability law was that a disabled person's nurse/attendant should be permitted to accompany without paying the second fare.
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Last week I read that a man (LaPointe, 430 lbs), was released from jail because they did not have facilities large enough for him to sleep in, or sit at a table. This week I hear that the Canadian supreme court has ruled that obese people are disabled, and airlines have to provide them with two seats for the price of one.... How about, now let's call cigarette addiction a disability and provide the smokers with their own airplane? And incontinence must surely be a disability, so let's set them up with toilets on every aisle? You see how slippery the slope can be.
( rant )

This makes me wonder. Mercola isn't sure what is going on either, but it's interesting to contemplate that one might be forced to get a prescription to get basic supplements....please let me know if you find out more.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/06/19/vitamin-c-about-to-be-made-illegal-in-canada.aspx?source=nl

http://ezinearticles.com/?Vitamin-C-Is-About-To-Be-Made-Illegal-In-Canada!-Nutritional-Supplements-Banned-In-Canada!-Bill-C-51&id=1174122

( text of ezine article behind cut )

http://www.aapsonline.org/nod/newsofday360.php
We like to give Canada as an example of a large nation with socialized healthcare that works, but it doesn't look so good from the perspective of this article.
( River story behind cut )