150-year-old bible worth $1,570 found lying on city centre bench

A bible worth £1000 was found lying on a bench in the centre of the capital.

The large book dates from the 1860s and is an edition of the Rev John Eadie illustrated national family bible.

It has full Morocco binding with brass clasps and an embossed logo on the cover.

A member of the public found the bible lying on a bench of the north side of Queen Street at the junction with North Castle Street at around 5.15pm on Wednesday.

They handed it into the police who are now trying to reunite it with its owner.

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: “The bible is large and distinctive, and we are appealing for any information that can help us reunite it with its owner.

“It is likely that someone has misplaced the bible and forgotten about it, so we would urge anyone who owns a copy of this bible to check that they still have it.

“If it is missing then we would urge them to contact police, likewise anyone who thinks they know who it belongs to should also get in touch.”

via 150-year-old bible worth £1000 found lying on city centre bench | News | Edinburgh | STV.

It’s a test.

Electric shock machine can boost learning and memory

A machine which stimulates your brain with tiny electric shocks can improve memory, problem-solving and mathematical abilities, psychologists have found.

But Oxford University researchers have warned that the machine could spell trouble if it gets into the wrong hands or is used incorrectly, especially when it comes to children whose brains are still developing.

While the brain-stimulation technique has been previously used to treat cognitive impairment, new research shows it can also boost mental abilities among healthy adults.

Dr Roi Cohen Kadosh, a neuroscientist, uses a high-tech system called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to stimulate precise regions of the brain with a tiny buzz of electric current.

When he stimulates the parietal lobes, which are responsible for our skills in reading, writing and numeracy, he can boost mathematical skills.

The electric current triggers the area to produce chemicals that cause brain cells to develop or change. This process — ‘neural plasticity’ — is essential to learning (our brains change structure when we take on new information).

When Dr Cohen Kadosh’s subjects had their parietal lobes stimulated for 30 minutes every day for a week, they were able to pick up maths skills through conventional lessons far more quickly and effectively than they could before.

‘It’s completely safe. The electric current is one thousand times lower than anything that could cause damage,’ he says.

Tests have shown that the subjects’ maths abilities remain boosted six months after the treatment. …

It heralds a high-tech world of brain medicine where electronics will be used to repair deep faults, such as depression and Parkinson’s, modify problem personalities and boost everyone’s ability to learn, remember and think creatively.

via £500 electric shock machine can boost learning and memory – but scientists worry it could be misused | Mail Online.

Kitty litter increases risk of suicide?

A small subset of suicide attempts may be linked to an infection that starts in the litter box. A new study suggests an association between Toxoplasma gondii and suicide attempts among women.

Interesting finding, to be sure, but how does one even begin to test a theory like this? Why in the world would anyone posit that kitty litter could be related to suicide attempts?

As it turns out, about one-third of the population is walking around right now with latent toxoplasma infection. Most people will never know they have it – and most will not attempt suicide as a result of it. But the presence of T. gondii among women who attempted suicide raises interesting questions.

Those questions led senior study author, Dr. Teodor Postolache, to find out more. Postolache said he was at first puzzled by studies suggesting low-grade activity in the immune systems of suicide victims.

“We were puzzled,” said Postolache, associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Mood and Anxiety Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “We wanted to know what could contribute to that activation.”

As he later discovered, T. gondii is associated with schizophrenia and, in other studies, associated with suicide.

So he and colleagues decided to take a closer look at a group in Denmark, where they already had an ongoing allergy study, and where patient data is meticulously kept. Their T. gondii study was conducted among 45,788 women in Denmark between 1992 and 1995.

What Postolache and colleagues found is that women infected with T. gondii had one-and-a-half times higher risk of attempting suicide when compared with women with no infection. According to the study, published Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry, “the risk seemed to increase with increasing… antibody level.”

So, the more antibodies found in the blood reacting to T. gondii, the higher the risk of a suicide attempt.

Postolache tempers the finding by pointing out that the chances of having T. gondii infection and never attempting suicide is much higher than attempting it.

“This is a very prevalent parasite, a very successful parasite, that affects one-third of the world population,” said Postolache, a senior consultant on suicide prevention for the Baltimore VA Medical Center. “One-third of them are not attempting suicide.”

True, but another scientist says that results of this study represent the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of answering broader questions, like could infections like T. gondii contribute to mental disorders?

“There’s a strong association between certain types of infection at certain times in life and various psychiatric problems,” said Dr. Charles Raison, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

“We have these simple ideas about infection and illness like you get the influenza virus and then get the flu. One bug equals one illness. What we now know is it’s much more complicated than that. Infections can produce a lot of secondary effects,” he added.

In the context of the current study, that means T. gondii may not be causally linked to increased suicide risk, but a more global and complex process may begin with infection.

“It appears that toxoplasmosis does things that unbalance emotional mental functioning,” said Raison, CNNHealth.com’s mental health expert. “Depending on other risk factors, maybe it makes you depressed, maybe it makes you impulsive.”

via Weird science: Kitty litter increases risk of suicide? – – CNN.com Blogs.

‘Britain’s Atlantis’ found at bottom of North sea – a huge undersea kingdom swamped by a tsunami 5,500 years ago

‘Britain’s Atlantis’ – a hidden underwater world swallowed by the North Sea – has been discovered by divers working with science teams from the University of St Andrews.

Doggerland, a huge area of dry land that stretched from Scotland to Denmark was slowly submerged by water between 18,000 BC and 5,500 BC.

Divers from oil companies have found remains of a ‘drowned world’ with a population of tens of thousands – which might once have been the ‘real heartland’ of Europe.

A team of climatologists, archaeologists and geophysicists has now mapped the area using new data from oil companies – and revealed the full extent of a ‘lost land’ once roamed by mammoths.

The research suggests that the populations of these drowned lands could have been tens of thousands, living in an area that stretched from Northern Scotland across to Denmark and down the English Channel as far as the Channel Islands.

The area was once the ‘real heartland’ of Europe and was hit by ‘a devastating tsunami’, the researchers claim.

The wave was part of a larger process that submerged the low-lying area over the course of thousands of years.

‘The name was coined for Dogger Bank, but it applies to any of several periods when the North Sea was land,’ says Richard Bates of the University of St Andrews. ‘Around 20,000 years ago, there was a ‘maximum’ – although part of this area would have been covered with ice. When the ice melted, more land was revealed – but the sea level also rose.

‘Through a lot of new data from oil and gas companies, we’re able to give form to the landscape – and make sense of the mammoths found out there, and the reindeer. We’re able to understand the types of people who were there.

‘People seem to think rising sea levels are a new thing – but it’s a cycle of Earht history that has happened many many times.’

Organised by Dr Richard Bates of the Department of Earth Sciences at St Andrews, the Drowned Landscapes exhibit reveals the human story behind Doggerland, a now submerged area of the North Sea that was once larger than many modern European countries.

via ‘Britain’s Atlantis’ found at bottom of North sea – a huge undersea kingdom swamped by a tsunami 5,500 years ago | Mail Online.

Has the sea risen that much?

Satanists Claim Theft Is Hate Crime

A local couple who claim to be Satanists believe they’re a victim of a hate crime and were targeted because of their religious beliefs.

Someone cut down a political poster stating, “VOTE SATAN” from their front porch where they live in Mountain View, a suburb of Denver.

“We are Satanists… Satanists,” said Luigi Bellaviste.

Luigi and Angie Bellaviste belong to the Church of Satan. They even have a Satanic Bible in their home.

The couple is upset because a poster they had hanging from their front porch was recently cut down.

It wasn’t very popular with some neighbors.

“Everybody that sees that sign says, ‘What is going on with those people?,’” said neighbor Mary Morasco.

The couple’s home and yard are decorated with items like a Christmas tree that has been painted black, skulls and the number 666. They believe the cutting down of the poster was an attack on their religious beliefs.

“I feel like we’re being treated unfairly because it’s not a so-called mainstream religion,” said Luigi.

“I know of many people who have the Virgin Mary and tons of Jesus memorabilia ‘I Love Jesus’ and what is the difference?” said Angie.

Despite their opinion on the couple’s choice of lawn ornaments, most of the Bellaviste’s neighbors are on their side.

“It’s still their property. It’s still their house. They have a right to say whatever they have to say,” said one neighbor.

“Everyone has their own religion… to each his own, I guess,” said another neighbor.

The couple wants the police to consider the incident a hate crime because their religion is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

“Had that been the Star of David or a verse from the Koran,” said Luigi, “or something like that got damaged by somebody against those beliefs that would certainly be considered a hate crime.”

An officer with the Mountain View Police Department said the report will likely be filed as theft because there was no obvious attack on the couple’s church or religious beliefs.  …

via Satanists Claim Theft Is Hate Crime « CBS Denver.

Some think Satan was a real person, perhaps the King of Tyer, or Baal.

The Israelites were worshipping Baal when they were taken into Babylonian captivity. They had statues / idols made in the image of Baal, the king of Tyre. They may have been worshipping a real person, the prince (ruler) of Tyre, or the “prince” could have been the one promoting worship of Baal. Baal was the rich ruler of the area – someone to be admired and emulated. He is described above in Eze 28:16By the multitude of thy merchandise.

He was the man-god of prosperity, the one everyone wanted to be like.

The “prince” of Tyre would have been Eshbaal at the time of the prophecy.

via HeavenAwaits

Baʿal is a title meaning “lord” that was applied to a number of West Semitic gods. Until archaeological digs at Ras Shamra and Ebla uncovered texts explaining the Syrian pantheon, the Baʿal Zebûb was frequently confused with various Semitic deities named Baʿal, and in the New Testament might refer to a high-ranking devil or to Satan himself.^[2][3]

The Biblical and historical evidence shows that the Moabites worshiped a Baal. The pre-Islamic and Muslim sources show that the Meccans took over the idol Hubalfrom the Moabites.

Baal is a Christian demon.^[4] According to Christian demonology, Baal was ranked as the first and principal king in Hell, ruling over the East. According to some authors Baal is a Duke, with sixty-six legions of demons under his command. The term “Baal” is used in various ways in the Old Testament, with the usual meaning of master, or owner. It came to sometimes mean the local pagan god of a particular people, and at the same time all of the idols of the land. It is also found in several places in the plural Baalim, or Baals (Judges 2:11,Judges 10:10). There were many variations, such as the sun god, the god of fertility, and Beelzebub, or the “lord of flies”.

During the English Puritan period, Baal was either compared to Satan or considered his main assistant. According to Francis Barrett, he has the power to make those who invoke him invisible, and to some other demonologists his power is stronger in October. According to some sources, he can make people wise, speaks hoarsely, and carries ashes in his pocket.

While his Semitic predecessor was depicted as a man or a bull,^[5] the demon Baal was in grimoire tradition said to appear in the forms of a man, cat, toad, or combinations thereof. An illustration in Collin de Plancy‘s 1818 book Dictionnaire Infernal rather curiously placed the heads of the three creatures onto a set of spider legs.

via wikipedia

Avoid Alkaline Water Machines?

I’ve been eating plenty of leafy greens lately, getting some really good minerals. I’ve also been drinking some water from a platinum plate alkalizer. The article below by Dr. Lawrence Wilson warns against these machines, so I’m re-posting part of it here to generate more attention for this view and debate to get at the truth.

© March 2012, The Center For Development, Inc.

This article is a warning to avoid drinking artificially alkalinized water. I am sorry to have to write it, but there is a push to get people to buy alkaline water machines, and the propaganda is intense. Also, when one starts to use it, one feels better, so many people just assume they are becoming healthier, which is not the case in my experience of over 30 years. I am not selling any competing products, and am only interested in keeping people well.

One reason for the popularity of these machines is that some people do indeed feel better for a while drinking alkaline water. Quick benefits may include fewer aches and pains, and perhaps a little more energy. However, the problems with the alkaline water machines more than make up for any benefits they confer.

WHAT IS ARTIFICIALLY ALKALINIZED WATER?

This is most often tap water that is put through an electrical machine that often runs the water over platinum and titanium plates. This process causes the exchange of some platinum and titanium ions that makes the water more alkaline in its pH. The machine also has a carbon filter in most cases to remove some impurities. With some units, one can also add a white powder that makes the water even more alkaline.

This is very different from naturally alkaline spring water, for example. Spring water passes over rocks in the earth and picks up various minerals, which affect its pH. Good spring water usually has a slightly alkaline pH of about 8 or even 8.5, but not much more.

THE RATIONALE FOR DRINKING ALKALINE WATER

The pH balance of the body is very important, and most people’s bodies are too acidic at the cellular level. It does not matter if the saliva, urine or other fluids test alkaline. In almost all cases, the body cells, which is the site of metabolism, are too acidic. This predisposes one to many metabolic imbalances and diseases including cancer. The rationale for drinking alkaline water is that it will correct this important physiological imbalance.

Problems with this rationale for alkaline water. The main problems with this theory are:

1. The real cause of excess acidity at the cellular level is a deficiency of what are called the alkalinizing or alkaline reserve minerals. These come from what one was born with, and from the diet. If one lives a stressful life, one also depletes these quickly. They include calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and a few others.

Unfortunately, drinking artificially alkalinized water does little or nothing to replace these vital minerals. In fact, it may deplete them for unusual reasons. It may make the body think it is alkaline, so the body does not need to hold on to its alkaline reserve minerals as much, and it eliminates some of them, making the person even more deficient.

2. Water from alkaline water machines replaces the vital minerals with a little cadmium, lead, arsenic and other toxic metals found in tap water and not filtered by any carbon filters that I am aware of. Some filtering systems claim to filter out toxic metals, but I have not observed this in practice. Those filters that I have seen that are said to remove a lot of toxic metals tend to damage the water even worse. Reverse osmosis is an example of this type, along with KDF and other types of “advanced” filtration media.

3. In addition, the alkaline water machines also replace the good minerals with a little platinum and titanium found in the plates that the water passes over to make it alkaline. These are both supremely toxic metals, especially platinum.

In addition, I have observed slightly higher levels of nickel in those who use alkaline water machines for several years. The nickel is probably leached from the stainless steel in the machine, or perhaps from a nickel-plated machine part. Nickel is a deadly toxic metal. The alkalinity of the water may cause a little to be leached out of the machine parts.

4. Carbon filtration also does not remove enough of the toxic chemicals in the water, so one is also getting a dose of chlorine, fluorides, aluminum, copper, residues of medical drugs in many areas, pesticides and more.

5. As a result, alkaline water machines do not really balance the body’s pH, although they will change it a little, giving some people the impression they are getting well when, in fact, they are becoming more ill.

The only way to truly balance the body is to replenish the alkaline reserve minerals. To do this, one must eat a lot of cooked vegetables. The cooked vegetables, and perhaps some mineral supplements, when carefully chosen such as kelp, can and do supply the alkaline reserve minerals. Good quality, natural spring water also supplies some alkaline minerals, as does good quality sea salt. Using these on a daily basis, the body can be slowly remineralized. This is the way to do it, not drinking artificially alkalinized water.

…. Platinum is too toxic for any human exposure. While the amount of exposure is small, we have noted that after using the machine for more than about 3 to 6 months, some who use it begin to develop a little platinum toxicity. While this may be okay for most people, some with delicate kidneys or liver problems may be affected. The amount of platinum absorbed from the water depends upon one’s tap water and one’s body chemistry. The more poorly nourished one is, the more platinum one is likely to absorb. Other factors such as one’s age, vitality, etc. also have an effect on platinum absorption. However, any platinum is too much. …

via by Lawrence Wilson, MD.

Is platinum toxic in the body? Yes. I haven’t found any site claiming platinum is a harmless metal.

Compared to gold and silver nanoparticles, platinum it was in the middle in terms of being toxic to zebrafish in one study, causing developmental delays, reduction in touch response and slowed heart rate. – link

Why would knowing that be important? Because people a selling suspended platinum nano particles as a health product and some gullible people are going to poison themselves:

MesoPlatinum® is an all natural mineral supplement in the form of a platinum colloid consisting of nanometer particles of 0.9995 pure platinum suspended in pure deionized water. The only other ingredient is pure pharmaceutical grade deionized water. Colloidal platinum does not combine with any substances in the body and produces no adverse side effects. Colloidal platinum does not interact with or interfere with other supplements, vitamins or medications. The platinum nanoparticles in Mesoplatinum pass out of the body within 72 hours leaving no residual platinum. Mesoplatinum is a true colloid and consists entirely of nanometer size metallic particles platinum and no platinum ions.

… Platinum is reported to promote healthy tissue regeneration. It is believed to increase the electrical transmission across the synapses within the brain to promote general tissue regeneration of the neurological tissues. – purestcolloids

Who “reported” that? If I put up a web site telling you that hitting your head on a brik wall is reported to promote healthy tissue regeneration, I’d be correct, because after you hit your head, your tissue will regenerate in a healthy way, a natural way… follow me? I think they are selling nerve poisons by telling you that they may be good for brain cells which is crazy and irresponsible. Platinum is poisonous and the company selling them as a health product should be shut down.

Symptoms of excess exposure to Platinum include: dermatitis, irritation of mucus membranes, shortness of breath and wheezing (for inhaled Platinum dusts or salts), development of chronic allergic reactions (”platinosis”), nephrosis, and immune system suppression (from Platinum diamine salts). Platinum containing drugs, such as cisplatin and carboplatin, are used as chemotherapeutic agents. Such drugs are extremely toxic and cause nephrotoxicity with associated magnesium wasting and hypomagnesemia (low magnesium), myelosuppression, inner ear toxicity, and neurotoxicity. Urinary Platinum can be significantly elevated for patients that have received the Platinum containing chemotherapeutic agents. If you suspect that you have an elevated Platinum level, it is important to determine total body load. …

via ChealationMedicalCenter

Well, the people above are selling a service, so to get an objective view, if I want to know if something is dangerous, I look up the MSDS sheet. The Material Safety Data Sheet for platinum I found lists the toxic effects for humans as:

“Hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. … May cause cancer based on animal data. … Ingestion may cause intestinal tract irritation with vomiting and abdominal pain. Chronic … inhalation may cause Platinosis, an allergic reaction with symptoms similar to asthma.”

But is it a neurotoxin? Here’s another MD who says it is neurotoxic, but I wasn’t able to find any studies to back this up during the time I had to research this.

Gold, platinum and palladium are neurotoxins, highly allergenic and should not be used in the mouth. – Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, M.D., PhD - link

Does it pass through the body harmlessly? No, platinum metals do bioaccumulate according to this study with dolphins:

Platinum group metals (PGMs) concentrations were measured in the tissues= of dolphins (Stenella sp.) caught along the Ghanaian coastline. Tissues from specimens caught by fishermen from Dixcove, western Ghana, were analysed in 2006 for palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt) and rhodium (Rh) using the Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) analytical technique. Elevated PGM levels were found in the liver, with fresh weight ranges of 0.040-0.481 μg g⁻¹ for Pd, 0.239-0.946 μg g⁻¹ for Pt, and 0.011-0.037 μg g⁻¹ for Rh, supporting other reports of PGM accumulation. This is the first study to show the accumulation of PGM in marine mammals, although the sources of this pollution are not clear and therefore need to be investigated further. The presence of the PGM is very significant, since dolphin meat (‘kako’) is consumed in Ghana. This presents a health risk, due to a possible accumulation of PGMs in humans. – link

What about the Melody Jupiter Ionizer, the one I’ve been drinking from? Debate about it here.

The company that makes the Jupiter machine, Emco Tech is also the maker of several machines in the industry. – link

This is the model I’m considering, available for about $1,800 with the faucet that can dispense acidic or alkaline water.

The company says they are third party tested and there are no detectable metals emitted. Should be easy to test. (Would I use the Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) analytical technique or something else? Know a good lab?)

Melody JP 104 Features: (The Melody sports a new name, ‘Isis’ Ionways).

• Filtered alkaline and antioxidant water.
• Waters flow even while cleaning.
• Four (4) levels of alkaline water.
• Four levels (4) of acidic water, including super-oxide.
• .01M BioStone 3-stage filtration filter.
• 5-plate polymer ion platinum plated titanium ionizing plates.
• Coral calcium port.
• Ability to connect directly into main water supply and operate under pressure.
• LCD display.
• Under sink conversion faucet option (sold separately).
• Comes with complete care user manual and installation instructions, DVD.
• Comes with all fittings and hoses for easy setup and installation.
• Comes with a LIFE Time Warranty.

The Jupiter Melody / Isis Water Ionizer is an exceptional machine. The Jupiter Melody offers the under sink conversion kit with faucet as an attractive option when you just don’t have the counter space. Under sink conversion kit is sold separately.

Corrections welcome, I’m certain there are many things I’m getting wrong in this quick review.

GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3bn in US drug fraud scandal

GlaxoSmithKline GSK is to pay $3bn £1.9bn in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in US history. The drug giant is to plead guilty to promoting two drugs for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data about a diabetes drug to the Food and Drug Administration FDA. The settlement will cover criminal fines as well as civil settlements with the federal and state governments. The case concerns the drugs Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia.

Deputy US Attorney General James Cole told a news conference in Washington DC that the settlement was “unprecedented in both size and scope”.

Doctors bribedGSK, one of the world’s largest healthcare and pharmaceuticals companies, admitted to promoting antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, including treatment of children and adolescents. The illegal practice is known as off-label marketing.

The company also conceded charges that it held back data and made unsupported safety claims over its diabetes drug Avandia.

In addition, GSK has been found guilty of paying kickbacks to doctors.

“The sales force bribed physicians to prescribe GSK products using every imaginable form of high-priced entertainment, from Hawaiian vacations [and] paying doctors millions of dollars to go on speaking tours, to tickets to Madonna concerts,” said US attorney Carmin Ortiz.

As part of the settlement, GSK agreed to be monitored by government officials for five years. GSK said in a statement it would pay the fines through existing cash resources. Andrew Witty, the firm’s chief executive, said procedures for compliance, marketing and selling had been changed at GSK’s US unit.

“We have learnt from the mistakes that were made,” Mr Witty said. “When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct.”

via BBC News – GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3bn in US drug fraud scandal.

And the CEO goes to jail, right?