PAXALLES

Cord Blood Holds Promise With Leukemia

"Cord blood cancer therapy boost" from BBC News reports that cord blood therapy has been found to be helpful with certain leukemias.

A team took natural killer (NK) cells from cord blood and multiplied them 30-fold in the laboratory, a conference for blood and cancer specialists heard.

When given to mice with aggressive human leukaemias, the NK cells cut the circulating cancer cells by 60 to 85%, the University of Texas team reported.

Justice Antonin Scalia With Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham hosted Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia , author of Making Your Case.

Scalia said that while some of the information in his book applies more to lawyers, much of it can be used by people in general in how to make a case in a wide variety of situations.  He said that getting to the point is key in making the case at the Supreme Court.  Scalia and Ingraham said there is lots of back and forth at the court and that this is to the good.  He said that the justices have read all the briefs ahead of time - and that the half-hour the lawyer has should be used judiciously. 

Scalia said that the lawyer should welcome questions.  He said his opinion is rarely changed - but that the oral argument confirms and solidifies the opinion - and that it isn't a dog and pony show.

Scalia said that originalism means that the majority rules in our Constitution.  He said that if the rules evolve and/or change, it is no longer democratic.  He said that Blackstone is a good source in understanding the cornerstone of the law.  He said there is nothing wrong with referencing international law if one is rewriting the Constitution - but not if one is interpreting the Constitution.

Scalia said that it isn't the court's job to divine the legislature was intending, but what the objective meaning of the law is.  He said that the public shouldn't believe everything they read about the court.  He said he considers himself a good friend of all his colleagues, past and present, to greater and lesser degree.  He said that one of his best friends on the court is Justice Ginsberg, even though they differ on judicial philosophy.  He said that he isn't interested in having the court's proceedings on television because it really needs to be broadcast gavel to gavel to truly understand the whole substance of the deliberations.  He said he tries hard not to inject his preferences and that he is a social conservative, but for example, as much as he hates flag burning, he supported it as a First Amendment right.

He said that he doesn't take credit for his nine children - but that his wife is the one that has made it all work out and that they have been married forty-eight years.  He said he teaches over the summer.  He said he going to Galway for several weeks.  To unwind he watches a little television or does a little work.  He plays squash and is athletic.

Scalia said there haven't been a lot of surprises at the court - but it was a surprise how important oral arguments are.  He said his wife doesn't want him hanging around the house and that he will probably be working a while longer. 

Byron York With Laura Ingraham (5/16/08)

Laura Ingraham hosted Byron York of National Review (Fridays with Byron).

York said that Clinton was the first to say she wouldn't go to talk to our enemies without preconditions.  Ingraham noted that Obama lost a great opportunity to agree with President Bush and show he isn't an appeaser.  York noted that Obama thinks it is all about him. 

York said that as to the California Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage means that two states who have voted against same-sex marriage have had their vote overturned by a few judges.  York noted that Obama has been completely slippery on the same-sex marriage issue because he knows that this is an issue that the majority of the electorate favors traditional marriage - according to the Gallup poll.  John McCain feels that the people should be the one to decide in these cases, not a few judges. 

Other People's Republic of China: Poor Victims of Government Neglect in Sichuan?

"Questions you won't hear on China's State TV: Did Shoddy Construction Worsen Disaster's Impact?" from Der Spiegel fingers China's neglect of its poorest citizens - in a state controlled economy - that may have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of its people. 

UPDATE:

"Strong aftershock hits China quake epicenter" from AP

These days, the world is getting a glimpse of the other China, the giant country's underdeveloped west, which is still waiting for its prosperity. And it is no coincidence that it is the poorest of China's billion people who are currently being dramatically pulled in the tens of thousands from the dusty and stinking rubble of schools and houses, some fortunately still alive, but most as corpses.

We are talking here mainly about those Chinese who have benefited least from the economic miracle that foreign visitors to the gleaming metropolises such as Beijing or Shanghai admire. Ironically, China's ascent to the world's economic powerhouse would hardly have been possible without people like those in backward Sichuan.

Bin Laden's Response To Bush On Israel, Palestinians

"Bin Laden: Palestinian cause fuels holy war" from AP reports that Osama bin Laden's latest audio tape from al-Sahab Productions says that the war with Israel and its allies is driving al-Qaeda - and was the impetus for the September 11th attacks. 

It seems that this is a response to President Bush's visit to the Middle East as he made a forceful speech in defense of Israel on its 60th anniversary.

Vitamin D Can Help Curb Breast Cancer

"Vitamin D may help curb breast cancer" from AP reported that women who are deficient in Vitamin D are more likely to have a spread of the disease and die of it, according to a study.

Tips on getting vitamin D for cancer prevention

While the vitamin is found in certain foods and supplements, most don't contain the best form, D-3, and have only a modest effect on blood levels of the nutrient. That's what matters, the Canadian study found.

Only 24 percent of women in the study had sufficient blood levels of D at the time they were first diagnosed with breast cancer. Those who were deficient were nearly twice as likely to have their cancer recur or spread over the next 10 years, and 73 percent more likely to die of the disease.

Herceptin, Tykerb Mix Help Advanced Breast Cancer Patients

"Drug combo helps women with advanced breast cancer" from AP reports that on a study of 300 women with very advanced breast cancer using a combined treatment with Herceptin and Tykerb.

It was the first test of these two highly targeted drugs, Herceptin and Tykerb. Both aim at a protein called HER-2/neu that is made in abnormally large quantities in about one-fourth of all breast cancers. Herceptin blocks the protein on the cell's surface; Tykerb does it inside the cell.

In the study, women getting the combo survived 12 weeks without their cancer worsening compared to eight weeks for those receiving Tykerb alone.

Burma's Genocidal Junta Watches For Foreigners More Than Watching Out For Citizens In Cyclone Tragedy Aftermath

"Junta hushes up extent of tragedy: Welcome to Burma's police state" from Der Spiegel reports on the extreme difficulty reporters and aid workers have had entering Burma - where it seems it is more important to keep people out that to get aid for suffering citizens. 

Instead of finally providing help for the victims of the cyclone, the junta is continuing to seal off the disaster zone. A journey to the Irrawaddy Delta becomes an absurd cat-and-mouse game with the authorities, while people wait in vain for help at road sides.

What emerges is a country in which the suffering increases with each passing day: According to International Red Cross and Red Crescent estimates, the storm may have killed up to 128,000 people. The United Nations estimates that 1.6 million to 2.5 million people are suffering acutely as a result of the cyclone. The junta, however, talks about 34,000 dead and 27,000 missing.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an urgent meeting to improve the aid situation for Burma's cyclone victims. He says "all options" should be discussed in order to get humanitarian relief aid to Burma faster and more efficiently.

The world cannot really measure how well or badly the support for the victims is really going. Although there are many journalists in Rangoon's hotels these days, who pretend to be tourists and go on conspiratorial trips into the disaster areas with Burmese tour guides, the junta is fully focused on ensuring that no reporter gets to see the misery in the disaster zones.

Al-Qaeda Threatens Non-Muslims On Arabian Peninsula

"Qaeda warns non-Muslims in Arabian Peninsula" from al-Arabiya reports that a Yemeni wing of al-Qaeda is threatening attacks on non-Muslims, including tourists and journalists.

"We warn you not to enter the Arabian Peninsula under any name or cover be it as tourists, diplomats, scientists, experts or journalists; you will be a primary target for the mujahideen," al-Qaeda in the South of the Arabian Peninsula said in the editorial of its e-magazine.

"We stand absolved from (the rights) of any infidel who has entered the Arabian Peninsula. (Targeting) their blood and money are religiously right," it said in reference to non-Muslim foreigners, whom al-Qaeda calls infidels.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants in neighboring Saudi Arabia have waged attacks on Western targets but appear to have been weakened due to a security crackdown. Yemen has seen a surge in small attacks on government buildings and foreign embassies in recent weeks. In April, an al Qaeda-linked group said it fired three mortar rounds at a complex housing Americans and other Westerners in Sanaa. No one was hurt. The attack was aimed at expelling infidels from the Arabian Peninsula, home to Islam's holiest sites, it said.

Icelandic Phallological Museum To Get Human Samples?

"Penis museum is offered human samples" from UK Telegraph reports that a penis museum in Iceland has been offered some penis samples to make its collection under glass more complete.

Although Sigurdur Hjartarson's Icelandic Phallological Museum boasts 261 penises, it still lacks a human one. However, four men have promised to donate theirs.

Mr Hjartarson's collection started as a hobby when he was given a bull’s reproductive organ 24 years ago.

It now includes samples from 90 species – ranging from a 1.7 meter (5ft 6in) specimen of a sperm whale to a 2mm hamster penis bone which has to be viewed through a magnifying glass.

Tennesseeans Volunteer To Tell Michelle Obama Why They Are Proud To Be Americans

"Tenn. GOP Mocks Michelle Obama's Proud Remark" from AP reports that the Republican Party in Tennessee welcomed Michelle Obama to the state with a ringing response to her remarks in Wisconsin earlier in this campaign that she was proud for the first time of her country because her husband is running for president.

Tennessee's Proud Video Responds To Michelle Obama:

Paranoid, Navel Gazing Dem Old Hens Get Vapors Over Bush's Speech To Israeli Knesset

President Bush gave a strong speech to Israel's Knesset on the 60th anniversary of its founding - but to listen to the paranoid, hysterical response from the Democrats - whose names were never mentioned in the speech, one would think it was all about them - and in their reproaches, they seem to affirm the concept of appeasement of dictators such as the Nazis rather than standing up to them.  From Barack Obama to Joe Biden, the response was rather pathetic and self-centered.

Text of President Bush's speech to the Israel Knesset on May 15th

The clip heard around the world that riled the Democrats:

Obama, Wright, Farrakhan: Trumpet Cover Boys

"Obama, Farrakhan share" from WND reports that Barack Obama, Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan appeared on the cover of the Trinity United Church of Christ's newsletter Trumpet together - and Obama appeared several other times - making one wonder about the veracity of Obama's claims that he was unaware of some of the anti-American claims made by Reverend Wright.

Issues of Wright's Trumpet magazine reportedly have suggested America was guilty of genocide in Africa, decried the Fourth of July as the "national holiday of the dominant culture," referred to America as a "diaspora" for blacks, repudiated American patriotism and entertained suggestions the Bush administration knew about the 9-11 attacks before they were carried out.

"It seems inconceivable that, in 20 years, Obama would never have picked up a copy of Trumpet," writes Stanley Kurtz in a lengthy Weekly Standard expose of Wright's magazine. "Obama himself graced the cover. ... There can be no mistaking it. What did Barack Obama know and when did he know it? Everything. Always."

The business-oriented blog Bizzyblog found three cover images of Obama. One featured the Illinois senator and Wright shaking hands.

"Abortionists defend agreeing to target blacks" from WND reports that the Ohio Planned Parenthood group that reassured a potential donor that their donations could be targeted for aborting black babies defended their response to the caller, describing the caller's actions as organized efforts to discredit the organization.

The response from Planned Parenthood's employee? "OK, whatever."

Now Columbus Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Stephanie Tresso has told the AP the conversation took place, but accused the callers of "just another attempt … to discredit the organization."

Tresso also alleged the audio has been edited to exclude the receptionist's comments "that the contribution would be used for black women or any woman in need."

"It was quite an unprofessional call that she received, and she struggled with how to address it," Tresso told AP. "She filed an incident report and notified her supervisor, which she was supposed to do. Her supervisor then notified other Planned Parenthoods, and we realized that this was happening all over the country and it was an organized effort."

Insecticies In Pet Shampoo Linked To Autism Spectrum Disorders

"Insecticides in pet shampoo may trigger autism" from New Scientist reports that new research suggests an interaction between insecticies in pet shampoo and genetic factors in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were twice as likely to have reported using pet shampoos containing a class of insecticide called pyrethrins as those of healthy children, according to survey results presented Thursday at the International Meeting for Autism Research in London. The risk was greatest if the shampoo was used during the second trimester of pregnancy.

Meanwhile, another study suggests that exposure to organophosphate insecticides double the risk of developmental disorders, including autism. Organophosphates have previously been linked to Gulf War syndrome.

David Frum, Al Regnary With Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham hosted Fight on the Right with David Frum and Al Regnery.

Ingraham asked From what is wrong with the Reagan brand of conservatism.  He said that the tax rates before the Reagan era were much higher and that to only use the tax cut mantra for this era, it will not ring true with the middle class that has gotten squeezed.  Regnary said that Reagan devised programs around his principles and this is where the GOP has gone wrong because they haven't put policy to match principles.

Frum said that conservatives think that only if conservatives were more so that everything would be better isn't backed up by the facts.  He said that the Medicare drug benefit has been hugely popular and that the country is trending more liberal. 

Regnary said that the conservative movement isn't there to serve the GOP and that there are too many factors besides the drug benefit that affected Bush's election.

Frum said that the conservatives want to ban abortion totally and this may overshoot pulbic sentiment and create a counter movement that will bring down many other areas conservatives want to preserve and promote.  Regnary said that conservatives are in it for the long term and not going from election to election.  Regnary said that conservatives are a broad based group - and that Reagan was good at bringing people together on these issues.  Frum said that the US isn't an ideological country and that conservatives tend to not look at policy enough - and that Reagan responded to policies. 

Countdown in the Gutter With Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann on May 14th's "Countdown" hiding in the comfort of MSNBC studios, fired a few verbal histrionic volleys at President Bush and an interview he gave to Politico.  In the process he took the time to denigrate our troops in service in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Olbermann who hasn't visited the troops in Iraq or Afghanistan or appears to do much for anyone besides himself with his supercilious, preening commentaries and presentations, couldn't be more self-satisfied. 

Below is his candy tailed diatribe - and if you would like to call parent company General Electric to weigh in: https://www.ge.com/contact/contact_form.html

Listen to Olbermann's rant and impugning of our troops (WARNING: Could be injurious to your mental health):

Abdul Hadi, Hero Afghan Teacher, Shot For Condemning Suicide Bombings

"Afghan teacher killed after speech condemning suicide bombings" from Yahoo News reports that Abdul Hadi was murdered for standing up against the killing of innocents.

"Obligatory Edwards hearts Obambi"

Abdul Hadi criticized such attacks as un-Islamic and un-Afghan during a speech Tuesday in the Archi district of Kunduz province, said Khair Mohammad Subat, the provincial education department director.

Hadi spoke at a gathering of about 700 people, including the Kunduz governor, and was on his way home when he was killed, Subat said.

Kunduz police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi said police were investigating. No arrests have been made.

In January, Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said the number of students and teachers killed in Taliban attacks spiked in the past year in a campaign to close schools and force teenage boys to join the Islamic militia.

According to UNICEF, there were 236 school-related attacks last year.

In central Logar province, meanwhile, education department director Kamaluddin Zadran said three girls schools have been set ablaze in the past three weeks.

Girls were barred from schools under the Taliban regime. After the Taliban fell in 2001, girls were allowed to return to attend, but many conservative and uneducated Afghans still forbid their girls from going.

John Edwards Exits With Obama Wet Kiss - Trying To Beat Hillary To Veep Slot

"Edwards endorses Obama" from the Chicago Tribune merely confirms the tease of John Edwards over the last week - who has come out to endorse Barack Obama - and to blunt Senator Hillary Clinton's West Virginia landslide victory over Obama. 

Edwards told aides he would consider veep role - surely wants to beat Hill to the punch - and gives Obama a Southern strategy - though it didn't do a lot for Kerry. 

It is massive man crush time as Edwards imitates Obama's pulpit palpitating pastoral flourishes in his endorsement...

Von Trapps' Salzburg Home, Setting of "The Sound of Music", To Become A Hotel

"'Sound of Music's Von Trapp family home to open as hotel" from UK Telegraph reports that, due to popular fan demand, the original Von Trapp family home in Salzburg, Austria - the setting of the blockbuster film "The Sound of Music" and Maria Von Trapp's book "The Trapp Family Singers" - is to be converted into a hotel, according to Christopher Unterkofler and his business partner who are converting the home.

The home was bought by priests of the Missionaries of the Holy Blood after the Von Trapps escaped the Nazis in 1938 to come to America where most of the family resides today.

"There will be 14 rooms, from suites to singles, which are the actual rooms of the von Trapp family. Fans will be able to walk where the von Trapps walked, sleep where they slept."

Mr Unterkofler said that the rooms would be available from about £100, while the wedding suite and ceremony would cost £600.

Cannes-Dy Tail Sean Penn Warns Obama

"Sean Penn endroses Barack Obama at Cannes Film Festival" from UK Telegraph but also warned him warily:

”I don't have a candidate I'm supporting and I'm certainly interested and excited by the hope that Barack Obama is inspiring,” he said, but went on to accuse him of a “phenomenally inhuman and unconstitutional” voting record.

”I hope that he will understand, if he is the nominee, the degree of disillusionment that will happen if he doesn't become a greater man than he will ever be,” Penn said. “This is the most important election, certainly in my lifetime, and maybe ever.”

From one candy tail to another - while John McCain gets endorsements from real men like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood...

"Harry's Heroes": Mark Ormrod and Ben McBean: UK Profiles In Courage

Picture of courage: Brave soldier who lost three limbs in Afghanistan takes to his bionic legs to receive war medal from the UK Daily Mail reports on two of "Harry's heroes" - Mark Ormrod and Ben McBean - members of the Armed Forces who Prince Harry described as the real heroes of the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Mark Ormrod and Ben McBean made a supreme effort to master artificial limbs in time for the ceremony so they could collect their medals not just in person, but face to face with their commanding officers.

They were singled out yesterday as exemplifying the kind of valour and dedication which thousands of British troops are demonstrating daily in Afghanistan and Iraq.

ASIMO-Town's "I Am Robot" Conducting A Symphony Orchestra

"The amazing pictures of a robot conducting a symphony orchestra" from UK Daily Mail reports on Honda's ASIMO (short for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility), conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a rendition of "The Impossible Dream". 

See the robot's great performance:

Ingraham On Dems and Racism On "The Factor"

Laura Ingraham appeared with Bill O'Reilly on "The Factor" to discuss the results of the Democrat primary in West Virginia and the impact that racism may have had in the primary.

Ingraham pointed out that when West Virginia voters were queried about race,  it can be interpreted a variety of ways - including such aspects as the Reverend Wright factor that isn't representative of most African-American churches.  She also pointed out that the Democrats are obsessed with race, make racial references of their own - wheras the GOP doesn't seem to be hung up on this issue or sexism. 

O'Reilly also brought up the rants of a faculty member at Syracuse University, Boyce Watkins who has taken on O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh with hateful invectives.  Ingraham said that O'Reilly's focus in a