May 26, 2006

Mayor Nagin should be happy…
Chocolate may boost brain power
May 24- Chocolate lovers rejoice. A new study hints that eating milk chocolate may boost brain function.

"Chocolate contains many substances that act as stimulants, such as theobromine, phenethylamine, and caffeine," Dr. Bryan Raudenbush from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia noted in comments to Reuters Health.

"These substances by themselves have previously been found to increase alertness and attention and what we have found is that by consuming chocolate you can get the stimulating effects, which then lead to increased mental performance."

To study the effects of various chocolate types on brain power, Raudenbush and colleagues had a group of volunteers consume, on four separate occasions, 85 grams of milk chocolate; 85 grams of dark chocolate; 85 grams of carob; and nothing (the control condition).

After a 15-minute digestive period, participants completed a variety of computer-based neuropsychological tests designed to assess cognitive performance including memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem solving.

"Composite scores for verbal and visual memory were significantly higher for milk chocolate than the other conditions," Raudenbush told Reuters Health. And consumption of milk and dark chocolate was associated with improved impulse control and reaction time.

Previous research has shown that some nutrients in food aid in glucose release and increased blood flow, which may augment cognitive performance. The current findings, said Raudenbush, "provide support for nutrient release via chocolate consumption to enhance cognitive performance."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060524/hl_nm/health_chocolate_dc

Q1 GDP growth fastest in 2-1/2 years

May 25, 2006 - The U.S. economy shot forward at an upwardly revised 5.3 percent annual rate in the first quarter, the fastest growth in 2-1/2 years, as companies built up inventories and exports strengthened, a Commerce Department report on Thursday showed.

First-quarter growth in gross domestic product was more than triple the 1.7 percent annual rate recorded in last year's fourth quarter...

...The first-quarter surge in GDP - the largest since a 7.2 percent jump in the third quarter of 2003 - was partly fueled by rebuilding in the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast region. Growth is widely forecast to level off in coming quarters to a range of between 3 percent and 4 percent.

A sharper buildup in inventories than previously thought during the first three months of 2006 accounted for much of the upward revision in growth.

Companies built up inventories at a $32.3-billion annual rate instead of the $21.9 billion rate reported last month, moderately less than the $37.9-billion rate posted in the fourth quarter.

In addition, exports were stronger than originally reported, rising at a 14.7 percent annual rate rather than 12.1 percent.

...Somewhat surprisingly, spending on housing was moderately stronger than had been initially thought, growing at a revised 3.1 percent rate instead of 2.6 percent estimated a month ago...

...Personal consumption spending, which fuels two-thirds of national economic activity, grew at a 5.2 percent annual rate in the first quarter...Consumer spending was one of the primary reasons overall GDP performance accelerated to such a brisk pace in the period.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2006-05-25T123411Z_01_N25191702_RTRUKOC_0_US-ECONOMY-GDP.xml&src=rss&rpc=23

Oil Prices Help Louisiana.

May 25 -After hurricanes Katrina and Rita shut down businesses and added thousands to the unemployment rolls, state economists predicted a nearly $1 billion hit to Louisiana's tax income. They were off the mark entirely.

The hurricanes instead spurred a new wave of tax income, thanks to residents buying replacement cars, refrigerators, furniture and other household goods.

Growth in gambling and sales taxes, along with higher oil taxes in the petroleum-rich state, has put the general state income an estimated $213 million ahead of Louisiana officials' pre-hurricane expectations for the fiscal year ending June 30.

That means the state's predictions of a budget-busting year were off by a whopping $1.2 billion.

...While lawmakers approved an $18.7 billion budget for the current year, it has grown to $20 billion because of federal hurricane aid that poured in to plump up the budget.

...lawmakers have begun adding pet projects into next year's spending bill. A state House committee voted to add $17 million for local community organizations, senior centers, town museums, recreational lighting in the hometown of House Speaker Joe Salter, a Christmas festival in central Louisiana, arts projects and other items...

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/25/D8HR039O0.html

Silenced Christian wins free-speech battleState university barred him from speaking to students about faith
May 25, 2006- A man barred from speaking about his Christian faith on a New York state college campus won a civil-rights lawsuit yesterday in federal court claiming violation of his free-speech rights.

Officials at Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge, N.Y., told Greg Davis of Indian Lake, N.Y., he needed to file a facilities-use permit application to speak about his faith with students in a public, grassy area on campus in October 2003.

But when he did so, his application was denied because the school claimed his desired religious expression does not constitute a "cultural, educational, social or recreational" activity.
"Christian speech should not be treated as second-class speech," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Nate Kellum…Kellum argued the U.S. Constitution "does not say that speech is only free if it falls under certain arbitrary categories developed and defined by public officials."

Yesterday's ruling was the sixth victory for Kellum in federal appellate courts in the last three years.

At first, Davis said, he was told by a school official he could speak about his faith on campus. But later the same day he was told he would need to submit a facilities use permit application even though he did not intend to make use of any school buildings.

Eventually, Davis left campus when another school official informed him his religious expression was prohibited altogether.

Davis then filed the permit application that later was denied. http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50365

Report Says School Bus Exhaust Harms Kids

An Associated Press report, citing an environmental advocacy group, says, "Most states aren't doing enough to protect children from the diesel exhaust many of them inhale while riding or waiting for school buses." (Probably much ado about nothing...but then wasn't it the government that decided to bus kids that didn't really need to be bused...?)http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2006/may/24/052401823.html

Hillary Clinton Proposes Funding for Illegal Immigrants

May 24, 2006- 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has proposed amending the Senate's immigration reform legislation to provide federal funding for the education and health care of illegal immigrants.

Arguing that the federal government should pick up the tab for social services provided to illegals, Mrs. Clinton told the Senate:

"My amendment addresses one of the clearest examples of this neglect because our failed national immigration policy has left our state and local governments to bear the brunt of the costs of immigration. Our schools, our hospitals, our other state and local services are being strained."

The former first lady said her plan would direct funds to state criminal alien assistance programs to offset the costs of illegal aliens who continue to break the law after they enter the U.S. - and establish a program that provides financial assistance to state and local governments for the cost of health and educational services related to immigration...

...The top Democrat promised that her program would "not appropriate any new funds or impose any new fees on [illegal] immigrants."

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/5/24/122951.shtml

Al Gore Not "CARBON NEUTRAL"

CANNES, France - ...A representative affiliated with "An Inconvenient Truth", a film about global warming involving former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, has stressed that the movie and Gore's tour to promote it are "carbon neutral".

Last week, Gore and his team were seen driving the 500 metres or so from a hotel to the Cannes festival headquarters in several cars. The representative said that arriving at events like photocalls and news conferences in cars was normal practice in Cannes. (so for Al it's "business as usual"?) ...Gore walked the shorter distance from another hotel to the festival for the movie's screening.

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2006-05-22T232359Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-250545-1.xml

"Al Gore: An Inconvenient Story"

What's on your CO2 Meter Al? See short video at: http://interface.audiovideoweb.com/lnk/ny60win16080/eresources/cei/GorevideoWMV-high.wmv/play.asx

As former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary on global warming fears debuts today, a new video from the Competitive Enterprise Institute tracks Gore’s own “carbon footprint.” CEI’s 70-second video points out that Gore himself is a big user of the hydrocarbon fuels that produce carbon dioxide when combusted.

Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” asks, "Are you willing to change the way you live?" The Gore documentary and new book of the same name go on to suggest ways that people can reduce their carbon footprint, yet Mr. Gore has clearly not taken his own message to heart. He even says in the documentary that he has given his global warming Power Point slide show more than 1,000 times all around the world.

The CEI video, which may be viewed at: http://streams.cei.org/, includes footage of Gore and his constant air travel with two CO2 meters running at the bottom of the page that compare Gore’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with those of an average person.

"All the evidence suggests that Mr. Gore is an elitist who passionately believes that the people of the world must drastically reduce their energy use but that it doesn't apply to him,” said Myron Ebell, CEI's director of energy and global warming policy and the creator of the video.

http://drudgereport.com/flash3.htm

David <><
http://freewill-predestination.com/
http://www.knology.net/~lonesomedove/