June 5, 2015

FDA advisory panel recommends approval of ‘female Viagra’

The first-ever "female Viagra" came one step closer to coming to market, as a key advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration voted Thursday afternoon to recommend that the FDA approve the drug with conditions.

The committee voted 18-6 to recommend that the FDA approve flibanserin, a drug designed to boost the low sexual desire of otherwise healthy women.

The FDA usually follows the recommendations of its advisory committees, but not always. Its decision is expected by the end of the summer. The agency has already rejected the drug twice, saying the potential side effects of fainting, nausea, dizziness, sleepiness and low-blood pressure outweighed its benefits. Even on Thursday, the committee described the drug benefit as "moderate" or "marginal."

But after an afternoon of emotional testimony from women who suffer from low sexual desire, a condition called Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, the majority of committee members said that, with proper warning labels and education, the drug, even with a moderate benefit, should be made available to women who now have nothing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/06/04/widely-varying-views-of-female-viagra-emerge-at-fda-hearing/

June 5, 2015

New technology could put an end to drunken driving, officials say

A technological breakthrough that could virtually eliminate the drunken driving that kills 10,000 Americans each year was announced Thursday by federal officials, who said it could begin appearing in cars in five years.

The new equipment won’t require a driver to blow into a tube, like the interlock devices some states require after drunken-driving convictions. Instead, either a passive set of breath sensors or touch-sensitive contact points on a starter button or gear shift would immediately register the level of alcohol in the bloodstream.

Drivers who registered above the legal limit wouldn’t be able to start the car.

“The message today is not ‘Can we do this?’ but ‘How soon can we do this?’?” said Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “It is a huge step forward.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/new-technology-could-put-an-end-to-drunk-driving-federal-officials-say/2015/06/04/1cd31176-0a5b-11e5-9e39-0db921c47b93_story.html

June 4, 2015

Analysis: With Syria crumbling, Israel's security situation has never been better

Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan said Monday that Israel’s security situation on the northern border has improved as a result of the Syrian civil war, which has served to drain the blood of Hezbollah.

This notion was strengthened yesterday by a very senior security official. Both spoke about the situations in Syria and Lebanon. Regarding Lebanon, despite inflammatory remarks made recently by Hassan Nasrallah warning Israel that if another war broke out it would suffer a major blow, the Israeli intelligence estimate is that Hezbollah has weakened and would not dare initiating hostilities with Israel.

On the surface, these appear to be trivial remarks, which have been repeated by military experts and analysts over the past several years. But to hear them from such senior military authorities is refreshingly new.

As far as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon are concerned, these comments verge on heresy. If our security situation has improved, does the IDF really need additions to its budget? And what about the approach taken by Netanyahu, who continues to warn, on every possible occasion, of the threat of Iran, Hezbollah and Islamic State? Indeed, Israel’s strategic situation has never been better.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Analysis-With-Syria-crumbling-Israels-security-situation-has-never-been-better-404909

June 4, 2015

Missing link found between brain, immune system

In a stunning discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist. That such vessels could have escaped detection when the lymphatic system has been so thoroughly mapped throughout the body is surprising on its own, but the true significance of the discovery lies in the effects it could have on the study and treatment of neurological diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimer's disease to multiple sclerosis.

"Instead of asking, 'How do we study the immune response of the brain?' 'Why do multiple sclerosis patients have the immune attacks?' now we can approach this mechanistically. Because the brain is like every other tissue connected to the peripheral immune system through meningeal lymphatic vessels," said Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, professor in the UVA Department of Neuroscience and director of UVA's Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). "It changes entirely the way we perceive the neuro-immune interaction. We always perceived it before as something esoteric that can't be studied. But now we can ask mechanistic questions."

"We believe that for every neurological disease that has an immune component to it, these vessels may play a major role," Kipnis said. "Hard to imagine that these vessels would not be involved in a [neurological] disease with an immune component."

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-06-link-brain-immune.html

June 4, 2015

Twin Peaks Waco- What the Video Will Show (as soon as it is released)- Biker Witnesses's Perspective

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June 3, 2015

Jailed Israeli soldier freed after pork sandwich scandal

An Israeli soldier who was jailed earlier this week for eating a non-kosher sandwich has been freed after the army agreed to release him following a wave of public pressure.

The soldier, who recently immigrated to Israel from America, was initially jailed for 11 days after eating a sandwich containing pork, which is forbidden by Jewish dietary law, public radio reported.

But news of his punishment spread quickly on social media, sparking a public outcry which prompted the army to revoke the punishment, admitting it had made a mistake.

"The bottom line is that we were wrong," wrote army spokesman Brigadier General Moti Almoz on his official Facebook page on Tuesday.

"The punishment which was given to the soldier was cancelled and he will be released home," he said.

"On the one hand, the IDF (army) will continue to keep kosher but we not poke our noses into soldiers' sandwiches," he wrote acknowledging there were tensions within Israeli society but saying the army had a "place for everyone."

http://news.yahoo.com/jailed-israeli-soldier-freed-pork-sandwich-scandal-082446371.html

June 3, 2015

Strangers Linked by Iconic Desert Storm Photo Meet 24 Years Later

Twenty-four slow, burning years have passed since Sgt. Ken Kozakiewicz got wrecked to his soul.

Raw from a battle that ended moments before, dazed from the two missiles that smoked his Bradley Fighting Vehicle and weary from traversing an ungodly expanse of Iraq desert, Kozakiewicz did what any man would.

He read the name on the dead soldier's identification card, looked away from the bloody body bag and wailed.

Kozakiewicz's helpless, primal howl became the signature image of Operation Desert Storm. The picture, taken by David Turnley, showed war's wicked truth and is considered one of military history's most provocative photos.

Kozakiewicz, his broken left hand in a sling, had been guided into a medical evacuation helicopter after the Jalibah Airfield rout Feb. 27, 1991. The battle was among the final objectives of a dominant campaign to expel Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein's army from neighboring Kuwait.

Kozakiewicz and Cpl. Mike Tsangarakis were about to be whisked away. Then a body bag was loaded onto the helicopter floor. Kozakiewicz demanded the dead soldier's name.

A medic reluctantly handed Kozakiewicz the ID for 20-year-old Pvt. Andy Alaniz. In the center of the photo, Tsangarakis lifted his head bandages to glimpse the sack at his feet.

"I was just dumbfounded," Kozakiewicz recalled Friday. "I said, 'You've got to be kidding me. He just got married. There's no way.'

"Then it hit me like a ton of bricks."

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/06/02/strangers-linked-by-iconic-desert-storm-photo-meet-24-years-late.html?comp=7000023435700&rank=5

June 3, 2015

Reflections on Stress and Long Hours on Wall Street

Still, the string of deaths on Wall Street appears to rise above the level of simple coincidence. Last February, Fortune ran an article titled: “Is there a suicide contagion on Wall Street?”

Studies have suggested that financial service employees are at higher risk than those in many other industries. According to the National Occupational Mortality Surveillance, individuals who work in financial services are 1.5 times more likely to commit suicide than the national average. The highest suicide rates in the United States are among doctors, dentists and veterinarians.

It is possible that the finance industry attracts more people with depression, just as it is possible that the pressure-cooker work environment overwhelms some people who have been high achievers their entire lives. It could be a tragic combination of multiple factors. Wall Street has always thrived, in part, on its eat-or-be-eaten culture. Would curbing its competitive nature cut into its success?

Most top Wall Street firms have sought to change their work policies for young investment bankers in recent years, in part to combat some of the problems and because they are increasingly in heated competition with Silicon Valley for top talent and are seeking to make themselves more attractive.

Goldman, for example, has required that analysts take Saturdays off. Credit Suisse, too, has made employees take Saturdays off, with employees instructed to avoid even email. Bank of America has instituted a policy that requires analysts to “take four days off a month” on the weekends. And JPMorgan Chase has said that one weekend a month should be protected.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/business/dealbook/reflections-on-stress-and-long-hours-on-wall-street.html

June 3, 2015

Obama raises possibility of allowing U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood

Source: LA Times

President Obama took a step toward a tougher line with Israel in an interview released Tuesday, raising the possibility that the U.S. will allow a United Nations vote on issues related to the Palestinians if the two sides make no meaningful movement toward peace.

In an interview with an Israeli television station, Obama noted that his administration has “up until this point” quashed such efforts at the U.N. while insisting that the Israelis and Palestinians must negotiate a resolution. But he said it is a challenge for the U.S. to keep demanding that the Palestinians negotiate in good faith if no one believes the Israelis are doing the same.

“How do we move off what appears right now to be a hopeless situation and move it back towards a hopeful situation?” Obama asked in the interview. “That will require more than just words. That will require some actions. And that’s going to be hard work, though, because right now I think there’s not a lot of confidence in the process.”

The comment was the latest sign that Obama has concluded that the U.S. must rethink its stance on the Mideast peace process if it is to maintain credibility in the world.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-obama-israel-palestinians-20150602-story.html

June 2, 2015

Georgia ex-leader Saakashvili gives up citizenship for Ukraine

Georgian ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili says he is giving up Georgian citizenship as he becomes governor of Ukraine's Odessa region.

Mr Saakashvili told the BBC a Georgian passport meant "guaranteed imprisonment" there as the authorities pursued criminal charges against him.

The ex-leader was appointed unexpectedly by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday.
He is credited with radical reforms in Georgia but accused of abuse of power.

Mr Saakashvili left Georgia after his term as president ended in 2013. He denies the charges against him, which he says are politically motivated.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32969052