Scientists trace the boozing gene: Taste for drink 'originated 10million years ago in common ancestor of humans and chimps'

now explain the Irish?

(DailyMail.co.uk)The boozing gene can be traced back 10million years to the common ancestor humans share with chimpanzees and gorillas, new research claims.
It is believed these ancient forebears were the first to pick up fruits fermenting on the ground after they developed a lifestyle away from the trees.
Individuals able to stomach the boozy fruit would have survived better in this new environment than those who could not, programming the ability into their descendants' genetic codes.

Here's to those who came before us... Scientists have traced the ability to metabolise alcohol back to a gene first found in the common ancestor humans share with gorillas and chimpanzees

The theory could explain why humans, chimps and gorillas are able to digest alcohol, while our tree-dwelling cousins like orangutans cannot.
Chemist Steven Benner of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Florida, came to the conclusion after he 'resurrected' the alcohol-metabolising enzymes of extinct primates.
By estimating the enzymes’ genetic code, they rebuilt them in the lab and then analysed how they worked to understand how they have changed over time.
Biochemist Romas Kazlauskas of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, told Science News: 'It’s like a courtroom re-enactment.
'Benner can re-enact what happened in evolution.'

More...

• U.S. scientist claims to have found DNA of bigfoot - but is CHARGING to see her results (in a journal she set up)
• The amazing 'Harry Potter' beetle that looks (and flies) just like a golden quidditch snitch
• Have scientists discovered the 'sixth sense'? Rats can 'feel' infra red rays of light

To break down alcohol in the body, modern humans rely on an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase 4, or ADH4, which is found throughout the aesophagus, stomach and intestines.
However, not all ADH4s are the same, meaning some species of primate can effectively metabolise ethanol while others are unable to.
To understand why, researchers mapped the DNA sequences that make up ADH4 in 27 species of modern primate on a primate family tree to infer how the enzyme looked at points on the tree where branches separated.
Their findings showed most primate ancestors would have been unable to metabolise alcohol, but at the branching point leading to gorillas, chimps and humans the enzyme emerged as a powerful alcohol digester.
This enzyme was nearly 50 times more efficient at digesting alcohol than earlier versions, Dr Benner reported. That made it nearly capable or breaking down the alcohol found in modern alcoholic drinks.

Lightweights: The findings could explain why tree-dwelling primates like orang-utans (pictured) are less able to metabolise alcohol, since fruits are less likely to ferment while still hanging on a branch

He concluded that it must have been the result of the early primate's descent from the trees where it came across fruits lying on the ground.
If these fruits had damaged skins, yeast could have invaded them and fermented their sugars, turning them into ethanol.
Any primates unable to digest the fermented fruits would have died before passing on their genes, but those who could would have passed the boozing gene on to their offspring.
Dr Benner believes his findings could explain why land-loving primates like humans and gorillas can metabolise alcohol, but tree dwellers like orangutans, which rarely encounter fermented fruit, cannot.
He presented his findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday.

Read more:

• Origins of alcohol consumption traced to ape ancestor | Science News

Reducing Gun Violence By Legalizing Drugs

In the wake of the Newtown massacre, there has, understandably, been a new wave of advocacy of policy proposals aimed at preventing future incidents of the same kind. However, gun violence in schools is already extremely rare, with the average child far more at risk of dying in a car accident or backyard pool accident than in school. And we are unlikely to reduce the already low incidence of mass shootings by gun control or other policy changes. Fortunately, as Yale law professor Dan Kahan explains at the Cultural Cognition Project blog, we can achieve a significant reduction in violence by legalizing drugs:

[W]hile the empirical evidence on the relationship between gun control and homicide is (at this time at least) utterly inconclusive, there certainly are policies out there that we have very solid evidence to believe would reduce gun-related homicides very substantially.
The one at the top of the list, in my view, is to legalize recreational drugs such as marijuana and cocaine.
The theory behind this policy prescription is that illegal markets breed competition-driven violence among suppliers by offering the prospect of monopoly profits and by denying them lawful means for enforcing commercial obligations.
The evidence is ample. In addition to empirical studies of drug-law enforcement and crime rates, it includes the marked increase in homicide rates that attended alcohol prohibition and the subsequent, dramatic deline of it after repeal of the 18th Amendment.

Kahan makes a number of other good points in his post, and cites lots of additional evidence. As they say, read the whole thing.
As an extra bonus, this approach to reducing gun violence doesn’t threaten anyone’s civil liberties or Second Amendment rights. It would actually increase protection for civil liberties by cutting back on the many abuses associated with the War on Drugs, such as bogus asset forfeitures and paramilitary paramilitary police raids that often kill or injure innocent people, and the erosion of the Fourth Amendment. And, unlike stepped-up gun control or “zero tolerance” policies of the sort we got after Columbine, it would actually save the government a great deal of money by reducing expenditures on enforcement efforts and prisons. Drug legalization would also help promote family values in poor communities, which is both good in itself and might help reduce violence still further.
As President Obama said in Newtown, “we can do better than this” when it comes to curbing gun violence. Cutting back on the War on Drugs is a great place to start. Polls show that marijuana legalization, at least, is rapidly gaining in popularity. That might give the president and other politicians the chance to effect change we can believe in in this field.

via volokh.com

"Magic Mushrooms" Show Signs of Helping in Addiction, Cancer Anxiety

In research presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) scientists highlighted the latest findings on the use of psilocybin, the synthetic version of the active compound in “magic mushrooms,” as a treatment for anxiety in terminal cancer patients, in smoking cessation and as a treatment for alcoholism.
Some of the studies are not complete and have not yet been reviewed by other experts, but they provide new information on psilocybin’s effect....
In its ongoing program of psilocybin research, scientists at Johns Hopkins have treated over 150 volunteers in 350 drug trial sessions.  Although many participants experienced at least some type of anxiety reaction while on the drug, none of them reported lasting harm and 70% rated the experience as one of the top five most meaningful events of their lives, comparable to the birth of a first child or the loss of a parent....
UCLA’s [Dr. Charles] Grob studied 12 cancer patients with end-stage disease, aged 18 through 70, all of whom were highly anxious in facing death.  They were given preparatory therapy sessions so that they would know what to expect while under the influence of psilocybin, and then had two sessions a month apart, one with placebo and one with psilocybin.  The vitamin niacin was used in a high dose as the placebo, because it produces a physiological sensation of burning or itching on the face that is harmless but produces some “drug” effect....
“Nobody had a significant anxiety reaction or ‘bad trip’” Grob reported, citing data he published in the Archives of General Psychiatry on the research in 2011....
The studies on smoking cessation and on alcoholism have only just begun, but show encouraging results in a small group of volunteers. Says Paul Kenny, associate professor of neuroscience at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, and a member of program committee for the ACNP meeting, “The potential beneficial effects of psilocybin on addiction is an important question that should thoroughly explored...."

Kenny goes on in a scientistic, "let's make an industry out of this" way to say it would be better if they can develop new drugs that mimic the "good" parts of the mushroom without the hallucinogenic part, though he acknowledged that might not be possible.
Fitting that this article appears in Time as its founder Henry Luce enjoyed psychedelics himself.
Jacob Sullum and me from 2006 on earlier research into the spiritual uses of the mushroom.
Maia Szalavitz's work discussed at Reason.

via reason.com

Hezbollah in Mexico :: by Anna Mahjar-Barducci

In June, a computer hacker group, Luiz Security, commonly abbreviated as LuizSec, targeted the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS). LuizSec has claimed responsibility for several high profile attacks; this time, however, the 440 megabytes AZDPS documents displayed a bulletin mentioning the presence of Hezbollah militants operating in smuggling corridors on the U.S. border with Mexico.The document, from the Tucson Police Department, is dated September 20, 2010. At the time, just few months earlier, the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Seyassah published an article saying that operatives of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah were employing Mexican nationals to set up a network in Latin America to target Israeli and Western interests. According to the newspaper, the Hezbollah group's alleged leader, Ali "Jameel" Nasr, a 30-year-old Mexican national of Lebanese descent, was arrested in the Mexican city of Tijuana in July 2010. The Kuwaiti daily also mentioned that for a period before his arrest, Nasr was under surveillance by Mexican authorities. He was also reported to be travelling frequently to Lebanon to receive instructions from Hezbollah, and making trips around Latin America, including a two-month stay in Venezuela in 2008.

As reported in 2010 by Fox News, however, U.S. and Mexican officials did not (or did not want to) confirm that a Hezbollah leader had been arrested in Mexico. "Police officials in Tijuana told FoxNews.com that they have no information pertaining to Nasr [...]. U.S. State Department officials said they could not confirm Nasr's arrest, but would be unable to do so if the arrest occurred in Mexico. [...] The Department of Homeland Security said it does not have 'any credible information' that terrorist groups are operating along America's Southwest border," wrote FoxNews.com.

After a year, in June 2011, LulzSec disclosed instead not only that the Tucson police were informed about the arrest of Nasr, but that LuisSec was seriously worried about Hezbollah infiltrations in the U.S. through its neighbor, Mexico. The document states the following:
"Based on a study done by Georgetown University, the number of immigrants from Lebanon and Syria living in Mexico exceeds 200,000. Along with Iran, Syria is one of Hezbollah's strongest financial and political supporters, and Lebanon is its country of origin.
"In July of this year, Mexican authorities arrested Jameel Nasr in Tijuana, Baja California. Nasr was alleged to be tasked with establishing the Hezbollah network in Mexico and throughout South America.
"In April of last year [2009], the arrest of Jamal Yousef – in New York City - exposed a weapons cache of 100 M-16 assault rifles, 100 AR-15 rifles, 2,500 hand grenades, C4 explosives and antitank munitions. According to Yousef, the weapons, which were being stored in Mexico, had been stolen from Iraq with the help of his cousin who was a member of Hezbollah.
"With the arrest of Jameel Nasr and Jamal Yousef, obvious concerns have arisen concerning Hezbollah's presence in Mexico and possible ties to Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTO's) operating along the U.S.–Mexico border. The potential partnership bares alarming implications due to Hezbollah's long established capabilities, specifically their expertise in the making of vehicle borne improvised explosive devises (VBIED's).
"Recent incidents involving the use of VBIED's in Mexico mark a significant change in tactics employed by DTO's and conjures images expected to be seen in the Middle East. While no connection has been made, Hezbollah's extensive use of VBIED's raises strong suspicion concerning a possible relation to Mexico's DTO's."
The case of Jamal Youssef, arrested in New York City, is even more worrying than the arrest of Jameel Nasr in Tijuana. As reported by the Center of Immigration Studies in February 2011, Jamal Yousef, a former member of the Syrian military and senior agent of Hezbollah, was conducting a business deal to provide thousands of new U.S. arms stolen from American forces in Iraq that had been shipped and stored in Mexico, and were to be sold to the terrorist group Colombian FARC, allegedly supported by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in exchange for drugs that were to be couriered into the U.S. by Mexican cartels.
In a letter that U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-NC addressed to Homeland Security a year ago, she called for more "intelligence gathering" on Hezbollah's presence along the U.S.-Mexico border." "Many experts believe Hezbollah and drug cartels have loosely been working together for decades. We have seen their cooperation in countries across South America […] Hezbollah operates almost like a Mafia family in this region, often demanding protection money and "taxes" from local inhabitants," Myrick wrote.
Congresswoman Myrick adds in her letter that in the U.S., particularly in the Southwest, officials are beginning to notice that tattoos of gang members in prisons are written in Farsi, implying an Iranian influence that can be traced back to its proxy army, Hezbollah. Further, these tattoos in Farsi are usually seen in combination with gang or drug cartel tattoos, meaning that the individuals in jail are tied both to Hezbollah and to gangs and drug cartels. In the document hacked by LulzSec it is possible to see photos of these tattoos on individuals in jail; some of them portray a crossed AK-47 gun, the symbol of Hezbollah.

Law Enforcement Finally Admits Hezb'Allah is Operating in Mexico - Atlas Shrugs
...I could not find any other sources for this information

Arturo Zamora Jiménez, a Mexican congressman affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party, recently stated that Hezbollah is operating in drug trafficking in the North of Mexico. Without any doubt, he said, the Lebanese terrorist group has links with Mexican drug cartels and has trained Mexican organizations on how to handle guns and explosives. Zamora also stated that Hezbollah is using drug revenues to buy weapons to fight in the Middle East. Moreover, political analysts point out that tunnels used for connecting drug trafficking are also used to infiltrate Hezbollah operatives in the U.S.
As noticed by the Center for Immigration Studies, the presence of Hezbollah on the U.S. border provokes several questions about security, and on how to face the problem: "These questions go beyond the horrendous cartel violence in Mexico we are witnessing on both sides of our border, bringing to light the national security aspect of drug- and gun-running, the volatility of our southwest border, and the playground northern Mexico has become for extreme lawlessness and anti-American activity."by Anna Mahjar-Barduccivia hudson-ny.org

Global: Torture in Drug Treatment Detentions

In China convicted drug users are required to complete at least 2 years in their drug rehab program, a span of time that is filled with forced labor, physical abuse and no drug treatment according to many who’ve completed the program many of whom say they are haunted by the experience. via hometestingblog.testcountry.com

People detained in these centers are denied medical care that has been proven effective and subjected to physical and sexual violence, forced labor, and involuntary or experimental medical procedures, the campaign said.  A 36-page report, "Treated with Cruelty: Abuses in the Name of Drug Rehabilitation," compiles personal testimony by detainees in Russia, China, Cambodia, and Mexico. A 64-page publication, "Treatment or Torture?: Applying International Human Rights Standards to Drug Detention Centers," reviews the multiple forms of abuse common in drug detention centers and shows how these practices in many cases constitute torture, or at least cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment - in violation of basic human rights treaties widely ratified by most nations worldwide. via hrw.org

by the way... the links from HRW go to George Soros... who was the one who spent the money so we would be in debt to China.  I'm sure our country will degrade to this standard of abuse when our society crumbles.  Till then... I'm just another Marijuana smoking Conservative.

Mexico's Drug War

The Mexican Drug War is an armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels who fight for regional control, and between the drug cartels and the Mexican government, which seeks to reduce drug trafficking. Although Mexican drug cartels, or drug trafficking organizations, have existed for a few decades, they have become more powerful since the demise of Colombia's Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. Mexican drug cartels now dominate the wholesale illicit drug market in the United States. Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States.

Arabs Need More of These Pills :: protesters were being driven by "hallucinogenic pills."

In a number of speeches, the half-clown, half-murderer who has been slaughtering many Libyans in the past few weeks, declared that the protesters were being driven by "hallucinogenic pills."
The pills, according to Gaddafi, were dipped into Nescafe that was given to the "rats" that are revolting against him.
So the Libyan revolution – according to Gaddafi – is nothing but riots and acts of vandalism committed by a bunch of drugged rats that had Nescafe mixed with hallucinogenic pills.

via hudson-ny.org

image via lhrtimes.com and  delawarenewsnow.com

Khadafy Blames Koch Brothers for Libyan Unrest

Think that sounds insane? Just as nutty as blaming them for everything else under the sun, as has become the left's latest obsession. But considering hos nutty madman Moammar has sounded of late, it can't be far off.

LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi said protesters should return to their homes, as he made an audio address on state TV today.
Gaddafi claimed rebels of drug-taking and links to Usama bin Laden.
He accused protesters of being under the influence of al Qaeda and taking drugs as he made the statement, apparently from the town of Zawiyah, which has been the scene of heavy fighting throughout the day.
He said, "Teenagers feel trigger happy, they shoot especially when they get stoned with drugs."

Meanwhile, a little flashback from the Libyan nutcase.

He said, "Now, ruling America is a black man from our continent, an African from Arab descent, from Muslim descent, and this is something we never imagined – that from Reagan we would get to Barakeh Obama."
Gaddafi stressed that Obama's presidency is "a major historical gain" and said, "He is someone I consider a friend. He knows he is a son of Africa. Regardless of his African belonging, he is of Arab Sudanese descent, or of Muslim descent. He is a man whose policy should be supported, and he should be assisted in implementing it in any way possible, since he is now leaning towards peace."

via jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com

Posted via email from noahdavidsimon's posterous

Afghanistan As A Safe Haven For Children

via Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2010 rferl.org

How can a country that has gone through three decades of war and suffers rampant poverty, illiteracy, terrorism, and a booming illegal drug trade be a safe heaven for children? NATO’s top civilian in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, set off a firestorm this week when he said Afghan "children are probably safer in Kabul than they would be in London, or New York, or Glasgow, or many other cities.” Ambassador Sedwill’s comments came as Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) released its latest report (in Pashto) on conditions for children in the country. Based on a survey targeting 2,400 children throughout the country, the commission’s findings are enough to make one cringe. Researchers found a 20 percent increase in cases of sexual abuse against children in the first half of 2010. 13 percent of respondents had no access whatsoever to education and at least 30 percent do not have even cursory access to healthcare facilities. In addition, earlier this year, Afghanistan’s Ministry for Counter Narcotics reported that at least 60,000 Afghan youth suffer from some form of drug addiction.

Posted via email from noahdavidsimon's posterous

Naked Cowboy, Times Square staple, to run for President in 2012 as Tea Party candidate

The Naked Cowboy -- Time Square's tighty-whitey wearing, guitar-toting tourist magnet -- According to the 39-year-old, his policies would include... making drug tests for welfare recipients mandatory. It's not the first time Burck has considered running for public office. He announced a bid for mayor in 2009, but later dropped out. While he shared his latest aspirations on national television earlier this month, this is the first announcement Burck has made declaring he'd run under a Tea Party platform.
drug tests? Tu Quo Que

noahdavidsimon's posterous

Zionists corner the market on illegal drugs as well

A senior Iranian commander took the US and the Zionist regime of Israel responsible for the spread of drug addiction in the world, stressing that they use drugs as a biological weapon against the freedom-seeking nations.
"The US and the Zionist regime are pioneers of drug distribution in the world and the world arrogant powers use drugs as a biological weapon against the freedom-seeking nations," Commander of Iran's Basij Forces Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi said on Monday.
The arrogant powers want to pocket the money earned through the production and trafficking of the drugs, which is the second profitable source of capital after weapons smuggling, and spread addiction among target populations, he added, reminding that most of the American addicts are from the Blacks.
The drug problem will not be uprooted in the world until arrogant powers are annihilated, the commander underlined.
He described Afghanistan as the main source of drug production in the world, and underlined that NATO forces in Afghanistan are currently in control of 8,000 tons of drugs which they aim to smuggle into other countries to captivate their nations through addiction.

via elderofziyon.blogspot.com

I guess the American finds in the Afghan of Lithium used for laptop batteries (according to the NYTimes) and other minerals shows that the Yankees are trying to corner the Opium market? Those evil zionists. Always trying to confuse me with their technology that allow the Jihad to spread viral hate messages on facebook and youtube. Makes me so angry! oooh you see... you made me hit my camel.

Quoted by email using noahdavidsimon's posterous

Egyptian Khaled Said murdered by police for video of dirty drug cops

Khaled Said, a 28 year old Alexandrian man, who got killed on the hands of two policemen a few days ago. And the story is equally disturbing and terrifying in its simplicity: He simply was sitting in a Cyber Cafe, when two policemen walked inside and demanded the ID's of everyone who was sitting there. When he refused to give it to them, they grabbed him, tied him up, dragged him out of the Cafe, took him to a nearby building where for 20 minutes they beat him to death, smashing his head on the handrail of the staircase, while he screamed and begged for his life, and as people around watched helplessly, knowing that if they did something, they would be accused of assaulting a police officer, which would pretty much guarantee them a similar fate. This went on for 20 minutes.

After the police discovered he died, they took the dead body to the Police station, where the Police Officer ordered them to throw it back on the street and call an ambulance, in order not to be held responsibly for him. When his brother- who had the american citizenship- found out, he went and confronted the head of the Police in his neighborhood, who told him that the story isn't true, and that his brother was a known drug offender and that he died from asphyxiation, for swallowing a bag of drugs when the police caught him with it.

via elderofziyon.blogspot.com

Oh Shit Elvis is Dead? and it wasn't a drug overdose grandma!

He couldn't do the deuce. This was probably the look on his face as he expired.

It wasn't a heart condition that killed the King of Rock 'n' Roll, it was chronic constipation.
This is the new theory of Elvis Presley's longtime friend Dr. George Nichopoulos, Fox News reported on Wednesday.
"We weren't sure [of the exact cause of death] so I continued to do some research," said Nichopoulos, who was also the personal physician to the legendary singer. "I had some doctors call me from different places and different med schools that were doing research on constipation and different problems you can get into with it."
Nichopoulos, who was with Elvis when he died, included his theory about the icon's death in his book, "The King and Dr. Nick."
According to his autopsy, Nichopoulos said, Elvis' colon was 5 to 6 inches in diameter, nearly twice the size of the average person. It was also 8 to 9 feet long, compared with the normal 4 to 5 feet.
"We didn't realize until the autopsy that his constipation was as bad," he said, noting that when he died there was waste in his colon that was several months old.

via jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com

Even great talented rock stars are brought down to earth by a lot of shit.  Imagine all those kids who grew up being told that their hero died of a drug overdose when the truth is he couldn't poop. A lot of mean spirited angry parents were full of shit.If you couldn't take a dump you would be taking drugs too. People do abuse drugs, and they do die from them... but a lot of people who die take drugs.

Posted via web from noahdavidsimon's posterous

Europe drug trade funds Hezbollah

Israel needs to set precedent for the world and completely legalize all vices. the funds for these narcotics goes to terrorism. It is not enough for Israel to reflect American policy and have medical Marijuana

German police suspect Hezbollah, of using drug trafficking in Europe to fund activities, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

According to a report on the magazine's Web site, German police arrested two Lebanese citizens living in Germany in October after they transferred large sums of money to a family in Lebanon that has connections to Hezbollah's leadership, including Secretary General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. Suspicion was first raised in May 2008, when police found 8.7 million euros in the bags of four Lebanese men at the Frankfurt airport. A police search of their apartment in Speyer, Germany turned up an additional 500,000 euros. According to the report, police suspected the men were selling cocaine in Europe and sending the profits back to Lebanon. It added that the two suspects were trained at a Hezbollah camp. The suspects deny the allegations. In other developments in Lebanon, the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL began five days of maneuvers in southern Lebanon that are to include live ammunition, including artillery. Israel has reportedly stepped up its patrols along the Lebanese border with helicopters and pilotless drones and its naval patrols near the border. In recent years Israel has accused Hezbollah of drug trafficking along the Lebanon-Israel border, a charge Nasrallah denies. In a speech in November he accused Israel of trying to put a political spin on what he said was a drug operation run by Lebanese drug dealers in collusion with Israeli border guards.

via haaretz.com

Posted via web from noahdavidsimon's posterous

Anti Depressants for Accident Victims

waking up out of coma and finding yourself on some serious drugs