Mês: setembro 2016

No Fly Zone in Syria

Por | 30 set, 2016 | , , , |

The War Against Syria: Both Sides Go to “plan B”   The Saker  Sep. 30, 2016 In view of the total failure of the US policy to regime-change Syria and overthrow Assad, the time has now come for the United States to make a fundamental choice: to negotiate or double down. Apparently, Kerry and others initially tried to negotiate, but the Pentagon decided otherwise, treacherously broke the terms of the agreement and (illegally) bombed the Syrian forces. At which point, Kerry, Power and the rest of them felt like they had no choice but to “join” the Pentagon and double down. Now the US “warns” Russia that if the Aleppo offensive continues, the US will not resume negotiations. This is a rather bizarre threat considering that the US is clearly unable to stick to any agreement and that the Russians have already concluded that the US is “not-agreement-capable”. The Russia reaction was predictable: Lavrov’s admitted that he could not even take his American colleagues seriously. Okay, so both sides are fed-up with each other. What comes next? The US will send more weapons to Daesh, including MANPAD s, TOW s and Javelins. The effect of that will be marginal. Russian fixed-wing aircraft fly at over 5,000m where they are out of reach from MANPADs. They are currently the main provider of firepower support for the Syrians. Russian combat helicopters, while probably not immune to MANPADs, are still...

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Donald Trump

Por | 30 set, 2016 | , |

Donald Trump Is Being Outplayed by Women—and He’s Losing His Mind Over It   The GOP nominee’s pathological sexism could be what kills his presidential hopes. Good. Joan Walsh Sep. 30, 2016 You’ve heard of the 3 am phone call, the one every presidential nominee must be prepared to answer ably. Now we have the 3 am tweet storm, where the would-be leader of the free world melts down at the temerity of mere women to challenge his political dominance. Four days after his pathetic debate performance, Donald Trump is still digging himself deeper down the hole that Hillary Clinton dispatched him to on Monday night when she disclosed his racist and sexist treatment of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. He didn’t deny Clinton’s claims that he’d fat-shamed his employee, calling her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping”; he essentially confirmed it, telling Fox and Friends the next morning that she’d gained weight and it was a problem for him. Then his allies began attacking Machado for rumors that she’d been involved in a murder plot—she was never charged, with anything—and in the porn trade. The story’s latest twist is Trump’s meltdown in the wee small hours of Friday morning, attacking both Clinton and Machado on Twitter, and urging his 11 million followers to look at a “sextape” of Machado (one that Snopes.com says doesn’t actually exist). We already know the Trump phenomenon channels the tremendous and tragic...

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Lula

Por | 29 set, 2016 | , |

As 149 páginas que o Brasil não leu   Lula era ou não o comandante da Lava Jato? Perdoe o spoiler: ao ler a denúncia, você vai concluir que era   Guilherme Fiuza 29/09/2016 Este Brasil lindo e trigueiro, malandro e brejeiro, se fixou no PowerPoint. Tudo bem. A Olimpíada acabou, o pessoal precisa se divertir com alguma coisa. Mas, sem querer ofender ninguém, fica a sugestão: Brasil, leia a denúncia do Ministério Público Federal contra Lula. Não, não estamos falando de reportagem, nem de comentário, nem de flash na TV, no rádio ou na internet. Leia a denúncia assinada por 13 procuradores da República. São 149 páginas. Não dói tanto assim. Até diverte. Ao final, você poderá tirar sua própria conclusão sobre a polêmica do momento: Lula era ou não era o comandante máximo do esquema da Lava-Jato? Perdoe o spoiler: você vai concluir que era. E que PowerPoint não é nada.De saída, uma ressalva: a referida denúncia, apesar de sua extensão que dá uma preguiça danada neste Brasil brasileiro, é só o começo. As obras completas do filho do Brasil demandarão muito mais páginas – se é que um dia chegarão a ser publicadas na íntegra. De qualquer forma, ao final dessas primeiras 149, você não terá mais dúvidas sobre quem é Luiz Inácio da Silva e sobre quem é o Brasil delinquente que o impeachment barrou. Os procuradores seguiram...

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EM = MS

Por | 28 set, 2016 | |

Use of metabolic syndrome drugs in multiple sclerosis Drugs used for metabolic syndrome may reduce MS activity in people with MS and obesity Last updated: 28th September 2016   Metabolic syndrome is the medical term for a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. Since both MS and metabolic syndrome influence inflammation in the brain, researchers from Argentina questioned whether the two tablets used for metabolic syndrome (pioglitazone and metformin) could reduce MS activity in obese patients. Ten people with MS received the first drug (pioglitazone), 20 people received the second drug (metformin) and the remaining 20 people did not receive any drugs. Researchers observed that using either of those tablets can reduce MS activity measured by MRI or immunologic factors in blood samples. Therefore drugs used for metabolic syndrome may help obese patients with MS. The results of this study, although enlightening, are based on a small number of patients, and await further investigation. Read the full article (external website opens in a new window)   See the...

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EM = MS

Por | 28 set, 2016 | |

Bigger brains can protect against physical disability Research suggests that higher brain growth is linked to lower risk for disability progression in people with MS Last updated: 28th September 2016   Brain cells can compensate the effect of damage caused by MS. This means that MS progression depends, indirectly, on the number of brain cells that exist even before the onset. If there are more brain cells at the beginning it may take the brain longer to burn out and show signs of physical disability progression. This phenomenon is called brain reserve, and depends on the volume of the whole brain. In this study, researchers from USA looked at the brain volume in people with MS from Serbia and found that those with higher brain growth over a lifetime, which is indirectly related to brain volume, were less likely to become disabled after five years of follow up. Future studies should investigate whether the effects of brain growth is high enough to be used in clinical practice. Read the full article (external website opens in a new window)   See the...

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