benefits of sunshine vitamin ( vitamin D )

The body makes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight, a reason for its nickname as the "sunshine vitamin." It is added to milk and fatty fish like salmon but many people do not get enough of it.

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and is considered important for bone health. In adults, vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteoporosis, and it can lead to rickets in children.

A number of recent studies have also indicated vitamin D may offer a variety of other health benefits, including protecting against cancer, peripheral artery disease and tuberculosis.

During an eight-year follow-up the researchers found that the quarter of volunteers with the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood were at greater risk of dying.

Even when accounting for factors such as heart disease, exercise and other conditions, the researchers found that the risk was double for people with between 5 to 10 nanograms per millilitre of vitamin D in their blood, Dobnig said.

Most doctors believe people should have between 20 to 30 nanograms per millilitre of the vitamin in their blood, he added in a telephone interview.

What causes this effect is not clear, but Dobnig pointed to a host of studies suggesting links to high blood pressure, cancer and fractures as places to begin looking.

The potential health risk of low levels of vitamin D should also prod physicians to be more aware of the potential problem, especially for the immobile, elderly and others who spend a great amount of time indoors, he added.

Many doctors agree that people with low levels of vitamin D cannot make up for it safely by sitting in the sun, but should take supplements

taken from ....Reuter

Ballack say for Turkey's team

Germany captain Michael Ballack believes Turkey's unpredictability makes the outcome of Wednesday's Euro 2008 semi-final in Basle too close to call.

The Turks have a mountain of injury and suspension problems ahead of their match with the highly-fancied Germans, but their never-say-die attitude makes them dangerous opponents.

"Turkey are certainly not better than us tactically, technically and in terms of individual players," said the Chelsea midfielder, who excelled in Germany's 3-2 win over Portugal in the last eight. "But they are unpredictable and they won't underestimate any of us."

He added: "Turkey have up until now always been brilliantly set up against their opponents and they almost have a bit of the German mentality about them.

"It will be a tough task, but we have a big chance of making the final."

taken from DailyExpress

Obama Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation

In his statement, Senator Obama explained:

For the past years, our energy policy in this country has been simply to let the special interests have their way—opening up loopholes for the oil companies and speculators so that they could reap record profits while the rest of us pay $4.00 a gallon. My plan fully closes the Enron Loophole and restores common-sense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future.

The “Enron Loophole” was slipped into law by Senator Phil Gramm in late 2000 at the behest of Enron lobbyists to exempt some energy traders from the regulations and public protections applicable to exchange-traded commodities. As a result, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is unable to fully oversee the oil futures market and investigate cases where excessive speculation may be driving up oil prices. Many economists believe that the speculation could be adding between $20 and $50 to the price of every barrel of oil.

A vibrant oil futures market can help producers and buyers hedge against swings in the price of oil, but an absence of common sense rules allows a few energy lobbyists and speculators to undermine the public confidence in the integrity of the market. It's another example of the special interest politics that put the interests of Big Oil and speculators ahead of the interests of working people. Today, Barack called for stepped-up oversight of energy markets to help stabilize oil prices and ease the burden of high energy prices for American families.

taken from Obama's site

Interest with McCain ?

- Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday that the search for alternatives to the country's dependence on foreign oil is so urgent that he's willing to throw money at it.

The Arizona senator proposed a $300 million prize for whoever can develop a better automobile battery, and $5,000 tax credits for consumers who buy new zero-emission vehicles. The latest proposal is in addition to his support for overturning the federal ban on offshore oil drilling.

"In the quest for alternatives to oil, our government has thrown around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure. From now on, we will encourage heroic efforts in engineering, and we will reward the greatest success," McCain said in a speech at Fresno State University.

taken from ...YahooNews

Hillary support Obama

taken from Hillary's speech ... :

"...

Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him, and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I have had a front row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.

In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American Dream. As a community organizer, in the state senate, as a United States Senator - he has dedicated himself to ensuring the dream is realized. And in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process and invested in our common future.

Now when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House, and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity, and progress. And that's exactly what we're going to do by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009...."

source : http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=7903

Enjoy Linuxmint 5 ( Elyssa )

Clement Lefebvre has announced the release of Linux Mint 5.0 on June 8th, an enhanced and user-friendly desktop Linux distribution based on Ubuntu 8.04: "It is with great pleasure that I officially announce the release of Linux Mint 5 Elyssa." Among the many new characteristics of this release the most notable are: miscellaneous improvements to mintMenu, mintUpdate and mintInstall; various feature enhancements on the GNOME desktop; performance improvements through reduced memory usage; improved usability compliant with the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines; more available software and better localisation; changes in default software selection (Transmission, Rhythmbox, Brasero...); upstream improvements, including the PulseAudio sound server and a new command-line firewall configuration tool

source : http://distrowatch.com/

Van Basten vs Donadoni

'I am very calm but aware of what this game means to my professional career.' Donadoni and Van Basten played under Arrigo Sacchi at AC Milan and have no doubt borrowed ideas from the Italian legend. 'The fact that we both had Sacchi as one of our coaches has given us an important experience that has no doubt proved useful,' admitted Donadoni. 'I have known Van Basten for 20 years and we are good friends and we will continue to be friends regardless of tomorrow's result.' Donadoni is confident his men will not underestimate their opponents.

source : http://soccernet.espn.go.com