Wednesday, July 13, 2005

BBC: NO TERRORISTS IN LONDON!

The BBC has re-edited some of its coverage of the London Underground and bus bombings to avoid labelling the perpetrators as "terrorists", it was disclosed yesterday. Early reporting of the attacks on the BBC's website spoke of terrorists but the same coverage was changed to describe the attackers simply as "bombers". The BBC's guidelines state that its credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments". Consequently, "the word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding" and its use should be "avoided", the guidelines say. Rod Liddle, a former editor of the Today programme, has accused the BBC of "institutionalised political correctness" in its coverage of British Muslims. A BBC spokesman said last night: "The word terrorist is not banned from the BBC."



THE LATEST OBESITY SCARE

They don't even know how common this "new" form of diabetes is but that does not stop them from blaming obesity. Apparently they have never even heard of epidemiology. And the fact that the condition is found mostly in African-American children could not be relevant, of course. Blame anything rather than peer into that one!

The obesity epidemic appears to be fueling a hybrid type of diabetes that afflicts adults and children and, some believe, may increase the devastating complications of the disease. Dubbed "double diabetes" by some and "diabetes one-and-a-half" by others, the combination of types 1 and 2 diabetes symptoms confounds doctors attempting to accurately diagnose patients and find the best medicines to treat them. "We don't really know how prevalent this is," said Dr. Francine Kaufman, head of the Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "We are just at the vista of realizing it's out there and trying to determine how do we get an understanding of it."

Even Kaufman, former president of the American Diabetes Association and author of the book "Diabesity" - about the obesity epidemic and related rise in type 2 diabetes - does not always recognize the double diabetes cases. Her patient, Cameron Stark, had classic symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Then 14, she experienced unquenchable thirst. She was losing weight rapidly, because her body wasn't absorbing nutrients. She was vomiting. She felt tired all the time, one day falling asleep on the marble floor of her home. At just a little under 5 feet tall and about 200 pounds and with a family history of the disease, Stark appeared to be a prime candidate for the diagnosis.

A blood sugar test confirmed it. She was given insulin to control the high sugar levels in her blood, and the Sherman Oaks teen joined the growing cadre of children diagnosed with what used to be called adult onset and now known as type 2 diabetes. One month later, another test on Stark revealed signs of the rarer variation of the disease known as juvenile diabetes and commonly called type 1 diabetes.

"It was a whole different ballgame from that day forward," said Cameron's mother, Shelley Stark. Now 15, Stark's daughter appears to be part of an emerging population with a complex set of symptoms that may require multiple medications as well as strict adherence to a healthy diet and regular exercise.

Obesity long has been associated with type 2 diabetes, a condition in which the body doesn't use insulin efficiently. Increasingly, people with type 1 diabetes - in which the body does not produce sufficient insulin - are becoming obese and showing signs of type 2. "I think sadly we are going to see more of this," predicted Dr. Trevor Orchard, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh and a leading researcher of the double diabetes phenomenon......

Although they don't agree on how the process works or which name to use to describe it, clinicians and researchers now are finding evidence of both diseases simultaneously in the same patients. The rise in obesity is seen as a leading culprit. In one study, for example, researchers at the University of Washington found that a majority of children with type 2 diabetes also had signs of type 1 diabetes in the form of antibodies and T cells, immune system markers that respond to cell damage. "There is some indication that obesity, by putting more stress on the beta cells, may in fact make the cells more susceptible to immune attack," said Dr. Jerry P. Palmer, who is head of endocrinology and metabolism at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Washington. Palmer uses the term "diabetes one-and-a-half" to describe these patients.

In another study, researchers examined children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and found evidence of type 2, particularly in African American children. Dr. Dorothy Becker, a pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, hypothesized that the excess weight associated with type 2 diabetes accelerated the onset of type 1. "They would have gotten type 1 later if they had not been overweight," she said. She calls this condition "double diabetes."

More here



VP Day labelled too politically correct: "The Tasmanian branch of the RSL [Australian veterans' association] has slammed use of the name Victory in the Pacific Day for the anniversary of the end of World War II. RSL state president Ian Kennett says 'VP day' is a politically correct name invented by the Government to protect trade links with Japan. He says VJ Day should still apply. "The veterans I think are let down, they fought the Japanese and that's who they fought, not the Pacific," he said. "The Japanese capitulated after the two atomic bombs were detonated over Japan and most veterans are of the belief it should remain VJ day. "It's just one of those things, I think political correctness has come on board and they're [Japan] probably one of our biggest trade partners and I think people in some government areas have decided to make it VP day and not VJ day."

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