Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Cordyceps, Reishi, Lion’s Mane High in Bioactive Compounds
AUTHOR BRIDGET GREENWOOD More evidence of the healthful properties of medicinal mushrooms: the mushrooms classed as higher basidiomycetes (including Cordyceps, Reishi, and Lion’s Mane) have been analyzed and the findings published in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. The report found that a wide variety of medicinal mushrooms have such impressive nutritional properties they should be part of well-balanced diets.
Culinary and medicinal mushrooms are a happy combination of delicious flavor and health-giving properties. A report in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms (by N Cohen, J Cohen, et al, Mycolivia Ltd, Israel) has added to the scientific evidence of the nutritional values of certain mushroom species.
Medicinal mushrooms have been an ingredient in the traditional medicine kit for thousands of years, and are now being developed for their potential anti cancer and immune system boosting properties. The scientists analyzed mushrooms known as basidiomycetes. These mushrooms include Reishi (also known as lingzhi and Ganoderma lucidum); Lion’s Mane (also known as Hericium erinaceus) and Cordyceps militaris.
15 types of medicinal mushroom strains were tested, and all were found to be good sources of proteins and carbohydrates. They are also high in GABA, the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in our central nervous system. Many popular supplements contain GABA. GABA amino acid supplements are commonly used to obtain a sense of calmness in the middle of an otherwise stressful life.
But what other bioactive compounds are beneficial for our health?
Medicinal mushrooms: lovastatin to reduce cholesterol
Heart 300x203 Cordyceps, Reishi, Lion’s Mane High in Bioactive Compounds
Lovastatin in medicinal mushrooms can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease
One of the most important compounds identified in the tested medicinal mushrooms is lovastatin. Lovastatin has been proven to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. It naturally occurs in several mushrooms, with Lion’s Mane and reishi having the highest lovastatin content.
Medicinal mushrooms: cordycepin to fight cancer
Synthesized Cordycepin has been used in as a cancer treatment. But this bioactive compound occurs naturally in Cordyceps militaris. It is possible that other medicinal mushrooms will also provide sources of anti cancer drugs in the future.
Culinary medicinal mushrooms could be key ingredients in a well-balanced diet, and a potential source of disease-fighting bioactive compounds. Please go to this site and place your order NOW! www.ganolifevo.com/wwammcafe
Monday, September 29, 2014
Medicinal Mushroom Cordyceps Reduces Liver Cancer Growth
AUTHOR BRIDGET GREENWOOD
The medicinal mushroom Cordyceps cicadae was tested for its anti-cancer properties. Would Cordyceps cicadae be effective in treating liver cancer? Results are promising.
Liver cancer is one of the world’s most diagnosed cancers. There are several types of liver cancer, and Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common. Incidences of liver cancer are particularly high in East Asia. In China, for example, liver cancer has the second highest mortality rates for men.
This high incidence of liver cancer in China is thought to result from the widespread consumption of grains contaminated with aflatoxins, though liver virus infections like Hepatitis B and C are also factors. Aflatoxins are one of the most carcinogenic substances in existence.
Liver cancer is treated with surgery—transplant is often a last resort. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are also usual treatments, though the harsh side effects mean improved techniques are continually being developed.
Researchers (Hualin Wang, Jing Zhang, et al) from the University of Hong Kong, developed an in vitro experiment to investigate treating Hepatocellular carcinoma with extracts from the medicinal mushroom Cordyceps.
Medicinal mushrooms like Cordyceps are often used in conjunction with chemotherapy drugs, as the mushrooms may boost the immune system and decrease the side effects. Cordyceps Sinensis has been shown to possess anticancer properties. Would Cordyceps cicadae be effective against liver cancer cells?
Cordyceps treats liver cancer: experiment
University of Hong Kong 300x200 Medicinal Mushroom Cordyceps Reduces Liver Cancer Growth
Cordyceps medicinal mushroom may help with liver cancer: University of Hong Kong study
The researchers treated human liver cancer cells with water extracts of Cordyceps for a 48 hour period. The cancer cells were then harvested and analyzed using mass spectrometry and other methods.
Cordyceps was shown to inhibit cancer cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. This reduction of cancer cell proliferation was significant as the Cordyceps targeted specific proteins in the cancer cells’ growth mechanism.
The researchers concluded that water extract of Cordyceps cicadae reduced the human liver cancer cell growth via cell cycle arrest.
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Sunday, September 28, 2014
Medicinal Mushroom Cordyceps Reduces Liver Cancer Growth
AUTHOR BRIDGET GREENWOOD The medicinal mushroom Cordyceps cicadae was tested for its anti-cancer properties. Would Cordyceps cicadae be effective in treating liver cancer? Results are promising.
Liver cancer is one of the world’s most diagnosed cancers. There are several types of liver cancer, and Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common. Incidences of liver cancer are particularly high in East Asia. In China, for example, liver cancer has the second highest mortality rates for men.
This high incidence of liver cancer in China is thought to result from the widespread consumption of grains contaminated with aflatoxins, though liver virus infections like Hepatitis B and C are also factors. Aflatoxins are one of the most carcinogenic substances in existence.
Liver cancer is treated with surgery—transplant is often a last resort. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are also usual treatments, though the harsh side effects mean improved techniques are continually being developed.
Researchers (Hualin Wang, Jing Zhang, et al) from the University of Hong Kong, developed an in vitro experiment to investigate treating Hepatocellular carcinoma with extracts from the medicinal mushroom Cordyceps.
Medicinal mushrooms like Cordyceps are often used in conjunction with chemotherapy drugs, as the mushrooms may boost the immune system and decrease the side effects. Cordyceps Sinensis has been shown to possess anticancer properties. Would Cordyceps cicadae be effective against liver cancer cells?
Cordyceps treats liver cancer: experiment
University of Hong Kong 300x200 Medicinal Mushroom Cordyceps Reduces Liver Cancer Growth
Cordyceps medicinal mushroom may help with liver cancer: University of Hong Kong study
The researchers treated human liver cancer cells with water extracts of Cordyceps for a 48 hour period. The cancer cells were then harvested and analyzed using mass spectrometry and other methods.
Cordyceps was shown to inhibit cancer cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. This reduction of cancer cell proliferation was significant as the Cordyceps targeted specific proteins in the cancer cells’ growth mechanism.
The researchers concluded that water extract of Cordyceps cicadae reduced the human liver cancer cell growth via cell cycle arrest.
Go to this site to place your order NOW! www.ganolifevo.com/wwammcafe.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Cordyceps Extract Improves Immune System Function
AUTHOR BRIDGET GREENWOOD The medicinal mushroom Cordyceps Sinensis contains several powerful bioactive compounds. Some extracts of Cordyceps are being tested for their anti cancer properties, and a recent study (April 2014) has found that Cordyceps extracts can greatly improve our immune system by stimulating the production of macrophages.
Cordyceps, now also known as Ophiocordyceps Sinensis, is a valuable medicinal mushroom long used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Cordyceps Sinensis has been used traditionally to treat lung and kidney diseases, and also as an aphrodisiac. It is such a popular medicine that it is often overharvested. But Cordyceps is now the focus of scientific research. Extracts of the medicinal mushroom have been shown to reduce the growth of liver cancer and endometrial cancer cells.
Wu DT, Meng LZ, et al, researchers from the University of Macau, China, extracted a polysaccharide from the medicinal mushroom. This polysaccharide, known as cordysinan, was examined for its effects on the immune system.
Cordyceps extract improves immune system
The researchers tested the solution properties of cordysinan. Its molecular weight and intrinsic viscosity were measured and recorded. But would Cordyceps boost the immune system?
The researchers discovered that cordysinan stimulated macrophage functions. This is a key piece of evidence for Cordyceps’ having powerful immune system effects, and could lead to even more uses for the medicinal mushroom.
Macrophages are vital parts of our immune system. They are formed from monocytes, which are white blood cells. These monocytes leave the blood stream in response to infections or tissue damage, and go directly to the affected organ or tissue where they become macrophages.
The macrophages modify themselves in response to the specific damage or infection. They either repair the damaged cells, or destroy the disease-causing cells. Macrophages also stimulate immune cells to respond to pathogens such as cancer cells.
If the Cordyceps extract stimulates macrophage production, this medicinal mushroom will help us boost our immunity to microbes.
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Friday, September 26, 2014
EBOLA Protection with Medicinal Mushrooms
EBOLA Protection with Medicinal Mushrooms?
AUTHOR SHARON CORNET
The Ebola virus, which kills up to 90% of those who are infected with it, has now entered the United States of America. The Ebola pandemic, which has been followed and quarantined since 1976 in Central Africa, and a more recent outbreak in Western Africa, has caused some American and Canadian doctors to have isolated themselves after returning from countries from the African continent. But is there a cure for Ebola? Could medicinal mushrooms help protect against ebola or even treat it?
Most people say there is not possibly a cure, but to fully understand the dilemma, and how the human immune system is attacked in the presence of deadly viruses, is exactly what is needed at a time when our nation is experiencing fear from the unknown factors regarding this kind of hemorrhagic fever.
Two Americans are infected with Ebola presently. One of them, Kent Brantly, a 33-year old doctor from Texas, was working at an Ebola treatment center (run by two faith-based organizations: Samaritan’s Purse, and Reuters) in Liberia when he began showing symptoms of having the virus. He was flown to Atlanta in a protective suit so he could be monitored at the Emory University Hospital. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told Fox News that Dr. Brantly “appears to be improving, and that’s encouraging.”
Nancy Writebol, the second aid worker for another charity, SIM USA, would be expecting treatment soon. Both patients’ progress will be known over the next few days.
Improve immunity to treat symptoms of Ebola virus
Ebola virus disease is very deadly to the majority of its hosts. How viruses work is still a mysterious process. Those who overcome them typically have a super charged immune system, as well as other factors of health and medical care in place.
Currently there is no treatment, vaccine, or cure for Ebola, which is a viral hemorrhagic fever. The symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and external and internal bleeding. Fluid replacement is crucial as well as fever-reducing medication, and antibiotics that help the immune system fight the virus could also improve chances of survival for the patient.
The key to those who survive the Ebola virus depends on the strength of their immune system along with getting proper supportive care at a medical facility. Early treatment is also extremely important, and may have helped keep the death rate lower, says Stephan Monroe, an expert of emerging infectious diseases at the CDC.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that out of 1,323 cases, the deaths have been 729 (death rate of 55%). However, the mortality rate of Ebola depends upon the strain that patients catch, where some are at 50%, and others are up to a 90% death rate.
Immune-boosting anti-viral medicinal mushrooms a near-cure for Ebola?
The Ebola virus is often a fatal disease, but medicinal mushrooms may help fight off the effects of this, or any other virus in general. These are just regular edible mushrooms (dried or cooked, never raw) such as white mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, shiitake, reishi, maitake, cordyceps, crimini, turkey tail, or a host of other excellent mushrooms that are well documented for their anti-viral, antioxidant, immune-boosting, antibacterial, anti-cancer, and even anti-tumor constituents. Medicinal mushrooms also boost the production of macrophages that attract viruses. They recruit natural killer cells that fight viruses and other foreign attackers as well.
The anti-viral and immune system enhancing qualities of mushrooms like reishi (Ganoderma species, also called Lingzhi) and other mushrooms may help since people who take or eat mushrooms regularly tend to get sick less. This means less colds, flu, and possibly even viruses that cause the Avian flu (aka “bird flu”), or possibly even Ebola virus disease.
Paul Stamets, a mycologist (mushroom/fungi expert) whose mother cured her cancer using medicinal mushrooms, has said regarding viral flu sicknesses, “In my work with the U.S. Defense Department’s BioShield BioDefense program, ethanol and water extracts of the living mycelium of Ganoderma resinaceum inhibited virus replication as measured by the viral yield reduction (VYR) assay of Flu A (H5N1) aka “bird flu,” and Flu B viruses. Notably, a ‘traditional’ hot water extract of the fruitbodies arising from the same mycelium demonstrated no notable antiviral activity.” (Stamets, 2008).
Remember that there is currently no known cure for Ebola, even though the current experimental serum seems to be working well. Ebola has a death rate ranging from 50-90% according to experts. Infowars says the threat of this Ebola virus is played down since you have to exchange bodily fluids with someone, but that if avoiding fluids from the human body (sweat, feces, secretions, organs, blood, etc.), or even quarantining Ebola patients, then “how in the world have more than 100 health workers contracted the virus so far?”
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Can Cordyceps Cure Flu?
AUTHOR BRIDGET GREENWOOD
Can extracts of the powerful medicinal mushroom Cordyceps cure the influenza, or flu, virus? A new animal study finds that Cordyceps militaris has an anti-influenza effect.
The annual 5-month flu “season” leads to work days lost, hospitalizations, and even death. According to the Government of Canada, since the start of the 2013 flu season until August 2014 there have been 329 deaths in Canada alone, and many thousands worldwide.
The influenza virus which causes this infections disease evolves rapidly. In flu pandemic years, where the virus mutates into new strains of the virus, millions may die. A new strain of the H1N1 virus, developed in 2009, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Flu vaccines provide significant protection against the flu virus, especially for seniors and people with compromised immune systems. But these flu vaccines are not always available for people in developing countries. In addition, H1N1 vaccinations caused severe side effect in some countries, especially in Scandinavia.
Researchers at Duksung Women’s University (Seoul, Korea) developed an animal study to see if the medicinal mushroom Cordyceps militaris would have an anti-influenza effect, and could be used in the future to prevent and treat flu.
The parasitic fungus Cordyceps has been used for centuries in traditional medicine, and in recent years is being tested for its bioactive medicinal properties, particularly for its immune boosting effects.
Animal study results: Cordyceps medicinal mushroom prevents flu
The researchers (Lee HH, Park H, et al) gave Cordyceps extracts, or a control substance, to mice for 7 days. The mice were then intranasally infected with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 flue virus. Their body weight and immune system functions were analyzed.
Cordyceps extract boosted immune system response by increasing the amount of natural killer cells, which indicates that the Cordyceps has an anti-viral effect. The anti-influenza effect of the medicinal mushroom was also shown in the stable body weight, and increased survival rate, of the mice given Cordyceps.
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Saturday, September 20, 2014
Recipe For Success
Friday, September 19, 2014
Heart of the Marleys
Heart of the Marleys
BY MICHAEL MCKNIGHT
How would Bob Marley feel about his grandson’s playing on a team whose first string has as many white guys on it as black guys, a team where everyone is given a shot and size is insignificant? (Beginning with Nico, Tulane’s starting linebackers go 5' 9", 5' 10" and 5' 11".) A team that had the most takeaways (and, ahem, the most penalties) of any team in Conference USA last year? A group that plays in New Orleans, whose harbor imported more slaves than any other in the U.S., with a culture where amalgamation is the rule?
You’ll forgive Rohan, who went to every one of his son’s home games last fall, if he says that the whole picture reminds him of the song “War,” whose lyrics are an almost verbatim transcription of the speech the late Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, revered among Rastafarians, delivered to the U.N. in 1963:
Until there are no longer
First-class and second-class citizens of any nation;
Until the color of a man’s skin
Is of no more significance than the color of his eyes:
Me say war.
*****
For Curtis Johnson, taking what had been a 2–10 team in 2012 to the New Orleans Bowl last year, even though they lost to Louisiana-Lafayette 24–21, felt the same as it felt for Rohan to push the last branch aside and lay eyes on the waterfall whose sound had lured him deeper into the property where he would find his life’s work. It is part of the Spanish River, this waterfall he now “owns,” and it runs clear and relentless, formed by house-sized boulders of metamorphic rock left here by long-dead volcanoes.
“I could see Nico getting a shot at the next level as a special teams player,” Johnson says, “but if that doesn’t work out for him, he’ll be a multimillionaire doing something. You don’t see aggressive, smart guys like him, with that kind of personality, very often.”
“I always wanted to make something for myself,” Nico says. “I’ve never said, ‘I’m gonna do it like my dad did it,’ or ‘I want to be like my grandfather.’ Every individual is supposed to have something he wants to go get, something he wants so bad he don’t need anybody’s help. That’s what I get from my father and grandfather.”
“No one has handed Nico anyt’ing in life,” says Warren Marley. “That’s Rohan’s way. Just like no one gave Ro anyt’ing.”
While we’re hypothesizing, what would Bob think if he could see his nephew, his son and his grandson -- their skins ranging from white to bronze to brown -- standing on former slave land raising ceramic cups to toast the thriving, earth-friendly business that bears his name, the youngest among them attending one of America’s finest colleges on an athletic scholarship?
For this, Brenton needs just two whistles: “Him would smile and say, ‘Good.’ ” www.ganolifevo.com/ganoforlifeusa
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Heart of the Marleys
Heart of the Marleys
BY MICHAEL MCKNIGHT
An impromptu family reunion takes shape. Everyone piles into three cars and heads to Hellshire Beach, one of the few places where Rohan’s dad still flickers in his memory. Bob would run with his children there, but it was not a jog. Everything was a race with him, and the slightly built rock star never once let Ziggy or Cedella or Stephen or Rohan or anyone else beat him.
It’s clear that the swimmers recognize Rohan and his brother Julian, 39, yet another Grammy-nominated Marley recording artist. The Marleys smile and splash and juggle a soccer ball with the other beachgoers, but they are not asked to pose for photographs. That’s not because of a security team or because people are afraid to ask, but “because they’re used to seeing us here,” Rohan says. “We grew up here.”
In one of the meager huts along the shoreline, lobsters and snapper that were drifting around swimmers’ ankles that morning are laid on a table and quickly devoured by the Marley clan, who wipe up the spicy remains with festival (sweet fried bread). Bali Vaswani, president of Marley Coffee’s Jamaican operations and a longtime family friend, often serves as the silk to Rohan’s sandpaper. He checks his phone and updates his boss about a developing retail opportunity in Korea.
Rohan’s success didn’t happen overnight. More like 10 years. Among the complications was the vague Rastafarian edict about abstaining from caffeine, but during a 2007 pilgrimage to -Ethiopia -- the cradle of the arabica bean, a place where his dad’s music seemed to play -constantly -- Rohan saw clearly that he was walking the right path. He is constantly traveling, so get-togethers like this one with his sons are rare. The boys are not practicing Rastafarians, but they know enough about the faith for all three of them to look toward the sky after each premeal prayer and to blend amiably with the people around them at Hellshire, who make as much in a month as the cost of the iPhone that Joshua dropped in the sand.
A film crew from Sports -Illustrated accompanies the clan to Trench Town, where the security of the equipment van is questioned. Rohan bristles -- “What you mean somebody have to watch the van?” he asks -- because it’s insulting to the people of Trench Town. Those people are underdogs too, his glare says.
Nico Marley runs up behind his football coach, claps headphones over the 52-year-old man’s ears and says, “Listen to this!” -- surprising- Johnson not with modern trap music but with songs from Johnson’s own childhood, immediately improving his day. “Here’s what they do that’s so impressive to me,” Johnson says of Rohan and Nico. “They have a serious side -- dead serious -- but I don’t think they’ve ever had a bad day. They don’t think they’ve ever had a bad day.” www.ganolifevo.com/ganoforlifeusa
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Heart of the Marleys
Heart of the Marleys
BY MICHAEL MCKNIGHT
Despite erratic play from a rotation of young quarterbacks, Tulane played in a bowl game for the first time in 11 years, thanks to a defense led by a diminutive true freshman linebacker whose only other scholarship offer came from Duquesne, an FCS program. Years before he met Nico, Johnson would yelp a famous Marley lyric -- Don’t let them fool ya! -- at Hurricanes and Saints practices, a reminder of the importance of film study. And now the grandson of that singer logs countless hours in his film room, where Nico is often joined by a defensive end from Akure, -Nigeria. “Bob Marley’s music is very important throughout Africa,” Ade Aruna says. “My dad played it for us every night. He would play it again in the morning. . . . It would make us feel better.” There have been shelves of books and stacks of films about Marley, but few of them describe him as efficiently as this 20-year-old African does: “He was an activist for oppressed people but also an artist who portrayed the world for what it is. And what it can be.”
Nico heard all the stories and all the songs when he was younger, but what fueled his own success story, he says, “came from inside; it’s something I can’t even put into words, because it’s all I know. How do you describe the deepest part of yourself?” When Tulane students find out about the classmate whose granddad’s voice has rung out in college dorm rooms for the last 40 years, Nico sometimes deadpans, “Nah, you got the wrong guy.” Aruna laughs and says, “It works.” Being a Marley can be exhausting. The recurring need to create space for oneself is another family trait. It’s why some of Rohan’s smiles are forced as he crisscrosses the globe shaking hands and closing coffee distribution deals. It’s why he cut his waist-length dreadlocks a year ago. “I began to feel a bit like a mascot in some of these meetings, yuh know.”
There is still a concrete soccer field at his father’s old house in -Kingston, which is now the Bob Marley Museum. Bob was always good at soccer, even back in Trench Town when the ball was wadded-up cardboard wound tight with tape. As an adult he could knee-juggle for days. He had a deceptive crossover step and surprising acceleration, and he could rocket shots with either foot. He tore the nail off the big toe on his right foot while playing in Paris in 1977, an injury that first revealed the melanoma that would take his life four years later, the week before Rohan turned nine.
The pitch is smaller than it was in the 1970s, and it’s been moved to the back of the house, to a shaded oasis where only family, friends and the ever-present Rasta brethren are granted entry. This is where Rohan is found dribbling alone one morning, on nubby asphalt cracked by thick subterranean tree roots. He is talking about his high school sweetheart, Khawly, and their son who was born four days after his last game as a Hurricane, a loss to top-ranked Nebraska in the ’95 Orange Bowl. “I didn’t know how to be a father,” he says with a relaxed smile, as if he’s relieved to confess this vulnerability out loud. “She raised him. This story is about her too. Any compliments Nico might get, she deserves most of the praise.” Nico’s dark skin comes from his mother. So do his manners, his humility. “I dinna have that when I was his age,” Rohan admits.
He talks about his own boyhood in a rough part of Kingston called Spanish Town -- where he got into rock fights and sometimes scrounged for empty bottles so he could buy lunch -- until his sons arrive with their friends. And now a different kind of football is being tossed around. Rohan’s 17-year-old son Zion (khaki skin, one-inch Afro) looks like the teenage Bob pictured on his first crackly records. Twelve-year-old Joshua is a wiry lefthanded quarterback with the distinctive, wide-set eyes of his mom, Hill. Laughing Rasta elders, their gray ropes of hair dangling behind them, try their hand at throwing the football, its seams wobbling.
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Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Heart of the Marleys Part 3
Heart of the Marleys
BY MICHAEL MCKNIGHT
Like the college football success of his son and grandson, Bob Marley’s rise to prominence was extremely unlikely. He was a scrawny teenager from the hills, abandoned by his white dad and raised by his mom and Kingston’s streets. Rejected by Jamaican society because of his light skin and European nose, he lived through the worst kind of Third World poverty in a neighborhood called Trench Town because of its lack of plumbing. From this meager beginning, surrounded by violence and death and belly-bloating hunger, he wrote songs that reached every corner of the planet and changed it -- musically, spiritually, politically -- for the better. He helped make history as much as he witnessed it: playing amid tear gas at Zimbabwe’s independence celebration in 1980; attempting to unite the murderous political factions in Jamaica; getting shot as a result and then playing a free concert for 80,000 the next day, daring the gunmen to try again.
In 1972 one of Bob’s many mistresses, Janet Hunt, gave birth to the son who would play college football, twice competing for national titles. For a 5' 8", 200-pound player to start as a D-I linebacker was a bit of a miracle -- especially on a team such as Miami’s, which from 1992 through ’94 had seven linebackers who would later play in the NFL. And for an undersized son of this undersized Hurricane to come along 20 years later and win co–freshman of the year honors in Conference USA was just as improbable.
Nico was a playmaking, angle-eliminating linebacker at Cypress Bay High, a South Florida power, but he received little interest from colleges for the same reason his dad received only one D-I scholarship offer: At 5' 9" and 200 pounds he doesn’t fit the prevailing model at the position. “Watching [high school] film of Nico,” says -Tulane coach Curtis Johnson, “it was like going back in time 20 years. One of our assistants here, Keith Williams, played for me at San Diego State [from 1991 to ’93] back when we played Miami…Nico had the same fire as his dad, the jumping around, the energy. I said, ‘If this kid can play special teams the way he’s playing linebacker on this film, I’ll take him just to cover kicks and punts for us.’ ”
A good many Tulane students have assumed that Nico has a closetful of sinsemilla in his dorm room, but according to junior safety Darion Monroe, “Nico might be the most straight-laced, most depend-able guy on the team.” He is calmer and quieter than his dad, who in early middle age is a slightly thicker version of the headhunter who led the Canes in tackles in 1993, with 19 more than a freshman All-America named Ray Lewis. But Nico has the same ferocity on the field. “Our first practice [in 2013], I thought, God, he’s shorter than I thought he was,” recalls Johnson, who won a national title as a Miami assistant in the 2001 season and Super Bowl XLIV as the receivers coach for the Saints. “The first couple of days in pads, he’s out there tackling everybody, just like his dad. In my mind he was just moving up the depth chart. After our first scrimmage, there was no question. I had to start him.
“I was worried about him the first game, just the mental aspect of it, but then -- god, he was good. You would look at the stats: 10 tackles, 10 tackles. I mean, he lifted us.”
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Monday, September 15, 2014
Heart of the Marleys Part 2
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Heart of the Marleys
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Joe Sample dies at 75
Influential keyboardist Joe Sample, who helped push the boundaries of jazz and funk as a member of the Jazz Crusaders, died Friday in Houston. He was 75.
Sample's career with the Jazz Crusaders began as a hard bop group in Texas in the late '50s before the group migrated to the West Coast, releasing a string of hit albums that began in 1961 with "Freedom Sound." Teamed with saxophonist Wilton Felder, drummer Nesbert "Stix" Hooper and trombonist Wayne Henderson (who died this year), Sample helped lead the group toward mainstream success with a blend of jazz, funk and R&B, a sound that eventually led to the group dropping "jazz" from their name in 1971 and becoming the Crusaders.
Some of Sample's hits with the Crusaders include "Soul Shadows," "Put It Where You Want It," "Spellbound" and 1979's "Street Life" (with vocals by Randy Crawford) before the group broke up in 1987. Sample went on to a successful solo career that also yielded high-profile collaborations on recordings with Marvin Gaye, Lalah Hathaway, Steely Dan, BB King and Anita Baker.
His playing also made an impression on modern hip-hop, with samples of his work appearing on a variety of tracks, including Tupac Shakur's "Dear Mama."
"I try extremely hard not to play the same way that I did in the '70s," Sample told The Times in 1992. "Once I start playing like that, I feel like I'm dealing with ghosts. I feel like I'm washed up, finished, and done, like I have no future at all. The future is always trying to figure out what I am going to do next."
Sample's manager, Patrick Rains, confirmed to the Associated Press on Saturday that Sample died as a result of complications from lung cancer with his family at his side. He is survived by his wife, Yolanda, and son, Nicklas, who is also a musician.
Friday, September 12, 2014
The NFL Ray Rice Scandal Has Roger Goodell Hanging by a Thread
By: Ira Broadway, September 10, 2014. Bloomberg Business Week
A law enforcement official in New Jersey says he sent a video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée Janay in an Atlantic City hotel elevator months ago, according to the Associated Press. Citing an unnamed source, the AP reviewed audio from a 12-second voicemail on April 9, left by a person in the National Football League’s office; the voice confirms receipt of the video and says, “You’re right. It’s terrible.” The report contradicts NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s claim, reiterated to CBS Evening News on Tuesday, that nobody at the NFL had seen the video before TMZmade it public on Monday.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello (echoed by his colleague Brian McCarthy) said this of the AP story: “We have no knowledge of this. We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on Monday. We will look into it.”
The AP reports that the law enforcement official sent the NFL a copy of the video (without authorization) precisely so the league could take it into consideration in punishing Rice. If someone at the NFL got it and sat on it, the league office is a risk-management disaster. Or maybe Goodell is lying. Either way, his job, which seemed safe on Wednesday morning, now appears very much at risk.
In July, the NFL suspended Rice for two games for the February incident. A month later, after a barrage of criticism, Goodell sent a memo to league owners acknowledging that he had been too lenient. “I didn’t get it right,” he wrote. After video of the punch became public this week, Goodell suspended Rice indefinitely. The league justified the move based on the “new video evidence,” although by that point Goodell had already seen the first video, released by TMZ in February, of Rice dragging his now-wife from the elevator, and he already knew that Rice had knocked her out.
Goodell’s best hope now is that the AP got it wrong. “I do not believe the AP report,” says Marc Ganis, president of the consulting firm SportsCorp and a confidant to many NFL owners. “Until someone names a name at the NFL … how is there any validity to the story?” Ganis says that the league owners he’s spoken with are still squarely behind Goodell. It would take 25 of them, by league rules, to vote him out. The bigger question now is whether Goodell will wait around to let them.
UPDATE: The NFL has announced that it is launching an independent investigation into its handling of the Ray Rice incident lead by former FBI director Robert Mueller.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Ganolife Is A Better Alternative
LA the 'epicenter' of cartel money laundering
Federal authorities have seized at least $65 million in cash in a series of raids in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday. Authorities suspect the money came from Mexican drug trafficking.
Around 1,000 law enforcement officials swarmed the Fashion District to execute dozens of search warrants to businesses suspected of participating in the so-called "Black Market Peso Exchange."
Authorities say this kind of exchange is common with Mexican drug rings. It happens when drug trafficking organizations collect money through U.S. through established businesses to avoid suspicion of transferring money across the border.
One of the cases that triggered this investigation was a drug scheme related to the kidnapping and torture of a U.S. citizen who had fallen into debt with the Sinaloa Cartel. The cartel was using a Fashion District business to get ransom money for the release of the captive.
During the raid, only nine people were arrested, but the $65 million seized came from bank accounts around the world and is said to be a part of ongoing investigations.
Assistant Director of the FBI's Los Angeles Division said in a statement, the probe was meant to"send a message" to drug cartels that using American businesses for "hostage taking and the distribution of narcotics" will not be tolerated.
The statement called Los Angeles the "epicenter" of money laundering in the drug trade - something that has been heavily emphasized in local coverage of the incident.
But some outlets focused on the particular area where the crimes occurred. KNBC said in its headline the probe "targeted" the fashion district.
KTLA called the probe a "Fashion District Takedown" in its headline and noted the incident is being referred to as "Operation Fashion Police."
The American who was kidnapped is back in the U.S. after his family paid a $140,000 ransom. Those suspects arrested were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
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Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Fast-Food Workers Arrested At Protests Part 3
Fast-Food Workers Arrested At Protests
'Fight for $15' underway across the U.S.
Carol KoppSep 3rd 2014 5:50AMUpdated Sep 4th 2014 2:41PM
APTOPIX Fast Food Protests
Police handcuff protesters blocking traffic on Mack Avenue in Detroit as part of a national protest to push fast-food chains to pay their employees at least $15 an hour Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014. Hundreds of workers from McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's and other fast-food chains are expected to walk off their jobs Thursday, according to labor organizers of the latest national protest to push the companies to pay their employees at least $15 an hour. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) This is why you need to take a serious look at our NEW company. www.ganolifevo.com/ganoforlifeusa.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Fast-Food Workers Arrested At Protests Part 2
Fast-Food Workers Arrested At Protests
'Fight for $15' underway across the U.S.
Carol KoppSep 3rd 2014 5:50AMUpdated Sep 4th 2014 2:41PM
In his speech, the president repeated his call for an increase in the federal minimum wage. "There's no denying a simple truth: America deserves a raise," he said. "If you work full-time, you shouldn't be living in poverty."
Vice President Joe Biden delivered a similar message at a Labor Day event in Detroit. "The American people have not walked away from what they believe they are entitled to. Just give them a chance. No handout, just give them a chance," Biden said in his speech to a union crowd.
An increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour has been sought by Democrats but stalled in Congress due to Republican opposition. In the absence of federal action, many state and municipal governments have moved to raise their local wages, to as high as $15 per hour in Seattle.
Home care workers, who assist house-bound elderly and disabled clients, make a median wage of $10.10 an hour, with some paid as little as $8.03 hourly, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median pay for fast food workers is currently $8.74 per hour.
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Monday, September 8, 2014
Fast-Food Workers Arrested At Protests
Fast-Food Workers Arrested At Protests
'Fight for $15' underway across the U.S.
Carol KoppSep 3rd 2014 5:50AMUpdated Sep 4th 2014 2:41PM
A strike by low-wage workers against America's biggest fast-food chains kicked off Thursday with the reported arrests of 19 protesters outside a McDonald's in the middle of New York City's Times Square.
About 400 demonstrators chanted and waved signs, while early-morning customers streamed in and out of the giant McDonald's on West 42nd Street, according to The New York Daily News.
More demonstrators were arrested in Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago.
An organization of fast-food workers planned demonstrations in as many as 150 cities across the U.S. as they continue to dramatize their demand for a pay increase to a minimum $15 an hour.
Hoping to turn the heat up on more low-wage employers, the movement's organizers added another service industry to the mix: Home care workers are invited to join Thursday's protests.
Workers for McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and KFC restaurants in Little Rock, Ark., Minneapolis, Minn., and Rochester, N.Y. are among those who are expected to walk off their jobs. Employees of the fast-food giants from outside the U.S. have been invited to join their American colleagues at protests in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Raleigh.
St. Louis is one big city that will be spared protests, in light of the recent turmoil in nearby Ferguson that followed the shooting death of a young man by a police officer. Workers from St. Louis outlets have been invited to travel to protests in nearby cities.
Thursday's demonstrations are the latest round in a series of protests that began almost two years ago, coinciding with a national debate over the federal minimum wage, currently set at $7.25 an hour.
The group, which has been funded by the Service Employees International Union, was buoyed by a Labor Day weekend shout-out from President Barack Obama. In a speech in Milwaukee, the president noted, "All across the country right now there's a national movement going on made up of fast-food workers organizing to lift wages so they can provide for their families with pride and dignity." This is another reason why you need to take a serious look at our NEW Company...GANOLIFE! www.ganolifevo.com/ganoforlifeusa.
Serena Williams wins 3rd US Open in row, 18th Slam
Serena Williams wins 3rd US Open in row, 18th Slam
Sep 7th 2014 6:45PM
By HOWARD FENDRICH
NEW YORK (AP) - Serena Williams ended a difficult-for-her Grand Slam season in the best way possible, winning her third consecutive U.S. Open title by beating Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday.
Williams equaled Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 major singles titles, the fourth-most in history. Williams also matched Evert's total of six championships at the U.S. Open and became the first woman to win three in a row since Evert's four-title run from 1975-78.
Williams earned $4 million, a record in tennis - $3 million for the title, plus a $1 million bonus for having had the best results during the North American summer hard-court circuit.
It was a dominant performance to cap a dominant two weeks in Flushing Meadows. Not only did Williams, ranked and seeded No. 1, win all 14 sets she played in the tournament, she never even dropped more than three games in any of them.
Until the U.S. Open, though, Williams had not been at her best on her sport's biggest stages in 2014. She lost in the fourth round at the Australian Open, the second round at the French Open, and the third round at Wimbledon, where a disoriented Williams also struggled through an odd appearance in doubles that was attributed to a viral illness.
Back at the top of her game, Williams broke Wozniacki's serve five times and compiled a hard-to-believe 29-4 edge in winners.
Remarkably, until a cross-court backhand on the run in the final game that even Williams applauded, the only winners registered by the 10th-seeded Wozniacki came on a trio of aces, one in the first set, two in the second.
That was, in part, a result of the Dane's iffy play in only her second Grand Slam final - she lost to Kim Clijsters at the 2009 U.S. Open - but more due to Williams' relentless pursuit of every ball.
A few weeks shy of her 33rd birthday, making the American the oldest major champion since Navratilova was 33 at Wimbledon in 1990, Williams simply would not allow a shot to get past her. Wozniacki is the one training for the New York City Marathon, but Williams tired her out by the end.
Wozniacki was not exactly an extra in this Williams highlight reel, but pretty close to it. The points were being directed by Williams, whether via serves that reached 120 mph (194 kph), forceful returns that backed Wozniacki into a corner when not producing outright winners, unreachable groundstrokes from all angles or even the occasional volley.
Yes, this, as might have been expected, was really all about Williams. At times, it felt as if Wozniacki were there because, well, someone needed to be on the opposite side of the net to act as Williams' opponent.
They've been good pals for years, and they hung out together in Miami - heading to the beach, watching an NBA playoff game - right after both lost early at the French Open in May. Wozniacki says Williams helped her get over the end of her engagement to golf star Rory McIlroy.
That friendship between Williams and Wozniacki did not matter one bit, of course, while they played Sunday with so much at stake as early evening shadows moved across the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
As Williams put it beforehand, referring to her older sister, "If I can play Venus, I can play anybody."
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Ganolife Is Expanding In Your Area
Why three Atlantic City casinos are closing
The Trump Plaza, The Showboat, and Revels in Atlantic City, N.J. will all close in the next few days, leaving more than 5,000 people out of work. Why is Atlantic City gambling on the wane?
By Wayne Perry, Associated Press / August 30, 2014
Caesars said Friday that more than 470 Showboat employees have gotten jobs with other casinos the company owns, here or in other states. That figure represents about half the number who had applied for new jobs elsewhere in the company. The Showboat has more than 2,000 workers.
Fitch said the three Marina District casinos — the Borgata, Harrah's and the Golden Nugget — may benefit more than the Boardwalk casinos because the marina properties are "the freshest" after major renovations in the last 10 years and because boardwalk activities are dwindling.
But it also predicted the Taj Mahal, Caesars and Bally's will get more business.
"Most of the closings are at the ends of the Boardwalk, leaving a cluster of remaining casinos (including Taj Mahal, Caesars and Bally's) that should see a sizable lift in business from the closures," the company wrote.
Fitch also noted some positives for Atlantic City, including an 8 percent casino tax and diverse entertainment options.
"Atlantic City remains one of the few places in the populous tri-state area to offer a full suite of eat, play and stay options and has by far the lowest gaming taxes," Fitch wrote. "Lower taxes give these casinos more room in the margin to spend on promotional activity, including free food and hotel stays."
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Saturday, September 6, 2014
Ganolife Is Expanding In Your Area
Why three Atlantic City casinos are closing
The Trump Plaza, The Showboat, and Revels in Atlantic City, N.J. will all close in the next few days, leaving more than 5,000 people out of work. Why is Atlantic City gambling on the wane?
By Wayne Perry, Associated Press / August 30, 2014
A day before the report was issued, Joe Lupo, senior vice president of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City's top casino, said the market is already responding positively to reduced capacity.
"After the Atlantic Club closed, places like the Tropicana and the Golden Nugget are doing very well, and we had a great summer," he said. "While Revel has had a very difficult time, you have properties in Atlantic City that will become more profitable."
Fitch also predicted 60 percent of Trump Plaza's revenue and 75 percent of Showboat's revenue will stay in Atlantic City, particularly with Showboat's parent company, Caesars Entertainment, also owning three other casinos that will continue to operate in Atlantic City.
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Friday, September 5, 2014
Ganolife Is Expanding In Your Area
Why three Atlantic City casinos are closing
The Trump Plaza, The Showboat, and Revels in Atlantic City, N.J. will all close in the next few days, leaving more than 5,000 people out of work. Why is Atlantic City gambling on the wane?
By Wayne Perry, Associated Press / August 30, 2014
There was a promise when casinos came in here that these would be good, viable jobs, something you could raise your family on and have a decent life with," said Paul Smith, a cook at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. "I feel so bad for all these people losing their jobs. It wasn't supposed to be like this."
Mayor Don Guardian says his city is remaking itself as a more multifaceted destination, where gambling is only part of the allure. But he acknowledges the pain this weekend will bring.
"This is going to be a difficult few weeks for many of us in Atlantic City," he said. "People will lose their jobs, and that is never good news. Our hearts go out to our neighbors and friends. We still have difficult waters to navigate."
Fitch Ratings predicted in a recent report that the city's casino revenues will decline to $2.5 billion in 2015 from last year's $2.86 billion. It also said it does not see any more casinos closing in Atlantic City for at least the next two years.
The firm also predicted that a good chunk of the money being won by the Showboat, Revel and Trump Plaza will go to the surviving Atlantic City casinos. Showboat and Revel are closing this weekend; Trump Plaza shuts down Sept. 16. After that, Atlantic City will have eight casinos after starting the year with 12.
Fitch predicted at least 50 percent of Revel's revenue will go to the remaining casinos, judging by increases that the Tropicana Casino and Resort and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City have seen since the Atlantic Club closed down in January.
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Thursday, September 4, 2014
Ganolife Is Expanding In Your Area
Why three Atlantic City casinos are closing
The Trump Plaza, The Showboat, and Revels in Atlantic City, N.J. will all close in the next few days, leaving more than 5,000 people out of work. Why is Atlantic City gambling on the wane?
By Wayne Perry, Associated Press / August 30, 2014
Resorts Casino Hotel, which was on the verge of closing a few years ago, completed a remarkable turnaround in the second quarter of this year, swinging from a $1.3 million loss last year to a $1.9 million profit this year.
"I truly believe that eight remaining casinos can all do very well when the gambling market is right-sized," said Resorts president Mark Giannantonio.
That may be true, but it is little comfort to workers who are losing their jobs. By the time Trump Plaza shuts down in two weeks, nearly 8,000 jobs — or a quarter of Atlantic City's casino workforce — will be unemployed. A mass unemployment filing due to begin Wednesday is so large it has been booked into the city's convention center.
When casino gambling was approved by New Jersey voters in 1976, it was billed as a way to revitalize Atlantic City and provide stable, lasting jobs. The first casino, Resorts, opened in 1978, kicking off three decades of soaring revenue and employment.
But the Great Recession hit just as new casinos were popping up in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York, cutting deeply into Atlantic City's customer base.
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Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Ganolife Is Expanding In Your Area
Why three Atlantic City casinos are closing.
The Trump Plaza, The Showboat, and Revels in Atlantic City, N.J. will all close in the next few days, leaving more than 5,000 people out of work. Why is Atlantic City gambling on the wane?
By Wayne Perry, Associated Press / August 30, 2014
"We never thought this would happen," said Chris Ireland, who has been a bartender at the Showboat since it opened. His wife works there, too, as a cocktail server. Before dinnertime Sunday, neither will have a job.
What makes it even tougher to swallow is that the Showboat — one of four Atlantic City casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment — is still turning a profit. But the company says it is closing Showboat to help reduce the total number of casinos in Atlantic City. Caesars also teamed with Tropicana Entertainment to buy the Atlantic Club last December and close it in January.
"They just want to eliminate competition," Ireland said. "Everyone's in favor of a free market until it doesn't exactly work for them."
Yet many analysts and casino executives say the painful contraction now shrinking Atlantic City's casino market is exactly what the city needs to survive. Since 2006, Atlantic City's casino revenue has fallen from $5.2 billion to $2.86 billion last year, and it will fall further this year. Atlantic City will end the year with eight casinos after beginning the year with 12.
New casinos popping up in an already saturated Northeastern U.S. gambling market aren't expanding the overall pie but are slicing it into ever-smaller pieces. Fewer casinos could mean better financial performance for the survivors.
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