Black History

I am continually amazed – and disappointed – by the fact that far too many Americans continue to rely upon and trust government institutions after repeatedly seeing agency after agency, institution after institution, and bureau after bureau, cheat, lie to them, misrepresent data and rob them of their liberties.

Count a government laboratory that was once operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as yet another of example of this ongoing deceit.

As reported by The Daily Caller News Foundation, the Energy Geochemistry Laboratory in Lakewood, Colo., was closed recently, after investigators and a lawmaker revealed that, over a period of nearly 20 years and at a cost of $108 million, the laboratory had engaged in "disturbing" data manipulation with "serious and far ranging" effects.

The inorganic section of the USGS lab manipulated data on a range of topics, including many related to the environment, from 1996 to 2014. Worse, the manipulation was discovered in 2008 – the year President Obama was elected – but nevertheless continued for another six years.

Has anyone been held responsible?

"It's astounding that we spend $108 million on manipulated research and then the far-reaching effects that that would have," said Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said at a House Committee on Natural Resources hearing. "We know how research multiples and affects different parts of our society and our economy and ... if you're working off of flawed data it definitely could be in a bad way.

"The problems were so severe, in fact, that the USGS has already closed the inorganic lab in question permanently," he added.

The lab was shuttered, finally, in January. No word on whether anyone has been held responsible (financially or otherwise) for the manipulation, or what particular environmental data – no doubt fabricated to support certain environmental objectives and policies that came down from the White House – was changed.

The lawmaker cited a recently released Department of the Interior Inspector General (IG) report that said impacts from the changed data "are not yet known but, nevertheless, they will be serious and far ranging. The affected projects represented about $108 million in taxpayer funding from fiscal year 2008 through 2014."

In addition, Westerman highlighted an interview that the IG did not include in its report.

"Tell me what you want and I will get it for you. What we do is like magic," a former USGS official told auditors a former employee linked to the manipulation would say, according to the congressman, who also said that the IG's interview notes make the context of that quote unclear.

"Given the lab's history and that problems had already been identified when this interview was being conducted, such a statement seems potentially significant," Westerman told Deputy IG Mary Kendall, a witness for the hearing.

"Your office explained that you do not know the context or veracity of this statement and that this issue was not part of the audit," Westerman told Kendall.

Nevertheless, other scientists became aware that data manipulation was taking place and began using other labs.

This is exactly why we need MORE independent labs and scientists

Westerman – who has an engineering background – noted that flawed data can very often lead to flawed legislation and policy making, which have direct impacts on the American people.

"I'm not even sure what the scientific result[s] were used in," he said. "A lot of the work that people do that's based on scientific research is so important and if the base research is flawed, then that affects the work that goes out from there."

This is exactly why citizen scientists and independently-owned and operated research facilities like CWC Labs are so important: They produce agenda-free scientific results.

"Consumer Wellness Center Labs specializes in the analytical testing of foods and dietary supplements with an emphasis on organic products," notes the lab's website. Built from the ground up by its director, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, and author of the new book, Food Forensics, the lab recently received crucial credentialing and is now accepting commercial customers.

As more government institutions fail us (remember when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actually had a decent reputation?), Adams and other independent scientists will increasingly be needed to fill the void and provide the world with scientific results that are not tainted by political agendas, financial ties or other ulterior motives.

Blueberries are just one of the "superfoods" nature has blessed us with. There are so many wonderful qualities and health benefits to eating more blueberries that they are almost too numerous to count.

Besides being packed with vitamin C and antioxidants, research shows that blueberries are excellent stress relievers and can add significantly to brain health.

In fact, they may even work to keep dementia and Alzheimer's disease at bay.

Though the reason why those conditions develop is still largely a mystery to scientists, one thing is for sure: Those seeking to thwart it should turn to organic blueberries for assistance.

Click now to register for the FREE online Alzheimer's and Dementia Summit!

It's a big deal, because, as participants in the upcoming free online Alzheimer's and Dementia Summit that runs from July 25-August 1 will learn, dementia and Alzheimer's is on the rise. A person is diagnosed with the condition once every three seconds. And since dementia starts in the brain 30 to 50 years before symptoms appear, it's important to learn how to prevent the onset of dementia at the summit.

Robert Krikorian, a researcher at the University of Cincinnati, recently conducted a study of 47 people who were aged 68 and older, and who had already been diagnosed with mild levels of cognitive impairment. These are defined as slight lapses in memory that may or may not later develop into dementia.

In his study, Krikorian gave some participants a powder concentrated from the amount of blueberries that would fill a teacup, while other study participants were given a placebo. Each of the test participants was subjected to mental tests that honed in on thinking and memory skills – two of the brain functions that are most often affected by dementia – as the study was being launched and again at its conclusion.

Subjects who consumed the blueberry powder displayed great improvement in their cognitive abilities when compared to the group taking the placebo. Krikorian's findings were supported by brain scans that showed more activity in the group that had consumed the blueberry powder.

The researchers say that those whose cognitive functions improved, more than likely benefited from anthocyanins contained in blueberries, the chemicals that give the fruit its deep blue-purple coloring. Scientists involved in the study believe that the compound influences the brain by reducing inflammation, boosting the flow of blood and making it simpler for cells to communicate with each other.

Krikorian said that the study's findings were in line with earlier studies involving both humans and animals. He noted that in future studies he is planning to focus on men and women in their 50s and early 60s who have been deemed to be at higher risk for developing Alzheimer's.

The scientist further emphasized how important it is for people to begin incorporating more blueberries into their diet as they approach middle age, because research indicates that the condition could begin affecting one's brain decades before the first symptoms ever present. And while researchers don't yet know at what amount blueberries' protective effects begin, Krikorian believes that eating the fruit several times per week will do the trick.

A team of researchers from the University of Reading and Peninsula Medical School in England conducted a similar study. It, too, showed improved performances in spatial working tasks after just three weeks of a three-month study involving the supplementation of a regular diet with blueberries.

"This study not only adds science to the claim that eating blueberries are good for you, it also provides support to a diet-based approach that could potentially be used to increase memory capacity and performance in the future," the study's principal investigator, Dr. Matt Whiteman, said.

Of the top 10 causes of death in America, Alzheimer's is the only disease that cannot be cured or its progression altered through the use of traditional medicine, so these alternative forms of treatment are especially promising. An estimated 5.4 million Americans are currently living with the disease.