Occupy Oakland: Police Use Teargas, Flash Grenades

Police said they used teargas Occupy Oakland protesters pelted near Lake Merritt and warned them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects

At about 3:45 p.m., the crowd still had not dispersed around the intersection of Jackson Street and 12th Street.

Occupy Oakland protesters say they will gather outside City Hall on Saturday, march to an undisclosed vacant building and commandeer the space as a social center and political headquarters for the movement.

Police have used tear gas and "flash" grenades to break up hundreds of Occupy protesters after some demonstrators started throwing rocks and flares at officers and tearing down fencing.

 

Police declared the intersection an unlawful assembly area and began running toward protesters with their shields.

Three officers were hurt and 19 people were arrested, the Oakland Police Department said in a release. No details on the officers' injuries were released.

The crowd grew as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

Occupy organizers said the plan today was to go to a vacant building that was to be their new home. Once they reach their destination, organizers had planned to kick off a two-day "Oakland Rise-up Festival" to celebrate the establishment of the movement's new space.

Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences.

Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans. Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.

Interim police Chief Howard Jordan also warned that officers would arrest those carrying out illegal actions.

Oakland officials said on Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.

Vitamins use health & death risk in for women

Research & Study: Vitamins use may increase health & death risk in older women

Popping vitamins may do more harm than good, according to a new study that adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting some supplements may have health risks.
Older women who took a daily vitamin supplement, even just a multivitamin, had an increased risk of dying of cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to a study published Monday in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
Multivitamin users older women just as likely as non-users to have died or been diagnosed with common cancers or suffered stroke or a heart attack.
This study about woman who take supplements dying younger a good example of why it’s important to be research literate. This study does not show a casual link to taking supplements and early death.
In this study, being trumpeted all over the web today, WebMB reports that “In a new study, multivitamins, folic acid, iron, copper, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin B6 supplements all increased an older woman’s risk. The greatest risk was seen with iron supplements. Calcium supplements, however, seemed to reduce a woman’s risk of dying.
Researchers used data from the Iowa Women's Health Study to examine the link between vitamin and mineral supplements and death rates among 38,772 women, average age 61.6. Women filled out questionnaires about supplement use in 1986, 1997 and 2004. "Out of 15 studied supplements, seven are associated with increased total mortality risk," . "Other studies have not shown the mortality risk our study shows” lead author Jaakko Murso says, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
The new study linked a number of individual vitamins and minerals to the slight mortality risk, including multivitamins, vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc and copper.
"However, we do know that most compounds are toxic in high amounts, and long-term use might predispose [a person] to detrimental outcomes," he told MyHealthNewsDaily
Researchers used data from the Iowa Women's Health Study to examine the association between vitamin and mineral supplements and death rate among 38,772 women, average age 61.6 years.
"Out of 15 studied supplements, seven are associated with increased total mortality risk," says Murso. Among findings:
Use of multivitamins, vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc and copper are associated with increased risk of death.
The association between supplement intake and death risk was strongest with iron.
Calcium supplements, meanwhile, were associated with reduced risk.