The Truth About Energy Drinks (www.BlasterMix.com)

Do energy drinks really rev up your body and sharpen your mind? And what, exactly, are they even made of? To help you separate the science from the sales pitch, we analyzed the claims and ingredients of five of the most popular potions on the market, and rated them from best to worst. All to answer the most important question of all: Are energy drinks safe—or should you can these beverages for good? Read on for your exclusive report, compliments of the brand new book Eat This, Not That! The Best (and Worst!) Foods in America.

Countdown of the Top 5 Energy Drinks
#5. 5-Hour Energy (2 fl oz)
4 calories
0 g sugars
(Exact caffeine content not provided by the company)

The Claim: "The two-ounce energy shot takes just seconds to drink and in minutes you're feeling bright and alert. And that feeling lasts for hours."

The Truth: Sure, it'll give you a jolt. That's because it's mainly caffeine—about the same amount that's in one cup of coffee, according to label claims. (So somewhere between 65 to 135 mg of caffeine.) And turns out, the half-life of caffeine—the time it takes for half of the stimulant to be eliminated from your body—is about 5 hours. What's more, the company touts that since the product doesn't contain sugar, you won't experience the sugar crash that comes a couple of hours after guzzling the sweet stuff. And that's true, too. Of course, you could just grab a cup of unsweetened Joe for the same effect.

Is it safe? Downing a bottle should be no problem for a regular coffee drinker. Too much caffeine, however, could cause headaches, sleeplessness, nausea, hallucinations, and a spike in blood pressure. (Sodium can also spike your BP, so be careful. Check out this list of the 20 Saltiest Foods in America.)

#4. Starbuck's Double Shot Energy and Coffee (15 fl oz)
210 calories
26 g sugars
146 mg caffeine

The Claim: "A powerful, great-tasting brew of B vitamins, guarana, ginseng, and natural proteins from milk. Charged up with coffee. That extra surge to keep you energized and alert."

The Truth: Most energy drinks laud their herbal supplements, but the science behind the add-ins is somewhat fuzzy. Ginseng, for example, won't give you an energy blast, although it might boost your brainpower. For instance, Australian researchers found that people who swallowed 200 mg of the extract an hour before taking a cognitive test scored significantly better than when they skipped the supplement. And guarana's benefit may simply be due to its caffeine content—a guarana seed contains 4 to 5 percent caffeine (about twice as much as a coffee bean). Fancy marketing ploys aside, the Double-Shot ultimately one-ups the competition by virtue of containing actual health-boosting coffee—a beverage that delivers disease-fighting antioxidants.

Is it safe? Ginseng has been shown to interact with certain medications, like the blood-thinner warfarin, potentially altering its effectiveness. And scientists at Florida's Nova Southeastern University concluded that the amount of guarana found in most energy drinks isn't large enough to cause any adverse side effects. However, there's still a question as to the safety of downing a few cans of the stuff in a brief time span.

#3. Red Bull (8 oz)
110 calories
27 g sugars
76 mg caffeine

The Claim: "With Taurine. Vitalizes body and mind."

The Truth: Caffeine certainly offers brain-boosting benefits, and the added slew of B-vitamins are conceivably helpful for a more efficient metabolism. Unfortunately, the sugar and taurine work to counteract those forces. A New Zealand study found that even the 27 grams of sugar in Red Bull is enough to completely inhibit your body's ability to burn fat. And taurine, an amino acid that works as a neurotransmitter, might act more like a sedative than a stimulant, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Is it safe? Certain European countries have banned the product out of fear that its stimulant properties increase the risk of heart attack. However, a 2008 research study presented to the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology observed no negative side effects in people after the subjects quaffed one can. The best thing about Red Bull is the pre-packaged portion control. It's half the size of many other sweetened energy drinks, meaning half the calories and half the sugar of its supersized counterparts. Check out this shocking list of the 20 unhealthiest drinks in America.

#2. AMP Energy (16 oz)
220 calories
58 g sugars
142 mg caffeine

The Claim: "With its energizing blend of B-Vitamins and a specially formulated intense combination of taurine, ginseng, and guarana, AMP keeps you connected and on top of your game at all times."

The Truth: AMP is basically a hybrid between Red Bull and Starbucks Double Shot Energy, but with more calories and sugar and without the brain-beneficial coffee—rendering it a veritable witch's brew of sweeteners, herbal supplements, and suspicious-sounding additives. (Find out why additives can be so bad—here's a list of the 11 most controversial food additives).

Is it safe? Just consider it a double Red Bull. One probably won't hurt, but don't make it a habit, if only for your waistline.

The Worst Energy Drink
#1. Sobe Energy Adrenaline Rush (16 oz)
260 calories
66 g sugars
152 mg caffeine

The Claim: "Elevate your game with high performance energy for your mind and body. Bold citrus taste enhanced with a unique blend of energizing elements including D-ribose, L-carnitine and taurine. So good."

The Truth: D-ribose and L-carnitine sound exotic, but they're simply natural compounds that your body needs for proper metabolism. While research shows that carnitine supplementation may aid in recovery from exercise, there's no strong evidence to suggest either compound helps improve performance or enhances energy levels. The massive sugar load, however, will certainly spike your energy—for a price. You see, this drink quickly sends blood glucose soaring, which sets you up for a major sugar crash to follow: British scientists discovered that sleep-deprived people who consumed a sugary drink actually had slower reaction times and more sleepiness 90 minutes later.

Is it safe? Not if you're diabetic or pre-diabetic. Sobe Energy Adrenaline Rush contains as much sugar as 5 and a half scoops of Edy's Slow Churned Rocky Road Ice Cream. Additionally, taurine is probably fine in small doses, but chug too many energy drinks and the picture becomes less clear. According to a recent case report from St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, three people had seizures after drinking approximately two 24-ounce energy drinks in a short period of time. Whether the seizures were due to caffeine, taurine, or pre-existing health conditions is unclear. So, limit yourself to one—at the most.

The Bottom Line: The real truth is that most people are already consuming too much energy, which is why there's an obesity problem. (Think about it.) So adding to your energy excess by guzzling a calorie- and sugar-laden drink doesn't make a lot of sense. In fact, ask yourself this: Is it a lack of incoming sugar that's causing you to be tired—or is it that you're consuming too much of it in the first place? Chances are, it's the latter. Our advice: If you feel you need a boost, reach for unsweetened beverage that contains only caffeine—like a black coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. It has zero grams of sugar, 146 mg of caffeine, and just 20 calories—all for about 2 dollars.

For more great advice and the new no-diet weight-loss guide to the best and worst foods in America, learn about the new book Eat This, Not That! The Best (and Worst!) Foods in America!. And sign up for your FREE weekly newsletters for great diet and nutrition tips delivered straight to your inbox.

Have your own suggestions for losing weight while still eating all of your favorite foods—without dieting? Please share your secrets for taking the worry out of weight loss with the rest of us here.

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Actor David Carradine found dead in Bangkok (www.BlasterMIx.com

Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death of the 72-year-old actor. He said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family.

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation cited unidentified police sources as saying Carradine was found Thursday hanged in his luxury hotel room.

It said Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot a movie and had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday.

The newspaper said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday, and that his body was found by a hotel maid at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The name of the movie was not immediately available.

It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room's curtains. It cited police as saying he had been dead at least 12 hours and there was no sign that he had been assaulted.

A police officer at Bangkok's Lumpini precinct station would not confirm the identity of the dead man, but said the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel had reported that a male guest killed himself there.

Carradine was a leading member of a venerable Hollywood acting family that included his father, character actor John Carradine, and brother Keith.

In all, he appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby. One of his prominent early film roles was as singer Woody Guthrie in Ashby's 1976 biopic "Bound for Glory."

But he was best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest traveling the 1800s American frontier West in the TV series "Kung Fu," which aired in 1972-75.

He reprised the role in a mid-1980s TV movie and played Caine's grandson in the 1990s syndicated series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues."

He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill."

The character, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003's "Kill Bill — Vol. 1." In that film, one of Bill's former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates.

In "Kill Bill — Vol. 2," released in 2004, Thurman's character comes face to face again with Bill himself. The role brought Carradine a Golden Globe nomination as best supporting actor.

Bill was a complete contrast to his TV character Kwai Chang Caine, the soft-spoken refugee from a Shaolin monastery, serenely spreading wisdom and battling bad guys in the Old West. He left after three seasons, saying the show had started to repeat itself.

After "Kung Fu," Carradine starred in the 1975 cult flick "Death Race 2000." He starred with Liv Ullmann in Bergman's "The Serpent's Egg" in 1977 and with his brothers in the 1980 Western "The Long Riders."

But after the early 1980s, he spent two decades doing mostly low-budget films. Tarantino's films changed that.

"All I've ever needed since I more or less retired from studio films a couple of decades ago ... is just to be in one," Carradine told The Associated Press in 2004.

"There isn't anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn't do," he said. "All that was ever required was somebody with Quentin's courage to take and put me in the spotlight."

One thing remained a constant after "Kung Fu": Carradine's interest in Oriental herbs, exercise and philosophy. He wrote a personal memoir called "Spirit of Shaolin" and continued to make instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.

In the 2004 interview, Carradine talked candidly about his past boozing and narcotics use, but said he had put all that behind him and stuck to coffee and cigarettes.

"I didn't like the way I looked, for one thing. You're kind of out of control emotionally when you drink that much. I was quicker to anger."

"You're probably witnessing the last time I will ever answer those questions," Carradine said. "Because this is a regeneration. It is a renaissance. It is the start of a new career for me.

"It's time to do nothing but look forward."

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Obama wants ‘new beginning’ in Muslim world (www.BlasterMix.com)

President Barack Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims" Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East.

"This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," Obama said in a widely anticipated speech in one of the world's largest Muslim countries, an address designed to reframe relations after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

The White House said Obama's speech contained no new policy proposals on the Middle East. He said American ties with Israel are unbreakable, yet issued a firm, evenhanded call to the Jewish state and Palestinians alike to live up to their international obligations.

In a gesture to the Islamic world, Obama conceded at the beginning of his remarks that tension "has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations."

"And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," said the president, who recalled hearing prayer calls of "azaan" at dawn and dusk while living in Indonesia as a boy.

At the same time, he said the same principle must apply in reverse. "Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire."

Centerpiece of trip
Obama spoke at Cairo University after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the second stop of a four-nation trip to the Middle East and Europe.

The speech was the centerpiece of his journey, and while its tone was striking, the president also covered the Middle East peace process, Iran, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the violent struggle waged by al-Qaida.

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MTV Writer Admits 'Bruno' Stunt Was Staged

On Sunday night, when Sacha Baron Cohen's alter-ego Bruno descended from the rafters and landed fanny-first on Eminem's head, most folks figured that the rapper's rage was the real deal. Suckers! Not only was Eminem in on the joke, he and Baron Cohen rehearsed it to make sure it would all go according to plan.

Suspicions over the legitimacy of "butt-gate" had been brewing for days, but it wasn't until a writer for the MTV Movie Awards confessed that we all knew for sure. On his blog, head writer Scott Aukerman wrote that the incident was staged. "They rehearsed it at dress (rehearsal) and yes, it went as far as it did on the live show." Wow. Let it never be said that Eminem isn't a team player.

According to the New York Daily News, Eminem wasn't Baron Cohen's first choice for the joke. That honor, which was tragically declined, went to Paris Hilton. Just imagine the buzz had that happened. Still, Eminem did a great job of selling the stunt considering he "may not have been briefed on just how naked Baron Cohen's flying 'Bruno' would be when he agreed." What a pro.

Even before the writer's admission that the crash landing was planned, the searches had a suspicious slant. Throughout Monday, lookups on " was the eminem bruno stunt staged" and "eminem bruno joke" posted strong gains. Blogs, like this one from the Chicago Tribune, raised the possibility that the audience had just been played.

Now that the joke has been confirmed, queries are surging on "bruno eminem fake stunt." We'd say we feel used, but we're too busy laughing.

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Brazil confirms Air France jet crashed in ocean (www.BlasterMix.com)

FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil – Brazilian military planes found a 3-mile (5-kilometer) path of wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean, confirming that an Air France jet carrying 228 people crashed in the sea, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said Tuesday. Jobim said the discovery "confirms that the plane went down in that area" hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. He said the strip of wreckage included metallic and nonmetallic pieces, but did not describe them in detail. No bodies were spotted in the crash of the Airbus in which all aboard are believed to have died. The discovery came just hours after authorities announced they had found an airplane an airplane seat, an orange buoy and signs of fuel in a part of the Atlantic Ocean with depths of up to three miles (4,800 meters).

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Sarkozy: Prospect slim of finding plane survivors (www.BlasterMix.com)

PARIS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the prospects of finding any survivors from an Air France jet that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean carrying 228 people are "very small."
Sarkozy says "no hypothesis is excluded" in the search for causes of the disappearance of the Rio to Paris flight. Sarkozy met Monday at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport with some of families of those aboard the plane, including "a mother who lost her son, a fiance who lost her future husband. "Sarkozy said, "I told them the truth. The prospects of finding survivors are very small."He said finding the plane "will be very difficult" because the search zone "is immense."

He said France has asked for help from U.S. satellite equipment to locate the plane.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. SAO PAULO (AP) — A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into a tower of thunderstorms and heavy turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday, fearing that all aboard were lost. The area where the plane could have gone down was vast. Brazil's military searched for the plane off its northeast coast, while the French military scoured the Atlantic off the West African coast near the Cape Verde Islands. Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said "it is possible" the plane was hit by lightning, but aviation experts expressed doubt that a bolt of lightning was enough to bring the plane down. Air France Flight 447, a 4-year-old Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. local time (2230 GMT, 6:30 p.m. EDT) with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, said company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand. The plane left Brazil radar contact, past the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, about three hours later (10:48 Brazil time, 0148 GMT, 9:48 p.m. EDT), indicating it was flying normally at 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) and traveling at 522 mph (840 kph). About a half-hour after that, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said. The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday) and an automatic message was received fourteen minutes later reporting electrical failure and a loss of cabin pressure. That was the last communication sent from the plane, when it was about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of the Cape Verde Islands, according to the Brazilian Air Force.
Meteorologists said tropical storms are much more violent than thunderstorms in the United States and elsewhere. "Tropical thunderstorms ... can tower up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters). At the altitude it was flying, it's possible that the Air France plane flew directly into the most charged part of the storm — the top," Henry Margusity, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.com, said in a statement. Brazil's air force was searching near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, about 180 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of the Brazilian coastal city of Natal. The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio. Portuguese air control authorities say the missing plane did not make contact with controllers in Portugal's mid-Atlantic Azores Islands nor, as far as they know, with other Atlantic air traffic controllers in Cape Verde, Casablanca, or the Canary islands. In Washington, a Pentagon official said he'd seen no indication that terrorism or foul play was involved. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject. Sobbing relatives of people aboard the plane arrived at an airport in Sao Paulo to fly onto Rio de Janeiro, where Air France was assisting relatives. Andres Fernandes, his eyes tearing up, said a relative "was supposed to be on the flight, but we need to confirm it," Globo TV reported. At the Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris, family members who had arrived to meet passengers refused to speak to reporters and were brought to a cordoned-off crisis center.
Air France said it expressed "its sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew members" aboard Flight 447. The airline did not explicitly say there were no survivors, but no sign of the plane had turned up more than 12 hours after it disappeared.
Air France-KLM CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, at a news conference, said the plane's pilot had 11,000 hours of flying experience, including 1,700 hours flying this aircraft. "We are without doubt facing an air catastrophe," Gourgeon said. Aviation experts said the risk the plane was brought down by lightning was slim. "Lightning issues have been considered since the beginning of aviation. They were far more prevalent when aircraft operated at low altitudes. They are less common now since it's easier to avoid thunderstorms," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of Flight Safety Foundation, Alexandria, Va. He said planes have specific measures built in to help dissipate electricity along the aircraft's skin, and are tested for resistance to big electromagnetic shocks and equipped to resist them. He said the plane should be found soon, because it has backup locators that should continue to function even in deep water. Experts said the absence of a mayday call meant something happened very quickly. "The conclusion to be drawn is that something catastrophic happened on board that has caused this airplane to ditch in a controlled or an uncontrolled fashion," Jane's Aviation analyst Chris Yates told The Associated Press. "Potentially it went down very quickly and so quickly that the pilot on board didn't have a chance to make that emergency call." Air France crisis center said 60 French citizens were on the plane. Italy said at least three passengers were Italian. If all 228 people were killed, it would be the deadliest commercial airline disaster since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines jetliner crashed in the New York City borough of Queens during a flight to the Dominican Republic, killing 265 people. On Feb. 19, 2003, 275 people were killed in the crash of an Iranian military plane carrying members of the Revolutionary Guards as it prepared to land at Kerman airport in Iran. The worst single-plane disaster was in 1985 when a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashed into a mountainside after losing part of its tail fin, killing 520 people. Airbus would not further comment until more details emerged. "Our thoughts are with the passengers and with the families of the passengers," said Airbus spokeswoman Maggie Bergsma. She said it was the first fatal accident of a A330-200 since a test flight in 1994 went wrong, killing seven people in Toulouse. The Airbus A330-200 is a twin-engine, long-haul, medium-capacity passenger jet that is 190 feet (58.8 meters) long. It is a shortened version of the standard A330, and can hold up to 253 passengers. There are 341 in use worldwide today. It can fly up to 7,760 miles (12,500 kilometers). Rick Kennedy, a spokesman for GE Aviation, expressed doubt that the engine was at fault. He said the CF6-80E engine that powered the Air France plane "is the most popular and reliable engine that we have for big airplanes in the world." He said there are more than 15,000 airplanes flying in the world with that engine design. watch the video here http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=13758207

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MTV Movie Awards 2009 Bruno falls on Eminem

MTV Movie Awards 2009 Bruno falls on Eminem 69 position, Eminem gets so pissed off that he leaves the place, this is so hilarious. Please leave a comment

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