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CONTRIBUTED CONTENT Do you take thyroid hormone medication for your thyroid problems but still suffer from fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, constipation, depression, cold hands and feet or other symptoms? Has your doctor told you your lab tests are normal and there isnt anything more to do?

If so, you may respond well to functional medicine for low thyroid problems.

Hypothyroidism, or low thyroid function, affects millions of Americans, most of them women. Its common for people with thyroid problems to go undiagnosed for years. Those who are diagnosed still experience low thyroid symptoms and a gradual worsening of their symptoms despite taking medication. This is because they are not getting the autoimmune disease treatment they need.

Approximately90%of hypothyroidism cases in the United States are caused by Hashimotos, an autoimmune disease that attacks and destroys the thyroid gland. If you have hypothyroidism symptoms, its likely you have autoimmune Hashimotos.

While you still may need thyroid medications in order to function, these meds will not address the underlying autoimmune condition damaging your thyroid gland.This is why its important to seek out Hashimotos disease treatment from a physician trained in functional medicine.

For starters, its not sufficient to only run a blood test for TSH, as most clinics do. Instead, you need to test for TPO and TGB antibodies. If either of these is positive this means you need Hashimotos thyroiditis help.

At the RedRiver Health and Wellness Center, our functional medicine wellness team willhelp you restore balance to your immune system so it stops attacking the thyroid gland.

This is a customized approach that takes into consideration each persons unique triggers for Hashimotos hypothyroidism symptoms. There are numerous approaches to treatment.

Going on a gluten-free diet

Numerous studies show a strong link between Hashimotos hypothyroidism and gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt and other wheat-like grains. Whats more, studies also show that people who are gluten-intolerant are more prone to Hashimotos. Gluten also cross-reacts with the thyroid gland.

This means that if you are gluten-intolerant and have Hashimotos, your immune system mistakes portions of your thyroid as gluten and attacks it whenever you eat gluten.

The AIP diet for Hashimotos

For some people, going gluten-free works great and improves their thyroid problems. For many others, its not enough and they require spending some time on the autoimmune Paleo or AIP diet. This is an anti-inflammatory diet that eliminates common inflammatory foods, such as dairy, eggs, soy and grains.

After a period of time on the diet, you then introduce foods you eliminated one at a time every three days to monitor for symptoms. Its important to eat a diverse array of plenty of vegetables while on the AIP diet for Hashimotos so you dont risk developing more food sensitivities due to loss of oral tolerance.

Address a leaky gut

A common Hashimotos disease treatment is to address a leaky gut, or intestinal permeability. Its common for leaky gut to play a role in autoimmune diseases such as Hashimotos thyroid problems. Leaky gut happens when the small intestine becomes inflamed and damaged, allowing undigested foods, bacteria and other foreign invaders into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, these pathogens trigger inflammation and autoimmunity in other places in the body.

Balance blood sugar

Balancing blood sugar is an important autoimmune disease management strategy. Many people do not realize how unstable their blood sugar is it is either chronically too low or too high. This is because the normal American diet is typically too high in sugars and processed carbohydrates, such as breads, pastas, pastries and desserts.

Blood sugar imbalances trigger inflammation and hormonal imbalances that make it difficult to effectively manage an autoimmune condition such as Hashimotos hypothyroidism. Blood sugar imbalances also cause unpleasant symptoms such as energy crashes, fatigue, excess belly fat, premenstrual syndrome and other hormone problems, mood swings and sleep issues.

These are just a few of the basics of autoimmune disease treatment for conditions such as Hashimotos hypothyroidism. Its important to manage your autoimmune condition to lower your risk of developing other autoimmune diseases, such as pernicious anemia, rheumatoid arthritis, vitiligo or Type I diabetes.

To learn more about Hashimotos and other factors that can cause hypothyroidism, read my book The Truth About Low Thyroidorcontact one of our functional medicine wellness centers for more information.

If you do not already have a functional medicine provider, call RedRiver Health and Wellness Center St. George at 435-767-9355or emailRedRiverSG@redriverhealthandwellness.com.

Written by JOSH REDD, RedRiver Health and Wellness Center.

S P O N S O R E D C O N T E N T

About RedRiver Health and Wellness Center

One of the main goals at RedRiver Health and Wellness Center is to work with patients to improve their health, well-being and quality of life. The RedRiver Health and Wellness Center team is passionate about helping ailing patients achieve optimal health, and we truly care about the success of each and every patient.

RedRiver chiropractic physicians are great advocates for prescribing physicians and endocrinologists. In fact, many of our patients see their prescribing physicians more frequently while under our care than they would otherwise. Our goal is not to replace our patients primary care physicians and specialists but to complement their care by providing patients with nutrition, diet, lifestyle and educational support and strategies.

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Sponsored content may be submitted to or developed by St. George News for publication on behalf of the sponsor and in the sponsor's interest. It may include promotional pieces, features, announcements, news releases and advertisements. Opinions expressed in sponsored content are those of the sponsor and not representative of St. George News. Sponsors have no influence over St. George News reporting and product apart from their own sponsored content.

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Are your thyroid symptoms a sign you need treatment for Hashimoto's disease? Functional medicine may help - St George News

A National Personnel Authority (NPA) official retracted her Diet testimony, prompting opposition lawmakers to accuse the Abe administration of forcing officials to support its impractical explanation for extending the career of a friendly prosecutor.

Emiko Matsuo, director-general of the NPAs Remuneration Bureau, said she made a slip of the tongue when she told the Diet on Feb. 12 that the governments interpretation of the revised National Public Service Law in 1981 remained the same.

That interpretation clearly states provisions of the law on extending the mandatory retirement ages of civil servants do not apply to public prosecutors.

Matsuos comment raised eyebrows because it contradicted Prime Minister Shinzo Abes explanation for allowing Hiromu Kurokawa, chief of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, to work six months beyond his 63rd birthday, when he was supposed to have retired.

Abe said at the Feb. 13 Lower House plenary session that his administration had reinterpreted the law to allow the retirement age provisions to cover prosecutors.

Kurokawa is considered an ally of the Abe Cabinet. Opposition party lawmakers say the illegal extension of his retirement age is aimed at promoting him to the nations top prosecutor post.

At the Feb. 12 Lower House Budget Committee, Matsuo was asked about the 1981 government interpretation of the law.

We continue to hold that interpretation until the present, Matsuo said.

But she backtracked when she was called before the Feb. 19 session of the same committee.

I used the term until the present in an inaccurate manner so I would like to retract that part of my response, she said.

Shiori Yamao, a lawmaker with the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, asked Matsuo, Why did you explain on Feb. 12 that the authority continues to hold the past interpretation without making any reference to the change in interpretation?

Matsuo said she had no intention of concealing the reinterpretation and explained that she did not touch upon the change because she was not directly asked about it.

Matsuo further explained that Justice Ministry officials on Jan. 22 consulted the bureau about allowing the retirement age extension to cover prosecutors. She said NPA officials sent a written response on Jan. 24 saying they did not oppose that change.

When further pressed for her definition of until the present, Matsuo said it meant until Jan. 22, when the NPA was consulted by Justice Ministry officials.

After the Feb. 19 committee session, Yamao told reporters, The NPA was forced to go along with the impracticable story put together by the Abe administration.

The Justice Ministry has jurisdiction over the prosecutors office law.

Justice Minister Masako Mori has said the ministry changed its interpretation of the retirement age extension in late January. The Abe Cabinet approved the change on Jan. 31.

The delay in Kurokawas retirement has also raised concerns within Japans judicial system.

The heads of all district and high public prosecutors offices in Japan held a meeting in Tokyo on Feb. 19 and issued a rare request for the government to explain its decision to hold off on Kurokawas retirement.

One top prosecutor from central Japan said prosecutors, who are supposed to be impartial and neutral in carrying out their duties, are now being viewed questionably about their ties to the administration, according to sources who were present at the meeting.

Unless something is done, trust in prosecutors will be called into question, the prosecutor was quoted as saying. It would be preferable to provide a more thorough explanation to the public.

(This article was compiled from reports by Ryutaro Abe and Naoki Kikuchi.)

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Diet testimony retracted to match Abe's retirement policy : The Asahi Shimbun - Asahi Shimbun

Dear Ask a Swole Woman,

First of all, thank you for your column, in all its various forms and locales. I had been lifting before you started writing, but you inspired me to take it more seriously and also just generally validated my experiences and made me feel less alone.

I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about alcohol and trainingboth how it affects training/macros from a scientific/nutrition standpoint, and also how (if?) you have found balance between building strength but also going out with friends for a few drinks?

Ok, thats it! Thanks again!

LC

I did not know roughly until I started lifting weights that alcohol is actually a fourth kind of calorieit is not carb, nor fat, nor protein, technically speaking. (Further technically speaking, it is not really a calorie, just poison to your body, but we must die a little to stay alive somehow.) This means drinking, and when you drink, and how much you drink, has implications for your training, but even if you know these implications, its hard to know how concerned to be about them. I'm going to talk about all of the relevant data and then make a judgment call about what is best, based on the evidence and my experience as both an enthusiastic lifter and drinker.

First of all, these are two very good videos on alcohol as it relates to lifting/strength training created by Jeff Nippard (the second one is more concerned with how alcohol affects your body fat percentage than I think really matters here, but the rest is interesting) with breakdowns of relevant scientific research:

So the first question is: can you drink and still train and make progress? Yes, of course. Maybe if you were a professional athlete where your body and health are your life, you might consider cutting back, but there is plenty of room for booze in the life of a normal person who simply works out.

But research well talk about here has shown that there are longer-term effects that are not detectable by the average human; that research has its own shortcomings, but its the best weve got. A normal person who works out at least three-ish times per week, meaning they have a mix of nights where they have to train the next day, and nights when they dont have to train the next day (but you dont have to train the next day, because you just trained that day). So we can contend with this in two parts: how drinking affects you immediately after a workout, and how drinking affects you the day before a workout. If youre trying to plan out your week, is it better to schedule getting wasted for a day that you went to the gym, at the risk of undermining your workout? Or the night before, at the risk of undermining the workout yet to come?

If you get home from the gym and have a few beers, research suggests that alcohol (which jumps the digestive queue inside your body, meaning real food gets stored as fat while your body is breaking down your drinks) slows down your bodys ability to use protein to repair the muscles torn up by your recent training. In one study on actual humans, consuming a 25 gram dose of protein right after a workout and then again four hours later, mitigated this problem a little bit, but not completely. However, in this study, the subjects were getting absolutely wasted, taking in 12 drinks (plus or minus two drinks, per the authors) in the hours after their training. I am guessing you are not trying to get absolutely trashed, so we can reasonably assume the effect on your muscles will be less for a more modest number of drinks, and possibly even negligible for your purposes as a non-pro athlete, if you make sure to eat your food.

But what about drinking the night before a training? Obviously, as with the above, the effect will vary if youre having three drinks and are in bed by 10 p.m. versus going on a bender and going to bed at 5 a.m. If youre hungover, youre not going to want to work out, and even if you do, you wont be able to do all that you could if you were not hungover. According to a different study, alcohol lowers testosterone in men, but increases it in women (the study did not measure how much each person drank, but authors determined the subjects were sufficiently drunk according to their slurred speech [and] unstable gait). This matters because testosterone is an anabolic hormone, meaning it helps you build muscle.

This seems like a pretty wild finding, implying that drinking may even help women actually build muscle, but its a one-off, and its small, and no one has followed up on it; probably the safest thing to conclude is that drinking is maybe somewhat less bad for womens overall progress than mens, but it definitely doesnt mean to start supplementing your protein shakes with whiskey, because alcohol has many effects beyond what it does to your hormones: its dehydrating, its taxing on your digestive system, etc., etc.

As far as how to integrate alcohol calorie/energy-intake-wise, Nippard above suggests carving space in your diet for alcohol from your fat macros, because your body processes fat less well than carbs or protein while its processing alcohol. You can see the obvious shortcoming here: taking caloric space away from real food and giving it to alcohol, which is a not-super-efficient source of energy and a great struggle for your body to process, is overall worse than just eating food, but thats the compromise were making in order to drink.

An interesting thing about scientific literature around drinking and strength training, particularly as it relates to women, is that it is not super comprehensive; the studies are either small with only a dozen-ish subjects (or sometimes even mice) and without a lot of control for training background, intensity of training programs, or overall diet/sleep/other recovery elements. Its a lot of having people do leg presses and then get very drunk, or having them get very drunk and then do leg presses. This is not a knock on the scientific establishment as a whole; its hard to get funding for this kind of stuff, even as it affects so much of our lives. (I want to be able to drink but in a way that minimally impacts other areas of my life, and, like you, I feel sure it is possible but slightly unsure how to go about it.) I wish there were better data, but there is not.

Taking all this together, it is my opinion (and experience) that the best time to drink is on a day when youve JUST trained earlier that day, and do not plan on training the next day. This leaves you at least three, if not four, days each week when you can pretty safely drink a little and not ruin your own life too badly. It also means you don't drink many days in a row, which, to me, produces the absolute worst results. This does involve some planning, but, you work! You train! Treat yourself to scheduling your evenings of drinking, and saving some other evenings for not drinking.

Would it be better to not drink at all, in a strict health sense? Probably. While I cannot legally personally attest to the superiority of weed, I can point to the literature suggesting it harmonizes beautifully with many aspects of strength training: it stimulates appetite, reduces inflammation, helps some people with sleep, and the hangover stakes are not nearly as high (though you can be cannabis-hungover). Obviously, there are events where you might be drinking, like an after-work happy hour, where weed might not be as acceptable. But as a wind-down, it sure seems to me, academically and theoretically speaking, weed has a lot going for it over booze.

But hopefully you see here that, thankfully, there is plenty of room for life balance (drinking) even if you are trying to go to the gym regularly. While its not the best thing in a strict biological sense, I return often to the research that suggests light-to-moderate drinkers live longer", as researchers speculate that moderate drinking is closely linked with other demographic markers of health that dont have anything to do with alcohol intake. While no one needs to drink to have friends, there is surely more to it than intake in grams-per-kilocalorie, and you should find your balance.

Disclaimer: Casey Johnston is not a doctor, nutritionist, dietitian, personal trainer, physiotherapist, psychotherapist, doctor, or lawyer; she is simply someone who done a lot of, and read a lot about, lifting weights. You can read past Ask A Swole Woman columns at The Hairpin and at SELF and follow A Swole Woman on Instagram. Got a question for her? Email swole.woman@vice.com .

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How to Work Out Effectively Without Completely Giving Up Alcohol - VICE

New research in the medical journal BMJ showed adults who ate a Mediterranean diet for an entire year increased their good gut bacteria and decreased the bad ones. Wochit

Eating aMediterranean diet could have a positive effect within just one year for older adults, increasing "good" bacteria in their guts and decreasing the "bad" ones, new research suggests.

A study of612people aged 65 to 79 in five European countries showed that by adhering to a Mediterranean diet for a year showed a wide range of positive effects on gut bacteria that indicate "healthy aging."

Those who stuck to the dietslowed the loss of gut bacteria diversity. They alsosaw an increase inbacteria associated withbetter brain function, indicators of reduced frailty like grip strength andwalking speedand reduced production of harmful inflammation.

Analyzing the changes occurring in people's gut bacteria, the researchers found those that stuck with the diet increased bacteria tied to the production of short chain fatty acids, which can play an important role in maintaining health and staving off disease, and decreasedbacteria linked to some bile acids associated with cancer and other adverse effects.

The "good" bacteria they were producing also played the role of "keystone"species in their guts, increasing the stability of the gut microbiome and reducing the "bad" bacteria.

Need a new diet?Here's how to pick one and stick with it

Eating a Mediterranean diet could have a positive effect within just one year for older adults, increasing "good" bacteria in our guts and decreasing the "bad" ones, new research suggests.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The research was publishedMonday in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal Gut.

The Mediterranean diet is full of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, olive oil and fish and low in red meat, dairy products and saturated fats. It is consistently rated as one of the healthiest diets.

While previous studies have shown the diet's correlation with decreased risk of disease, this research isone of the largest and longest studies that looks at the diet's effect on gut bacteria, saidElisabetta Politi,the nutrition director at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center.Politi was not involved in the research.

This shows not just that the Mediterranean diet is associated with good healthbut how that is achieved within a person's body, she explained.

Should you keep eating red meat?Controversial study says well-known health risks are just bad science

"It's really fascinating to see that those who eat Mediterranean-like achieve these healthbenefits because they have a more diverse microbiota,"Politi told USA TODAY.

Measuring indicators of frailty is also important as longevity increases and changes in diet help increase lifespans, Politi said. As people enter their 80s and 90s, there are increased worries around strength and bone health.

"We really need to emphasize the best diet that can strengthenour skeleton and muscles," she said.

The participants in the study were categorized by the level of their frailty and just over half were assigned a Mediterranean diet tailored for older people. The participants were fromFrance, Italy, Netherlands, Polandand the United Kingdom.

A person's age and weight did not affect the results, and while the nationality of a person affected their baseline gut microbiome, the changes in bacteria appeared to be consistent as diet changed.

While the observational study cannot show a causal relationship, its size, length and range of countries adds to the strength of results, Politi said.

More research is needed to show the effects of the diet beyond a year, she added, and clinicians need to work with patients to ensure changes in diet are long-lasting.

"It's just hard to change the way we are raised and what we are accustomed to eating," Politi said."We can do it more easily for sixmonths and a year, but for me, the really interesting question is are all these changes sustainable."

Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller

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The Mediterranean diet could help healthy aging, study suggests - USA TODAY

Plant-based diets have become all the rage. And your heart will thank you for cutting animal products from the menu.

A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology this week examined how our diets impact our coronary health. Researchers found that a byproduct produced by micro-organisms in peoples guts a metabolite called trimethylamine N-oxide, or TMAO for short increases their risk of heart attack and coronary heart disease. Eating animal products was shown to increase the concentrations of TMAO in peoples bodies.

To produce their findings, researchers examined 760 women who participated in the Nurses Health Study, a long-term research study that tracks the health outcomes of nearly 122,000 female registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55.

The women who participated in the study were asked for information regarding their diet, smoking habits, physical activity and other demographic information. The women also provided two blood samples, which were taken 10 years apart to measure concentrations of TMAO in their plasma.

Women who showcased the largest increases in TMAO levels had a 67% risk of contracting coronary heart disease. Overall, the researchers found that women who developed heart disease had higher concentrations of TMAO, a higher body-mass index, a family history of heart attack. Additionally, these women didnt follow a diet that featured a higher intake of vegetables and lower consumption of animal products.

Read more: How to eat less meat without driving yourself nuts and save up to $750 a year

The studys findings suggest that gut-microbiomes may be new areas to explore in heart disease prevention, said Lu Qi, director of the Tulane University Obesity Research Center and the studys senior author.

Researchers noted the study did have some limitations. Namely, no men were included, and participants self-reported much of the information about their diet and lifestyle choices. But other studies have similarly shown the benefits of eating plant-based diets.

A 2019 study from the Journal of the American Heart Association based on data from more than 12,000 middle-aged adults found that people who consumer the most plant-based foods had a 16% lower risk of having cardiovascular disease and a 25% lower risk of dying from any cause.

Those looking to shift toward a more plant-based diet may want to follow one of two popular diets commonly associated with cardiovascular benefits: the Dash Diet and the Mediterranean Diet. (Dash is an acronym that stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.)

Both diets emphasize eating vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, poultry, fish and low-fat dairy products. Similarly, both diets advise cutting out salt, red meats, sweets and sugar-sweetened drinks, though the Dash Diet also suggests eliminating full cream and alcoholic beverages.

Dont miss: Two hot dogs or four pieces of bacon a week raise your risk of heart disease, death

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This diet will help reduce your risk of heart disease, scientists say - MarketWatch

Subject to grueling hours and intense political pressure, Japans elite bureaucrats are beginning to ask themselves whether its all worth it. Political scientist Nonaka Naoto traces the growing crisis to deeply entrenched legislative procedures rooted in de facto one-party rule.

Japanese democracy observed a milestone in October 2019, when the National Diet convened for its 200th session. Unfortunately, the two-month extraordinary session was dominated by opposition grilling over government scandals and bureaucratic malfeasance, leaving important policy issues on the back burner.

The Diet session also called attention to the extraordinary pressures that are causing young bureaucratsand those contemplating such a careerto question whether the benefits of a job in government are worth the costs. Even with a massive typhoon approaching Tokyo, civil servants remained holed up in their offices in Kasumigaseki, frantically preparing their ministers responses to questions from opposition politicians.

The problems afflicting Japans legislative and administrative branches are structurally related. In the following, I would like to trace their origins and clarify their connections in an effort to light the way to a solution.

At one time, the Japanese bureaucracy was regarded as a model of organizational autonomy, technical expertise, and policy leadership. Today, it is more often associated with the phenomenon of sontaku, the apparent willingness of senior administrators to cast aside ethical standards in their rush to curry favor with the prime minister and his cronies. To understand this transformation, we need to examine the changing relationship between the administrative and political spheres in the period since 1955, when the Liberal Democratic Party came to power.

The first and most obvious aspect of this relationship is the system of collaboration that developed between the bureaucracy and the ruling LDP under the so-called 1955 system, which persisted until 1993. The key institutional component of this relationship was the LDP Policy Research Council, whose organization mirrored that of the governments administrative apparatus. The tribes of LDP lawmakers, or zoku giin, appointed to each division of the Policy Research Council lobbied on behalf of specific industries and other interests, serving as a link between those interests and the government agencies with jurisdiction over them. Although bureaucrats of each ministry took the lead in the process of crafting policy and drafting laws, all legislation had to be vetted and approved by the relevant committees of the Policy Research Council before the cabinet could submit it to the Diet. This close collaborative relationship made use of the abilities of Japans elite, highly educated bureaucrats while upholding the democratic principles of the postwar Constitution, under which the democratically elected Diet is the highest organ of the state. It was the price the bureaucracy paid for maintaining its influence.

But the principles of postwar democracy also insisted that the minority parties have a voice in government policy. With no prospect of wresting the reins of government from the LDP, the opposition asserted itself largely through Diet questioning, in which lawmakers grilled cabinet members, who in turn relied on the expertise of the civil service for their responses. Thus, while negotiating and coordinating with the LDP outside of the Diet, Japanese bureaucrats were also obliged to fence with the opposition during legislative sessions. In this sense, the power of Japans postwar bureaucracy during the 1955 setupunlike that of the prewar erawas carefully circumscribed and subject to constraints from the elected politicians of LDP and the opposition alike.

However, the balance began to shift decisively during the turbulent 1990s, as the government decision-making apparatus came under mounting criticism for corruption, sectionalism, and inefficiency. Beginning in the mid-1990s, with the cabinet of Prime Minister Hashimoto Rytar, successive governments enacted a series of far-reaching administrative and civil-service reforms designed to strengthen "political leadership" in the form of top-down, centralized control over the bureaucracy and the policymaking process. The Cabinet Office, headed by the chief cabinet secretary and the prime minister, was given the resources and authority to formulate and coordinate basic policy. These top politicians established completely new types of advisory councils consisting of both government and private-sector experts to draw up recommendations for legislation and other policy measures.

Last but not least, the prime minister and the chief cabinet secretary were given centralized control over the appointment and management of senior administrative personnela change of momentous importance for the autonomy of Japans civil servants and their relationship with the political sector.

Ministries and agencies were stripped of their former organizational autonomy. Now the fate of officials hung on the good opinion of the prime minister and chief cabinet secretary, who had the power not only to block appointments but also to deprive senior officials of authority and prestige simply by denying them a place on a policy council. The reforms dramatically weakened the clout of the bureaucracy, as well as its symbiotic relationship with the LDP, and placed Japans administrators in a position of absolute subservience to the prime ministers office.

At the same time, the bureaucracys relationship with opposition politicians remained fundamentally unchanged. Civil servants still find themselves in the firing line during the oppositions relentless and often hostile questioning in the Diet. In fact, Diet interaction between opposition politicians and civil servants has grown all the more fraught now that the latter are manifestly working for the prime minister and his cabinet.

In this sense, the current crisis facing Japans civil service relates directly to legislative procedures and systems that have taken hold in the Diet since the LDP took power in 1955. Nor is this the only consequence of the Diets peculiarities. Of course, the rules and customs governing parliamentary government vary from one country to the next, but there is no denying that Japans National Diet is among the most peculiar legislative assemblies in the advanced industrial world because of the unique pattern of parliamentary rationalization in postwar Japan.

The first peculiarity is the way that plenary sittings have been relegated to the status of a rubber stamp as Diet committees have taken over the deliberative process. This is especially evident in the small amount of time allotted to itroughly 60 hours a year on average (in the House of Representatives). That is about one-twentieth of the time spent in Britain and France.

Almost all national legislatures feature a combination of committee and plenary deliberation, but in most countries the two play complementary roles in the legislative process. As a rule, the committees are tasked with gathering and evaluating technical information and ironing out differences in a collaborative spirit, while the plenary deliberations are the stage for impassioned partisan debate. In postwar Japan, this basic model has broken down. The plenary sessions have become pro forma, and the committees have taken over as the main arena for partisan posturing. As a result, the committees no longer perform their original legislative function, nor can they be expected to.

The second peculiarity is the inordinate amount of time devoted to question-and-answer sessions (shitsugi), as opposed to parliamentary debate. The difference is twofold. First, debate is a free exchange of views, while questioning is limited to specific queries prepared and submitted in advance. Second, debate typically takes place between legislators, while questioning (in Japan, at least), consists primarily of hostile questions posed by opposition politicians to cabinet ministerswho in turn may call on bureaucrats or private-sector experts to assist in delivering their response. This is partly because almost all the bills put before the Diet are government-sponsored bills, but it also reflects the oppositions use of questioning to highlight real or alleged government misconduct. In either case, the questions are submitted in advance, and bureaucrats are given the thankless and time-consuming task of assembling the data and talking points needed to respond. (They are frequently required to appear in person as well.)

This question-and-answer format, which took hold during the years when the LDP was firmly ensconced as the perennial ruling party, lies at the heart of many of the systemic problems plaguing Diet deliberations. But any effort to change it meets fierce resistance, since it is the single most important institutional weapon at the disposal of an opposition with no prospects for winning an electoral majority.

Even more troubling is the third peculiarity of Diet deliberation: the fact that members of the ruling LDP play almost no part in it. Of course, the LDP accumulated great policymaking clout under the 1955 system, but it wielded that power almost exclusively through extra-parliamentary channels. In fact, the backroom negotiations of the Policy Research Council divisions have eliminated open Diet deliberation for LDP legislators.

Currently, almost 70% of the time set aside for Diet questioning is allocated to the minority parties. While the opposition uses its time for ruthless interrogation, politicians of the ruling party seem to view their meager allotment as a burden. The result is that on average, contribution of LDP politicians to committee deliberation is a mere 5% of that from members of the Communist Party. In short, the role of LDP Diet members is simply to vote on the government-sponsored bills put before themlegislation that has already been vetted, revised, and approved by the party brass. The system simply leaves no room for serious deliberation or debate either in committee or in plenary sittings.

To review, the postwar Diet evolved as a body in which the ruling and opposition parties played their assigned roles, while the bureaucracy took the leading role in the process of formulating policy and drawing up legislation. The LDP, for all its attention to form and procedure, ceased to be an active or meaningful participant in the Diet, as the opposition took center stage. Moreover, it was the bureaucrats who were left to cope with the oppositions grilling.

By correcting the overcentralization of administrative power in the office of the prime minister, it might be possible to create a healthier balance between our politicians and bureaucrats. This would help address the problem of sontaku and mitigate some of the pressures under which our civil servants are obliged to operate. But the problem of overworked, overstressed bureaucrats is inextricably tied to Japans dysfunctional Diet. And Diet reform is a difficult task requiring insightful and decisive political leadership.

As I have stressed, the context in which the Dietspeculiar and anomalous workings evolved was the LDPs monopolistic control of government. Despite the electoral reforms that helped sweep the LDP from power in 2009, a viable two-party system has yet to take hold in Japan. Under the circumstances, it is will be no easy matter to fundamentally change the way the Diet works. But we can start by understanding the origins of the problem and carefully studying the options for reform.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Prime Minister Abe Shinz responds to questions from Diet members in the House of Representatives, October 8, 2019. Jiji.)

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Untying the Knot of Japan's Bureaucratic and Diet Dysfunction - Nippon.com

Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP Harrison Ford attends the premiere of "The Call of the Wild" at El Capitan Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in Los Angeles.Harrison Ford revealed the secret to his ripped physique at the age of 77.

During an an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that aired on Tuesday, the host took some time to commend Ford for his chiseled looks.

"You look good, you look really good," DeGeneres told the Indiana Jones actor, who jokingly responded, "What did I look like before?"

DeGeneres then showed a photo of Ford looking fit on a bike with his ripped arms exposed, and asked him if he's been working out a lot, which got a big roar from the audience.

"I don't work out like crazy; I just, I work out a bit," he said. "I ride bikes and I play tennis a little bit."

After some fun banter, where the Star Wars legend denied riding an electric bike in the photo, Ford confessed that he pared his diet down to "vegetables and fish, no dairy, no [meat]."

"'The fact that you can stick to it is pretty impressive because it is hard to eat really, really clean," DeGeneres said of Ford before asking if there was a specific reason behind his diet change.

"I just decided I was tired of eating meat and I know its not really good for the planet, and it's not really good for me."

Ellen chimed back in, "It's good to not eat meat, I find."

Ford also revealed that he's poised toput his Indiana Jones hat back on in the fifth installment in the George Lucas franchise that kicked off back in 1981.

Shooting for the still untitled movie is slated to begin this summer.

The last film in the franchise was 2008's Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was one of the highest grossing films of the year.

Ford is currently promoting his new adventure film The Call of the Wild, which opens in theaters Friday.

Slideshow: These 40 fit celebrities over 40 will inspire you to hit the gym (Provided by Prevention)

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Harrison Ford reveals he's been eating a clean diet of 'vegetables and fish' to maintain his fit physique at age 77 - msnNOW

Construction to implement a "road diet" for a portion of Cork Street in Kalamazoo will start on March 2nd.

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 5:21 p.m. EST by Joshua Scott

KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) -- A portion of Cork Street in Kalamazoo will see changes to driving lanes and the addition of bike paths as the city prepares for the 35-week project to begin.

The $6.5 million dollar project will involve the implementation of a "road diet" plan for the stretch of Cork Street between Sprinkle Road and Lovers Lane in the city's Milwood Neighborhood. A redesign of the street will reduce the current two lanes of traffic going in both directions to just one going each way, and the addition of a middle turn lane.

Cork street will also feature the installation of two bicycle lanes in both directions, making it easier for cyclists to move through the area.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Services say the first portion of construction is scheduled to begin on Monday, March 2nd and will shut down eastbound road traffic on Cork Street between Portage Street and Emerald Drive, with work continuing until mid-July. City officials say that westbound traffic on Cork Street is expected to remain open during most of the redesign period.

Included in the plan is the rebuilding of the intersection at Portage Street and Cork Street, and the replacement of aging water main pipes under the constructed roadway. Also addressed will be crumbling sidewalks along the street's path with repaving planned and new crosswalks introduced.

Additional work will take place on a new culvert at a creek that intersects Cork Street and the building of a new railroad crossway.

Kalamazoo city commissioners previously approved a contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation to carry out the plan at a meeting on September 16th, 2019. The goals achieved bring the city closer to realizing it's "complete streets" plan, increasing safety and mobility for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.

The Cork Street Improvement project is expected to continue into late 2020, with most of the work being completed by November.

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$6.5 million road diet project on Cork Street to begin in March - Midwest Communication