Elvis Costello
Monday, January 19, 2009
Health News
A round up of some other health related news:
Swiss and Dutch health systems provide lessons for US on achieving universal coverage
The untold health care story: How they crippled Medicare
Salt reduction may offer cardioprotective effects beyond blood pressure reduction
Scientists on track to develop insulin chewing gum
Human genes remember a sugar hit for two weeks, and it can alter DNA
Researchers discover structure of key Ebola protein
Swiss and Dutch health systems provide lessons for US on achieving universal coverage
The untold health care story: How they crippled Medicare
Salt reduction may offer cardioprotective effects beyond blood pressure reduction
Scientists on track to develop insulin chewing gum
Human genes remember a sugar hit for two weeks, and it can alter DNA
Researchers discover structure of key Ebola protein
Sane Americans are calling for investigations
Like most sane Americans, Elizabeth Holtzman is calling for investigations into the Bush-Cheney administration's flamboyant abuses of power. Her perspective ought to carry some serious weight, though -- she was a key player in bringing down Richard Nixon for the crimes of Watergate, which by comparison to the Bush-Cheney administration seems trivial indeed.
Liars and Fools
Today's Liars and Fools:
As shrub/cabal junta comes to an end, his fake-Texan accent is fading away
The shrub's final press conference is, of course, a blizzard of lies
Media uncritically quote the shrub's absurd claim his policies kept us safe
Anti-Defamation League calls Bill Moyers racist for criticizing Gaza atrocities
Wall Street Journal conveniently forgets anthrax attacks
Anti-abortion activists are angry at Dunkin' Donuts
Wall Street Journal falsely claims that FISA court approved "warrantless wiretapping program" exposed in 2005
Faux News lies that the shrub/cabal "inherited"9/11 and recession
Washington Post quotes without question the shrub's claim that "there can be little debate" his policies kept us safe
Darth Cheney on whether Iraq War was worth the 4,500 Americans killed: 'I think so'
Ignoring all evidence to the contrary, CNN's King says of the shrub's African AIDS program: "Any liberal will tell you it has been a dramatic success"
As shrub/cabal junta comes to an end, his fake-Texan accent is fading away
The shrub's final press conference is, of course, a blizzard of lies
Media uncritically quote the shrub's absurd claim his policies kept us safe
Anti-Defamation League calls Bill Moyers racist for criticizing Gaza atrocities
Wall Street Journal conveniently forgets anthrax attacks
Anti-abortion activists are angry at Dunkin' Donuts
Wall Street Journal falsely claims that FISA court approved "warrantless wiretapping program" exposed in 2005
Faux News lies that the shrub/cabal "inherited"
Washington Post quotes without question the shrub's claim that "there can be little debate" his policies kept us safe
Darth Cheney on whether Iraq War was worth the 4,500 Americans killed: 'I think so'
Ignoring all evidence to the contrary, CNN's King says of the shrub's African AIDS program: "Any liberal will tell you it has been a dramatic success"
And I Quote
"It's cold here in New York City. The temperature is actually
lower than President Bush’s approval rating."
~ David Letterman
lower than President Bush’s approval rating."
~ David Letterman
Veeps: Profiles in Insignificance, a look at the bumbling, murdering, drunken idiots (and others) who've served as vice-president of the USA
Veeps: Profiles in Insignificance by Bill Kelter and Wayne Shellabarger, is a snarky, thorough look at the foibles and missteps of the vice presidency from John Adams to Dick Cheney.
You probably have no idea how completely comic the office has been through the years, but, as the authors note: "[The Vice Presidents'] relentless and overwhelming faceless-ness is testament to the bewildering fact that for more than 200 years, the American people have elected a buffoon's gallery of rogues, incompetents, empty suits, abysmal spellers, degenerate golfers and corrupt Marylanders to the Vice Presidency with barely a passing consideration that they might one day have to assume the highest office in the land."
Each profile is illustrated with caricatures like these:
And it is chock full of useful quotes and details like these:
Thomas Jefferson: Jefferson offered his personal collection of 6,487books to restock the new library [of Congress, burned in the War of 1812], for which Congress paid him $23,950. Jefferson's gesture was not as beneficent as it appeared: For all his extraordinary talents, Thomas Jefferson was abysmal in his personal financial affairs. He would die virtually impoverished with enormous debts hanging over him, leaving his daughter penniless.
Aaron Burr: In his twilight [Aaron] Burr found solace in letters and women, sending breezy notes to his beloved daughter, Theodesia, regaling her with tales of his favorite European prostitutes, rating them by price and satisfaction -- the kind of bonding every daughter longs for from her father.
Charles Fairbanks: "No public speaker can more quickly drive an audience to despair." - The Nation, describing Charles Fairbanks's oratorical prowess.
Calvin Coolidge: "Mr Coolidge's genius for inactivity is developed to a very high point. It is not an indolent inactivity. It is a grim, determined, alert inactivity, which keeps Mr Coolidge occupied constantly" - Columnist Walter Lippmann, 1926
As presiding officer of the Senate, Coolidge would eat lunch alone at a corner table in the Senate dining room, facing the wall.
John Nance Garner: "[It's] not worth a bucket of warm piss." - John Nance Garner sharing his opinion of the Vice Presidency with fellow Texan Lyndon Johnson.
Harry S Truman: "Look at all the Vice Presidents in history. Where are they? They were about as useful as a cow's fifth teat." - Harry S Truman, to Time Magazine, January 18, 1954, explaining why he never wanted to be Vice President.
Washington Post music critic Paul Hume dared to write an honest, if somewhat brutal, review of First Daughter Margaret Truman's singing recital in 1950... Truman...dropped Hume a letter, saying..."You sound like a frustrated old man who has never made a success, an eight-ulcer man on a four-ulcer job, with all four ulcers working. I never met you, but if I do, you'll need a new nose and a supporter below."
Richard Nixon: "Richard Nixon is a no-good, lying bastard. If he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd tell a lie just to keep his hand in." - Harry S Truman.
Dan Quayle: "I stand by all the misstatements that I've made." - Dan Quayle to ABC's Sam Donaldson, August 17, 1989.
Dick Cheney: When travelling, Vice President Cheney demands that his his hotel suites...have all televisions preset to Fox News Channel.
Health News
Poor sleep leads to more colds
The LA Times reports on a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine that found "people who sleep less than seven hours a night appear to be almost three times as likely to catch a cold as those who sleep eight hours or more."
There was a graded association with average sleep duration: participants with less than 7 hours of sleep were 2.94 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-7.30) more likely to develop a cold than those with 8 hours or more of sleep. The association with sleep efficiency was also graded: participants with less than 92% efficiency were 5.50 times (95% CI, 2.08-14.48) more likely to develop a cold than those with 98% or more efficiency. These relationships could not be explained by differences in prechallenge virus-specific antibody titers, demographics, season of the year, body mass, socioeconomic status, psychological variables, or health practices. The percentage of days feeling rested was not associated with colds.Conclusion Poorer sleep efficiency and shorter sleep duration in the weeks preceding exposure to a rhinovirus were associated with lower resistance to illness.
Man finds lizard taped to his car door
The bad news:Some idiot in Australia taped a live lizard to a man's car door while he was out taking photos.
The good news:
He was able to save the lizard by taking it home and using scissors to cut off the tape.
Salman Rushdie reflects on 20-year-old fatwa
Nearly 20 years after being driven underground by a religious decree, he is now Sir Salman Rushdie, properly famous and free, yet still burdened by his status as a symbol of persecution.
"This is the albatross around my neck," the novelist has said.
The 61-year-old Rushdie said he would rather be known as an artist than as a social critic, and worried that the attacks against his religious satire, "The Satanic Verses," had obscured "the real person that I am and the actual value of the books."
The author seemed to have enjoyed himself as he took on Islamic fundamentalists, the shrub and other objects of his liberal disdain over the years.
"The Satanic Verses" was released in late 1988 to critical acclaim and furious protest, with Muslims burning copies in the street and demonstrating around the world.
On Feb. 14, 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a religious decree, or fatwa, calling for the author to be killed.
Rushdie, a native of India who had moved to London, was forced into hiding and lived for years under British protection.
The 500-page "Satanic Verses" became an international best-seller, although widely regarded as having far more buyers than readers.
The Ayatollah is long dead and Rushdie has stopped worrying about his safety, although the fatwa has never been withdrawn.
He has questioned the accuracy of the Quran, used profanity when referring to Islamic leaders and he believes that "a culture of offendedness," in which any religious criticism is regarded as insensitive or even blasphemous, has intimidated others.
Last year, Rushdie strongly criticized his own publisher, Random House, Inc., for pulling Sherry Jones' "The Jewel of Medina" over fears that the novel would set off violence. ("The Jewel of Medina," about one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, was released by Beaufort Books without major incident).
Calling himself an early victim of attempted censorship, Rushdie likened his place in history to a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, "The Birds."
He points to a scene in which Tippi Hedren spotted a crow outside her window.
Hedren paid little attention until she noticed hundreds more had arrived.
"I think I was the first crow," Rushdie said.
The author, otherwise known for his classic "Midnight's Children," says he always considered the reaction to "Satanic Verses" a political, not a religious problem.
He noted that Iran's government had recently ended a long war with Iraq and was highly unpopular, and so used Rushdie to regain approval.
Few of his enemies knew anything about "Satanic Verses," Rushdie says.
Years after he was out of hiding, Rushdie met a young "British-Asian" guy who confided that he had once been a demonstrator against the author.
"Then I read your book," the man told him, "and I couldn't see what the fuss was about."
"This is the albatross around my neck," the novelist has said.
The 61-year-old Rushdie said he would rather be known as an artist than as a social critic, and worried that the attacks against his religious satire, "The Satanic Verses," had obscured "the real person that I am and the actual value of the books."
The author seemed to have enjoyed himself as he took on Islamic fundamentalists, the shrub and other objects of his liberal disdain over the years.
"The Satanic Verses" was released in late 1988 to critical acclaim and furious protest, with Muslims burning copies in the street and demonstrating around the world.
On Feb. 14, 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a religious decree, or fatwa, calling for the author to be killed.
Rushdie, a native of India who had moved to London, was forced into hiding and lived for years under British protection.
The 500-page "Satanic Verses" became an international best-seller, although widely regarded as having far more buyers than readers.
The Ayatollah is long dead and Rushdie has stopped worrying about his safety, although the fatwa has never been withdrawn.
He has questioned the accuracy of the Quran, used profanity when referring to Islamic leaders and he believes that "a culture of offendedness," in which any religious criticism is regarded as insensitive or even blasphemous, has intimidated others.
Last year, Rushdie strongly criticized his own publisher, Random House, Inc., for pulling Sherry Jones' "The Jewel of Medina" over fears that the novel would set off violence. ("The Jewel of Medina," about one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, was released by Beaufort Books without major incident).
Calling himself an early victim of attempted censorship, Rushdie likened his place in history to a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, "The Birds."
He points to a scene in which Tippi Hedren spotted a crow outside her window.
Hedren paid little attention until she noticed hundreds more had arrived.
"I think I was the first crow," Rushdie said.
The author, otherwise known for his classic "Midnight's Children," says he always considered the reaction to "Satanic Verses" a political, not a religious problem.
He noted that Iran's government had recently ended a long war with Iraq and was highly unpopular, and so used Rushdie to regain approval.
Few of his enemies knew anything about "Satanic Verses," Rushdie says.
Years after he was out of hiding, Rushdie met a young "British-Asian" guy who confided that he had once been a demonstrator against the author.
"Then I read your book," the man told him, "and I couldn't see what the fuss was about."
Zero minus thirteen and counting ...
Zero minus thirteen and counting ... until happy days are here again!
Just think in a little over 13 hours from now the world's nightmare will be over and a new age for America will be beginning.
The error of the past eight years will be gone!!!!!!!!!!!
Just think in a little over 13 hours from now the world's nightmare will be over and a new age for America will be beginning.
The error of the past eight years will be gone!!!!!!!!!!!
Australian sentenced for insulting Thai monarchy
An Australian writer was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for insulting Thailand's royal family in his novel, a rare conviction of a foreigner amid a crackdown on people and Web sites deemed critical of the monarchy.
Bangkok's Criminal Court sentenced Harry Nicolaides to six years behind bars but reduced the term because he had entered a guilty plea, the judge said.
Nicolaides, a 41-year-old from Melbourne, was charged with insulting Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the crown prince in his 2005 book "Verisimilitude," a piece of fiction that only sold seven copies.
This is why monarchies are a thing of the past. This is way beyond stupid and into the realm of shear lunatic idiocy. But judging by some of the fragile egos of some I have encountered it is not unsurprising that the egos 'bruised' by a passage in a book that only sold seven copies went off the deep end ...
Bangkok's Criminal Court sentenced Harry Nicolaides to six years behind bars but reduced the term because he had entered a guilty plea, the judge said.
Nicolaides, a 41-year-old from Melbourne, was charged with insulting Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the crown prince in his 2005 book "Verisimilitude," a piece of fiction that only sold seven copies.
*****
This is why monarchies are a thing of the past. This is way beyond stupid and into the realm of shear lunatic idiocy. But judging by some of the fragile egos of some I have encountered it is not unsurprising that the egos 'bruised' by a passage in a book that only sold seven copies went off the deep end ...
Here is a scanned copy of Nicolaides' book.
Speaking of Peanut Butter
Carolina Naturally reader Dagan Xavier provides us with a link to a list of products containing peanut butter.
So it might be advised to peruse the list and see what you may be consuming that has peanut butter in it and you not know it.
While using caution don't go off half-cocked and stop using peanut butter if you like and want to use peanut butter ... personally the extra precautions are unneeded - I don't use peanut butter or products containing peanut butter all that much in the first place, but I will be reading the list more thoroughly.
So it might be advised to peruse the list and see what you may be consuming that has peanut butter in it and you not know it.
While using caution don't go off half-cocked and stop using peanut butter if you like and want to use peanut butter ... personally the extra precautions are unneeded - I don't use peanut butter or products containing peanut butter all that much in the first place, but I will be reading the list more thoroughly.
Here is the list.
Obama's popularity grows as inauguration nears
A national poll shows that President Barack Obama is more popular than ever despite recent speed bumps on the road to his inauguration.
The poll released yesterday also shows that most Americans see Obama's inauguration as a chance for the nation to come together.
Eighty-four percent of those surveyed say they approve of Obama.And I Quote
Life is a circus.
The trick is being the ringmaster and not the poor schlep who follows the elephants with a bag and a shovel.
~ Myself
The trick is being the ringmaster and not the poor schlep who follows the elephants with a bag and a shovel.
~ Myself
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
Don't talk about your money, even with people you think you can trust.
Okay, no problem.
Don't talk about your money, even with people you think you can trust.
Okay, no problem.
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