https://buy-zithromax.online buy kamagra usa https://antibiotics.top buy stromectol online https://deutschland-doxycycline.com https://ivermectin-apotheke.com kaufen cialis https://2-pharmaceuticals.com buy antibiotics online Online Pharmacy vermectin apotheke buy stromectol europe buy zithromax online https://kaufen-cialis.com levitra usa https://stromectol-apotheke.com buy doxycycline online https://buy-ivermectin.online https://stromectol-europe.com stromectol apotheke https://buyamoxil24x7.online deutschland doxycycline https://buy-stromectol.online https://doxycycline365.online https://levitra-usa.com buy ivermectin online buy amoxil online https://buykamagrausa.net

Category: Health Science

***Dave Does the Videos

So I don’t watch videos people link to very often. At work, I don’t want to trigger the YouTube alerts with the network folks. At home, I don’t have much opportunity (or opportunity to throw the headphones on).

Here are a number I’d flagged when I ran across them or had them recommended to me. They run the gamut from serious to silly, from cheesy to exquisite, from escapist to educational.

Cool.

First off, just to be political, John Oliver follows up on those tales of out-of-touch Obama and his exotic un-American vacations in the hoity-toity richville of Hawaii.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon – Thurs 11p / 10c
RNC Meeting in Hawaii
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		Political HumorHealth Care Crisis

Because when I think of Marvel’s Thor, I always think of him with … a sword?

Hey, remember that gal who had the horrific reaction to a flu shot — spasms, slurred speech, but she was okay when she walked backward? Um .. maybe not so much. But she has some exciting new symptoms, thanks to her alternative medicine practitioner. Kudos to Inside Edition for running this story. A pity it will get fraction the coverage of the original ‘FLU SHOTS ARE SCARY EVIL GOVERNMENT BAD MOJO!” stories.

In the following, it’s … disturbing how realistic all these faked exteriors look. That it’s become this easy to do — or at least this cheaper to do than to shoot on a real location — is remarkable.

Speaking of SFX, what’s remarkable about this is entry is not the writing or the acting, but that they could put together all the SFX using home hardware and software (plus a clip of the Wilhelm Scream). Nice.

Speaking of Star Trek, here a bit of remix fun from one of my favorite TOS episodes.

For a variety of reasons, I am very unlikely to ever play Mass Effect 2. But this trailer for it is pretty damned cool.

A very nice video from the DNC on the recession, job loss, and what’s changed in the last year. Too long for a commercial, but I’d love to see this get more circulation.

This ad was put out by Planned Parenthood leading up the Super Bowl and the Focus on the Family Tebow commercial. It’s calm, passionate, and very good. I have no doubt ABC would have refused to run it, even assuming PP had decided it was worth blowing a million or two dollars on the placement.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, I may have to gouge my eyes out after this 1978 commercial for Japanese “sea chicken” (tuna).

It’s better on human feet to run barefoot than with those multi-hundred-dollar Nikes? Say it ain’t so!

The 100 Cheesiest Movie Lines of All Time? While at times it seems like a race between Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Cage (and while I might question some of the entries, as most people will), it does probably include the Cheesiest Line of All Time that Margie Adores.

Unblogged Bits for Tuesday, 09 February 2010

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

  1. Official Google Reader Blog: Readers: Get your Buzz on – I will be curious to see how the information ecosystem between the two platforms works.
  2. Another Day, Another Anti-Gay Post From Bryan Fischer: Kyle
  3. Obama Rebukes Boehner In Testy Exchange, Charges GOP Wants To Kill All His Initiatives – “Boehner made the case that long-term concern over Dem policies — health care, cap and trade — was leading to uncertainty in the private sector, damaging job creation efforts.” By “long-term concern” read “endless obstruction by the GOP to keep anything of substance from actually being passed.”
  4. Kristol Calls GOP’s Preconditions On Health Care Meeting ‘Silly’ – “We have been engaged in substantive debate in health care, we Republicans, for a year, and we are perfectly happy to continue that debate” … as long as you start over and begin with our minority position as the groundwork of anything that gets done.
  5. Insurer Denies Life-Prolonging Treatment To Five-Year-Old Boy With Cancer – Money graf: “The United States is the only industrialized nation without cradle-to-the-grave, universal health care. In no other developed country would a child with cancer have to go without care because an insurance company decided it was not profitable enough to cover him.”
  6. How Google Buzz is Disruptive: Open Data Standards – Some interesting perspective here. And, if I read this right, Google all of a sudden becomes a relatively seamless social aggregator and relay (via RSS), which has lots of interoperability possibilities. That consideration make me think much better of it.
  7. Introducing Google Buzz – We’ll see. For some reason, I just don’t see this taking off (if for no other reason that it means you have to be in Gmail or with a registered Google user).
  8. LOTRO Defragger – Interesting. I guess it would depend on how they manage their internal files of objects and possessions and locations and so forth. I can imagine a game set up to do this automatically and cleverly, but I suspect it’s not high on the list of things developers focus on.
  9. Invade a Hospital
  10. Caplin Rous: World’s Largest Pet Rodent: Alex
  11. L.A. Ferrari Owner Builds Dream Garage, Whiny Neighbors Wake Him Up [Garage Mahal] – I think there would probably be grounds for a law suit against the city, at least. That might make them change their minds (again).
  12. Complex smells make food more filling – life – 09 February 2010 – New Scientist – But, interestingly, doesn’t seem to reduce consumption.
  13. Even dumber than we thought – And yet, this is the woman SO MANY REPUBLICAN LOOOOOVE! She’d be the second coming of George W. Bush. Wait, I guess that explains it.
  14. EFF Asks Court to Suppress Evidence Illegally Gathered From Password-Protected Phone – I guess the conceptual question is: is your cell phone like your pockets (which the police can search pursuant to an arrest) or like your home office (which they can’t without getting a warrant). I’d argue the latter.
  15. EFF Fights for Cell Phone Users’ Privacy in Thursday Hearing – That cell phones can be tracked is a pretty cool thing. Do you want the government (or individuals within it) to able to use that ability on a whim, or for no compelling reason other than curiosity? Neither do I.
  16. Inhofe’s Grandchildren Build Igloo To Mock Killer Snow Storm: ‘Al Gore’s New Home’ – Y’know, the old “blizzards vs global warming” is a funny-ha-ha irony, along the lines of “well, I lost my job but I found this $10 bill on the way home, so I guess we’re okay” lines. That the denialists are seriously using it as “proof” to the public that it means that global warming is false is wretched science at best, and intentional deception at worst.
  17. Rep. Blackburn touts Social Security privatization. – Not that Social Security is trouble-free, but did any of these folks actually pay attention to what happened to the stock market these past few years, or what happened to people and institutions that relied upon investment income for survival?
  18. Shelby releases most of his blanket hold, but continues to block three military nominees. – And, of course, it’s not about the qualifications of the candidates, or the safety of the nation, but, really, about pork in his back yard.
  19. Three Times Makes a Trend – Sadly, not surprising, but worthwhile remembering: a lot of the people most vocal about limiting your freedom are also most likely to criminalize your “aberrant” behavior.
  20. New study warns that herbal supplements and medicines don’t always mix well. – Actually, what concerns me more here is that if I get heart disease it might mean I have to wean off of garlic, ginger, and grapefruit juice. Yikes!

Scoping out the BPA in my cupboard

Bisphenol-A (BPA)
Bisphenol-A (BPA)

So there’s been increasing concerns over BPA (bisphenol A) over the past few years, especially in its use for food containers.  Though some of this takes on the hysteria of the anti-vax crowd, I’m also not swayed by calm assurances by manufacturers or lack of action from the FDA (esp. since the manufacturers generally say, “We are always interested in customer health, but the FDA says it’s okay, so it must be okay”).

I decided I wanted to see if we had any easy sources of BPA in our house that we could get rid of.  We have a lot of plastic containers that we both store and microwave food in, and I decided that if we had any that have BPA, I’d get rid of them; if they all had BPA, we’d go back to the old Corning/ceramic days.

Here’s what I found:

Glad:

Do GladWare® Containers contain BPA (Bisphenol A)?

NO. Glad food containers, wraps, and storage bags and other food contact products are not made of Polycarbonate nor is Bisphenol A (BPA) used as a raw material in their production. For more information, you can read our official statement here.

Rubbermaid:

BPA has been used safely in the manufacture of thousands of products for years and its use fully complies with U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other historically stringent public health regulators in the European Union and Japan.

Even though only a fraction of Rubbermaid-branded food storage containers and water bottles contain BPA, we believe strongly in helping consumers make informed choices. It’s all part of Rubbermaid’s focus on listening to, and responding to, our valued customers.

They include pictures of all their products and what does/doesn’t have BPA (nothing we have from them does).  There’s also this interesting note, which may apply to other manufacturers:

Recent news coverage has suggested that plastic containers and bottles labeled with the number “7” material identification code on the bottom contain BPA. While all polycarbonate plastics containing BPA are labeled with the number “7” identification code, not all plastics labeled with the number “7” contain BPA. The number “7” code is assigned to the “Other” category, which includes all plastics not otherwise assigned to categories #1-6. The majority of Rubbermaid food and beverage containers are assigned to category number “5”, although some non-BPA containing products are assigned to category”7” due to their unique combination of plastic types.

More on the ID codes and BPA here.

Tupperware:

Q: Does Tupperware use polycarbonate in any of its products?

A: Yes, Tupperware’s Research and Development group has found that polycarbonate creates the highest quality and most durable products for our consumers. Consumers have consistently asked for durable, microwave-safe products, and we believe that polycarbonate is a good choice for meeting this need.

Polycarbonate is used in a small percentage of our products, primarily those intended for high heat resistance, as well as some serving lines (see listing of Tupperware products which contain polycarbonate.)

Currently in the United States and Canada we do NOT use polycarbonate in any chiladren’s products.

[…] Bisphenol A (BPA) is a key industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate, a raw material found in hundreds of plastic household goods and other products. Recent media reports have raised questions about its safety, though bisphenol-A has been deemed safe for consumer use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies around the world.

The breakdown of products (including recycle codes) for Tupperware is here.

SC Johnson:

SC Johnson’s food storage products, including Ziploc® brand bags and containers and Saran™ brand wraps do not contain bisphenol A (BPA).

So … we’re pretty much in good shape.  I’ve looked through our cabinet of plastic containers, plus cabinet of water bottles and the like, and not found any Evil 7s.  I had a question on a few Pampered Chef pitchers, but eventually found in the wild a couple of lists of the few things they make that are polycarbonates, and none of them were the pitchers.

Now I know. And knowing’s half the battle.  (Doing something with the knowing is presumably the other half.)

Unblogged Bits for Friday, 30 October 2009

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Unblogged Bits for Monday, 10 August 2009

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Unblogged Bits for Thursday, 21 May 2009

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

More! Great! Coffee! News!

A summary on recent positive studies about coffee / caffeine has some promsing info. Pour me another cup o’ Joe! 

Diabetes: Twenty studies worldwide show that coffee, both regular and decaf, lowers the risk for Type 2 diabetes, in some studies by as much as 50%. Researchers say that is probably because chlorogenic acid, one of the many ingredients in coffee, slows uptake of glucose (sugar) from the intestines. (Excess sugar in the blood is a hallmark of diabetes.) Chlorogenic acid may also stimulate GLP-1, a chemical that boosts insulin, the hormone that escorts sugar from the blood into cells. Yet another ingredient, trigonelline, a precursor to vitamin B3, may help slow glucose absorption.

Heart disease and stroke: Recent studies suggest that frequent coffee consumption does not increase the risk of either condition. In fact, coffee might — repeat, might — slightly reduce the risk of stroke. A study published in March in the journal Circulation looked at data on more than 83,000 women older than 24. It showed that those who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a 19% lower risk of stroke than those who drank almost none. A Finnish study found similar results for men.

For cardiovascular diseases other than stroke, there doesn’t appear to be a preventive benefit from drinking coffee, but there is also no clearly documented harm; the studies looked at the effect of drinking up to six cups of regular coffee a day.

Cancer: Coffee research has come up empty here — with one big exception: liver cancer. Research consistently shows a drop in liver cancer risk with coffee consumption, and there is some, albeit weaker, evidence that it may lower colon cancer risk as well.

Cirrhosis: Coffee seems to protect the liver against cirrhosis, especially that caused by alcoholism. It’s not clear, either for cancer or cirrhosis, whether it’s coffee or caffeine that may be protective.

Parkinson’s disease: With this progressive, neurological illness, it’s the caffeine, not coffee, that carries the benefit. No one knows for sure why caffeine protects. Several studies show that coffee drinkers, men especially, appear to have half the risk of Parkinson’s compared with nondrinkers. Women also get a benefit, but only those who do not use post-menopausal hormones, said Dr. Alberto Ascherio, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. All it takes for a measurable reduction in Parkinson’s risk, he said, is about 150 milligrams a day, the amount in an average cup of coffee.

Athletic performance: It’s clear that caffeine, not coffee per se, delivers the big boost here, said Graham, the researcher from Ontario. In fact, caffeine was once deemed a controlled substance by the International Olympic Committee. Caffeine is a powerful “ergogenic agent,” meaning it promotes the ability of muscles to work. Studies show that caffeine boosts performance in both very short and very long athletic events, said Graham. It used to be thought that caffeine worked by stimulating the release of sugar (glycogen) in muscles, but recent research suggests it helps muscles release calcium, allowing muscles to contract with more force. It takes only a medium cup of regular coffee for a 130-pound athlete to see a measurable improvement in performance, Graham added.

Time for more coffee!

Continue reading “More! Great! Coffee! News!”

Drinking, dunking, and disease

The foofoorah over the Swine Flue comes to church — the Episcopal Church, at least, where various dioceses and the national church have been discussing measures related to possible pandemics that have a particularly religious flavor to them.

“Swine flu is currently being handled by the health authorities. We are, however, prepared to respond through our church networks should we be needed,” said Abagail Nelson, senior vice president for programs at the New York headquarters of Episcopal Relief and Development, the church’s disaster-relief and economic-development agency.

About 1,600 people have been sickened in Mexico and 50 cases have been reported so far in the United States, but no deaths. After the outbreak was confirmed on April 24, a number of churches in Mexico City on Sunday, April 26 canceled services.

The Diocese of Colorado has sent a brochure to various parishes on preparedness, but for all we Episcopalian are Intensely Proper and, well, English, there’s all sorts of ways that sickness could be passed on.

Churches — like other public places where people gather regularly — could be sites of disease transmission. During previous outbreaks of illness, such as the incidence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 in 37 countries, the U.S. and Canada, certain worship practices also came under scrutiny. During Episcopal Sunday services, many people shake hands or hug during part of the service called the “passing of the peace,” sip wine from the same communion chalice or dip the communion wafer in the wine.

Interestingly, a lot of folks think it’s safer to intinct the communion bread (dip it in one of the cups) than to eat the bread then drink from the cup. As someone who frequently mans the chalice at Sunday services, I’ve long known that’s not true — the “drinkers” just sip (and the chalice bearer then wipes the rim with a cloth), whereas some of the “dunkers” dunk their bread down to the second knuckle. Ick.

Episcopal Church diocesan bishops have the authority to order changes in worship, said Clay Morris, program officer for worship and spirituality, at the church center in New York. Research collected at his office, he said, shows that the practice of sharing the chalice, called the “common cup,” generally carries a very low risk of infection. “We are told repeatedly that the common cup is not a health hazard,” he said in an interview. Usually, the cup bearer wipes the rim and turns the cup after each person sips.

However, he said, the practice of dipping the wafer, called intinction, may carry a higher risk since fingers are also often dipped into the wine. During the SARS outbreak in Canada, at least one diocese, the Diocese of Niagara (Ontario), banned intinction in its churches. The Anglican Church of Canada published on its website a research report on risks of infection and communion practices.

From an Anglican theological standpoint, there’s no requirement to take communion in both “species” (bread and wine); indeed, most Catholics (at least when I was growing up) never get near the chalice. But it’s a tradition, and, as such, is both difficult to see around and important to examine in light of (realistic) health concerns.

Hmmm. I am the chair of our parish Worship Commission, and we have a meeting Wednesday night. Maybe I’ll print off that report and bring it up there.

Unblogged Bits for Friday, 10 April 2009

Links that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries …

The Geek Diet should work

Amongst all the various fad diets mixing and matching proteins (lots or little), carbs (ditto), fat (generally low), a big study just published at the New England Journal of Medicine confirms that the results …

… are all pretty much the same, and the same as simply cutting back on calories.

Background The possible advantage for weight loss of a diet that emphasizes protein, fat, or carbohydrates has not been established, and there are few studies that extend beyond 1 year.  

Methods We randomly assigned 811 overweight adults to one of four diets; the targeted percentages of energy derived from fat, protein, and carbohydrates in the four diets were 20, 15, and 65%; 20, 25, and 55%; 40, 15, and 45%; and 40, 25, and 35%. The diets consisted of similar foods and met guidelines for cardiovascular health. The participants were offered group and individual instructional sessions for 2 years. The primary outcome was the change in body weight after 2 years in two-by-two factorial comparisons of low fat versus high fat and average protein versus high protein and in the comparison of highest and lowest carbohydrate content.  

Results At 6 months, participants assigned to each diet had lost an average of 6 kg, which represented 7% of their initial weight; they began to regain weight after 12 months. By 2 years, weight loss remained similar in those who were assigned to a diet with 15% protein and those assigned to a diet with 25% protein (3.0 and 3.6 kg, respectively); in those assigned to a diet with 20% fat and those assigned to a diet with 40% fat (3.3 kg for both groups); and in those assigned to a diet with 65% carbohydrates and those assigned to a diet with 35% carbohydrates (2.9 and 3.4 kg, respectively) (P>0.20 for all comparisons). Among the 80% of participants who completed the trial, the average weight loss was 4 kg; 14 to 15% of the participants had a reduction of at least 10% of their initial body weight. Satiety, hunger, satisfaction with the diet, and attendance at group sessions were similar for all diets; attendance was strongly associated with weight loss (0.2 kg per session attended). The diets improved lipid-related risk factors and fasting insulin levels.  

Conclusions Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize.

Control your portions, get some exercise, consider a support group, and you’re likely to do as well as anyone else until someone invents an anti-fat pill. That doesn’t sound like rocket science to me.

Potpourri for $25, Alex

Sundry articles of diverse origin which I’ve insufficient time to chat about individually.

SERIOUS STUFF

  1. The Velvet Reformation – The Atlantic (March 2009) – The Archbishop of Canterbury, the gay rights debate, and the future of the Anglican Church. A fascinating read.
  2. Pam’s House Blend:: Hawaii Civil Unions Bill Senate JGO Hearing – my personal aftermath – A disgusting example of how far some ostensible followers of Jesus are from “And they will know we are Christians by our love.” Hideous.
  3. Heath Ledger Fans Call for Joker’s Retirement From Film | The Underwire from Wired.com – I don’t care how fine a job Heather Ledger did — this is just silly, but in a very sad way.
  4. Personal Health – Babies Know – A Little Dirt Is Good for You – NYTimes.com – From bumping up the immune system to getting worms, a bit of non-sterility is good for a body.
  5. Think Progress » Bailed-out bank eliminated 450 jobs and then spent millions on lavish parties in LA. – These guys really, really, really don’t realize how close-by the angry mobs with torches and pitchforks are lurking. They seem obliviously tied to an internal culture of entitlement.
  6. Family planning stops more than 800,000 abortions :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation – But, of course, it’s evil because it encourages promiscuity. Or some lame argument like that.
  7. Evolution of Security: 3 oz or 3.4 oz? What gives??? – It’s all those crazy “metric-mania” Europeans who have weakened our country by a precious 0.4 oz./bottle! Evil! Eeeeevil!

FUN STUFF

  1. 140 Characters » How Twitter Was Born – Far less intentional, far more interesting than you’d think.
  2. Petzal: The Rules of Gunfighting | Field & Stream – Words to, um, live by.
  3. Joss Whedon’s Theory On Why DC Comic Book Movies Usually Suck | /Film – Maybe so … but DCU cartoons kick Marvel cartoons’ butts all around the playground.
  4. Don’t Fear Atheists; We’re the New Lutherans | Friendly Atheist by Hemant Mehta – In many ways, that’s true, in terms of provoking Christians/theists into examining and revitalizing their own belief systems. Though I’m hoping they’ll be more like the Lake Wobegone Lutherans, and less like the anti-semitic Martin Luther kind of Lutherans.
  5. Rands In Repose: A Disclosure – A great introduction to changing from being a worker to a manager. I remember going thorough a lot of these stages, though my management promotion changed the IT area I was working in.
  6. Blambot Comic Fonts and Lettering – How comic book word balloons work. Spiffy!
  7. IESB.net – Sam Jackson Will Be Nick Fury…Nine Times! – Woot!

And, via Kate, the excellent How to Get Boys to Like You: 

 

This sort of story would be more useful in mid-November

Overeating doesn’t just cause you to gain weight (sighs), but it actually screws up the body in ways that make more weight gain likely. Gut Reaction: Overeating Can Impair Body…

Overeating doesn’t just cause you to gain weight (sighs), but it actually screws up the body in ways that make more weight gain likely.

Gut Reaction: Overeating Can Impair Body Function : NPR 

The problem, some doctors and researchers say, is that overeating causes biological changes in the body that can lead more food cravings and cause your stomach to send mixed signals about when it’s actually full. As the years go by, those holiday pounds add up.

 

Some of the factors involved include:

  1. Eating a high-fat diet messes with the body’s internal clock and makes you hungry at unusual times (e.g., late night cravings, waking up and wanting to have a midnight snack).
  2. Overeating makes your body accelerate to metabolize the food; in the rush, it gets stored as fat.
  3. Excess sugar consumption causes insulin production to reduce the blood sugar — but a lag at the end of the process means your blood sugar dips below normal … which makes you crave more sugar and carbs.
  4. Constant overeating messes up the “I’m full” circuits in the stomach that tell the brain it can stop eating. You don’t feel full reliably, so you keep eating.
  5. Icy drinks cause the stomach to contract, pushing food out of it, and making you feel hungry sooner.

Okay, so it probably wouldn’t have affected my holiday food consumption much. But it’s interesting to know now.

Good health news for the holidays!

Chocolate, tea, and wine are all good for your brain! Yay! All that chocolate might actually help finish the bumper Christmas crossword over the seasonal period. According to Oxford…

Chocolate, tea, and wine are all good for your brain! Yay!

All that chocolate might actually help finish the bumper Christmas crossword over the seasonal period. According to Oxford researchers working with colleagues in Norway, chocolate, wine and tea enhance cognitive performance.

The team from Oxford’s Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and Norway examined the relation between cognitive performance and the intake of three common foodstuffs that contain flavonoids (chocolate, wine, and tea) in 2,031 older people (aged between 70 and 74).

Participants filled in information about their habitual food intake and underwent a battery of cognitive tests.Those who consumed chocolate, wine, or tea had significantly better mean test scores and lower prevalence of poor cognitive performance than those who did not. The team reported their findings in the Journal of Nutrition.

Again, huzzah!

(via Les)

“I feel happy!”

So I took the new Online Test of Potential Depression, based on various studies in Europe, and located here. The short-term screening result to see if I’m already depressed told…

So I took the new Online Test of Potential Depression, based on various studies in Europe, and located here. The short-term screening result to see if I’m already depressed told me:

Your responses indicate that you are experiencing a normal mood at present.

 

And long-term?

Given the answers to the questionnaire, your chance of becoming depressed over the forthcoming 12 months is 6.661%, as compared to the average chance of 7.73% in the European countries in which the instrument was developed.

If you are worried about this, we advise you to see your family doctor who will be able to suggest ways to help.

Well, I guess that’s good news. Though it means that any poor moods I suffer from are, in fact, part of the normal human condition. Which is really quite depressing …

(via DOF)

Searching for the flu

What if you could see people wandering around the streets saying, “Can you tell me about the flu? I might have the flu? Do you think I have the flu?”…

What if you could see people wandering around the streets saying, “Can you tell me about the flu? I might have the flu? Do you think I have the flu?” You might think that — well, maybe there’s some flu going on.

Google is announcing it can help the Centers for Disease Control identify flu outbreaks weeks before the CDC can do so. While CDC reporting based on doctors’ reports lags by a few weeks, Google has found that doing analytics on search terms like “flu symptoms” and “muscle aches” provides graphs showing upticks that mirror (a week or two later, when the reporting catches up) the CDC info.

Sure, not all the searches on “flu” indicate that someone has the flu — but over vast numbers, it seems to track pretty well. It’s vaguely creepy (though Google says it is not tracking or reporting individual queries), but also really interesting, and it could provide a few critical weeks advance notice if a flu epidemic or pandemic gets started.

Faith is depressing but church-going isn’t?

An interesting study out on religion and depression: A study released by Temple University found that people who feel close to a higher power and pray often are more likely…

An interesting study out on religion and depression:

A study released by Temple University found that people who feel close to a higher power and pray often are more likely to be depressed, while people who attend religious services and feel that their lives have purpose are less likely to be depressed.

Lead researcher Joanna Maselko found that people who report being in a close relationship with a higher power are 1.5 times more likely to struggle with depression. She believes depressed people may use religion as a coping mechanism, and as a result, “they’re more closely relating to God and praying more.”

People who did not necessarily report being close to a higher power but did attend religious services regularly are 30 percent less likely to struggle with depression. Being involved in a faith-based community helps forge attachments to others, which prevents depression, the report said.

“People with high levels of existential well-being tend to have a good base, which makes them very centered emotionally,” Maselko said in a news release. “People who don’t have those things are at greater risk for depression, and those same people might also turn to religion to cope.”

The study suggests that people who have a hard time forming close relationships may turn to God for a “stable and secure attachment figure.”

“It’s hard to disentangle these elements when treating mental illness,” Maselko said. “You can’t just ask a patient if they go to church to gauge their spirituality or coping behaviors. There are other components to consider when treating patients, and it’s important information for doctors to have.”

What the study authors are trying to say is that the causality here is unclear — are people who are deeply faithful prone to depression, or are depressed people likely to turn to some sort of deep faith? Does going to church regularly lead to a healthier emotional life? Or are gregarious and emotionally balanced faithful more likely to go to church?

For myself, when I’m feeling depressed, I’m less likely to go off to church or do other social things — but, then, I’m an introvert. Conversely, I find a lot of communal happiness in a church-going setting, when I can get over that hump, and generally find the experience pleasant. (But, then, I’ve chosen a church/parish that’s a generally positive place to be.)

Potpourri Bonanza!

Links out the wazoo, for your amusement, edification, and passing of time. THINGS THAT MAKE ME FROWN Denver police union T-shirt: “We get up early to beat the crowd… – Okay,…

Links out the wazoo, for your amusement, edification, and passing of time.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME FROWN

  1. Denver police union T-shirt: “We get up early to beat the crowd… – Okay, actually kind of cleverly funny. And, if I had my way, an actionable offense if any cop is caught wearing one.
  2. Truth Not Tolerance frame – So. Wrong. In some ways, worse than the previous item.
  3. Wachovia nixes Citi deal, pairs with Wells – Oct…. – Time to cross Wells Fargo off my list of institutions to consider housing my money.
  4. Hugh Hefner to sack Playboy bunnies amid financial crisis … – NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
  5. Bailout Bill #2 – As much as earmarks are a trivial issue in overall federal spending, there is in fact something to McCain’s contention that they are a moral failing, and they lower the opinion of the populace about the government. Case in point …
  6. Media Matters – Claiming “I’m not making any comparison… – Bill O’Reilly compares Nancy Pelosi’s hypothetical speech practicing style to that of Adolph Hitler, then disclaims that he’s making a comparison between the two people.
  7. Whooping cough kills person in Illinois – Guess I’m glad I just got a vaccination for this … to visit India.
  8. BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Melamine found in Cadbury… – So at least the Americans aren’t being singled out.
  9. Painful? You want Painful?!?!? – So what exactly do doctors do when the warning label on those “little blue pills” comes true and that erection doesn’t go away in four hours? Not for the faint of heart.
  10. Muslim Children Gassed At Dayton Mosque – “Christianity – the Religion of Love.” Right.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME NOD

  1. Robertson Makes More Dire Predictions – If these are the End Times foretold in the Bible and presaging the Second Coming — isn’t praying that it doesn’t happen as prophesied actually a bad thing?
  2. Scientists discover why we overbid for old junk on eBay… – It’s not because we want to win — it’s because we fear losing.
  3. Last Supper Menu Clarified – And, no, there wasn’t a basket of chips and salsa on the table.
  4. 9 Fail-proof Tips for Eating Healthy at Social Gatherings – These are all excellent strategies.
  5. PC World – What Processes are Safe to Close? – I tend to be overly cautious on this, but I rarely crash my machine, either.
  6. Turning on your inner savant -Sure, let’s boost brain abilities with vaguely-targeted electro-magnetic pulses. What could possibly go wrong?

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE

  1. Frank Demolishes O’Reilly: “Your Stupidity Gets In… – Barney Frank, who I’m not the biggest fan of, is my hero for today for standing up to, shouting at, and not getting browbeaten by Bill O’Reilly. O’Reilly only won (despite having a louder microphone) by cutting the interview short.
  2. Fiction Rule of Thumb – Oh, yes, very much so.
  3. I’ll never understand modern art. – Ah, the Tate Modern. It’s the ridiculous that keeps being ridiculable.
  4. “Peasant Revolt” – Things to remember in the deepening economic crisis.
  5. google empire collapses – Oh, no! A preacher, angered by Google’s opposition to California’s Prop 8, is protesting by not using Google!  Whatever shall they do?
  6. Nothing like this view has ever been seen – Weather on Mars. On video. Too freaking cool.
  7. Neil Gaiman’s “Graveyard Book,” chapter-a-day reading… – Go, Neil, go!
  8. Olympics reach a new low: trademarking the Canadian national anthem and threatening lawsuits over competing uses – Boing Boing – The IOC is a bunch of jerks.
  9. Top 11 Things Geeks Would Do with $700 Billion -I like this plan. I’d be happy to be a part of it.

Potpourri for a TGIF Evening

DARK, MYSTERIOUS, THREATENING He Was Into S&M and Bible Studies, Not Everyone’s… – So what if judiciaries of democratic governments the world over are no longer paying attention to the…

DARK, MYSTERIOUS, THREATENING

  1. He Was Into S&M and Bible Studies, Not Everyone’s… – So what if judiciaries of democratic governments the world over are no longer paying attention to the legal conclusions of the US Supreme Court. It’s not like we’re interested in being world leaders or anything like that, right?
  2. CJR: Army Alters Photographs, Issues Them To AP and Army releases doctored photos of dead soldiers. – This is … bizarre beyond words. Pasting the (picture of the) head of one dead soldier onto the body of another one? Huh?  I really want to hear a good explanation for this one (and I hope the media stays on it).
  3. Easily Startled? It Could Reflect Your Politics – Evidently people who are easily startled tend to be pro-war, pro-capital punishment, etc. Huh. I thought it was the anti-war weenies who were supposed to be Nervous Nellies and easily frightened. Go figure …
  4. Female VP? Okay. Female Pastors on Magazine? Not Okay – Conservative Christians swoon over a female VP candidate, but recoil at the idea (let alone pictures!) of female pastors. But … isn’t the idea that Palin will take over when McCain is struck down by the Lord and institute a high and holy government priesthood for all true Christians? No matter how the campaign spins it, I don’t think she’s “qualified” to do that.
  5. New bill would tighten rules for DHS border laptop… – What? The DHS can’t just do whatever they want with your laptop, PDA, and/or cell phone when you cross the border? They have to follow rules and procedures? Obviously the Terrorists have won.
  6. Schneier on Security: The NSA Teams Up with the Chinese… – Right. Way to demonstrate the US government’s commitment to freedom and democracy, by having the government’s top communications spy agency team up with the Chinese to figure out how to foil anonymizing efforts on the Internet. But remember — the Chinese are the police state, the NSA just wants to find and stop terrorists. Right, got it — I feel so much more secure!

LIGHT, OPEN, SMILE-INDUCING

  1. New Mozart piece found in French library – Music-… – You know how sometimes you scribble some notes down, and then later you can’t find the piece of paper, but years later you discover it tucked into a book? Same thing, only with Mozart.
  2. frowst – Wiktionary – What a wonderful word.
  3. Satellite Sex – Ah, the joys of a GPS with a female voice. “Oh, Sheila — I love it when my wife holds you in her lap and touches you.”
  4. Wank your way to nasal clarity – Male orgasms reduce allergy symptoms. It’s a lot more enjoyable than squirting Flo-nase up your nose!
  5. Gay marriage ban losing steam in Calif. – Excellent.

Potpourri on a Dusty Tuesday

STUFF THAT MIGHT MAKE YOU FROWN Pentagon researcher unveils World of Warcraft terror… – Of course, terrorists could be plotting on Club Penguin, too … but that’s not scary enough. Scanners -…

STUFF THAT MIGHT MAKE YOU FROWN

    1. Pentagon researcher unveils World of Warcraft terror… – Of course, terrorists could be plotting on Club Penguin, too … but that’s not scary enough.
    2. Scanners – Yeah — wait’ll the TSA gets hold of these puppies. “Your brainwaves indicate you were intrigued by the idea of something happening to your plane. You are under arrest.”
    3. British study finds bacteria are all over your car… – Bacteria! Germs! Plague! Pestilence! Run! Run! Run!
    4. Nuclear power stations on the Moon? – Because nuclear power and the Moon never goes wrong.
    5. Reengineering Earth to stop climate change – Boing Boing – Because hugely elaborate engineering projects to pursue a particular macro environmental effect always work well (cf. Army Corps of Engineers).
    6. The Bubble – It’s remarkable that the Christian groups who want to keep any possibly unholy or belief-contradicting word away from themselves, their kids, their families — and, by extension, all the rest of us — are no better than any other media-controlling, information-restraining organization, such as the government of North Korea. Ah, but they’re not Saved …
    7. The short – but eventful – life of Ike – The Big Picture… – My company has both offices and project sites in and around Houston, so looking at the devastation in the area — and hearing about it from colleagues — has been amazing.

 

STUFF THAT WILL MAKE YOU SMILE!

  1. Official Google Mobile Blog: My Location: smaller is better! – The quasi-GPS abilities of some mobile phones and Google (triangulating location by cell tower reception) is actually pretty keen. I’ve made use of it on my Blackberry with Google Maps. If they’ve improved it further, that’d be keen.
  2. blog-a-dog humour special – Well, I thought it was funny.
  3. Star Trek Online is Game Informer’s October cover… – More news on the Star Trek MMO. I can’t decide if I am disdainful or intrigued.
  4. Phony Excellence – I enjoy good wine (and even not-so-good wine), but while I appreciate a large wine list, it’s hardly what drives me to a restaurant. This story is, though, quite amusing.

Potpourri with minimal politics

Rounded Corners – generating boxes with rounded corners using CSS. Spiffy!  Attention iTunes Users – And this is why, ladies and gents, I never update iTunes as soon as the…

  1. Rounded Corners – generating boxes with rounded corners using CSS. Spiffy! 
  2. Attention iTunes Users – And this is why, ladies and gents, I never update iTunes as soon as the little popup suggest I do so. Apple continues to tarnish its reputation.
  3. The Definition of Theistic Rationalism – An interesting and fairly accurate description of how most of the Founding Fathers dealt with religion. There was actually a fairly wide spectrum of faith and theology that they held to, but, as a rule, this model works.
  4. Dead Sea Scroll in Stone published in English for the first time… – Very cool, and long overdue.
  5. Book of breast-like objects – For those with one-track minds (ahem).
  6. Debunking an Autism Theory – NYTimes.com – And, tragically, kids have ended up being harmed by fear-haunted parents keeping them from taking valuable vaccinations.

  7. Slate reviews adult diapers – Not surprisingly, just as parents can cite and debate the relative merits of various baby diapers, so, too, are not all adult diapers made equal. Laugh while you can, people …
  8. OPM opposes proposal for 4-day workweek – FederalTimes.com – Should the Federal Government adopt a 4-day work weak? Hmmmm … maybe that could start a trend …
  9. U.S. Army Hooks Up With Sears – What knucklehead decided that using a real unit’s insignia was appropriate for a Sears clothing line? I don’t care what royalties it brings — think about what it means to the past and present members of that unit.
  10. BB&B Responds To Customer Complaint Over 911 Debacle… – Good heavens, an actual apology? Color me impressed!
  11. Video: The History Of Maxwell House Shrinkage – This goes right with the “Skimpy Peanut Butter” posts of a few days ago.
  12. Hot Beef Sundae – Um … no.
  13. Bacon Vodka – Again, no. Really, no. As much as I like bacon (and can tolerate vodka) … no. Though, I suppose, if you’re into that sort of thing, it probably would be faboo in a Bloody Mary.
  14. “A Culture Of Ethical Failure” and Illicit Sex By Government Officials Probed – Today’s big scandal, giving new meaning to the phrase, “the public was screwed by the energy companies.” This is getting a lot of play here in Denver, where some of the bad actors were.
  15. New York Times on Salvia Divinorum – It’s fascinating to see a completely new intoxicant appear in society, once that’s highly potent but quite short-lived, has potential pharma applications, hasn’t caused much in the way of documented injury (compared to, say, beer) — and the first impulse of every legislature is to criminalize it.
  16. DC-area mayor whose dogs were shot dead in botched… – Click through the top link to get the original story. Sadly, hardly the only time something like this has happened, or that innocents have been victims of the War on Drugs. I hope someone gets their kevlar sued off of them.

And, finally, for the End of the World: Large Hadron Collider hasn’t sucked us into a black hole … … yet. After all, they only fired a single proton stream. They haven’t yet actually collided anything …