08.31.06
VA doesn’t want vets to get help with disability claims
Just read it. Don’t you suspect that the real reason the guy’s fighting it is because it sends a correct message?
Gene therapy cures melanoma
This is a big advance, it seems to me: Scientists have genetically modified the patient’s own immune cells so that they were able to eradicate melanoma:
Scientists for the first time have genetically modified tumor-fighting immune cells, allowing patients to rid themselves of an aggressive form of cancer, according to a study released Thursday.
The technique, used to cure two patients with advanced melanoma, paves the way for a new approach to fighting cancer by harnessing — and boosting — the body’s own immune system instead of relying on toxic chemotherapy and radiation treatments to kill out-of-control tumors.
The researchers from the National Cancer Institute, whose findings were published online by the journal Science, say the strategy could be adapted to treat breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, and other common cancers.
“It’s obviously very exciting,” said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, who was not involved in the research. “It’s a proof of concept of being able to develop a technique where they can use a patient’s own blood cells to fight cancer.” Read the rest of this entry »
Healthful beef
I’m sure I’ve blogged about it before, but grassfed beef is the best in terms of healthfulness. “Organic” beef is still normally grainfed, which is hard on cattle (whose digestive systems don’t deal well with grain) and on people (because of the low levels of omega-3 fats). An article in the NY Times gives good information. Also included below is a list of sources for grassfed beef.
Ranchers of grass-fed beef say they have made great strides in the last few years by relearning what came naturally before the era of the feedlot, then building on it. They use heritage breeds that thrive on grass rather than on grain, as well as crossbreeds developed with advanced genetics.
They have relearned the science of rotating pastures and determined which grasses provide better nutrition in a region like the Northeast, where pastures are not endless, as they are in the West.
Humane, nonstressful slaughter is considered even more important than in the conventional cattle industry, where the practice is being slowly adopted.
And, finally, they are aging the beef longer to tenderize it more. Read the rest of this entry »
The GOP hates the working class
Via ThinkProgress, this press release:
President George W. Bush today announced his intention to recess appoint Paul DeCamp as head of the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division. The Wage and Hour Division is responsible for enforcing the nation’s wage and hour laws, including overtime laws, workplace discrimination laws, and child labor laws. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today on the recess appointment:
“Enforcing the nation’s wage and hours laws is a critical task that ensures that employees are not cheated out of a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. The person in charge of enforcing wage and hour laws must be objective and willing to take on powerful employers if they are abusing the wage laws.
“As a lawyer, Paul DeCamp has never represented American workers in a single case. He has worked on behalf of Wal-Mart – a company with an abhorrent record of labor relations – and other companies against the interests of American workers and consumers in numerous cases. Yet he is the man that President Bush has chosen as one of the nation’s top enforcers of workplace rights. It’s no surprise that President Bush would appoint a corporate lawyer to a position intended to safeguard workers against corporate abuses. This recess appointment is one more reminder that the President does not care about making sure that workers are treated fairly on the job or enforcing laws that he doesn’t happen to like.”
More from the AFL-CIO blog: Read the rest of this entry »
Kitty oral-care kibble
I blogged earlier about feeding the kitties Hill’s Science Diet t/d. Then I came across this note today:
For healthy pets, Science Diet® Oral Care® is available through veterinarians and pet specialty retailers carrying the Science Diet product line. It is an appropriate choice to maintain a clean, healthy mouth in adult pets with no current health issues. If a pet suffers from gingivitis or is at risk of more serious dental disease, Prescription Diet® t/d®, which is available only through your veterinarian, may be a better choice.
So we’ll talk to our vet about the best choice for our cats. (The same foods are also available in canine formulas. And, BTW, I didn’t know that garlic was a deadly poison for dogs. Did you?)
Does Byrd also have a hold on the bill?
Below I posted (here and here and here) about the hold on the bipartisan bill to create a public, searchable database of Federal grants and contracts. All of those were to slam Sen Stevens (R-Alaska) for placing the hold. But it looks as though he were joined in this by Sen Byrd (D-WV), who is also notorious for having his snout deep into the public trough. Bad news, and the Democratic leaders ought to pressure Byrd to lift the damn hold.
UPDATE: Byrd has confirmed—and dropped—his hold.
Lead-up to the war
Alert Reader has pointed out this excellent timeline of the run-up to the war in Iraq: what was known and when, and what was told to the US public. The timeline was created by Mother Jones, and it will continue to be updated. (You can sign up to receive email notification of updates.) Extremely interesting.
The timeline starts in 1990, as you can see by scrolling up the timeline on the left. Months for which things are noted are indicated by color. The final entry is 19 March 2003, when the war began.
Bush’s decision-making
I blogged earlier about self-taught practitioners, including self-taught decision-makers (”deciders,” to use President Bush’s term). I mentioned that it’s important to evaluate the process by which a decision is reached, as well as its outcome, in determining best practices: a lucky guess can produce a good outcome, and a careful process can by stymied by some chance occurrence. But, given the law of averages, one would expect a careful process to produce more good decisions—and good outcomes—in the long run.
President Bush, though, is self-taught and his process is to “go with his gut.” He’s mentioned this from time to time, and he relies heavily on his ability to read people and understand their motives. For example, you will recall the first time he met Putin, Bush said, ” I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.”
And, as Suskind noted in his book The One Percent Doctrine, Bush also evaluated the man who brought the warning in August 2001 that Osama bin Ladin was determined to strike in the US:
The book’s opening anecdote tells of an unnamed CIA briefer who flew to Bush’s Texas ranch during the scary summer of 2001, amid a flurry of reports of a pending al-Qaeda attack, to call the president’s attention personally to the now-famous Aug. 6, 2001, memo titled “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US.” Bush reportedly heard the briefer out and replied: “All right. You’ve covered your ass, now.” Read the rest of this entry »
Inexpensive pre-shave
I blogged about Chris Moss’s discovery of how well Trumper Coral Skin Food works as an every-pass pre-shave. He looked at the ingredients, and noticed the glycerine. Since glycerine is quite inexpensive and available in any reasonable drugstore, he decided to try that:
I tried the straight glycerine today, and I think it gives the same result as the Skin Food as a pre-shave. Leaves the skin very soft, smooth and not in the least tingly from the razor. (I used a slant bar and a Feather blade today). This will make a cheaper alternative to the Skin Food, and should be available in your local pharmacy, and might also be available where soap making supplies are sold, or even confectionery (used in making traditional icing).
So: I’ll give it a go tomorrow.
Kitty food weirdness
Sophie has decided that she doesn’t like the Wellness Salmon kibble that she’s been happily eating ever since she arrived. So The Wife stopped by the pet store in Pacific Grove, and find that they’ve heard of this little problem. They provided 10 sample packets of kibble, with instructions to put them in little piles along the floor and see which one(s) the kitty would eat. The Wife reports:
The problem with free samples is that they’re not necessarily things you would choose yourself. Some of the samples didn’t seem that healthy - rice as one of the top ingredients, for example. I chose the 3 that seemed best:
- alternate flavour of Wellness
- Natural Balance “regular”
- Natural Balance venison and green peas (those are the only ingredients!)Remember, she was hungry… but she sniffed all three carefully, then started in on the venison, then alternated between that and the NB regular - cleaned up both of those, and didn’t touch the Wellness. And she was still hungry, because I put some NB venison down in her bowl afterward and she chowed down - she just came in to the living room and burped.
So: no more Wellness for Sophie—at least for a while. Both kitties like the Hill’s Science Diet t/d (the big kibble), luckily.
