October 2009...

was the third coldest for US in 115 years.

Charles Sizemore ponders...

why sales of shoes are holding up so well.

John Stewart does Glenn Beck

Too funny!

Steve Keens:

It's the leverage, stupid.

Video of Kurzweil's Recent Speech...

can be found here.

iPhone as a Hand-Held Translator

Really.

Climate Change as Religion

Judge holds that belief in climate change may be entitled to protected status as a religious belief.

Will Steve Jobs Save the Mainstream Media?

John Abell thinks he might.

Genetic Medicine is Here

Los Angeles Times: In the third gene-therapy success of recent weeks, French researchers have arrested the progression of the rare and fatal degenerative disorder adrenoleukodystrophy, which was at the heart of the popular movie "Lorenzo's Oil." The disease has stabilized in two boys who were 7 years old when the therapy was performed two years ago, the team reported today in the journal Science.

"This is a disease that never, ever stabilizes" on its own, said Dr. Katherine A. High of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not involved in the research. "The fact that they were able to achieve that means they are getting a therapeutic effect."

This is the fifth disease for which gene therapy has been shown to be beneficial, said Dr. Theodore Friedmann of UC San Diego, who was also not involved. "That's a major achievement for a field that has been in the clinic for only 18 or 19 years. . . . This is a new form of medicine and deserves to be seen as such."


Indeed. Read the whole thing.

How Can This Be? I Thought They Had Socialized Medicine?!

DailyMail: Gap in life expectancy between rich and poor 'bigger than in Victorian times' despite Labour promises.

Big Trouble in Big China

Russell Hsiao: Even as the Chinese economy under the Hu-Wen administration is set to wean through the global financial crisis with a remarkable eight percent growth rate this year, senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs under the jurisdiction of the State Council, which is responsible for social and administrative affairs, revealed that China's aging population—people older than 60 years old—reached 12.79 percent (169 million) of the total population at the end of 2008 (Xinhua News Agency, October 26).


That equates to almost half the US population.

Cell Phones:

It's all about the software now.

More Than Just the Economy Reminds Me of the 1930's

Videos uncovered of school children singing praises to the Dear Leader Obama. Really.

Here's the lyrics from my favorite:

We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Yeah, haha, haha.
Alright, come on now, here we go;
You know we gotta get Barack and all of his crew
In the White House so they can prove that
In their hearts they know what to do
And that includes Michelle and the kiddies too
[kids chanting] “There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah


Heil the O!

Lower Cholesterol Equals Less Cancer

Or, so says a new study.

Dumb and Dumber

ATT&T Sues Verizon Over "There's a Map for That" Ads.


I predict they'll lose, and bring more publicity to their competition at the same time. Pretty dumb.

Pension Problems

FT.com: Actuaries at consultants Watson Wyatt noted that the rate of rise in old-age life expectancy was already faster than that assumed when the government proposed raising the pension age for men to 66 by 2026. Ministers had assumed that men would expect to live for 20.6 years in retirement by 2026 but the improvement revealed by the latest ONS data showed that level of improvement would be felt by 2011.


Well, they only missed their projection by 15 years.

Seems Only Fair

Ambulances start charging extra for obese patients.

Vitamin D as an Analgesic

medicalnewstoday.com: According to Stewart B. Leavitt, MA, PhD, Executive Director of Pain Treatment Topics and author of the report, "our examination of the research, which included numerous clinical studies, found that patients with chronic back pain usually had inadequate levels of vitamin D. When sufficient vitamin D supplementation was provided, their pain either vanished or was at least helped to a significant extent."

The report, "Vitamin D A Neglected 'Analgesic' for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain," which was peer-reviewed by a panel of experts, includes the following important points:

-- Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption and bone health. Among other things, inadequate vitamin D intake can result in a softening of bone surfaces, called osteomalacia, which causes pain. The lower back seems to be particularly vulnerable.

-- In one study of 360 patients with chronic back pain, all of them were found to have inadequate levels of vitamin D. After taking vitamin D supplements for 3 months, symptoms were improved in 95% of the patients.

-- The currently recommended adequate intake of vitamin D up to 600 IU per day is outdated and too low. According to newer research, most children and adults need at least 1000 IU per day, and persons with chronic back pain would benefit from 2000 IU or more per day of supplemental vitamin D3 (also called cholecalciferol).

-- Vitamin D supplements interact with very few medicines or other agents, and are generally safe unless very high doses such as 10,000 IU or more are taken daily for a long period of time. However, it is always wise to check with a healthcare professional before starting a new dietary supplement.

-- Vitamin D supplements are easy to take, usually have no side effects, and typically cost as little as 7 to 10 cents per day.



I suspect this last point is probably why the benefits of Vitamin D aren't better known and well appreciated.

It's in the Genes

Newly discovered genetic signature correlates strongly with autism.

Scientists discover gene key to human speech.

Not Good

Despite the falling cost and obvious usefulness:

[a] survey of more than 10,000 U.S. physicians undertaken by the American Medical Assn. and the pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. found that just more than 25% had any type of education in the use of genetic testing to guide medication decisions. And only 1 in 10 felt he or she had the necessary training and knowledge to put pharmacogenetic testing to good use in treating patients. Some 13% had ordered or recommended a genetic test for a patient in the last six months. But twice that many said they would do so in the next six months.


The daily practice of medicine is at least 10 years behind the times.