How Would you like Your Corn? Medium Rare? - (CHL)

Many people may not realize that most cows and chickens that end up as meals are primarily fed corn, not grass. Why does this matter? Scientific American explains.

What's a Vegetarian to Do on Thanksgiving? - (CHL)

The Wall Street Journal offers some advice and recommendations.

Torturing Democracy - (PWE)

If you are concerned or outraged by the fact that the Bush Administration, which for the past eight years has trumpeted many of its abhorrent acts in the name of promoting freedom, not only condoned but encouraged torture, then you absolutely must watch this documentary film entitled Torturing Democracy. Even if today you aren't concerned or outraged or don't think we tortured enemy combatants, please watch the film. Because if you do watch it, you will be and you will think so.

The broader issue beyond the content of this excellent yet disturbing account of how the United States came to allow its military personnel to engage in torture, is the culpability of those within the Bush Administration who allowed it to happen. There are plenty of people out there, including journalists and politicians and people in the military who believe crimes were committed at the highest levels of our government. A good summary of the views on this issue can be found here.

Putting aside the criminality issue and whether investigations are warranted, every American citizen has to be embarrassed and disgusted that our country, founded and built on the pillars of basic human rights as embodied in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, which rightly condemns genocide, tyranny, oppression, terror, which is bound to adhere to the Geneva Conventions (see excerpt below) lest it not be able morally to demand that its prisoners of war be humanely treated, has immorally, illegally and disgustingly tortured prisoners and declared it acceptable to do so. How could any person could not draw the conclusion that encouraging torture has endangered our own troops and the security of our country as a whole?

Language from Convention III of the Geneval Conventions of 1949:

Art. 13. Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention. In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the prisoner concerned and carried out in his interest.Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.Measures of reprisal against prisoners of war are prohibited.

Art. 14. Prisoners of war are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons and their honour.Women shall be treated with all the regard due to their sex and shall in all cases benefit by treatment as favourable as that granted to men.Prisoners of war shall retain the full civil capacity which they enjoyed at the time of their capture. The Detaining Power may not restrict the exercise, either within or without its own territory, of the rights such capacity confers except in so far as the captivity requires.

Art. 15. The Power detaining prisoners of war shall be bound to provide free of charge for their maintenance and for the medical attention required by their state of health.

Art. 16. Taking into consideration the provisions of the present Convention relating to rank and sex, and subject to any privileged treatment which may be accorded to them by reason of their state of health, age or professional qualifications, all prisoners of war shall be treated alike by the Detaining Power, without any adverse distinction based on race, nationality, religious belief or political opinions, or any other distinction founded on similar criteria.

More Scary News on the State of the Earth's Environment - (STE)

Just to brighten up your day, here is a story from The New York Times which sheds light on the problem of light, sunlight that is, being impeded by a think layer of soot, smog and chemicals (I think we need to coin a new term for this toxic air sludge, well, how about "air sludge," or toxic soog or toxic smot or toxic smoot or toxic smoog) that frequently covers large parts of Asia.

The window to take action to reverse the effects of pollution and global warming and save our environment is closing quickly. In fact, it may be slamming shut.

DregBlog Update - (MISC)

After a two and a half month hiatus to focus on the presidential campaigns and the elections, DregBlog is back and hopefully at least as good as, if not better than, ever.

Save Money and Help the Environment ... by Driving A Stick - (CHL)

This post from the MSN Money moneyblog discusses the economic and environmental benefits of driving a car with a manual transmission. And as an added bonus, stick shift cars are just more fun to drive.

C-Section or Natural Birth - Impact on Mother's Reaction to Baby's Cries - (CHL)

The New York Times's Well blog reports on an interesting study that suggests that women who have C-section births react differently to their baby's cries than women who give birth naturally. More specifically, the study found that

"the cry of a woman’s own baby triggered significant responses in several parts of the brain related to sensory processing, empathy, arousal, motivation, reward and habit-regulation. The effect was greatest in the brains of women who had delivered vaginally compared to those women who delivered their babies by C-section."

The implication of the research is that C-section births might result is delays in attachment to the newborn child and increased risk of postpartum depression.

Diminishing Oxygen ... Consequences? - (STE)

Peter Tachtell of The Guardian writes about the decrease in oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere and the potential impact on human beings' health. He goes so far as to say it could threaten our survival.

Barack Rolled - (ENT)

Whether you like Barack Obama or not, and whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent or Whig, this is hilarious.

How to Be Prepared in the Event of an Emergency - (CHL)

Tara Parker-Pope also had a story last week that draws from the book "The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — and Why" by Amanda Ripley, a reporter for Time magazine who has covered floods, fires and plane crashes. In short, Ripley says people need to be prepared and then act promptly and decisively based on the emergency circumstances.

Six Ways to Be a Better Patient - (CHL)

Following last week's "Six Rules Doctors Need to Know," The New York Times "Well" blog has today, "Six Ways to Be a Better Patient."

The Case Against Early Cancer Screening - (CHL)

Tara Parker-Pope of The New York Times has an interesting "counter-intuitive" story about the potential downside of early cancer screening. Last week a panel of leading medical experts advised doctors to stop screening older men for prostate cancer, saying essentially that early detection presents more risks than it does good. One main reason why - at least in the case of prostate cancer in older men - is that a large percentage of prostate cancers are not deadly, and most older men would die of other causes and be minimally affected by slow growing prostate cancer. When you consider the invasiveness of prostate cancer treatment and its potential effects, weighed against the non-life threatening nature of the disease, it may be best to leave the prostate cancer untreated.

The 87 Year Old Tailor From Riverdale - Bernard Adler - (MISC)

A touching story from The New York Times about Bernard Adler, a Holocaust survivor, who lives with his wife at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in The Bronx.

Why You Should Be Nervous About Swimming in the Ocean - (STE)

This doesn't make swimming in the ocean sound so safe.

A Few Degrees Away from Extinction? - (STE)

Oliver Tickell of The Guardian (U.K.) writes today about global warming and what it would take for it to wipe the human species from the planet. And it's very little. 4 degrees Celsisus is all it will take - that's about seven degrees Fahrenheit, and there is an excellent book entitled "Six Degrees" by Mark Lynas that discusses on a broader scale how each degree increase in the global temperature will affect the environment and global ecosystems. According to Mr. Lynas, once we reach six degrees (Fahrenheit) of warming, it's pretty much the end of the world for human beings. That's consistent with what Mr. Tickell describes in the event of a 4C rise in the global temperature: "the end of the living and the beginning of survival for humankind. Or perhaps, the beginning of our extinction."

A big part of the impact is the melting of the polar ice caps, which not only would raise sea levels so high that all of the world's coastal areas would be lost (that includes New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and even Nantucket), it would also result in the release of astounding amounts of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

When you are talking about the end of human life, four degrees Celsisus does not seem like such a significant amount of warming. In other words, we are too perilously close not to take very drastic actions to stall and hopefully reverse the trend of global warming. If you really want to be scared into taking action, read Mr. Lynas's book.

Here's more on this topic from The Guardian last week.

The "Sidezoomer" Issue

We enjoyed this story from The New York Times Magazine about the etiquette of the highway merge or the funneling of lanes on the road. It discusses those people who feel comfortable zooming all the way to the front of the line and squeezing their way in, instead of lining up in the accessible lanes like the rest of the good-intentioned and good-souled drivers on the road. It also discusses people's reactions to those bad-souled "sidezoomers," a term coined by the author.

Finally, and most interestingly, the article devles into the study of traffic patterns and the most efficient means of highway merging, which actually involves a controlled form of sidezooming.

What to Do About the Ol' Gas Guzzler

Here's an interesting article from The New York Times on some things consumers should consider when deciding what to do about their SUV 's - keep them, trade them in, sell them, etc. The authors argue that it may make more economic sense to keep an SUV than get rid of it.

"Bad News for the Yankees"

Not only a line from the classic move The Bad News Bears, last night was a horrible night for the New York Yankees and their fans. Joba Chamberlain was forced to leave the game during the fifth inning of last night's game against the Texas Rangers complaining of stiffness in his pitching shoulder. The last thing you want to hear about any young hard-throwing pitcher with #1 starter stuff are the words 'shoulder' and 'injury' anywhere close to one another. You don't even want them in the same area code. But that's what the Yankees are reporting today. Joba is going to miss at least one start - very bad news for a team that is already without its ace, Chien-Ming Wang (most likely for the rest of the season) its starting catcher, Jorge Posada (out for the season, and its starting left fielder, Hideki Matsui (may be back soon from a knee injury).

If the Yankees are without Joba for an extended period, they will have few options, none of which are very appealing: 1) bring Ian Kennedy back to the majors. Kennedy, who started in the rotation out of spring training but faltered miserably in April and May has been pitching great in triple A, but the Yankees don't believe he's ready to rejoin the rotation. Or at least they didn't as of Sunday. 2) Keep Darrell Rasner in the rotation. They had announced yesterday that Dan Giese, who pitched three scoreless innings against the Angels in Sunday's 14-9 win, would take Rasner's spot in the rotation and start on Friday against the Angels in Anaheim. Maybe they keep Rasner in the rotation and let Giese take Chamberlain's spot. Maybe they can ride it out with Rasner and Giese if (and that's a big if) and until Phil Hughes is ready to return. Hughes pitched three impressive scoreless innings last Tuesday in a rehab assignment for Single A Charleston, and then three and two thirds scoreless innings on Saturday. (*Note: Carl Pavano is not among the options). Hughes is now up to Triple A Scranton, but he is at least three starts away from rejoining the big leagues and his ERA was 9.00 before he was injured. 3) Comb the waiver wires for a pitcher. However it is unlikely the Yankees will be able to pick up a serviceable starter at this point. We think Yankees fans should be thankful this injury didn't occur a week ago before the trading deadline because it might have forced the Yankees to make a desperate trade to get another starter and perhaps given up too much young talent for a mediocre, expensive pitcher, such as Jarrod Washburn of Seattle. If they could have gotten Washburn for a low level prospect, that would have been one thing. But a Chamberlain injury last week could have allowed Seattle to ask for a lot more, and the Yankees may have been willing to give it.

Further bad news last night was the walk-off grand slam that newly acquired reliever Damaso Marte gave up in the bottom of the ninth as the Yankees lost 9-5 to Texas and lost a huge opportunity to gain a game on both Boston and Tampa Bay who lost their games to Kansas City and Cleveland, respectively. This was the second day in a row a Yankees reliever gave up a grand slam. Yesterday, it was Edwar Ramirez who become the first Yankees pitcher ever to get a win while pitching one inning or less and giving up four or more runs.

iPhone Apps

Here is a story from The Wall Street Journal about the business of independent software developers creating applications for the iPhone. The software applications which are approved by Apple are available on the Apple App Store and are quickly downloaded to the iPhone, perhaps the biggest change from the first version of the phone - even bigger than the upgrade to 3g. The applications range from games to reference information to social networking and pretty much everything else you can think of.

Water Confirmed on Mars - (STE)

NASA has confirmed that tests conducted by the Phoenix Mars Lander in June prove that water exists on Mars. The presensce of water, a crucial and believed to be necessary element for life, means that there is a legitimate possibility that life (even in the form of microbes) has existed, exists or has the potential to exist on Mars.

More Economic Sinking - (BF)

As if there wasn't already enough bad news on the economy, today brings a trifecta of negative economic indicators.

First, GM posted a $15 BILLION loss for the second quarter. (In related news, Ford reported a 15% drop in U.S. sales and Toyota's U.S. sales declined by 12%)

Second, the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 5.7% in July - a four-year high.

Third and finally, bringing it all together, is what most of us already knew: although, the media doesn't seem quite ready to officially acknowledge it, - the U.S. economy is in a recession.

How the Greeks Kept Time - (MISC)

The New York Times has an interesting story about an ancient Greek astronomical "computer" called the Antikythera Mechanism, which apparently predicted solar eclipses and kept time in a four year calendar.

The device was first discovered about one hundred years ago in the wreckage of a tiny ship that sank off the coast of a tiny island called Antikythera, north of Crete. It is believed the device was built between 140 and 100 B.C.

Using high-resolution imaging and three-dimensional X-ray tomography, researchers have discovered an ancient twelve month calendar and the names of all twelve months.

Apparently the device reconciled lunar months with the sun year (12 lunar months are 11 days short of the earth's rotation around the sun) by utilizing a 19 year calendar.

There is also a wealth of information about the device on the Nature Magazine web site.

Animal Rights - (PWE) & (CHL)

The New York Times's Nick Kristof has an 0p-ed today discussing the issue of animal rights. He puts it in the context of a California referendum that will be on voters' ballots in November to ban factory farms from raising chickens, calves or hogs in small pens or cages.

Mr. Kristof then discusses the broader issue of animal rights and the growing movement around the world to promote the ethical treatment of all animals and protect animal rights.

Mr. Kristof even says someday vegetarianism may be the norm. Along those lines, for people who are or are considereing being vegetarians or vegans, there is almost too much information out there about what you should and should not eat. And much of it is conflicting. If you are wondering about questions like those below, you are not alone.

Are soy products healthy or not healthy?
What about vitamin supplements?
How much protein do I need to eat in a day?
What are the risks and benefits of being a vegetarian or a vegan?
How bad for me are the hormones and antibiotics that are injected into the pigs and cows and chickens and turkeys we eat?

Who should you trust for answers? That's a good question. One site we think is very reliable for nutritional and other health information is the Physician's Committe for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) web site: http://pcrm.org/. On that site you will find information and Q&As on a host of topics, including:

How can vegetarians/vegans get enough protein?
How healthy is soy?
What are the health concerns about dairy products?

You can certainly find conflicting information out there about the healthiness of soy, for example. What to believe must be left to each individual, but the PCRM site is a good resource for health and nutritional information.

Baseball Trade Deadline - (S)

Today is Major League Baseball's trade deadline and there has been a flurry of activity in the last twenty-four hours.

There are a number of big names on the move (or potentially on the move), inclduing Ken Griffey Jr. who is on his way back to the American League and the Chicago White Sox. Griffey has never played in a World Series and will have a realistic chance this season.

Although, with the acquisition of Mark Texiera the Angels look like clear cut favorite to win the American League championship, especially after a second sweep of the Red Sox this month, this time at Fenway Park.

With the news that Jorge Posada is lost for the season, the Yankees traded reliever Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers for Ivan Rodriquez. Rodriguez provides much better offense than Jose Molina and is still strong defensively, but losing Farnsworth is a blow to the Yankees' bullpen which has been outstanding the past two months. Farnsworth went more than a month and nine innings without giving up a hit before faltering in his last two outings before the trade. The Yankees' bullpen is still in okay shape; however, with Dave Robertson, Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and newly acquired Damaso Marte supporting Mariano Rivera.

The biggest name who could be traded today is Manny Ramirez. If he doesn't get traded, it will be interesting to see how Manny "bes" Manny during the next two months.

McCain Sinks Into Desperation - Addendum - (PWE)

Here is the McCain "Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world" ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXYsw_ZDXg&eurl

Huh?

McCain Sinks Into Desperation - Succumbs to Rovian and Bushian Strategy - (PWE)

Glenn Greenwald of salon.com writes today about John McCain's new (old) strategy against Barack Obama - attack and discredit him personally. As Mr. Greenwald notes, this is page 1 of the Republican playbook:

"There's obviously nothing surprising about the McCain campaign's reliance on the standard, personality-based attacks that the GOP uses every election year."

What Mr. Greenwald correctly points out is much more disturbing is how the media willingly and obediently accepts and disseminates the Republicans' demonizing messages about Barack Obama. Case in point is today's piece by Jim Rutenberg of The New York Times which not only highlights the McCain shift in strategy, but also spews many of the attacking message points that the McCain team (now led by Steve Schmidt) is trying to disseminate.

As Mr. Greenwald writes:

"This is exactly what happens every single election cycle. The Right spews some petty, personality-based attack, and the chirping media birds then mindlessly repeat it until it's lodged into our discourse as accepted fact. That's the media strategy on which the Right is relying to win the election this year again -- dictating the songs sung by the vapid, chirping press birds -- even as they petulantly and incessantly complain that the same media stars who serve this strategy are stacked against them."

Mr. Greenwald provides a variety of links that relate to this issue, so feel free to peruse those as well. There is a lot.

At Dreg Blog, we have a feeling this strategy is going to backfire against McCain and Schmidt and Rove this year. We believe (optimistically) that the American people are too aware of this issue-less strategy and are sick of it. This time, they are looking for someone who can make a difference and do care about the issues that are making their lives more difficult. They are less likely to be swayed by silly personality attacks.

Just When You Thought it Was Safer to Swim in the Pool -- (CHL)

Apparently, not only is the water at many beaches unsafe, now comes a story from The Wall Street Journal about a dangerous chlorine-resistant parasite that has been found lurking in pools across the country and causing serious illnesses. As a result, new measures are being taken to ensure that pool water is safe to swim in, including use of ultra-violet water treatments.

By the way, it's always good advice not to drink pool water.

Monsters in Montauk?? -- (MISC)

This one has to go under the category of Everything Else.

What is this thing that apparently washed up on a beach in Montauk, NY?

This has to be some sort of publicity stunt, right? But that aninmal testing facility nearby ...

Sunscreen Report - (CHL)

As reported in The New York Times, the Environmental Working Group conducted a comprehensive study of 952 name-brand sunscreens and came up with some startling results. You can find them, as well as a copy of their report, here.

No More Fast-Food? - (PWE)

Don't know what to make of this story - apparently the City of Los Angeles wants to ban any new fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles for one year. The city cites the poor health and fitness of residents of that neighborhood and the unhealthy nature of fast food as the rationales for the proposed moratorium.

On the one hand, the city should be looking out for the health and welfare of its citizens. But how can they infringe upon the rights of fast-food companies? How can they dictate what people eat? As the article notes, if the residents of that area wanted different food, wouldn't more "healthy" restaurants be there?

This may be going too far down the slippery slope.

Fail Blog - (MISC)

If you've never seen the Fail Blog, stop what you're doing immediately and go there. Be prepared to spend at least the next hour searching through their library of hilarious photos and videos of failure.

Ten Things You Don't Need to Worry About - (CHL)

From The New York Times, here are ten health, safety and environmental concerns, you don't need to be concerned about.

Eggs - Maybe They Aren't So Unhealthy - (CHL)

This blog posting from The New York Times Well blog cites a recent study which indicates that eggs are not as unhealthy as you may have been led to believe. According to a study reported by the University of California at Berkeley, the cholesterol in eggs only raises the blood cholesterol for only about one-third of the population. Even so, in those people, the bad cholesterol (LDL) in eggs causes the body to produced good cholesterol (HDL) in response, in effect partially off-setting the unhealthy aspect of eating eggs.

The study also did not find any link between eating eggs and heart disease (except for people with diabetes) or stroke.

Go enjoy a fluffy omelette, and don't worry about ordering it with egg whites.

"Preparing to Live Syndrome" - (CHL)

In this article from lawjobs.com, James Dolan, a professional coach and psychotherapist explains what he means by the Preparing to Live Syndrome or PtLS, a term he coined. He specifically focuses on attorneys suffering from this maladay, but it is obviously something that afflicts many of us. Essentially, Mr. Dolan describes an epidemic where many people suffer through their lives, unhappy, with the hope that one day they will reach a point when life will bring happiness and fulfillment. It is worthy reading.