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May 17, 2007
Donald Fagen and the making of
Kamakiriad (part 2). With cameos from Walter Becker and Rick Moranis. The album featured the song "Snowbound" which became this very cool
video.
posted by vronsky at 6:30 PM PST - 51 comments
New research suggests that taking vitamin D, preferably D3, may prevent
up to half of the cases of breast cancer and two-thirds of the cases of colorectal cancer in the United States. Vitamin D3 is produced by your body when your skin is exposed to sunlight. (You can also get it from fatty fish, egg yolks, fortified milk and other products, and supplements.
D3 supplements are usually produced from lanolin, so vegans will prefer D2.)
This doesn't mean you should stop wearing sunscreen entirely - white people exposed to summer sunlight in a bathing suit will produce all the
vitamin D they need in only 15 to 20 minutes, while darker-skinned people will need longer exposures (which
might explain why black men have a higher incidence of prostate cancer). Health Canada
now recommends all adults over the age of 50 take a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms (400 IU), and, because "vitamin D synthesis in the skin is absent during the winter months (October to March)," they note that Canadians (and, one assumes, other people in northern climates) must rely on dietary intake of vitamin D to maintain adequate levels of vitamin D in the body.
posted by joannemerriam at 4:19 PM PST - 26 comments
Public gatherings restricted? Check. Shutdown of independent businesses? Check. Lockdown on traffic and transportation in the area? You bet. Lawmakers in Baltimore trying to curb the city's homicide rate (already 108 this year) have come up with some
"desperate measures" of questionable constitutional legality, including heightening police presence in order to lockdown streets in "emergency areas." It has been called, "partial martial law" by some, and one has to wonder if the city of Baltimore may not do better to take a page from
The Wire's Hamsterdam for a solution to their inextricably linked drug and homicide issues.
posted by dead_ at 12:37 PM PST - 60 comments
Enertia is producing "innovative new homes of remarkable strength, economy, and beauty, brought to life by an elegant new architecture and the discovery of a new source of pollution-free energy." The design took first prize in the
Modern Marvels/Invent Now competition (
previously). In an
interview, the inventor, Michael Sykes, says "he was inspired by the way the earth’s own atmosphere keeps the planet at a relatively constant comfortable temperature despite the frigidity of space." He also notes that his wife calls herself a "homemaker," natch.
posted by pithy comment at 11:03 AM PST - 17 comments
This opinion piece in Prospect magazine argues that perhaps the importance of the problems in the Middle East are overblown. Interesting read.
posted by zeoslap at 10:31 AM PST - 33 comments
...In March 1991, a few days after the end of the gulf war, American soldiers exploded two large caches of ammunition and missiles in Khamisiyah, Iraq. Some of the missiles contained the dangerous nerve gases sarin and cyclosarin. Based on wind patterns and the size of the plume, the Department of Defense has estimated that more than 100,000 American troops may have been exposed to at least small amounts of the gases. When the roughly 700,000 deployed troops returned home, about one in seven began experiencing a mysterious set of ailments, often called gulf war illnesses, with problems including persistent fatigue, chronic headaches, joint pain and nausea. Those symptoms persist today for more than 150,000 of them, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than the number of troops exposed to the gases.
Gas May Have Harmed Troops, Scientists Say
posted by y2karl at 7:24 AM PST - 45 comments
Reaping What We Sow? Right now, White House lawyers are working up new rules that will govern what CIA interrogators can do to prisoners in secret. Those rules will set the standard not only for the CIA but also for what kind of treatment captured American soldiers can expect from their captors, now and in future wars. Before the president once again approves a policy of official cruelty, he should reflect on that.Charles C. Krulak was commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. Joseph P. Hoar was commander in chief of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994. (Washington Post)
Some other opinions. (youtube) Thoughtful commentary. More.
posted by spitbull at 7:17 AM PST - 75 comments
