Anonymous Liberal captures the frustration of the current political scene in a post called “An Army of Trumans.” In this Bubble World, it is an accepted truth that our President is a bumbling ignoramus who can only string together a coherent sentence if he uses a teleprompter (which, apparently, other politicians don’t use). I can…
Chocolate lovers ‘are more depressive’, say experts (BBC News)
Absence of racial, but not gender, stereotyping in Williams syndrome children (Current Biology)
Dying man sells ad space on his urn (myFOXla)
Picture source: BBC Wiltshire The European Parliament, the governing body of the EU (European Union), met last week to consider (among many other things) a new animal welfare action plan. Last December animal welfare became a core value for the EU, right up there with opposing discrimination, promoting gender equality, and protecting human health and…
Source: Fox News A UK clothing chain, popular discount retailer Primark, reacted swiftly to criticism of its padded bikini bras designed for girls as young as seven. The product has been withdrawn, and Primark announced it would donate any profits from the inappropriately sexualizing items to a children’s charity. The bikinis were selling for £4…
Source: People’s World Reuters has a terrific investigative piece on WellPoint’s practice of canceling health insurance, a practice known as rescission. When a woman develops breast cancer, WellPoint immediately flags her for investigation to see if there’s some reason her policy can be canceled. Grounds for cancellation can be anything on the original insurance application…
SOURCE: GeekDesk Sitting at a desk all day is hard on the body, especially the back. What the body needs is variety and the ability to move. One solution is an adjustable-height desk – one that allows you to alternate throughout the day between sitting and standing. Farhad Manjoo describes his experience with one such…
A personals ad from a recent New York Review of Books:
WOMAN, 79 (LOOKS 78), Upper West Side pseudo-intellectual, Europe 4 years, wants man’s company occasionally for chamber concerts, lectures, meals. Platonic.
I’d love to meet this woman. I imagine her life as a Henry James novel written by Oscar Wilde.
I live in a building constructed in the 1950s, with asbestos in the ceilings. As is true for some schools, it’s safer to leave it alone than to disturb it and put all those fibers into the air. Hat tip to a relatively new blog, Medicina – Videos, consejos [advice], material de lectura relacionado a…
Source: U.S. News The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, the House bill sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman, was passed by the House last June. The Senate bill, called The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, sponsored by Sen. John Kerry, has been languishing in the Senate since its introduction last September….
Source: About.com Now that health care legislation has passed, special interest groups — insurance and pharmaceutical companies, seniors, businesses, abortion rights opponents – are gearing up to influence the way specific provisions are implemented. Agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services need to draft regulations that govern implementation. This is where lobbyists…
Nice summation of what makes sense and what doesn’t about the Tea Party from Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish. His conclusion: In my view, this confluence of feelings can work in shifting the public mood, as seems to have happened. When there is no internal pushback against crafted FNC [Fox News] propaganda, and when…
Source: The Pilver Marc Ambinder has written a terrific article on obesity for The Atlantic. It’s comprehensive and insightful, both objective and personal. Ambinder himself suffered from obesity until a year ago, when he went from 235 to 150 pounds following bariatric surgery. The operation immediately improved his severe diabetes, and within months it relieved…
Source: Caribbean Net News I try to resist writing about health advice, since most health news is designed to increase anxiety unnecessarily. But here’s something I found that’s quite sensible and helpful. It’s a post by Dr. Edward Pullen on over-the-counter (OTC) medications at KevinMD. Scarring, stuffy noses, headaches, and sleep aids You might think…
Source: VotingFemale The opponents of health care reform lost the battle, but their war is not over. They argue, among other things, that the legislation amounts to socialism. When Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican Party, was asked if the health care plan represented socialism, he replied: “Yes. Next question.” In a recent Bloomberg National…
This was hard to watch, but well worth it. The program talks to four families who lost a parent. Two military families – one husband who died in action, the other a returning vet who committed suicide. A firefighter who had a heart attack while on the job. And a mother who died of breast cancer. I can imagine that watching this program as a family would help children and parents talk about their feelings and help children realize they’re not alone.
Source: SFGate “Individual mandate” refers to a provision in the new health care reform act that requires all citizens to purchase health insurance. There are exceptions for those who cannot afford to pay and for those who have religious objections, such as Christian Scientists. Without this provision, health care reform falls apart. If we’re going…
