So, I gave you Frank Kessler’s message on Friday. Today, I’ll talk about how the food industry has been manipulating food- and us- to keep us addicted to eating more- and more- and more. The industry specialists know that food’s addictive quality is a function of its salt content, fat content (squared), it’s “crunchability”, and a pleasing mouth feel.
Continue reading You are under their spell…
I admit it. I’ve been a fan of David Kessler since his first year as FDA Commissioner. He not only streamlined approvals (without sacrificing safety), he required nutrition labelling of foods, and took on the cigarette (tobacco) lobby. He graduated from Harvard Med and Chicago Law, ran a teaching hospital in Manhattan, was Dean of Yale Medical School, among many other things. Just your normal underachieving academic.
I was listening to NPR today. (OK, I listen to NPR every day, but that’s not what this is about.) The panelists were discussing that, other than typos, there are few factual errors in the newspapers. This is because news reporters are very diligent, trying to analyze what is really happening and reporting those findings to us. And, it’s hard to keep that focus, with all the noise that’s out there. With folks wanting to know why this or that is not reported. That’s because so many bogus outlets exist out there, giving wrong information all the time.
Continue reading We interrupt this message…
It’s getting closer. And, I don’t think it’s going to go away. Because a whole bunch of folks think that, in a recession, it’s more important to reduce spending than to keep the economy growing. You’d think that seeing the terrible results of the similar program in Europe would give them pause. But, that also requires one to assume they either care- or understand.
Continue reading Really? You care about spending, Pinocchio?
When I got married in 1989, the last time I had visited a physician’s office was more than a quarter century earlier. Oh, I’d been to hospitals (broken arms, shattered glass, shattered vertebrae, horrendous wrecks), but to a physician per se- nope.
Continue reading Doctor, Doctor, Mr. MD, Can You Tell Me What’s Ailing Me?
I wrote earlier about how one company managed to get a bonus slipped into the Fiscal Cliff bill. One that “made them” $ ½ billion. Well, they are about to take a big hit, if no one tries to overrule Medicare (or slip another ‘mickey’ to the American public in another bill).
Continue reading Dialysis Boondoggle
When I moved to Charlottesville (VA), I found out that I was wrong about a whole bunch of things. No, not about Southern mentality, as it radically differs from that of Northerners. (But, I’m not making light of that at all!) Instead, it was that I found out that Thomas Jefferson was not dead- instead, he was alive and still the mayor of the place!
Continue reading Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Rum!
With college tuition skyrocketing, it’s not surprising that kids are graduating from college owing a fortune. And, many of these loans were guaranteed by their parents- which is one of the reason why so many folks in their late 50s and early 60s are saddled with unpaid college debt.
Continue reading Education- or Job Training?
It’s not your father’s library anymore.
I’ve written that I access my local library (Alexandria, Virginia) electronically. Any hour of the day or night. And, as long as I have a valid library card, I can view current (ok- three weeks older and more) journals and magazines; even some digital books.
Continue reading The Times, they are a-changing..
Science fiction? Nope, this stuff is real. Meet Suzanne Lee of Bio-Couture. Ms. Lee is a designer based in London, England. No, not that kind of designer- a fashion designer. She’s also a Senior Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
Continue reading Fashion- or Science?