Meth problem solved?

Virginia police say that meth lab busts have declined 70% between October 2005 - October 2006. They're claiming this decline is due to the decision to remove Sudafed and pseudoephedrine containing products from drugstore shelves. Strange, since pseudoephedrine products weren't removed from the shelves until April 2006. That means a 70% drop in only 6 months. That sounds hard to believe. Somehow I doubt the meth problem will be this easy to solve.

FDA says aspirin is bad, (and oh, acetaminophen might kill you)

This week the FDA announced that it was proposing new changes to the labeling of over the counter (OTC) pain relievers. Included in the list of pain relievers are the following:

• Products with Acetaminophen/Paracetamol (Brand name: Tylenol)
• NSAIDs (Aspirin, Ibuprofen (Brand name: Advil) , Naproxen Sodium (Brand Name: Aleve)

The FDA says the change is needed because Acetaminophen can cause liver problems and NSAIDs can cause gastrointestinal bleeding. However, I think FDA is really trying to warn the public about the dangers of Acetaminophen while taking some of the spotlight off the Acetaminophen containing products by throwing out the NSAID warning at the same time.

You should know that Acetaminophen is a relatively risky OTC pain reliever. It is so risky, that Acetaminophen overdose is now the #1 cause of liver failure in the United States. Multiple liver transplants and deaths have been caused by taking too much Acetaminophen. And overdosing is not that hard when you consider how many other "cold & flu" type products contain Acetaminophen. Tylenol has long been touted as a "safe" drug, especially for children after aspirin and salicylate containing products were tenuously linked (PDF) to Reye's syndrome. However, in light of the high risk of liver damage, the use of Acetaminophen containing products should be discouraged.

Unfortunately, the FDA has opted to warn people about the relatively low NSAID risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (compared to liver failure) at the same time, thereby obscuring from the public where the real risk lies.

CNN Officially Blows

As I write this, Glen beck is on CNN Headline news (sandwiched between two hours of Nancy (dis) Grace) doing some sort of stand-up routine...speaking in falsetto.

CNN is offering the droning Larry King Live with Jonbenet Ramsey's dad. This, on top of the CNN website now offering about 1/2 of it's stories in streaming video....which doesn't work on my Firefox (requires Windows Media Player). Add to that the fact that at work, I can't look at streaming content...so CNN is now about as useful for news as a freaking brick.

Look at CNN Headline NEWS' line up for tonight:

• 7-8pm - Glen Beck
• 8-9pm - Nancy (dis)Grace
• 9-10pm - Glen Beck AGAIN
• 10-11pm - Nancy (dis)Grace AGAIN
• 11-12pm - Showbiz Tonight (WhooHOooo...tabloid news!)
• 12-1am - Glen Beck (in case you missed it)
• 1-2am - Nancy (dis)Grace AGAIN In case you're tired of jabbing your eye with shards of glass.
• 2-3 - Headline News - Oh look, news - when everyone's gone to sleep.

CNN has a nice rotation of Anderson Cooper (MY GOD...RUN ANDERSON...RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN TO ANOTHER NETWORK!) and Larry King. Has there ever been a worse interviewer in history? I think not. At least Larry is good for about 5-10 uncomfortable silences for each hour of interviews. I'm just waiting for someone to ask "Larry? Are you sleeping??"

And to think it all started out so promising....

OMG! Did you lock the door?

I have a college memory that has stuck with me to this day (and probably will for the rest of my life). I had just finished up a class and was walking down a very busy street on campus when I came upon a pedestrian traffic jam. It seems that some unlucky guy had lost the key to his (very expensive) bike’s Kryptonite lock. I’m sure he tried everything he could think of to get the lock off his bike, but had now resigned himself to hacksawing through the hardened steel. It was probably 100+ degrees and this guy was just sawing away, sweating and blocking part of the sidewalk causing everyone to have to step around/over him. This scene has stuck with me so long because at the time I remember thinking “He's probably stealing that bike, and everyone is going to, for at least a second, think that same thought." Then that thought would be followed up by a secondary thought of “…nahh…no one would steal a bike by hacksawing the lock right here in broad daylight!” To this day I still think that guy was stealing the bike.

Then a couple of years ago, it came out that all of those U-Locks were easily defeated. Not with some high-tech device, but by the barrel of a Bic Round Stic™ pen . You know, the $.10 pens that are everywhere? Well apparently if you jam the barrel of one of those pens over the tubular keyhole of the U-lock and twist, it opens just like you had the key. When I found out about that, I immediately flashed back to the guy hacksawing and thought “I bet he’s laughing about that now”.

It was a shock for everyone to find out that the security offered by the “Microsoft” of bike locks, the Kryptonite lock, was a complete illusion. More troubling, It had been an illusion since day one, but no one (or not many) knew it.

Now the facade has been dropped on another ubiquitous piece of security hardware: Your front door lock. Recently a slew of information has been published on the Internet (documents, videos, how-to's, etc) regarding the bump key. What is it you ask? It's a generic key that can be made in about 30 mins by an 11 year old and any old spare key. And with this key, that same 11 year old, with no experience what-so-ever, can open your front door lock (yes, and your deadbolt too) in about 5 seconds. Don't you feel secure now? Here's a video of an 11 year old girl with no locksmithing experience opening a Kwikset lock in about 5 seconds.

Oh, and in case you missed it, Master locks can be defeated with a beer can.

Maybe it's time to bring back the moat.

Coffee again linked to lower diabetes risk

A new study published today in the journal, Diabetes Care, once again shows a strong correlation between coffee consumption and a reduced risk of type-2 diabetes. In this study, the risk was 60% lower(!)

Another Study Says Antidepressants cause Violent Behavior

Regular readers might remember a post I did awhile back on antidepressants and how they've been shown to increase suicidal behavior. Today brings news of a new study (to be published in the Public Library of Science) that shows that the drug Paxil causes an increase in violent behavior over placebo. In the study, users of Paxil were twice as likely to have a violent episode than people who were given placebo. Unfortunately, it's the rest of society that has to pay for these violent outbursts.

Meteorology is the New Astrology

I'm not sure when it happened, or if it's always been this way, but meteorology is now resorting to cold reading techniques like those used in astrology, palm reading and lie detector tests. After issuing dire warnings about the 2006 hurricane season (and scaring the crap out of everyone within 200 miles of a coast) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has quietly "revised" their prediction.

This of course, calls into question the value of a prediction that is constantly 'revised' to reflect the current reality. Now NOAA is saying that the hurricane season won't be that bad after all, however they made sure to throw a "but hey, watch your back!" comment just to cover them in case there's a Katrina Part II ("...we are not off the hook by any means").

So here's my "horoscope" reading of the 2006 hurricane season:

It will be a mild year for Hurricanes, but watch for the full moon! It can cause unpredictable results. September's rain will bring about a tempest in a teacup, and New Orleans will breathe a sigh of relief when the sun shines on Bourbon Street.

New WiFi virus?

Yesterday I was at a conference and pulled out my laptop to see if the building had any free wireless available. There was one, with an SSID of "Free public wifi" I tried to connect, then noticed that it was a peer-to peer wireless network. I thought that was odd...and it didn't work anyway. I closed my laptop and forgot about it. Then tonight, my girlfriend and I are both on the couch using our laptops with my wireless router and low and behold, the SSID "Free Public wifi" shows up again on both of our machines, with a very strong signal. This made me a bit concerned. It was the same SSID I had seen earlier, and was (on both machines) a peer-to-peer connection type. My machine automatically connected (for some reason my router dropped its connection at this time) to the "free public wifi". I disconnected it and after getting my router back up and running, did some research. Turns out there are a few other people who have noticed this same phenomenon. Also today, this story came out. Odd coincidence, or are we about to see a wildfire of wifi viruses?

Is this a new virus that's infecting machines via wireless connections? If so, this might be ugly. Let me know if you've seen anything like this, or if you know what this is.

A Greater Evil Than.....Evil

There are only a few things I really hate in the world and few of those rank up there with valet parking. I know many people just love it. You don't have to worry about finding a parking spot in a crowded area, etc. That's a nice thing, I agree. But the part I hate is what you have to do to get that convenience.

Primarily, you have to give your keys to a complete stranger, who very easily could have a lengthy (violent?) criminal record. Not only that, but if anything happens to your car, they're not responsible (they tell you that on the ticket). So you pay a psychopath $20 to park your car, which may be scratched, wrecked, stolen, have its spare tire stolen (yeah...make sure you check that, especially if you have a nice rim on the spare...trust me...it happens) etc...and it's your fault. Or even worse, you could have the valet make a copy of your keys, then break into your house, set up hidden video cameras then hide under your bed for two days. Sound crazy? Well, That's exactly what happened to this poor woman.

Why on earth would you give a complete stranger your keys!??? OH YEAH! They're a "valet". Dumb....but everybody's doing it.

Here's an idea for all those stolen laptops with 'sensitive info'

Go to this site, read and understand. It's freaking free people!!! It would stop all of this concern with stolen laptops/data. You can even carry it along with you on a flash drive.

Nelson Mandella says the blood diamond has been washed

Apparently, according to Nelson Mandela, you are free to buy African diamonds again. It's best not to ask about the fat check he's getting from De Beers via the PR firm Sitrick and Company.

Another day, Another reason not to use debit cards

As I mentioned earlier, there are lots of reasons not to use debit cards. Today, Visa mentioned that thousands of customers might be at risk due to a "data breach", whatever that is.

I think it's going to take some hacker buying $30,000 worth of pencils with every senator and congressman's credit card before anyone in Washington pays attention.

Awww yeah. I called it (Chinese Urban Legend)

It turns out the "pregnant" Chinese woman was in fact a prank.  Quoting the China Daily:

"As people are widely concerned about the health of Qiao Yubo and her five babies in her phenomenally big belly, the super pregnant woman confessed Wednesday to the local reporters and doctors that the whole thing was made up. Qiao Yubo, an ordinary woman in Ningjiang District of Songyuan city, northeast China's Jilin Province, has been put into the spotlight since Jilin News' report on her quintuplets and 175-centimeter waistline earlier this week. However, when a hospital in the capital city of Changchun offered a free medical check-up, the woman and her husband taken flee from a window, thus unfolding the true story behind, reported Jinlin News. When the doctors finally found her in a washing room in her sister's house, Qiao knelt down, cried out, and told them she was not carrying quintuplets, Mr Li, chief of the hospital, told the newspaper." 

Here's my favorite part:

"Surprisingly enough, even Qiao's husband had no idea Qiao was having a fake belly until the arrival of the hospital staff, and he was the first to inform of media of the quintuplets. I was thinking I could not afford five babies, so I hoped the media exposure would arouse the society's attention and some people might give a helping hand." the paper quoted her husband as saying."

Bah....wait until he finds out "she" is a man.

Chinese urban legend?

Maybe it's just me, but this looks totally fake.

"Doctors" discover new Disease; Shareholders Applaud.

All of the sudden the news is filled with stories about Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED - and no, that's apparently not an incredibly ironic pun). And how, OMG, 7.3% of all adults have it. Basically IED means you lose your temper. And guess what? They have a solution all ready for you. The shareholders are applauding. This has to be the most ridiculous thing I've read in a long time (Oh man, I'm about to go "IED" on you). The 'not a magic bullet' quick-fix is SSRIs which have been shown to cause suicidal behavior and thinking in teens. The answer to your problems is that you're not taking enough pills.

06/06/06 - The Number of the Stupid News Story

It's annoying enough to see all these people talking about today being "the number of the beast" day. But it's so much more annoying when you realize that people are going way out of their way to create this number so they can talk about it.

Today is not 6/6/6. That date passed us 2,000 years ago and under our current calendar system , IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN! Sorry to disappoint you. But you've missed 6/6/6. It was a long time ago. And it wasn't the end of the world. Hmmmm...or was it? [queue Twilight Zone music].

Today is 6/6/2006. By truncating the 2006-->06, we will conveniently have 6/6/06 every 100 years. 2006 is not 6. And if you think it is, let me give you $6 and you give me $2,006 and we'll all be happy. Next time around it will be 6/6/2106....which will be shorted to 6/6/06 and again, we'll deal with all this inane news coverage.

While we're truncating/converting numbers, lets just express the date in binary form...that way we'll never run into this scary number again. Today's date is: 110/110 /11111010110 Whew! Don't you feel better now?? Don't you??

Why Do We Keep Building Monsters?

This week brought another tragic violent suicidal outburst by a mentally ill teen. But far from being just another odd, sensless and tragic event, this shooting may add another data point to a trend many have been warning about for years. It is a trend that is comprised of several seemingly random shootings by teens, including (but not limited to) the following:

Columbine High School Shooting

Bishop Neumann High School shooting

Granite Hills High School shooting

Red Lake Shootings High School shootings

Thurston High School Shootings

The connection? All of the shooters were on SSRI anti-depressants. It’s possible the shooters in other mass shootings were also on anti-depressants but in many of these cases, the medical records of the shooters have been sealed.

At first, this connection might seem coincidental. Until you consider that in In 2000, the FDA issued a “black box” warning on SSRI anti-depressants. The warning states that ANTI-DEPRESSANTS INCREASE THE RISK OF SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS! Yes, you read that right. In at least (24) different short term studies, children and adolescents who were given SSRIs for depression, OCD, or other ‘psychiatric disorders” had an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

And today, in an oddly coincidental story, the FDA warned that Paxil (another SSRI) ...may raise the risk of suicidal behavior in young adults.”

It is estimated that 20-30 million prescriptions are written each year for SSRIs in the United States alone. Keep in mind, a study in the International Journal Neuropsychopharmacology [September 2002;5(3):193-7] showed that placebos, i.e. “sugar pills” were slightly MORE EFFECTIVE in treating depression than SSRIs! This study reviewed 53 clinical trials comprised of 10,030 patients, so the results should cause one to question how much these drugs help.

We are quite literally gambling with the long term mental health of children and adolescents when we put them on psychotropic drugs. Don’t be fooled. The medical community barely understands the effects of SSRIs much less the long term consequences of modifying essential brain chemistry.

Coffee Is (Still) Good For Women Too

So says a new study just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. They theorize that coffee, a major source of dietary antioxidants, reduces inflammation that leads to cardiovascular diseases. I'll have a latte to that.

Mexico Got A Call From Uncle Sam

LoL....just like I said. Now Presidente Fox isn't going to sign the legislation. Wonder if mexico has figured it out yet?

Mexico Mistakenly Believes it's a Sovereign Nation

Silly Mexico. They've apparently convinced themselves they can pass laws without first getting the approval of Uncle Sam. The media is reporting that Mexico is going to decriminalize marijuana, cocaine and heroin (among other drugs). Lets see how far this gets. Canada tried the same thing just a month ago. The US expressed its displeasure and threated to retaliate and oh, wouldn't you know it, the legislation was quickly done away with. I guess NAFTA only goes so far.

The FDA Knows No Shame

So who is the FDA working for these days? I’ll give you a hint: It’s not you

What happens when it comes to the public’s attention (10 years after the FDA is made aware) that some products from multi-million dollar food product firms (soft drinks) contain high levels of a cancer causing chemical which has been directly linked to leukemia and known as the mother of all carcinogens ?? Well, if you’re the FDA, you tell everyone that benzene isn’t really dangerous. Even though the products in question contain levels of benzene that are FOUR TIMES HIGHER than what you’ve previously stated was the maximum allowed in drinking water!

I had to chuckle at the Washington Post’s headline “Soda Safe Despite Benzene: FDA: Chemical Present in Diet Soda, but Not Harmful” Just read that statement a few times, and you’ll come to understand just how bought and paid for the FDA really is. But the “big lie” routine was not what the FDA tired at first. No, first they tired to conceal the fact. They’ve know about this non-issue for 13 years. They first said that there was some…but oh, just a tiny- tiny bit of benzene in a few soft drinks (which they refused to name), but that it was not worth worrying about. Just last week the FDA stated that the levels of benzene found were “insignificant”. Now, after the publication of a report that showed the FDA’s own studies “.. found benzene at four times the tap-water limit, on average, in 19 of 24 samples of diet soda”, the FDA is claiming their studies “overestimated the amount of benzene”.

In the mean time, Great Britain's public health agency pulled some soft drinks off the shelf due to benzene contamination . But not the FDA. The FDA claims their own studies prove the benzene levels are safe (is their safe level of benzene the same as yours ?), but just don’t ask to see the data. That’s because they’re not releasing it yet. I’m sure they’re still looking for ways to spin the results.

It is suspected that the benzene is being created by a reaction between sodium or potassium benzoate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). I say, just avoid the benzoate all together until this and the class actions get sorted out.

The Microwave In Your Lap

Much concern has been raised about the carcinogenic potential of mobile phones. People go so far as to purchase ferrite beads to help clamp any radiation coming from mobile phone headset cords. To be sure, the jury is still out on mobile phone radiation. The fact that they operate at a frequency close to microwaves and are placed so close to a person’s head is the primary reason the alarm has been raised. In light of the new mobile phone/cancer studies, the FDA says it will begin new investigations……Heh, ah…yeah right. Everything the FDA does at this point should be considered corrupt until proven otherwise. But on to the point of this post. Scary microwave ovens operate at 2.45 GHz. Modern mobile phones operate at 2.4 Ghz……And so does your wireless router and Wi-Fi card.

I'm a big fan of Mercola's health blog. But, he frequently touts the benefits of Wi-Fi systems, while at the same time sells the ferrite beads mentioned above. This seems to be a contradiction to me. Hasn’t anyone connected the dots to see that if mobile phones are dangerous, then Wi-Fi is also potentially dangerous? In fact, I would bet that many people are exposed to Wi-Fi radiation for 7-10 hours per day. Much more than normal mobile phone usage. Does your office have a wireless network? Does your laptop or desktop have wireless capability turned on? If so, you’re being showered in 2.4GHz radiation and there’s probably not much you can do about it. All these people with these dorky Bluetooth headsets are probably clueless to the fact that it operates at 2.497 GHz and is placed right up against their heads. I wonder how many people bought one of these things to make their cell phone use safer? It’s true they are very low powered, but still…why not go with a wired headset if you’re clearly not concerned with looking stupid.

Link to Elise Beth Bassin's Thesis

Here's a Link to Elise Beth Bassin's thesis which 'broke the story' on the link between fluoridated water and osteoscarcoma.

Harvard Study says there IS a link between fluoridated water and cancer

This one seems to be buried, but guess what? A Harvard University study just published in their Journal, Cancer Causes and Control, says that boys who drink fluoridated water are FIVE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO GET A RARE BONE CANCER than boys who drink fluoridated water. The cancer, osteosarcoma is frequently fatal. This study confirms the findings of other studies by the National Institutes of Health as well as a study by the New Jersey Health Department.

The study's conclusion notes that:

Our exploratory analysis found an association between fluoride exposure in drinking water during childhood and the incidence of osteosarcoma among males but not consistently among females.

This study is different from another 'just published' study from the National Academy of Sciences that showed EPA limits for water fluoridation left water drinkers at an increased risk of dental fluorosis and bone fractures. That study has largely been brushed off because of the supposed benefits of fluoride. This study might be more problematic.

Looks like all those anti-fluoride people might not be nuts after all....

Is PC World reading the Pulpit?

PC World has put up an article on 101 freebies. You'll see they've recommended many of the same programs I have, and a few new ones I'll have to try out.

Another reason not to use debit cards

Today's news brings us another example of why you shouldn't use a debit card to make purchases. Read this story, and imagine how different it would have been if the guy had used a credit card. Instead of worrying about making his mortgage payment, Mr Beane would have been disputing an obviously ridiculous charge. Stop giving strangers the keys to your bank account.

Oh, and kudos to Bank of America for putting a 3-day hold on the money when it was returned. Nothing says Higher Standards more than that.

More Freeware For the Masses

To follow up on my freeware security suite post, I'd like to point you towards some excellent, regular use freeware you might want to take a look at. These are all programs I use on a regular basis, and frankly, find indispensable. At the time of this posting, all of the software below was free, and these are in no particular order.

1. The Gimp - The poor-man's Photoshop - Awesome in it's capabilities. Not quite on par with Photoshop (yet) but probably more than you'll ever need.
2. AM-DeadLink - Checks your bookmarks, tells you which ones no longer work, which one's have moved and (if you want it to) downloads those nifty favicons for your browser.
3. HNSKY Hallo Northern Sky - Planetarium software. Very cool if you have any interest in astronomy.
4. Google Earth - Mapping and satellite images all in one.
   
5. Exact Audio Copy - Audio grabber (i.e. "ripper") for CD's.
   
6. Visual CD - Ever wonder which one of the 10,000 CDs/floppies you have contains that file is you're looking for? Wonder no more. With Visual CD you catalog your CDs/Floppies/removable media so that you can search the contents of all of them, right from your desktop.
7. Firefox - You haven't been convinced yet? 10X better than Explorer, and that's not even counting the endless free "add-ons" that have been developed for it.
   
8. Winamp - The de facto mp3/media player. The Shoutcast streaming music (Think: thousands of commerical free Internet radio stations) is more than worth the price of admission (Yes...free).
9. CD Burner XP Pro - Your new computer didn't come with any CD/DVD burning software? Try this out. Will even create/burn ISO images, rip and burn music cds.
10. Moffsoft FreeCalc - Makes the Windows calculator (Calc) look like the anemic, poorly designed calculator that it is. Even has a virtual paper history tape!
11. Process Explorer - Shows you what's running on your PC now, and what's chewing up all your system resources. Useful in determining if you have spyware/adware running on your system as well.
12. ZipGenius - An compression/decompression utility that supports 99% of the files you're likely to encounter.
13. OpenOffice - Wow. That about sums this one up. If you can't afford Microsoft Office, then you must have this office suite. Even if you can, you might want this one as well. It will open Word, Excel and Powerpoint files...but you can also create them as well. At a price of free, this is nothing short of amazing. The database piece still needs work, so if you need to create an Access database, you're going to have to buy Microsoft's product.
14. CutePDF Writer - A plug in that will allow you to "print" to a virutal PDF printer, so you can e-mail or archive documents you would have printed in the past. If you don't have a printer (or want to create Acrobat PDFs), this is a must. You'll also need to install Ghostscript as well (if you don't already have it...and you probably don't) for it to work properly.
15. IrfanView - The best image viewer/editor available. Oh, and it's free.
    

Debit Cards: Good for Banks, Bad for You

Here's something to think about the next time you use your debit card. Did you need to use your PIN? Probably not. More and more people are using debit cards these days. They usually have a Visa or MasterCard logo on them. They look like credit cards, but they're not. Debit cards are a direct, and immediate link to your money. It used to be that the banks issued debit cards that were used just like an ATM card. Every time you used it, you would give your PIN number, which was your protection. A recent security breach at Citibank has let thousands of PIN numbers fall into some hacker's hands. But why is this even a big deal? Now days, you can choose to run your debit card through as "credit" (so-called "off-line debit transactions"). This allows the card to be accepted in more places and eliminates the expensive keypads, but guess what? It leaves the key to your money in the hands of anyone who has your debit card!

The biggest difference between a credit card and a debit card is that there is no one between a crook and your money with the debit card. With a credit card, VISA or MasterCard pay out the money, then in turn ask for you to pay it back. If there's a disputed charge, you have time and a pre-defined path to get it removed from your credit card. With the debit card, you may find that all of your money is gone before you realize there's a problem. Many debit cards say you're not liable (except for the first $50, aww gee...thanks) if you report your card stolen/lost immediately. That's great. Except it might take them a month or more to get the money back in your account. That sounds like a very fun month, doesn't it?

The bottom line is this, Debit cards are good for banks because they're cheaper to process than paper checks. They're bad for you because you have much less protection than a credit card. Maybe you should stop carrying a debit card and start using a credit card (oh..and pay it off too).

What the latest coffee study REALLY says: Coffee is still good for you

In spite of the fact that the media is really trying to sir up some sort of controversy regarding the latest coffee study, you should know you have nothing to worry about. The latest study shows that the bodies of 1/2 of the 2,014 people in the study (all of whom have already had a heart attack), are slow at getting rid of caffeine and that might have had something to do with their heart attack.

The processing of caffeine is done in the body by an enzyme, called cytochrome. Lets look at what the study found:

• Carriers of the 'slow' form of the gene (cytochrome) who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a 36% increased risk of heart attack, compared to those who drank less than one cup a day.
  

You might want to ask yourself why they didn't compare the risk of slow processors vs. normal processors when they drank the same amount of coffee. They did, but there was a reduced risk of heart attack for everyone...and that sort of thing doesn't make good headlines.

This comparison is like saying "Slow caffeine processors who were forced to run 2-3 miles had a 36% higher risk of heart attack than normal caffeine processors who were forced to run less than one mile." What can we get from that? Not much. This explains why the head researcher said, " It appears that one cup a day is not associated with any harm, regardless of your genetic make-up." Well stated, but actually, there's more to it than that.

Here are the statistics:

Coffee consumption (cups)
Group	Less than 1	1	2 to 3	4 or more
Slow Gene Carriers	1	0.99	1.36	1.64
Fast Gene Carriers	1	0.75	0.78	0.99

Now, I'm no statistician, but hey!, it looks to me like the fast carriers had a decreased risk of heart attack compared to the control group up to and including 4 or more cups of coffee! And the slow carriers also benefited (minimally) from the first cup of coffee. Hmmm... Yet here are the (mostly sensationalistic) headlines from the news:

Coffee-Gene Interaction Raises Heart Attack Risk - CNN

Study: Coffee raises, lowers heart attack risk - News 8 Austin, TX

Coffee may brew heart attacks - Newsday, NY

Enjoy that next cup of coffee: it may be your last - Times Online, UK

Drinking regular coffee may be linked to heart attack, study says - Toledo Blade, OH - 3 hours ago

Coffee hazard linked to genes - Toronto Star, Canada

The Austin News 8 article, was the first one I found that mentioned the lower risk:

"Surprisingly, what we found was that in individuals under 50 years of age who were fast metabolizers, had the fast version of this gene, consumption of as little as one to three cups a day was associated with a lower risk of heart disease ," El-Sohemy said."

According to Google news, of the 287 news articles about this study, only 27 (9.40% - Hey, now there's math I can do! ) mentioned the "lower risk".

Grand Master Predictions #2

OOOOooohhhhhhhhh People. Today is your lucky day! The Grand Master has handed down (4) new predictions:

• In the US Senate Race in Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum Loses.

• After the November 2006 elections, the public will be shocked at the lack of change, especially in the House of Representatives.

• Within the next 5 years (i.e. beforeFeb 2011) there will be a US currency crisis of epic proportions which will cause great turmoil in the world. There will be rampant inflation as dollars rapidly lose value.
  

• The conflict between Iran and the western world over it's nuclear weapons development will end up being a conflict between the US and China. The reason will be that China will step in on Iran's behalf due to their growing need for Iran's oil.
  

The SMS (Short message service) Mystery

Why is SMS so freaking popular in Europe? I can't figure it out.

Look at the reasons why SMS is "cool" (lifted from a website):

1. SMS Messages can be Sent and Read at Any Time.
2. SMS Messages can be Sent to an Offline Mobile Phone
3. SMS Messaging is Less Disturbing While You can Still Stay in Touch
4. SMS Messages are Supported by 100% GSM Mobile Phones and They can be Exchanged between Different Wireless Carriers

Um..correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Voicemail do all of that? The "less disturbing" thing can be remedied by people learning how to turn their ringers off. And how much time does it take to type out a message on your phone keypad versus leaving a similar message with spoken language. The only thing that makes sense for SMS being popular is that it is cheap. However, in the US, it's pretty cheap to talk. I Guess the Europeans are paying too much for their cellphones.

Hmmmm...this just sounds like a bad idea.....

Does turning over the security of several major US ports (New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia) to a company that is based in the United Arab Emirates sound like a good idea to you? The Bush administraion seems to think it's ok.

A Scary Thought for Tax Time

It will soon be that time again, and time for the 1040. While you're filling it out, remember that you're helping to rebuild Iraq (and not Detroit, East L.A. or D.C.) to the tune of $100,000 per minute. And Afghanistan at $18,000 per minute. 24/7.

$1, 966.67 per second. Wow.

Fairfax County on Water Fluoridation

I was doing a little bit of research on fluoride tonight (You know, the fluoride-bone cancer connection) and came across these interesting statements from Fairfax County, VA:

First, from the County Code authorizing water fluoridation:

Section 42-1-5. Liability for injury or damage.
The Board of Supervisors in authorizing fluoridation, however, expressly declares that it in no way assumes any liability for, or on account of, any damage or injury incurred by any user of water so treated. (1954 Code, vol. 1, § 8-5; 1961 Code, § 13-5.)

Gotta love that. It's safe, but ah...should you die or grow a second set of fingers, we're not responsible for anything. Read the fine print.

Second, a question/answer from the Fairfax County Water Authority website:

#8. Is the fluoride in my drinking water safe?

In correct amounts, added and naturally occurring fluoride has improved the dental health of American consumers. Fairfax Water's water generally has between 0.8 and 1.2 mg/L of Fluoride.

Huh? Did I miss the answer in there? Is it safe? Who knows. All we know from this savy reply is that the fluoride, in correct amounts, improves dental health for American consumers. Is it safe ? Well, that's a different question....and apparently a different (missing) answer.

Prediction Corner #1

Here it is people.... The first of the predictions from the (very shy...well, anonymous) grand master himself (ah...it's not me). This will be updated as he chooses to drop his nuggets of wisdom upon us:

1) In spite of the (apparently) growing distaste for the Iraq war and the Republicans in general, the mix of Democrats/Republicans in the House and Senate will stay virtually unchanged after the November 2006 elections. The end result will be that the Republicans will retain control of the House and Senate.

He has spoken.

We’d like to welcome back to Virginia the new and improved CAR TAX!

So much for politicians and their promises. The State of Virginia has been stuck on 'covering' 70% of a vehicle owner's car tax bill for several years and now they decided to change the scheme starting this year. This year and beyond, they're only going to fund $950 million dollars worth of discounts. That means that the % of the bill they'll cover will fluctuate, depending on the car values for that year. What this means for you is that it your tax bill will almost certainly go up. Right now, in Fairfax County Virginia you have to pay $ $4.57 per $100 of assessed value. The state has been generously paying 70% of that for you. However, they do that only up to an assessed value of $20,000. Any amount above $20,000 you have to pay the full tax yourself. The state is now estimating that this year's car tax relief will be closer to 65%. Let's look at some figures to illustrate what that means:

You buy a $21,000 car this year, say, a Toyota Camry.

Your tax rate is $4.57 per $100 for the first $20K. ($914)

The rate for the next $1,000 is the same ($45.70)

The state is going to pay 65% of the $914, but the $45.70 you have to pay all yourself.

$319.9 + $45.70 = $365.6 for the first year. Remember, this is an annual tax based on the assessed value of the car.

Last year, using the old rates, you would have paid $319.90. This represents a 14.29% increase in the tax in one year. Of course, they might only cover 40% (so you'd have to pay $594). You'll just have to wait and see. Kind of adds new excitement to getting the mail, doesn't it?

In 1997, Virginia's then Governor Gilmore promised to do away with the tax completely (His campaign slogan was "No Car Tax!") That promise single handedly won him the office. Now 9 years later, it's still not gone and is no longer decreasing or stabilized, but IT'S GOING BACK UP!! I guess politicians have short memories. Lucky for them, so do the stupid/busy/lazy voters.