A few links from friends appeared in my mail box in the last couple of days…
First, headline/story dissonance from Christy. SEVEN OR MORE EGGS A WEEK LINKED TO DEATH RISK! Oh, by the way, everybody in the study is a male physician. Oh, also, if you get around to reading down to the last paragraph, eating more eggs also happens to correlate with being an old, fat, cigarette-smoking drinker who doesn’t get much exercise, at least if you’re a male physician. Not that we would let you know whether the researchers controlled for any of that.
Next, Derek sends along a link to material on tonight’s PBS documentary, "The Truth About Cancer." This topic — particularly the "you can beat it" and "I’m a survivor" rhetoric surrounding cancer diagnoses — has occupied more of my attention since my mother died of adenocarcinoma nearly five years ago. I don’t know if I’ll get to see the show tonight when it premieres, but the website definitely caught my attention. Maybe I’ll catch it in one of the several repeats on the local PBS station.
And here’s another note from Derek: "Predictably, left-leaning Catholics are in a tizzy over the Pope’s call for Catholic educators to meet with him Thursday. Of course, this can only mean oppression, intimidation, and censorship. Here is a (badly written) editorial by the president of Trinity College. The only thing missing from this wandering commentary is someone screeching: "will no one think of the children??" The basic gist of her editorial is that the Church should focus on (definitely important) issues that non-Catholics can agree with, such as poverty, war, etc. and not be so concerned with moral issues that are not as well-received in popular culture. She invokes nameless ‘critics’ who would turn Catholic colleges into madrassas, apparently. The more I read this, the more silly it seems, and the more embarrassed I am for Trinity College."
Now, from Christy, what’s in your kitchen apparently predicts how you will vote. Apparently Hillary voters like national brands and Obama has the arugula vote. It’s entertaining but as usual the NYT writer is overly simplistic. (Milk-buying Democrats care about the earth, while milk-buying conservatives care about children.)
Finally and also from Christy and very timely since Mark and I have been thinking (okay, debating) about whether moving to organic produce is worth the extra $$$, why don’t food writers ever write about cost — where are the real frugal gourmets, that is? An excellent little musing, with some recommended titles. May I also suggest the Tightwad Gazette?
bearing blog 