Political cartoon: G. W. Bush’s Iraq Legacy by Mike Peters

Netflix Movie Streaming on Xbox 360 Actually Coming Soon?

Netflix Movie Streaming on Xbox 360 Actually Coming Soon? – Gizmodo
 
The rumor about Netflix surveying the scene, prepping a possible streaming movie solution to Xbox 360 and PS3 seems to be on the verge of coming true, according to Netflix themselves. They just released a statement that says they’ve surveyed subscribers to see how interested they were in streaming movies over Xbox 360 (PS3 was not mentioned), but didn’t say whether a partnership was coming between them and Microsoft.
 
Releasing a statement about a survey? Sounds like someone’s trying to jockey a better negotiating position while talks are still underway. On a similar note, Netflix’s online site seems to have been down for most of Monday, which makes the case for streaming media even stronger. [Reuters - Thanks David!]

Twin beds may benefit marriages

Twin beds may benefit marriages - UPI
 
LONDON, March 24 (UPI) — British sleep researchers say the secret of a happy marriage may be separate beds — or even separate bedrooms.
 
The Sleep Council reports that when couples share a bed both may be woken about six times during the night by their partners, The Times of London said. The problem is worse if one or both snores or has restless leg syndrome.
 
About 25 percent of British adults snore, the British Snoring and Sleep Apnea Association said. The problem may cost their partners two hours of sleep every night.
 
In the United States, researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that the greatest marital problems seem to occur when one partner is a lark, getting up early in the morning ready for the day, and the other an owl who prefers to stay up late and sleep in. A California woman ended up getting a divorce because she got fed up with her husband’s habit of staying up late playing computer games.
 
For other couples, separate bedrooms could be the right choice. The National Association of Home Builders predicted that by 2015 a majority of custom-built homes will have his-and-hers master bedrooms.
 
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

7-step Plan to Boost Low Thyroid and Metabolism

Low Thyroid Function: A 7 Step Plan to Overcome This Hidden Epidemic From UltraWellness-Running the Right Tests for Low Thyroid Function Can Help Diagnose and Correct Thyroid Problems in Millions of People
 
Market Wire
 
03-21-08
 
LENOX, MA, Mar 20, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — Many of the 45 million people affected by hypothyroidism don’t know they have it because doctors aren’t running the right tests. But by following the new guidelines for hypothyroid testing, as well as running lesser-known tests, doctors could diagnose more people with low thyroid function.
 
“There are many reasons for low thyroid function, yet I’ve seen lots of patients with this problem who were just ignored by their doctors,” said Mark Hyman, M.D. of UltraWellness. “Most doctors just check something called the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which doesn’t give a full picture of the thyroid, the interpretation of this test is incorrect most of the time.”
 
Most doctors only regard TSH levels over 5 or 10 as worth treating, but new guidelines from the American College of Endocrinology consider anybody with a TSH level over 3.0 as hypothyroid. There are also other tests, including free T3, free T4 and thyroid antibodies, which are essential for diagnosing low thyroid function.
 
“Using old guidelines and thinking, conventional medicine misses millions who suffer with hypothyroidism,” said Hyman. “I like to look at all of the factors that could be causing chronic thyroid problems such as chronic inflammation from gluten intolerance or food allergies, chronic stress, heavy metals such as mercury, or deficiencies of vitamin D, selenium, vitamin A, zinc, and omega-3 fats.”
 
Hypothyroidism can also be caused by environmental toxins such as pesticides, which act as hormone or endocrine disruptors and interfere with thyroid hormone metabolism and function, causing hypothyroidism, creating a slow metabolism and preventing weight loss.
 
“I believe a comprehensive approach is needed to address chronic thyroid issues and to diagnose them. Unfortunately, most of the options for healing by conventional care are quite limited and only provide a partial solution, but by following my seven-step plan you can achieve optimal health and UltraWellness,” said Hyman.
 
For more information on identifying symptoms of hypothyroidism and Dr. Mark Hyman’s seven-step plan to address hypothyroidism, visit The UltraWellness Blog (www.ultrawellness.com/blog).

Sources:
Life Extension Daily News
7-step Plan to Boost Low Thyroid and Metabolism – The Ultrawellness Blog

 

One Cup Of Green Tea Per Day Cuts Ovarian Cancer Risk In Half

Just One Cup Of Green Tea Per Day Cuts Ovarian Cancer Risk In Half – Life Extension Newsletter

 

A short communication published in the March, 2008 issue of the American Association for Cancer Research journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention reported the outcome of a study conducted by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington in Seattle which found that women who drank one or more cups per day of green tea experienced a 54 percent reduction in the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. Because the disease is difficult to detect in its early, treatable stages, and a reliable screening test is still not available to the public, an effective means of preventing the disease “remains the only feasible approach to reduce ovarian cancer mortality,” according to the authors.

 

Mary Anne Rossing and her colleagues set out to evaluate the relationship between caffeine-containing beverages and ovarian cancer risk by comparing 781 women diagnosed with a primary invasive or borderline epithelial ovarian cancer between 2002 and 2005, and 1,263 women without the disease. Interviews with the participants obtained demographic and lifestyle characteristics, medical, family and reproductive history, and beverage consumption data five years prior to ovarian cancer diagnosis (or prior to an assigned reference date for the control subjects). Caffeine-containing drinks were reported as brewed coffee, instant coffee, espresso or espresso drinks, green tea, black tea, colas and root beer, diet colas and diet root beer, and caffeinated soft drinks. Decaffeinated beverages were reported separately.

 

In agreement with previous studies, women who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer were less likely to have used hormonal contraception, had a greater frequency of childlessness, or were likelier to have a family history of the disease. While the frequent intake of colas or root beer, whether regular or decaffeinated, was associated with a moderately increased risk of ovarian cancer, none of the other beverages were associated with increased or decreased risk, with the exception of green tea. Women who consumed one or more cups of green tea per day experienced a 54 percent reduction in ovarian cancer risk compared to those who did not drink green tea. Those who reported drinking an average of less than one cup per day experienced a smaller reduction in risk. Elimination of Asian women from the analysis (who are often frequent consumers of green tea), analysis of the data by tumor type, and separation of the women according to age or menopausal status failed to modify the finding.

 

The relatively high levels of epigallocatechin-3-gallate in green tea have been shown to help inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer in cell cultures according to two studies cited by the authors. Additionally, green tea drinking has been associated with a reduced risk of several other cancers. “Green tea, which is commonly consumed in countries with low ovarian cancer incidence, should be further investigated for its cancer prevention properties,” the authors conclude.

Bad smells smell bad – Air fresheners may mutate your nethers

 
From the National Resources Defense Council:

Common Air Fresheners Contain Chemicals That May Affect Human Reproductive Development, September 19, 2007

 

An analysis of more than a dozen common household air fresheners found that most contain chemicals that may affect hormones and reproductive development, particularly in babies, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said today. The federal government does not currently test air fresheners for safety or require manufacturers to meet any specific safety standards. The study offers both consumers and officials new information on the risks certain air fresheners pose.

 

“More than anything, our research highlights cracks in our safety system,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, NRDC senior scientist.

 

“Consumers have a right to know what is put into air fresheners and other everyday products they bring into their homes,” Solomon added. “There are too many products on the shelves that we assume are safe, but have never even been tested. The government should be keeping a watchful eye on these household items and the manufacturers who produce them.”

 
…etc.

From the National Institutes of Health:

Chemical in Many Air Fresheners May Reduce Lung Function, 27 July, 2006

 

New research shows that a chemical compound found in many air fresheners, toilet bowl cleaners, mothballs and other deodorizing products, may be harmful to the lungs. Human population studies at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, found that exposure to a volatile organic compound (VOC), called 1,4 dichlorobenzene (1,4 DCB) may cause modest reductions in lung function.

 

“Even a small reduction in lung function may indicate some harm to the lungs,” said NIEHS researcher Stephanie London, M.D., lead investigator on the study. “The best way to protect yourself, especially children who may have asthma or other respiratory illnesses, is to reduce the use of products and materials that contain these compounds.”

 
…etc.

(Learn more about these issues at the Organic Consumers Association and the National Resources Defense Council.)
 

Telecom immunity: where does your Rep stand?

Where does your representative stand?

For more than five years, AT&T and other telephone companies broke the law and violated their customers’ privacy rights by sending billions of private domestic internet and telephone communications and records to the National Security Agency.

The Bush administration has been lobbying Congress to let the phone companies off the hook. But recently, the House of Representatives stood strong and passed a bill that would hold them accountable.

Enter your zipcode at StopTheSpying.org to find out how your House representative voted on the recent bill denying the telecom industry immunity for their criminal involvement in spying on the American people.

See also:

• EFF: The Case Against Retroactive Amnesty for Telecoms
• Wikipedia: NSA warrantless surveillance controversy
• American Civil Liberties Union: FISA
• Wikipedia: Legal challenges to NSA warrantless searches in the United States

New video of Boston Dynamics BigDog robot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dog

Advertisers may sneak into your brain

We may soon wish the Firefox extension Adblock Plus existed as a neural implant affecting all sensory input:

Study: Subliminal ads warp your brain – CNET

Science has proven, once again, that advertising is effective. Who knew?

Researchers from upset-destined Duke University (fill out those brackets, people) and the University of Waterloo have published the results of a study that suggests that brief exposure to Apple’s brand logo drives higher levels of creativity than exposure to IBM’s logo. In fact, the researchers suggest that subliminal advertising is actually more effective than regular advertising, because people don’t have time to raise their anti-ad defenses.

…etc.

The Reality Distortion Field Is Real – Slashdot

“Apparently, even subliminal exposure to the Apple logo can make you ‘think different.’ Researchers at Duke University subjected participants to subliminal images of the iconic Apple and IBM logos (during what subjects thought was a visual acuity test), and those who were shown the Apple logo generated more creative ideas after the test than did those who were shown the IBM logo. In a second test, subjects exposed to the Disney logo acted more honestly than those who saw an E! Channel logo.”

Mr. Obama’s Profile in Courage – New York Times

Mr. Obama’s Profile in Courage – New York Times
March 19, 2008
Editorial

There are moments — increasingly rare in risk-abhorrent modern campaigns — when politicians are called upon to bare their fundamental beliefs. In the best of these moments, the speaker does not just salve the current political wound, but also illuminates larger, troubling issues that the nation is wrestling with.

Inaugural addresses by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind, as does John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religion, with its enduring vision of the separation between church and state. Senator Barack Obama, who has not faced such tests of character this year, faced one on Tuesday. It is hard to imagine how he could have handled it better.

Mr. Obama had to address race and religion, the two most toxic subjects in politics. He was as powerful and frank as Mitt Romney was weak and calculating earlier this year in his attempt to persuade the religious right that his Mormonism is Christian enough for them.

It was not a moment to which Mr. Obama came easily. He hesitated uncomfortably long in dealing with the controversial remarks of his spiritual mentor and former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who denounced the United States as endemically racist, murderous and corrupt.

On Tuesday, Mr. Obama drew a bright line between his religious connection with Mr. Wright, which should be none of the voters’ business, and having a political connection, which would be very much their business. The distinction seems especially urgent after seven years of a president who has worked to blur the line between church and state.

Mr. Obama acknowledged his strong ties to Mr. Wright. He embraced him as the man “who helped introduce me to my Christian faith,” and said that “as imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me.”

Wisely, he did not claim to be unaware of Mr. Wright’s radicalism or bitterness, disarming the speculation about whether he personally heard the longtime pastor of his church speak the words being played and replayed on YouTube. Mr. Obama said Mr. Wright’s comments were not just potentially offensive, as politicians are apt to do, but “rightly offend white and black alike” and are wrong in their analysis of America. But, he said, many Americans “have heard remarks from your pastors, priests or rabbis with which you strongly disagree.”

Mr. Obama’s eloquent speech should end the debate over his ties to Mr. Wright since there is nothing to suggest that he would carry religion into government. But he did not stop there. He put Mr. Wright, his beliefs and the reaction to them into the larger context of race relations with an honesty seldom heard in public life.

Mr. Obama spoke of the nation’s ugly racial history, which started with slavery and Jim Crow, and continues today in racial segregation, the school achievement gap and discrimination in everything from banking services to law enforcement.

He did not hide from the often-unspoken reality that people on both sides of the color line are angry. “For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation,” he said, “the memories of humiliation and fear have not gone away, nor the anger and the bitterness of those years.”

At the same time, many white Americans, Mr. Obama noted, do not feel privileged by their race. “In an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero-sum game,” he said, adding that both sides must acknowledge that the other’s grievances are not imaginary.

He made the powerful point that while these feelings are not always voiced publicly, they are used in politics. “Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan coalition,” he said.

Against this backdrop, he said, he could not repudiate his pastor. “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community,” he said. “I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother.” That woman whom he loves deeply, he said, “once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street” and more than once “uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.”

There have been times when we wondered what Mr. Obama meant when he talked about rising above traditional divides. This was not such a moment.

We can’t know how effective Mr. Obama’s words will be with those who will not draw the distinctions between faith and politics that he drew, or who will reject his frank talk about race. What is evident, though, is that he not only cleared the air over a particular controversy — he raised the discussion to a higher plane.

Transcript & Video: Barack Obama’s Speech on Race - New York Times

Reporting: Criticizing Pastor, Obama Assesses Race in America – New York Times, Obama Urges U.S. to Grapple With Race Issue – New York Times

What Obama Said, By The Editors – Two views from guest contributors on Senator Barack Obama’s “Race in America” speech. – New York Times