AN EDUCATED CITIZENRY . . .
James Musters: “New poll finds that 39% of Americans want government to ‘stay out of Medicare.’”
☞ A further 15% weren’t sure.
(On the remote chance anyone here falls into either group, please note that Medicare is a government program.)
PRIVATE EQUITY – ADDENDUM
JWS: “Just in case you’re not already aware of it – the segment you linked to is from a movie, the title of which I think is: Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary. It is about a young woman Hitler hired as his secretary near the end of the war. Based on truth, I believe. And, of course, the translation subtitles are put-ons.”
☞ Still, I don’t think he would have reacted well to a buy-out at 4.5 times EBITDA.
FREEZING YOUR OWN STEM CELLS
Tamara Hendrickson: “I am aware of a couple of reasons for why freezing stem cells while you are young [yesterday’s item] might be better than later on in life. One is that our DNA terminates with repeat sequences called telomeres. Every time our DNA replicates, these telomeres get shorter until ultimately the cell dies. Telomere length is an indicator of how old a cell is and correlates to cell health. Dolly, the cloned sheep, and all cloned animals have telomeres that are shorter than those of a natural newborn because the cloned animals have the telomere length of the source of their original DNA – in Dolly’s case it was from an adult sheep. Dolly died at age 6 when sheep normally live to be 10-12. It has been speculated that her shorter telomeres were responsible for her shorter life span. By freezing stem cells when you are young, these cells will have longer telomeres and therefore offer the best bet for a robust cure/ treatment. Also, we don’t really understand how cells reprogram for things like cancer (although telomeres are involved). Another nice thing about stem cells frozen when young is that they were frozen before disease states developed. This isn’t my field of expertise and so I’m not advocating for or against freezing adult stem cells but it certainly holds promise. If we get to where we can use our own stem cells for cures/ treatments, then this technology has the added advantage of a perfect immune system match. I love it too because it is so much less controversial than the use of embryonic stem cells.”
COOKING, LIKE, UH, GOAT
Kirk Elliott: “Per Wednesday . . . BBQ goat (cabrito) is very good. I have attended this cookoff in Brady, TX.”
DON’T EAT MEAT
Mike Rutkaus: “I ordered a dozen copies of The China Study and gave them out last Xmas – including one to the doctor who cured the post office anthrax patient in Virginia circa 2001. He agrees, but still loves cheese.”
EAT MEAT
Bill Schwartz: “If you’re going to continue to promote books that purport to show the harmfulness of fat (or meat, dairy, etc.), you really should also let your readers know that many very serious people reach different conclusions. For example, here’s a brief critique of The China Study by Dr. Michael Eades. And don’t miss Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health. Taubes explains that it may be the Western refined sugar, white rice, and white bread the urban Chinese have recently begun to eat – not meat – that have caused the appearance of obesity and Western chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. I urge you to check out his extraordinary book. But only if you’re prepared for the possibility of having your assumptions shaken up big-time. Mine were. (I’ve been a vegetarian for 25 years.)”
☞ There are three issues with meat. One is health; one is treatment and slaughter of the animals; but even assuming neither of those is a valid concern, which I think is a lot to assume, the third is the environment. As, for example, here. (“It’s not simply that meat is a contributor to global warming; it’s that it is a huge contributor. Larger, by a significant margin, than the global transportation sector.”)
HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM
A White House resource to help set the record straight.
