Signed by 13,742 people, 473 doctors: “John McCain has not yet released his medical records to the public. McCain is 72 years old, and has been diagnosed with invasive melanoma. In May of this year, a small group of selected reporters were allowed to review 1,173 pages of McCain’s medical records that covered only the last eight years, and were allowed only three hours to do so. John McCain’s health is an issue of profound importance. We call on John McCain to issue a full, public disclosure of all of his medical records, available for the media and members of the general public to review.”
Daily Archives: 14 Sep 08
Memewatch: NOMF
To defeat Palin, ignore her
Errol Louis: “The Democrats’ Palin problem won’t be going away any time soon. And it could derail Barack Obama’s fight against Republican John McCain – unless Dems summon the discipline to ignore the GOP vice-presidential candidate’s celebrity and instead focus like a laser on campaign basics.” (NY Daily News op-ed)
Making America stupid
Thomas L. Friedman: “Imagine for a minute that attending the Republican convention in St. Paul, sitting in a skybox overlooking the convention floor, were observers from Russia, Iran and Venezuela. And imagine what these observers would have been doing when Rudy Giuliani led the delegates in a chant of ‘drill, baby, drill!'” (International Herald Tribune)
McCain-Palin Crowd-Size Estimates Not Backed by Officials
“Senator John McCain has drawn some of the biggest crowds of his presidential campaign since adding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to his ticket on Aug. 29. Now officials say they can’t substantiate the figures McCain’s aides are claiming….
In recent days, journalists attending the rallies have been raising questions about the crowd estimates with the campaign. In a story on Sept. 11 about Palin’s attraction for some Virginia women voters, Washington Post reporter Marc Fisher estimated the crowd to be 8,000, not the 23,000 cited by the campaign.” (Bloomberg)
The secret benefits of fandom
“…[A] few scholars have started to suggest that there may …be another kind of benefit from big-time sports. There’s a catch, though: the team has to be good. In a forthcoming paper, economist Michael Davis and the psychologist Christian End say that having a winning NFL football team increases the incomes of the people who live and work in its hometown by as much as $120 a year. And while the study doesn’t identify exactly what causes the boost, the authors point to psychological literature suggesting that winning fans are at once harder workers and bigger spenders. In short, buoyed by the team’s success, we work longer hours, take bigger risks, and shop more avidly, all of which helps the local economy.” (Boston Globe)
In other words, just another way of making you a better cog in the machine. Didn’t Marx say that spectator sports is the opiate of the masses, or something like that?
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Tea ‘healthier’ drink than water
“Public health nutritionist Dr Carrie Ruxton, and colleagues at Kings College London, looked at published studies on the health effects of tea consumption.They found clear evidence that drinking three to four cups of tea a day can cut the chances of having a heart attack.Some studies suggested tea consumption protected against cancer, although this effect was less clear-cut.Other health benefits seen included protection against tooth plaque and potentially tooth decay, plus bone strengthening.Dr Ruxton said: ‘Drinking tea is actually better for you than drinking water. Water is essentially replacing fluid. Tea replaces fluids and contains antioxidants so it’s got two things going for it.'” (BBC)
Related?
Tying Knots with Light
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Researchers find a new theoretical way to tie light into complex knots and links. “Imagine twisting a beam of light into a knot, as if it were a piece of a string. Now grab another light beam and tie it around the first, forming its own loop. Tie on another and another, until all of space is filled up with loops of light.
Sounds preposterous, but a pair of physicists has shown that light can do just this — at least in theory. Visible light, along with all other forms of electromagnetic radiation, is governed by Maxwell’s equations, and the researchers have found a new solution to these equations in which light forms linked knots. The team is now working to create light in this form experimentally.” (Science News)
To defeat Palin, ignore her
Errol Louis: “The Democrats’ Palin problem won’t be going away any time soon. And it could derail Barack Obama’s fight against Republican John McCain – unless Dems summon the discipline to ignore the GOP vice-presidential candidate’s celebrity and instead focus like a laser on campaign basics.” (NY Daily News op-ed)
