Saturday, March 28, 2009

Censored

I've been a fan of the Project Censored emails I receive in my inbox from time to time for a couple years now. So I was quite surprised to see that they had a blog, The Daily Censored.

The Daily Censored focuses on under-reported stories and generally features a liberal tilt, which is why it's so lovely.

What's on the front page: Bill O’Reilly Show looses UPS advertising thanks to Think Progress Bill O’Reilly Show looses UPS advertising thanks to Think Progress, CIA Reports Predicts Israel Will Fall In 20 Years: Zionists to emigrate from Israel to US, Europe and Russia, and G20 protests: Cry havoc - and let slip a rainbow alliance of summit protesters.

Blogroll soon. Take a look. It's some seriously good reading.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Welcome New Folks!

It appears that I've been placed in Mike's Blog Roundup over at C&L. An unexpected and lovely surprise!

For those of you new to the area, I'm an unapologetic, godless liberal who has plenty of moments against the grain (shut up about AIG!) and on occasion I use my real-world expertise as a web and graphic designer to do things like this:



And, mmmm..., I love this:



Enjoy, read through the varied posts, comment if it strikes you, and have a great day!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

What They're Saying About High-Fructose Corn Syrup

If you've seen the ads put out by the Corn Refiners group where some actor-playing-douchebag says "Well, you know what they say about high-fructose corn syrup" (apparently aware of all foods that contain it but not what the concern is) but cannot come up with one thing that "they say" and the other person intelligently and succinctly states some crap about it being natural, you might have had two thoughts concomitantly: 1) What is it who's saying about HFCS? and 2) Ooh, it must be natural and ignorant whackos are causing a fuss.

And that's what the Corn Refiners group would like you to think.

But here's just one of the things "they're saying" about why HFCS is some funky shit:
A new study in mice sheds light on at least part of the reason for the insulin resistance that can come from diets high in high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener found in most sodas and many other processed foods.

Fructose is much more readily metabolized to fat in the liver than glucose, and in the process can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. NAFLD in turn leads to hepatic insulin resistance and type II diabetes.

Researchers showed that mice fed a high-fructose diet could be protected from insulin resistance if a gene known as transcriptional coactivator PPARg coactivator-1b (PGC-1b) was "knocked down" in the animals' liver and fat tissue. PGC-1b controls the activity of several other genes, including one responsible for building fat in the liver. This suggests an important role for PGC-1b in the pathogenesis of fructose-induced insulin resistance.
But, hey, what's so bad about insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease?

Anyone else find it weird that people who are supposed to sell corn are selling medical advice that benefits their bottom line?

Monday, March 23, 2009

MSNBC and Ed Schultz? Tasty!

Speculation abounds about Ed Schultz getting his own show on MSNBC:
Speculation about Mr. Schultz’s future role at MSNBC has focused on two time slots: the 6 p.m. hour (currently anchored by David Shuster) and the 10 p.m. hour (which currently features a repeat of Countdown with Keith Olbermann).
I think it would be a fine addition to the rapier wit of the current Olbermann/Maddow lineup. He's one of the few radio hosts I can listen to - on either side - on a regular basis.

Keep your fingers crossed; this could get tasty.