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October 7, 2008
It's Nobel Prize time, and once again I didn't get the call. In fairness to the Nobel Committee, I didn't deserve it either, but since Henry Kissinger got a Nobel Prize he didn't deserve, I don't know why this should have been a barrier. I could use the money and the fame wouldn't hurt. Anyway,…
October 7, 2008
There's another Salmonella multistate outbreak, this one involving 12 states and, so far, 32 cases. As with the infmaous tomator and/or pepper problem during the summer, the Minnesota Department of Public Health's laboratory has been in the lead in tracking down the source. Salmonella is killed by…
October 6, 2008
It's common knowledge John McCain has an anger management problem. That's what's at the bottom of his oft repeated refrain that he wouldn't win the Miss Congeniality prize in the US Senate. It's not that he's a maverick. It's that he's nasty and impulsive and without any instinct for comity with…
October 6, 2008
A story in CIDRAP News by the always excellent science journalist Maryn McKenna provides food for thought:. A flu vaccine manufacturer's decision not to build a US facility has highlighted the perpetual mismatch between flu-shot supply and demand--and the reality that the mismatch may undermine…
October 5, 2008
An article in The Straits Times from newswire Associated Press (AP) drew my attention to a festering disagreement between proponents of an innovative global sharing initiative for influenza information and the World Health Organization, the official UN Agency that has run the global influenza…
October 5, 2008
Mrs. R. and I are in the Big Apple this weekend. We got in late so after settling in we sauntered out for a "light" dinner. In my east coast city there are plenty of fancy restaurants, even some celebrity chefs. They're too expensive for us at home (anyway, Mrs. R. is a terrific cook) and in The…
October 4, 2008
My father was an old fashioned "physician and surgeon," something we don't have today. He did everything: delivered you, took out your appendix or tonsils, treated your parents' heart disease, your childhood diseases, your broken bones, your kids' childhood diseases, the diabetes you got later in…
October 4, 2008
I'm on record here as being very optimistic about the younger generation. Perhaps it's conceit. They remind me of us (sixties era and even before). Still, there is no shortage of older folks who are condemned to repeat history by bemonaing how the young 'uns have gone to the dogs. And the world is…
October 3, 2008
I just watched the Biden - Palin "debate." Governor Palin succeeded by not failing. Biden succeeded by not putting his foot in his mouth. The rest of us were losers. Like the Presidential debate, we learned little, and everyone will see the "winner" in terms of his or her own preferences. Probably…
October 3, 2008
I went to medical school at a time when it was still affordable. Even though it was a private Ivy League university, tuition was only $1200/yr at the start and I had a half scholarship. Room was $33/month. Still, it was a long time ago and that was still real money for some of us, so I ate dinner…
October 2, 2008
Tonight is the much anticipated Vice Presidential debate between Governor Palin and Senator Biden. As Governor Palin noted, we all know a lot about Senator Biden. He's been around a long time. He's not as old as Senator McCain but he's more experienced. Governor Palin? Not so much. Here's some of…
October 2, 2008
Scientists have been using genetic data to estimate when species first appeared for some time. The basic idea is to use differences between species and a guess as to how fast sequences change as a molecular clock, running it backward until they show the same sequence. The same trick can be done…
October 1, 2008
You may have heard of the Keating Five scandal but not know much about it. Given the size of the scandal, that's a bit curious. Maybe it's the fact that four of the five Senators were Democrats that explains why the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee have been fairly quiet about…
October 1, 2008
Yesterday we noted the intricate interconnections between the physical, biological and social environments that conspired to affect the risk that a person might become infected with West Nile Virus. The same Adjustable Rate Mortgages that are part of that public health problem are at work in the…
September 30, 2008
Many people characterized Dishonest John McCain's shenanigans around the bail-out bill a gamble that didn't pay off, but it was hardly uncharacteristic. McCain is not only a risk taker but an inveterate gambler, literally and figuratively. He is also a Big Friend of the gaming industry and a…
September 30, 2008
A fascinating paper in CDC's journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases has more details on a problem we first mentioned, on the basis of news reports, back in June. It's about a possible relationship between West Nile Virus infection and the mortgage crisis, but the paper also gives a dramatic example…
September 29, 2008
A lot of people, especially in the media, have had a hard time reconciling John McCain's past reputation as an honest reformer with his current dishonest and dishonorable campaign behavior. Now that he is in the harsh spotlight of a national campaign, dogged investigators are beginning to lift the…
September 29, 2008
A new study of foodborne illness has just been published and has made quite a bit of news. The typical headline is something like: "Animals Farmed For Meat Are The No. 1 Source Of Food Poisoning Bug, Study Shows." That makes it sound like most cases of food poisoning are from a particular bug and…
September 28, 2008
There's been a lot of talk about McCain's failure to look at Obama during Friday night's debate. Here's Chris Matthews (who is a total bonehead as far as I am concerned) speculating: In fairness to Matthews, his view was mirrored by many others. The dominant views were either it was an expression…
September 28, 2008
Mirabile dictu. This is not the place you usually read about miracles, but I have to say this one is pretty convincing. To me, anyway. These two guys were working on drywall down in Florida and suddenly this image appeared to them. They've been doing this for 30 years and never seen anything like…
September 27, 2008
So here's my problem. I think this is satire. So I think it's funny (your mileage may differ, of course). On the other hand, this could really be a conservative website. Then it's just more of the last eight years. Not so funny. Is Art imitating Life or is Life imitating Art? You decide:
September 27, 2008
The Chinese food adulteration scandal is spreading. I'm calling it a food adulteration scandal because it's not just milk any more. Products with milk derived ingredients are also suspect: Seven instant coffee and milk tea products made in China are being recalled in the U.S. because of possible…
September 26, 2008
I don't know how many of these you received yesterday, but here's one more: Dear American: I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude. I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has…
September 26, 2008
The Chinese food contamination scandal continues to widen. The European Union (EU) is now banning imports of all Chinese baby foods that contain milk. The problem is the presence of melamine, a cheap chemical used to make plastics that looks like protein in the screening assays used to see if food…
September 25, 2008
Leaving aside the absolute disingenuousness of John McCain's claim he is elevating the financial crisis to a non-partisan issue by plopping the Presidential race into the middle of the negotiations in Washington, it wouldn't seem that the whole thing needs that much thought -- at least from his…
September 25, 2008
Like a lot of other research scientists supported by NIH I got an email yesterday from NIH Director Elias Zerhouni announcing his intention to leave his position "to devote much of my attention to writing." At least it wasn't the hackneyed "to spend more time with my family." While Zerhouni won't…
September 24, 2008
By now we all know that Governor Palin, possibly a future President if things work out badly, as recently as this year didn't know what the Vice President did, probably because constitutionally Vice Presidents don't do that much. It's also been widely reported that she charged the citizens of…
September 24, 2008
We don't post much about clinical topics here, mainly because we haven't done much practice since our medical training days. I'm primarily a researcher and professor. But every once in a while I see papers on subjects that strike a nostalgic chord from those days and yesterday was one of those once…
September 23, 2008
"The fish love to be around those rigs!" He looks like somebody's crazy uncle. Except that he wants to be Uncle Sam.
September 23, 2008
I was born by Caesarian section at a time when this method of delivery was fairly rare (too long ago to even mention). The reason was placenta praevia. Both my children were C-section births, too, both for good medical reasons. My daughter has now had two C-section deliveries. These data might lead…