There was a great comic in the Honolulu Advertiser today, June 16, 2009, with the caption "The original predatory lender" with a picture of the earth with a big sign on it saying "Fine Print: failure to curb emissions in time may result in draconian climatological adjustments", and an inhabitant of the earth looking at the sign in puzzlement thinking "what the?".
A Wall Street journal article "Fortified Foods: How Healthy Are They?" published yesterday (June 16, 2009) stated the following:
Another interesting article today is that a Senate committee considers soda tax to combat obesity. The Senate Finance Committee is looking to add a tax to all sugar-filled drinks and alcohol. Opponents of this tax say sugary sodas and juices are not the main culprits in America's obesity battle, and supporters believe that the taxes could reduce consumption while offsetting some health care costs.
The Times of India published an article yesterday (June 14, 2009) promoting meat as a functional food with many health benefits and talks about how the health benefits of meat can be enhanced by better processing, i.e. by adding ingredients. Some points from the article: "Adding probiotics to fermented meat products (i.e. sausage) may lead to health benefits, although this application is still marginal.
Another interesting story today is that Wegmans (a major east coast grocery chain) is urging supermarkets and restaurants to stop selling marlin as part of the "Take Marlin Off The Menu" campaign, organized by conservation groups. The grocer stopped selling marlin in September.
My question is, what about the cows? Why is it a bad thing to eat marlin but a good thing to eat cows?
In front page news today is a story about a landmark victory over the tobacco industry. The article “Senate grants FDA power to regulate Big Tobacco”, published by the Honolulu Advertiser, tells of how the federal government will likely soon have the power to regulate the manufacturing and marketing of cigarettes, and will gain the power to stop the addition of things like “cherry” flavoring to cigarettes, and the use of marketing targeted towards young people, such as the infamous Joe Camel. Quoting from the article:
An interesting article was published yesterday (June 10, 2009) in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/health/10eating.html?_r=1&hpw. The article discusses a study conducted by Dale S. Bond, assistant professor of research at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I. Key findings were as follows:
Pamela Burns of the Hawaiian Humane Society stated in her letter to the Honolulu Advertiser editor published on June 2, 2009 “Our staff has worked closely for years…to educate about the proven link between animal cruelty that can quickly escalate to violence against people.”
Another letter to the editor about the vicious peacock bashing attributes the outcry to the “barbaric behavior” and the “viciousness” of the attack, but then paradoxically says it is ok to “go hunting legitimately with the right gun”. In other words it is ok to kill innocent animals so long as it is done quickly with the minimum amount of pain to the animal. And of course, we agree, if you are going to kill an innocent animal please do it as quickly and painlessly as possible, as causing the poor creature unnecessary pain and suffering is abominable and the result of hard heartedness.
A recent local news item that caught our attention was about a peacock in Makaha that was bashed with a baseball bat and left to die a painful death.
According to the report, a condo resident was kept awake at night by crowing peacocks in the condomium complexes grounds, she said the incessant noise drove her "cuckoo". Not being able to take it anymore she grabbed a peackok by the tail and "whacked him in the head" and then threw it away in the bushes. The peacock took an hour to die, all the while crying in pain. The police were called and the woman was charged for animal cruelty, and has made appearances in court.
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