ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Why can’t skycaps be allowed to work in the ever greater distance between the security checkpoint and the departure gates?
Archive for 2011
December 3, 2011
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Rise Of The Fifth Reich? “Over at the always interesting Small Wars Journal, Tony Corn has a stimulating piece on the implications of the European crisis for world politics. He sees a clueless German policy establishment recklessly moving toward an unsustainable quest for power reminiscent in too many ways of problems Germany has had in its past. . . . This is much more exciting than the usual bland pap about European politics one reads in the US, and Corn’s analysis is deeply grounded in what serious people are thinking and writing in Paris, London and Berlin.”
HOPE AND CHANGE: Black Friday Bestseller: Guns.
Numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show an all-time one-day high for background check requests from gun buyers last Friday. There were 129,166 requests to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)–a third more than the previous record of 97,848 on Black Friday 2008, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said. On Black Friday last year, there were 87,061 requests.
The numbers, first reported in USA Today, reflect the experience of gun-sellers on the ground. “It was the biggest rush we ever had. Some of the people at the gate sent their kid running to the gun counter to get in line,” said Tom Ritzer, store manager at MC Sports in Springfield, Mo., which opened its doors at 5 a.m. on Black Friday. Gun buyers had to wait until NICS opened at 7 before they could leave with their purchases, he said.
This reflects the sort of optimism about the future that has characterized Obama’s time in office.
UNDER ASSAULT FOR LIBERAL BIAS, Politico’s Traffic Dives. Come to think of it, I think I’ve been linking them less lately. They just seem less interesting.
RUSS ROBERTS’ PODCAST: Gary Taubes on Fat, Sugar and Scientific Discovery.
I like his book.
APTERA UPDATE: Another Electric-Car Company Officially Closes Its Doors. I’m sad about that, as their car looked promising. But the market didn’t agree: “President and CEO Paul Wilbur explained in a statement that the company couldn’t find private investors to match a proposed $150 million loan from the Department of Energy. In an effort to attract that investment, the company had switched focus from that interesting three wheeler to a more conventional four-wheeled electric car.”
SO THE KINDLE FIRE REVIEWS continue to accumulate over at Amazon. The people who love it seem to see it as a Kindle-with-benefits. The people who hate it (and there are some) seem disappointed that it’s not an iPad. Well, it’s not, but it’s less than half the price.
RATS ON THE WESTSIDE, BEDBUGS UPTOWN. What my yearlong battle with Nix- and RID-resistant head lice taught me about the future of the American louse.
100 INCREDIBLE VIEWS OUT OF AIRPLANE WINDOWS.
“RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IS A DIRTY GAME:” Herman Cain suspends campaign.
UPDATE: Reader John Lunde emails: “Cain missed his chance for immortality: what he should have announced is that he’s taking a seventeen-day vacation.”
Now that sounds . . . Presidential!
PRE-CHRISTMAS MARKDOWNS ON TOOLS.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Obama Invites College Leaders to Closed-Door Meeting on Affordability.
The White House and the Education Department did not respond to questions about the meeting, which was first reported on Friday by Inside Higher Ed, an online news source.
But an official of a higher-education association, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the presidents and other leaders in attendence will include F. King Alexander, president of California State University at Long Beach; Francisco G. Cigarroa, chancellor of the University of Texas system; Jared L. Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon University; William (Brit) Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland; Holden Thorp, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Nancy L. Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York. The names of other invitees could not be learned late Friday.
The discussion will be a candid conversation about how higher education can remove barriers “to college access, affordability, and success for students,” according to a letter of invitation, from the White House to the higher-education leaders, that was obtained by The Chronicle.
The letter says the Obama administration wants to discuss ways to bring down “overall campus costs” and to make other innovations so college is more affordable for students.
More here:
President Obama has invited the presidents or chancellors of 10 colleges or state university systems to a meeting at the White House on Monday to discuss affordability and productivity in higher education. The move is highly unusual: While administration events often feature college leaders in various roles, a meeting called on such short notice, with the president himself in attendance, is rare.
Hey, maybe someone over there has been reading my stuff.
It would be smart if they invited Andy Rosen, too, but he’s from the hated for-profit sector and this — if cynicism offers a correct guide — is more about shoring up a key source of Democratic support before November of 2012.
But maybe, for once, the cynics are wrong. Anyway, for those journalists and pundits who are interested in the substance of the matter, just go here and keep scrolling.
THE KINDLE FIRE in an Age of Distraction.
THE MOST AND LEAST TAXING STATES to retire and live in.
“ARAB SPRING” UPDATE: After the hope of the Arab Spring, the chill of an Arab Winter. “One year after a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire in an act of defiance that would ignite protests and unseat long-standing dictatorships, a harsh chill is settling over the Arab world. The peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen that were supposed to bring democracy have instead given way to bloodshed and chaos, with the forces of tyranny trying to turn back the clock.”
A NEW BLOG ON HIGHER EDUCATION: Dissident Prof.
AFTER WHICH, HE LEFT ON VACATION: Obama: Congress ‘shouldn’t go home’ until tax cut is extended.
And no, I’m not really kidding about the vacation bit: Exhausted From Grueling Fundraising Trips, POTUS to Vacation for 17 Days. But to be fair, he’s not leaving for a couple of weeks.
CLIMATEGATE UPDATE: DailyTech: Climatologists Trade Tips on Destroying Evidence, Evangelizing Warming. “The emails contain outright requests for the destruction of professional communications regarding research in an effort to cover up public scrutiny of public flaws. The leaks add yet another humiliating scandal to Pennsylvania State University as they implicate prominent Penn State climatologist Michael Mann even more directly than the last release.”
You might also want to read my paper on science fraud.
IN THE MAIL: From Richard Cox, Thomas World.
BARBARISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY: “Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday pardoned an Afghan woman serving a 12-year prison sentence for having sex out of wedlock after she was raped by a relative.” Well, maybe the pardon represents progress.
On the other hand, there’s this: “Karzai’s office said in a statement that the woman and her attacker have agreed to marry. That would reverse an earlier decision by the 19-year-old woman, who had previously refused a judge’s offer of freedom if she agreed to marry the rapist.”
KEY BIT ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS: “If the the labor force participation rate were back at its January 2009 level, the U-3 rate would be 11.0 percent. As it is, the broader U-6 rate — which includes part timers who wish they were full timers — is still a sky-high 15.6 percent, down from 16.2 percent last month.”
SPENGLER: Corruption And Islamism In Egypt. “Egypt under Mubarak was a tightly-controlled kleptocracy, and Egypt since Mubarak has been an uncontrolled kleptocracy, in which public officials steal whatever isn’t tied down. Shiploads of rice, diesel fuel, and other tradables are leaving Egyptian ports for hard-currency markets, while the country–which imports half its caloric consumption–runs out of money. Mubarak’s elite has helicopters revving on their roofs. It’s no surprise Islamists swept this week’s parliamentary elections. Whom do we expect Egyptians to vote for? . . . Stripped of a thin Western veneer, what remains of Egypt is one of the world’s most backward societies, despite the veneer of sophistication that beguiled reporters who parachuted into Cairo for the Tahrir Square theatrics in February. Nearly a third of Egyptians marry cousins (because they count on their clan to protect them). And 45% are illiterate, while 90% of adult women suffered genital mutilation.”
HEALTH: It Could Be Old Age, Or It Could Be B12.
Her mother couldn’t remember the names of close relatives or what day it was. She thought she was going to work or needed to go downtown, which she never did. And she was often agitated.
A workup at a memory clinic resulted in a diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s disease, and Ms. Katz was prescribed Aricept, which Ms. Atkins said seemed to make matters worse. But the clinic also tested Ms. Katz’s blood level of vitamin B12. It was well below normal, and her doctor thought that could be contributing to her symptoms.
Weekly B12 injections were begun. “Soon afterward, she became less agitated, less confused and her memory was much better,” said Ms. Atkins. “I felt I had my mother back, and she feels a lot better, too.”
Now 87, Ms. Katz still lives alone in Manhattan and feels well enough to refuse outside assistance.
Still, her daughter wondered, “Why aren’t B12 levels checked routinely, particularly in older people?” . . . A severe B12 deficiency results in anemia, which can be picked up by an ordinary blood test. But the less dramatic symptoms of a B12 deficiency may include muscle weakness, fatigue, shakiness, unsteady gait, incontinence, low blood pressure, depression and other mood disorders, and cognitive problems like poor memory.
It’s rare for vitamin levels to be checked in general. My doctor told me he’s started checking Vitamin D levels and is astounded at how low they’re coming in.
UPDATE: Physician/reader Bernard Davidoff writes: “Measuring B12 levels in older people with memory and thought problems is completely routine.” Well, I said “in general.” But shouldn’t we be measuring levels before someone has these kinds of problems?
ANOTHER UPDATE: Another physician reader, Dr. Russell Barr, writes:
I am a physician (internal medicine and geriatrics) who treats many older patients, and orders a lot of vitamin B12 levels.
You comment about making vitamin B12 a routine screening test struck a nerve, as I have considered that as well.
The main problem is that measuring it, although common and nearly routine, is expensive. Several years ago I considered putting together a package of lab tests for wellness exams in the elderly. I was considering a thyroid stimulating hormone level(screen for low thyroid hormone levels), 25-OH vitamin D, and B12. These would be offered to geriatric patients at just a little above my cost, as Medicare does not pay for screening tests (except for limited things like mammograms and flu shots.)
The cheapest I could find for a vitamin B12 level was $75. That is the wholesale price, offered only to doctor’s offices who pay reliably. Tests billed directly to the patient (retail) were double or quadruple that price. My patient population has very few who could afford a $200 package of screening lab tests. Vitamin D is also somewhat expensive.
My compromise was to order B12 levels at just the slightest hint of symptoms, fatigue, tiredness, minimal memory lapses etc. I do perhaps 10-15 levels a month, and maybe 5-10% are low enough to treat. Another 5% are borderline and deserve to be repeated in a year or so.
And reader Charles Hill writes: “My own D.O. noticed that my Vitamin D level was low, and recommended supplements. This hadn’t been a problem for me previously, though I can’t tell whether it’s due to changing metabolism – I’m now 58 years old – or a change in summer activity level due to the ridiculous heat last July and August. I’m assuming that if I had B12 issues, he’d have told me.” Maybe, maybe not.
MORE: A reader emails:
As a patient in his 40’s I’ve experienced B12 deficiency. I’ve had multiple abdominal surgeries over the past 15 years for colon cancer (3 separate times – so OK I’m a bigtime outlier in the data). All the cancer treatment has been done with an excellent team at MD Anderson. Without them there’s no question – I would have been dead long ago. Instead I’m healthy, happy and living a quite normal life.
During the most recent surgery, the end of my small intestine was removed and I really got hit pretty hard by B12 deficiency. Came back from the hospital post op feeling pretty good. But after a week at home I could barely get out of bed. Was hit with fatigue, was disoriented and had a hard time concentrating. Worked out with my primary care doc (who’s also very good) that I’d completely used up my reserves of B12 (mostly stored in the liver) and took quite large B12 supplementation for about 3 months. I still supplement with B12 10,000-15,000 mcg/day (sublingual).
The change after supplementation was dramatic after only a couple days.
B12 wasn’t the only nutrient that I had to start supplementing. There were a couple others. But without question the B12 deficiency hit me hardest.
I’m not an MD, but have begun to seriously wonder if a large portion of what we experience as aging symptoms is more specifically malnutrition that creeps up as our diet and our ability to efficiently process/digest food deteriorates. What percentage of Alzheimer’s could be mitigated with B12 supplementation? I don’t know but fear it could be a pretty high number. The only reason I discovered B12 was the root cause of my symptoms was because it happened very fast after a major change to my GI tract. Not sure anyone’s really looking when the problem creeps up over 10 or more years in a 70-something….
Well, you’ll age regardless, alas. But it’s certainly possible to feel old before your time.