Archive for 2019
December 24, 2019
HMM: Taking certain vitamins during breast cancer chemo tied to recurrence, death.
Use of dietary supplements that boost levels of antioxidants, iron, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids appeared to lower the effectiveness of chemotherapy, researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
“From this study and others in the literature, it seems that it may not be wise to take supplements during chemotherapy,” said Christine Ambrosone, chair of cancer prevention and control, and senior vice president for population sciences at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York.
“It’s thought that antioxidants might interfere with the ability of chemotherapy to kill cancer cells,” Ambrosone explained. “One way chemotherapy works is by generating lots of oxidative stress. The thinking is that antioxidants may block oxidative stress and make chemotherapy less effective.”
Doctors have been advising patients for a number of years not to take antioxidants during chemotherapy, Ambrosone said. “But there was no strong empirical data for that recommendation,” she added.
Seems plausible. And as P.D. Mangan points out, cancers like iron.
MIKE KERRIGAN: On Christmas Eve, some assembly (and counseling) required.
ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: How KFC became a Christmas tradition in Japan.
JAMES LILEKS ON CHRISTMASTIME, THEN AND NOW:
Anyway! That was but one aspect of the Holiday Season, which has been compacted and generally lovely. I did some shopping — everything was mad, daft, jammed, compacted, but generally merry. At Patina, a boutique store that caters to the well-educated wine-mom demographic, there was so much of this:
I mean, this is a really nice store full of delightful merchandise you won’t find in big-box places. Everything’s eclectic. But hand-in-hand with this upscale vibe is the most tiresome, off-putting, anti-social meanness of spirit and language. The target market thinks they’re clever and special and, you know, spirited! They don’t suffer fools! I also suspect they regard themselves highly for holding the Proper Opinions on Things.
Oh you swore. You must really be interesting.
The look on their faces if you said these things to their five-year-olds – you know, the kids they brought to the store — would be priceless.
Read on for a look at Christmas seasons of the past, where they did things a bit more elegantly.
ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: The WaPo publishes a piece titled “How Star Wars reinforces our prejudices.”
All fantasy worlds draw from reality, and the Star Wars universe is no exception. As fans flock to theaters to see “The Rise of Skywalker” this holiday week, most of their minds will be on the grand visuals, enduring characters and exciting storytelling, and not on how the films reflect our culture — including its prejudices. But if we take a moment to think about it, George Lucas’s galaxy is, and has always been, far, far away from being an original or an inclusive creation.
Star Wars is shot with “Orientalizing” stereotypes — patronizing tropes that represent an imagined East, or the Orient, as inferior to the rational, heroic West. Think, for example, of the uniformed conformity of the evil Empire vs. the scrappy (American) individualism of the rebel heroes, the vague Eastern mysticism of the Force and its Shaolin-cum-Samurai practitioners, and the uncomfortable racial stereotypes embodied in the hookah-smoking Jabba and the miserly Watto.
In 1977, just two years after the Vietnam War concluded, Marin Marxist George Lucas got all of America to warmly embrace a film whose subtext was that America was the evil empire, defeated by the rebel good guys, who were modeled on the communist North Vietnamese. 42 years later, the Washington Post red-lines the woke meter, by publishing an article written by a Stanford student, who makes Star Wars sound like the second coming of Amos and Andy or the Charlie Chan movies. Shades of when the New York Times published an article penned by two students at Columbia College equipped with Bletchley Park levels of grievance detection, who somehow managed to found anti-Semitism everywhere…in Michael Keaton’s 1992 movie, Batman Returns.
IN THE MAIL: The Bourbon Bible.
WILL SANTA RUN FOR GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, OR CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER? Pictures Of Santa Coming Down The Chimney In Blackface Surface.
From the Babylon Bee, America’s Newspaper of Record.
APPARENTLY, IT’S NOT OKAY TO BE WHITE CAKE:
It’s sinful.
THE BENEFITS OF BURISMA? Hunter Biden owns massive home in swanky Hollywood Hills, court docs reveal.
WORST. PUTIN. STOOGE. EVER: CNN Claims Trump Opposes Russia Sanctions—as He Signs New Sanctions Into Law
#JOURNALISM: MSNBC Guest: Cadets Using OK Sign Must Be Taught It’s Not OK. Okay, dumbass.
Related (From Ed): MSNBC Guest: Interviewing White Working-Class Voters Is Racist.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Hung by the Chimney With Care Edition. “I’m going for something a little more lighthearted today and tomorrow (yes, there will be a Christmas Day briefing). Just because I have to read the news all day doesn’t mean everyone has to be miserable.”
SUPERSONIC SLEIGH: Santa Claus visits the South Carolina Air National Guard.
FEAR OF A DARK AMERICA. SOUNDS RACIST TO ME. Liberal Media Scream: NBC’s Chuck Todd sees a ‘dark’ America.
CHANGE: China will lower import tariffs on over 850 products from January 1, finance ministry says. “The finance ministry said the tariff rate for frozen pork will be cut to 8% from the most-favored-nation duty of 12%, as China copes to plug a huge supply gap after a severe pig disease decimated its hog herd.”
Quoth Don Surber: “Red China is hungry.”
DISPATCHES FROM THE TERF WARS: The Revolution Comes for JK Rowling.
(Classical reference in headline.)
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS: Hypocritical Schumer Fought Against More Evidence And Trial For Clinton Impeachment.
PREDICTION: NO ONE WILL THROW A SHOE AT XI, AND IF THEY DID THE WORLD PRESS WOULDN’T APPLAUD: China’s vanishing mosques – BBC News.