Are the environmentalists helping to burn down the forests?

The new chairwoman of the Western Governors Association said Tuesday that some environmentalists have opposed forest management programs that might have prevented wildfires like those burning thousands of acres in Arizona and Colorado.

"The environment needs to be taken care of," she said. "When I see people running from their homes going to a shelter and now being there, some of them, over a week, I call this environmental terrorism and it's a terrorism that we have not managed the forest well enough.

Asked later if she meant environmental activists had contributed to the current wildfire threat in the West, Martz said their appeals had delayed action on forest cleanup programs.

Even the liberals in the Senate agree that the court decision handed down in California banning the Pledge of Allegiance was ridiculous.

The 99-0 vote, with Sen. Jesse Helms, absent, came less than four hours after the court ruled that the use of the words "under God" violates the Constitution's clause barring establishment of religion.

Check out this headline and the article...Arabs 'addicted to illusions,' says ex-Libyan leader
Former prime minister offers radical prescription for Mideast reform

Might go along way to explain Sept. 11th and Bin Laden.

Bush made some positive remarks about the Isralie-Palestinian conflict by demanding that Arfat leaves office. Finally the terrorist will be forced out of office.

YASSER ARAFAT’S name never crossed Mr Bush’s lips during his speech in the White House Rose Garden. But there was no mistaking his meaning. Peace, he said requires “a different Palestinian leadership”. He then called on Palestinians to “elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror.” Only then would there be a way to achieve his “vision”: “two states, living side by side in peace and security”.

Best news I have read lately as the SEC annouced it will throw CEO's in jail if there are inaccuracies in their financial reporting.

Harvey Pitt, SEC chairman, said the commission was writing to the 1,000 largest US companies by revenue, asking their chief executives and chief financial officers to certify the accuracy of their filed financial statements.

The "Pickle Jar" time management strategy...

World Com goes timber after announcing some fraudulent reporting. Really what is $3.8 Billion of operating expenses but a drop in the bucket. How many more slim shady companies will we hear about.

"The group said late on Tuesday it would have to restate its 2001 and first quarter 2002 financial statements, after an internal audit revealed that some $3.8bn of operating expenses were improperly recorded as capital spending, boosting cash flow and margins."

Take the World's smallest political quiz to find your political identity.

A powerful article on the strife of Mexican workers in the US both legal and illegal.

While it may be slow in coming, the prospects for reform are better than they’ve been in recent memory. Bush seems to understand and embrace the simple idea that Mexicans deserve economic opportunity -- in the sense of freedom to engage in voluntary, productive exchange -- as much as anyone born north of the Rio Grande. As White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said at a press conference last summer, "There are people who are already in this country, contributing to the American economy, even though they may not be legal, and they are paying taxes. As a result of their labor and their efforts, Americans are able to enjoy many aspects of life....The president wants to make certain that if there is a willing employer who needs a willing worker, we have immigration policies that respect that arrangement."

A nice reflection on the mastery of Ansel Adams, who would be celebrating his 100th birthday, by the Atlantic Monthly.

< i>He was a balding, bearded, crooked-nosed man, self-taught, energetic, excited by ideas, a great ham and mimic and comedian. At his piano he was an entertainer in the style of Victor Borge, playing chords with an orange or, if no fruit was handy, with his rear end. By day, in the darkroom, he was an ascetic. In the evening, after happy hour, he turned sybarite. This oscillating regimen had left him with a paunch and had compromised his health, delicate since childhood. In the history of his art Adams was an unprecedented combination of technical virtuosity and inspired eye. He had trained to be a concert pianist, and his approach to photography—his perfectionism, his mastery of tonal scales, the operatic feeling in his grander images—was essentially musical. Adams took photography into a big, moody, exhilarating, Wagnerian country of inky peaks and dazzling snowfields, where no one had climbed before.

The negative effects of supersizing are discussed in this msn piece.

Check out this new website for some great diet articles by John Berardi

(Via Starner)

Tuna and chicken diet creates 'supermouse'

Vermin control officers in Birmingham say they are struggling to control rodents they have dubbed "supermice."

Rentokil workers in the city say a high protein diet of tuna and chicken has turned the mice into the craftiest in the country.

Spokesman Paul Bodfish says the mice ignore poisoned food and avoid walls where traps are hidden by running across the middle of floors.

He says the company is hoping to invent different types of non-carbohydrate based poisons to try and repress the rodents.

Mr Bodfish added: "The situation hasn't got out of hand yet but it is definitely a problem which is being exacerbated by mild winters which are decreasing mouse mortality rates."

He told the Birmingham Post: "It is a misconception that mice are becoming immune to poisons but some years ago we discovered in Birmingham that they were reluctant to eat cereal based poisons.

"This reluctance to digest carbohydrates has been passed on through the generations and instead they have evolved to eat high protein foods like tuna and chicken.

"The rise in the number of take-away outlets, discarded scraps of food and recently mild winters means that we have created the ideal environment for our mice to thrive."

No updates....sorry need sleep. Also I have been slow on emails and will hopefully answer them all shortly. There is just too much going on in the summer...no doubt.

What a weekend!!! My brother was here and we did it up to the fullest extent. Everyday was bananas...might have been my best weekend in Chi yet. It was nice to see you little bro...

Hilarious story about Liz Hurley forcing Steve Bing to father her child...ah her being hot had nothing at all to do with it...yeah, right..(via Libertarian Samizdata)

Rickey Williams ran into some trouble in Miami where he got taken to jail, was it because he was DWB? (via Dan Lewis)
One Dolphin who requested anonymity said that many black Miami players get rid of expensive cars because they get pulled over so often. Former safety Louis Oliver, for example, sold his Porsche because he was getting pulled over weekly.

Funny story on Bush adding Germany to the "axis of evil" after Friday's World Cup game.

From John Beradadi's latest article on diet...

Coffee Drinkers Beware!

While there were several interesting topics presented, including a lecture given by a MD/PhD and research superstar Wim Saris who confirmed all of my incessant ramblings about the value of protein and amino acids with glucose and maltodextrin in a post-workout drink, the topic I found most interesting was the research presented on caffeine/coffee and insulin sensitivity.

For a while now I've been cautioning my clients and T-mag readers about the ill effects caffeine and typical thermogenic agents have on insulin sensitivity. Well, at the University of Guelph they've been investigating this issue intensively and here's what they found:

1) Caffeine intake (in all of its forms) decreases whole body glucose disposal (carbohydrate uptake) by 15-30%.

2) Caffeine intake decreases skeletal muscle glucose disposal by 50%.

3) When consumed with a standard carbohydrate breakfast, caffeine decreases insulin sensitivity, leading to large increases in blood insulin. But even in the face of this insulin surge, blood glucose doesn't disappear at a normal rate. When the body can't take up carbohydrates properly (as when drinking coffee), it releases loads of insulin to help out. However, the coffee actually prevents the insulin from doing this job and you end up with high insulin and glucose. That, my friends, is the serum profile of the obese, type II diabetic.

4) Caffeine decreases insulin sensitivity for at least three hours (this is the duration of the longest study they've performed), but the true duration of the effect isn't known. I speculate that it's at least five hours, the half life of caffeine.

In this case, many people are probably walking around all day with impaired insulin sensitivity. If you're a coffee drinker you should realize that you're living your life like a diabetic except during the times that it could actually be diagnosed. When you go to the doc to see why you're so fat or you feel like crap (if you have any glucose or insulin tolerance problems), what do you have to do? You have to fast overnight and avoid coffee! So 99% of your waking life you're functionally diabetic and that 1% of the time when it really matters and can be diagnosed, you're not. No wonder experts suggest that 50% of North Americans are diabetics who aren't diagnosed as such.

5) In one study, four groups were used to evaluate the effect of caffeine and glycemic index on insulin sensitivity.

• The first group got decaf and a low-GI breakfast. They saw a normal blood glucose and insulin response.

• The second group got decaf and a high-GI breakfast. They saw a bigger insulin and glucose response in the blood.

• However, when the low GI group got regular coffee with breakfast, their blood profile was worse than that of those who got the high-glycemic breakfast and decaf. Therefore coffee/caffeine can turn a low glycemic meal into a high glycemic meal!

• Finally, the group that drank coffee and had the high-glycemic meal ended up looking like diabetics.

6) One interesting hypothesis generated at the seminar was as follows: In terms of insulin sensitivity, caffeine alone is worse than coffee and obviously (as seen above) coffee is worse than nothing. However, some people believe that certain substances in coffee (specific quinides) can actually increase glucose disposal and improve insulin sensitivity. While the quinide content of coffee isn't strong enough to counter the effects of the caffeine, the quinides in decaf coffee may actually increase glucose and insulin tolerance. This hypothesis still needs to be tested and proper doses have yet to be discussed; however, keep your eyes out for this research in the near future.

So the final word on coffee and caffeine is this — stay the heck away from it! The only way to minimize the damage it causes may be to drink your coffee with a very low carbohydrate meal and eat only low carb meals for the next few hours after your coffee intake. I know, I know, it now sucks to be a coffee drinker! But giving up your java may bring you some great health and physique benefits.

Here is a quick history of audiogalaxy and its rise and fall at the hands of the RIAA. If you ever used audiogalaxy or are intrigued by the current state of downloading music on the net, this is a must reader.

The best part about Audiogalaxy, though, was the community. As I've also heard other people mention, you really could find an amazing array of music on the satellite. I was exposed to incredible amounts of wonderful, independent music that I never would have heard of otherwise. It was unparalleled at providing rare and live music. There was almost never something I could not find. I bought a ridiculous number of CDs while I worked there, because I found out about music that I wouldn't have otherwise.

RIP

Keeping with the theme of the last two responses, President Bush has declared a "war on fat". Mr. President even drops some bench numbers....developing hot...




'I insist,' said Bush of his own staff, 'that they take time off, out of their daily grind, to get some exercise'.
At 55, he can bench-press five repetitions of 185lb and run a six-and-three-quarter-minute-mile for three miles

Another reader writes in with what plagues most people that workout and fail to see results...

Thought I would write this because I am sick of people who lift but never get bigger because they eat like shit telling me that I am big, strong, and ripped mainly because of genetics, neglecting the hours I put in the gym and meticulous diet that I follow down to the calorie.

Charles Staley recently wrote an article on the 10 wrong things that people do during workouts (email Champology@hotmail.com if you would like to receive a copy). I like the article, but I thought it skipped what I feel is the most important aspect of weight training that people most neglect-- diet.

Most weight lifters train well but eat terribly, which many consider more important than the workout itself. If you get a notebook and just for day, write out every meal that you eat and break down protein/fat/carbs/calories, I think you will be shocked. I have dealt with easily over a hundred people who have asked me for advice when lifting or even worked out with me. I would have to say about 5 out of every hundred actually eat properly for maximum gains. I know of many people who lift ferociously, and eat less than 2000 calories a day. 2000 calories is what the FDA deems as amount eaten by the average man. So, some "hardcore" lifters are eating less than the average man, the average man who is a 20 percent body fat, can't bench press his own weight chump who sits at a desk all day waiting for the clock to strike 5 so he can go home and eat dinner in time to watch a new episode of Friends before he goes to sleep with his 175 pound wife.

With this in mind, next time you write yourself a workout so you can walk around with your shirt off in the summer and not get laughed at, first grab a sheet of paper and figure out how you can eat at least 3000 GOOD calories a day.

Another reader responds to the Southwest article from earlier in the week. He is known as a comic book character by some and comes from the land of the Oak (ARH-NOLD)...enjoy

I find this matter intriguing and must weigh in. From a practical
standpoint, the guest chairs located in front of a travel agent's desk ought
to be the standard airline seat. If the customer cannot fit into the seat
while having the arm rests in the down position, they will be charged the
obese fare. Simple. Many people, the most vocal in fact, who are protesting
this new "rule" are either (a) fat themselves; or, (b) do not fly much.
First, let me address the later. If you do not fly much, you have no idea
how uncomfortable it is to be stuck next to a gelatinous fat person for any
flight of significant duration. They constantly sweat and smell bad. When it
comes time for them to move over to accomodate their seat-mates repetitive
trips to the restroom, they huff and wheez their way out of their seats and
over into the narrow isles where flight attendents are already battling for
as much space as possible to serve the fat people their peanuts and
Pepperidge Farm cookies. Secondly, fat people do not see their enormity as
being a problem for the rest of us, when in fact it is. Fat people cannot
understand that for us to rub thighs with them , or to see them inhale pecan
pie, donuts and peanut brittle is revolting. Fat people are selfish human
being cannot understand the price of their glutony, weak will-power and easy
temptation to eat is constantly being paid by the rest of us! We pay for
their weak self-policing habits by having to be uncomfortable on flights,
trains, buses, etc. The moral of my rant is that its time to shift the
burden of glutony back on the glutons. If people elect to eat and become a
certain way that infringes on the "rights" (and I will make the argument
that comfort is a basic "right") of others, they ought to be prepared to
bare the burden of some sort of reprimand.