Eat whole grains to save your life

The March 2008 addition of Consumer Reports contains an article called "Nine Ways to a Longer Life."  There's lots of common sense advice, such as get enough sleep, exercise and don't smoke.  There is also some less-obvious good advice, including the need to eat the right kind of fat.  For instance, the…

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What’s a good way to get a superdelegate’s support?

Here in America, we get the support of superdelegates the tried and true way.   If you want a superdelegate's support, pay them money.   This sordid practice was described by Massie Ritsch, Communications Director for the Center for Responsive Politics, in an interview with Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow: MASSIE RITSCH: Well,…

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Who’s Afraid of Barack? And why?

I watched a few minutes of a Sunday morning Fox political program, and noticed that their fair and balanced coverage of presidential politics had several distinct spins. On the republican side, McCain is the anointed candidate. On the Democrat side, the race will be decided by the super-delegates. Every bit…

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Experiencing the paradox of choice at the local Schnucks grocery store.

It's difficult to overcome the prejudice that having more choices is always better.   In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz made a convincing case that too much choice can overload and paralyze us.   I couldn't help but think of the paradox of choice while grocery shopping yesterday.   One of the…

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Why hasn’t Iran emerged as a democracy?

According to this video by JustforeignPolicy.org, Iran once was a democracy. Until a foreign power crushed that democracy in 1953. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJRcOF7rEfQ[/youtube] The take-away message from this video: it doesn't have to be the way it is currently portrayed to be between Iran and the U.S. The history of relations between…

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