Living in Cincinnati, OH, I have a lot of co-workers who are right-wingers. One thing that is common is that most of them readily mock any notion of needed to be better at conservation and looking at other options to oil.

For example, I am trying to better myself where I can in this regard and started by flourescent bulbs as bulbs burn out in my home. In addition to not having to change bulbs as often, they use less energy so, I save money on both ends. But, some mocked me for doing so. Now, you would think saving money would be appealing but, so many of us a brainwashed by talking points that we go against our own best interests.

But, there is news out today that will, hopefully, grab our attention.

I’ll share with you the words from the article in London’s Guardian newspaper:

The German-based Energy Watch Group will release its study in London today saying that global oil production peaked in 2006 - much earlier than most experts had expected. The report, which predicts that production will now fall by 7% a year, comes after oil prices set new records almost every day last week, on Friday hitting more than $90 (£44) a barrel.

“The world soon will not be able to produce all the oil it needs as demand is rising while supply is falling. This is a huge problem for the world economy,” said Hans-Josef Fell, EWG’s founder and the German MP behind the country’s successful support system for renewable energy.

The report’s author, Joerg Schindler, said its most alarming finding was the steep decline in oil production after its peak, which he says is now behind us.

The results are in contrast to projections from the International Energy Agency, which says there is little reason to worry about oil supplies at the moment.

However, the EWG study relies more on actual oil production data which, it says, are more reliable than estimates of reserves still in the ground. The group says official industry estimates put global reserves at about 1.255 gigabarrels - equivalent to 42 years’ supply at current consumption rates. But it thinks the figure is only about two thirds of that.

So, what could this mean? Well, if we’re willing to wage war over oil now, what will 10 years from now look like, if we do make some changes. Also, do you think that China and Russia, with all their energy needs, won’t be actively fighting against us for their share?

In other words, if we don’t look to other options, what we see in Iraq could be the normal course of business.

So, don’t you think we need a change?

Popularity: 59% [?]

This was a fun one. It’s a test of whether or not you’re more prone to think with your right brain or left brain.

If you see it moving clockwise, you are thinking with your right brain (creativity and feeling). If it’s counterclockwise,you’re thinking more with the left brain (logic and facts).

Now, try to make it turn the other way!

Popularity: 35% [?]

I’ve share a little bit before regarding how black people are targeting for advertising by cigarette companies.  Now, a new study has come out, validating what activists have been saying for many years — blacks are targeted by tobacco advertisers far more than whites.

If you want to get a feel for the magnitude of this disparity, consider the following:

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, causing more than 440,000 deaths annually and costing more than $150 billion in direct and indirect costs each year; African-Americans currently bear the greatest burden of this morbidity and mortality. Although exposure to pro-tobacco media messages is now known to be a potent risk factor for tobacco use, whether African-Americans are in fact exposed to more pro-tobacco advertising has been unclear until now.

“This review and meta-analysis demonstrates that African-Americans are indeed disproportionately exposed to pro-tobacco mass media messages in terms of both concentration and density,” said Brian A. Primack, M.D., Ed.M., senior author of the study and assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “These findings will help us develop interventions and further research aimed at reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”

In the study, Dr. Primack and colleagues evaluated data from both predominantly African-American and Caucasian markets using studies from peer-reviewed journals. By extracting the number of total media messages the number of tobacco-related messages, and the number of residents living in each market area, they were able to calculate the concentration and density of tobacco advertising in each market.

Concentration of tobacco advertising can be defined as the number of tobacco advertisements divided by the total number of advertisements. “According to our data, the concentration of pro-smoking signage is approximately 70 percent higher for African-Americans ,” said Dr. Primack. “Our results also showed that there are about 2.6 times as many advertisements per person in African-American areas as compared to Caucasian areas.”

We are targeted at a rate 70% higher than whites?  Look, people have a right to sell their product but, it’s very telling about who they feel comfortable targeting with products of such considerable health risks.  We need to be more mindful of this and address this issue for the sake of, at least, our children.

Popularity: 23% [?]

What kind of person would veto legislation to provide health insurance to poor children?

Oh, yeah…that would be George Bush.

To hold on to an ideology that says using the government to help people is a bad thing, Bush and Co. wanted a veto of more funding for this program.  A program that most agree actually works well.

But, not every politician is foolish enough to deny health care access to children.  After having passed the House, a similar bill has passed the Senate, approving more funding for this program.  More importantly, it passed 68-31, making it veto-proof.

The funding for this program would come from a tax on tobacco products.

It’s amazing…a man that can spend $100 billion+ a year in Iraq and Afghanistan balks at helping poor kids at home.  And, to think some people don’t think it matters who you vote for.

Popularity: 18% [?]

I’ll admit it. I really need to lose weight. I am back on the “vegetarian” bandwagon and really cutting back on fried foods, refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.

The reason, beside my personal health, is that of my son. My eating habits become his eating habits and I don’t want a kid doomed to a life and health problems associated with obesity.

I go out to eat and see no shortage of people who are severely overweight. I used to wonder why foreigners would call Americans “fat” but, when I got off my butt, stopped watching so much TV and actually saw for myself, I noticed that Americans are fat. TV doesn’t have a lot of shows with fat people as central characters so, it’s easy to fall under an illusion that this is not the issue.

But, let’s face it, we can get a day’s fat from one burger and a day’s calories from one meal so, it’s no small wonder why we’re in the shape we’re in.

Now, a report from a study performed at Johns Hopkins University should send up red flags for us all. It predicts that, by 2015, a full 75% of all adult Americans will be overweight.

As black folks, we should be especially concern because, of the following:

An alarming 80 percent of black women aged 40 or over are overweight and 50 percent are obese.

While it doesn’t specifically refer to black men, trust me, too many of us are “big-boned”, as well.

So, black folks, let work on losing that middle. Our lives may depend on it.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Is racism a public health problem? Granted, for many years, some have tried to get racism (as in being racist) categorized as a mental condition but, this time, the question is whether or not being the recipient of racist treatment puts one a risk for health ailments.

There is much controversy and dispute but, some researchers are looking into whether or not the stresses of dealing with such treatment are manifesting themselves in the form of physical ailments.

Consider the following:

The burgeoning research comes at a time when lawmakers and government officials are increasingly focused on the problem of racial disparities in health. African-Americans today, despite a half century of economic and social progress since the civil rights movement, face a higher risk than any other racial group of dying from heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and hypertension. In the United States, affluent blacks suffer, on average, more health problems than the poorest whites. Spurred by statistics like these, dozens of states and cities have been passing legislation intended to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health.

…

Critics of the new research tying racism directly to disease have charged that it is flawed because one cannot objectively measure “racial discrimination.” But the science has grown more sophisticated, allowing investigators to measure people’s experiences with prejudice more precisely. And its proponents argue that the sheer breadth of the work suggests the conclusions are important. Most of the investigations have been done in the United States, but a growing body of literature originates elsewhere — from Finland and Ireland to South Africa and New Zealand. These studies have found connections between racism and physical health in populations ranging from Brazil’s African-descended citizens to black women in the Netherlands who had immigrated from the former Dutch colony of Suriname.

“Across multiple societies, you’re finding similar kinds of relationships,” said David Williams, a sociologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. “There is a phenomenon here that is quite robust.”

For decades, experts have agreed that racial disparities in health spring from pervasive social and institutional forces. The scientific literature has linked higher rates of death and disease in American blacks to such “social determinants” as residential segregation, environmental waste, joblessness, unsafe housing, targeted marketing of alcohol and cigarettes, and other inequities.

So, are race and health tied more closely than we think? Research just might prove it so.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Researchers have discovered something that may help one day in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Scientists from from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the University of Hamburg’s Heinrich Pette Institute for Experimental Virology and Immunology have developed something called the “Tre Enzyme”. What they have been able to do is to use this enzyme to, basically, cut the HIV infection out of a cell.

However, the researchers are saying that there is still quite a way to go in terms of using this in real-world treatment. The challenge is to find a way to find a way to identify HIV more quickly because, currently, while dormant, it hides from the immune system.

Nonetheless, it is exciting news and may one day put us on the road to a real cure for this disease that threatens tens of millions worldwide.

Popularity: 31% [?]

…so might safety and oversight.

Yesterday, I and some co-workers were having lunch and someone brought up a tire recall. Apparently, to save some money, a manufacturer allowed a batch of tires go through with a high likelihood of blowing. Then, I brought up a recall of toy trains because of lead paint. Then, I brought up the tainted pet food scare in which hundreds (or was it thousands?) of pets died.

The common thread — all of these items were manufactured in China.

One of my co-workers asked, “How is this happening?” Another co-worker explained that, when companies take their manufacturing offshore, much of the oversight goes with it. So, issues of health and safety for the employees or contamination and defect-checking for consumers are not considered heavily in the manufacturing process.

Now, we find out, today, that China has shut down 180 food factories. Apparently, now that China is getting such bad press, its government is finally stepping in to do the job that it should have been doing (or, at least, our government should have been doing more of to protect people here) all along.

Just check out some of the things they found:

Formaldehyde, illegal dyes, and industrial wax were found being used to make candy, pickles, crackers and seafood, it said, citing Han Yi, an official with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, which is responsible for food safety.

So, today we are seeing that the almighty dollar is again taking precedence over good common sense. We need to stop making it so beneficial for companies to undermine our economic health and, now, physical health by taking manufacturing offshore.

Popularity: 63% [?]

You know, it’s nice to see an invention aimed at actually helping people, especially those who need it most. Around the world, people are dying based on a concern that I never have had to deal with — a lack of safe drinking water. Now, granted, I do think about this more and more, which is why I am letting my lawn die as opposed to watering it and why my car gets washed so infrequently these days. I hate wasting water when I know what a lack of it means to the health of so many globally.

I came across something the other day that I hope will change the plight of people without safe drinking water. The device is called the Life Straw and the idea is to provide an inexpensive means for the 1 billion people around the world to drink water from sources that could otherwise cause them to be infected by waterborne illnesses.

When mass-produced, the Life Straw costs a mere $3 dollars and will work for up to one year so, this is not out of the reach of world governments with the will to aid the third world.

So, in the end, a company may make billions and help people at the same time. Don’t we need more ingenuity like this in the word?

Popularity: 52% [?]

By being in the corporate workforce over the years, I have noticed that subtle racism abounds. A lot of “open-minded” people have some very interesting notions about people of color. A lot of us may have seen it as prejudice or unconscious racism but, these never quite seemed to capture the essence of the problem. Now, a study published in the American Psychologist has offered a phrase with I think articulates these views quite nicely — “racial microaggressions”.

These microaggressions, according to the study, can actually be more damaging than many acts overt racism because these microaggressions, instead of coming from adversaries, are often coming from friend, neighbors and co-workers. As a result, hurt and confusion abound.

However, beyond hurt feelings, there are more damaging results on a societal level:

The implications extend into the forensic realm. Studies of police and probation officers show that they often use racial cues to assign blame. An African American who commits a crime is likely to be seen as inherently bad or criminal, while a white person who commits a similar crime is more likely to be excused based on external factors, such as peer influence, poor parenting, or mental illness. Recommended punishments differ accordingly, resulting in greater likelihood of arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment for African Americans.

The unconscious nature of these biases helps to explain divergent rates of arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment despite a lack of conscious racist intent on the part of criminal justice professionals. (Other forces, of course, include persisting economic equalities.) Interestingly, the race of the professional is irrelevant. African American police and probation officers engage in just as much negative racial stereotyping of African Americans as do whites.

It is good to see that the questions about how subtle racism undermines society are being asked. This is a tougher issue to tackle but, if it continues unacknowledged and unchecked, we will never get to the heart of why racism continues to thrive today.

Popularity: 23% [?]