News you can use?

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

In an explosive decision, the court concluded that basing school admissions on a classic test of Judaism — whether one’s mother is Jewish — was by definition discriminatory.…

The case rested on whether the school’s test of Jewishness was based on religion, which would be legal, or on race or ethnicity, which would not. The court ruled that it was an ethnic test because it concerned the status of M’s mother rather than whether M considered himself Jewish and practiced Judaism.

Who Is a Jew? Court Ruling in Britain Raises Question
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/world/europe/08britain.html

[Bloo Pynt]

So little does observance matter, in fact, that “having a ham sandwich on the afternoon of Yom Kippur doesn’t make you less Jewish,” Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet, chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue, said recently.

Might as well have a milk shake with that.

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

Your body is probably home to a chemical called bisphenol A, or BPA. It’s a synthetic estrogen that United States factories now use in everything from plastics to epoxies….

More than 92 percent of Americans have BPA in their urine, and scientists have linked it — though not conclusively — to everything from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike.

Now it turns out it’s in our food....

Something Scary in the Pantry
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08kristof.html

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

Here are the widely sold Rubbermaid food and beverage container lines that do -- and do not -- contain BPA:
http://www.rubbermaid.com/Pages/LearnAboutBPA.aspx#bpa

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

“If an adult suddenly collapses, call 911, then push hard and fast in the center of the chest until help arrives. It’s called hands-only CPR. It’s easy and effective. Hands can do incredible things. But nothing compares to using them to help save a life.”

--a new commercial for the American Heart Association

Hands-Only CPR: Try It -- It’s Effective
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/media/09adnews.html

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

A new study suggests that regular consumption of skim milk with flavonoid-rich cocoa may reduce inflammation, potentially slowing or preventing development of atherosclerosis. Researchers noted, however, that the effect was not as pronounced as that seen with red wine.

Vital Signs
Nutrition: Chocolate Milk May Reduce Inflammation
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/research/10nutr.html


***

Don't go wild, though.  Such beverages come with heavy doses of added sweeteners (and their attendant calories, not to mention their tendency to deaden the tastebuds to the lower-wattage natural sweetness of such things as fruits).

And some chocolate milks aren't made with nonfat milk, but with high fat whole milk,  reduced-fat milk or lowfat milk.

[Bloo Pynt]

Would 1% organic milk with Hershey's Lite syrup fit the bill?

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

It might, I guess.  I don't know if it would be superior to commercial chocolate milk made with skim milk, though.

The flavonoids inhabit the cocoa powder, so I suppose you would need to know how much cocoa powder might be in Hershey's lite syrup as compared to whatever is used in the commercial chocolate milks.  I don't know how you would get information like that.

Just don't try mixing plain cocoa powder into cold milk.  It won't work.  The cocoa won't dissolve.

Eating a small amount of dark chocolate might deliver a similar amount of flavonoids, I would think.  Look for the bars with the high percentage numbers on them -- and eat a square or two a day -- not the whole bar (too much fat and calories).

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

The Westboro Baptist Church is now going after Jews:

Anti-gay church sets its sights on Jews
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-11-13-westboro-gay-jewish_N.htm


Some of their websites:

http://www.jewskilledjesus.com/

http://www.godhatesfags.com/

http://www.godhatesamerica.com/

http://www.godhatestheworld.com/

http://www.beastobama.com/

http://www.americaisdoomed.com/

[Bloo Pynt]

NASA says the world won't end in 2012. (Anyone want to buy a brand-new white robe?)

http://www.vimeo.com/7463829

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

Saturday night in the big city:

Stabbing | 1342 Findlay Ave Bronx, NY | 11/22/2009 6:00 a.m.

Large Fight | Marcy Av & S3 St Brooklyn, NY | 11/22/2009 4:45 a.m.

Shooting | 41-21 National Street Queens, NY | 11/22/2009 4:44 a.m.

Shots Fired | East 235 Street @ White Plains Road Bronx, NY | 11/22/2009 3:49 a.m.

Stabbing | East 153 Street @ Melrose Ave Bronx, NY | 11/22/2009 3:42 a.m.

Shooting | 3009 Kingsbridge Ave Bronx, NY | 11/22/2009 2:51 a.m.

Male Shot | Lexington Av & E117 St Manhattan, NY | 11/22/2009 2:48 a.m.

Multiple People Stabbed | 126 Street @ 20th Ave Queens, NY | 11/22/2009 1:45 a.m.

Stabbing | Cypress Ave @ Linden St Queens, NY | 11/22/2009 1:27 a.m.

Police Involved Shooting | Beach 32 Street @ Beach Channel Drive Queens, NY | 11/22/2009 12:00 a.m.

Armed Robbery | 308 W94st & Westend Ave Manhattan, NY | 11/21/2009 11:10 p.m.

Shooting | E 183st & Morris Ave Bronx, NY | 11/21/2009 10:35 p.m.

Shots Fired At Police | 737 Rosedale Ave Bronx, NY | 11/21/2009 9:26 p.m.

(Data from the Gothamist Newsmap)
http://gothamist.com/map/

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

...spending a few hours at a food pantry or soup kitchen helping people apply for food stamps will do a lot more to end hunger than months serving soup or moving cans around.

--Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger

Warm Intentions, Meet Cold Reality
Seeking the satisfaction of doing good, and discovering that feeding the hungry is not as simple as it might at first appear.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/nyregion/22critic.html

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

At this point, it costs more to produce pennies than they are worth. Because pennies are such a losing proposition, the United States Mint has been producing fewer and fewer in recent years.

"…there are 298.7 billion in circulation…."


The Count
When a Coin Doesn’t Pull Its Own Weight
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/business/22count.html


***


The government should wave its magic wand and henceforth value all existing pennies as dollar coins (and, when minting pennies in the future, so denominate them).

That would be a stimulus package.

They're small enough and light enough to carry, even in quantity (unlike the failed Sacagawea, Susan B. Anthony and Eisenhower dollars), and they're easily distinguished from, and never confused with, other coins.

Canada, of course, due to its similar pennies, would need to make a similar move simultaneously.  (They could put loons on the new ones, if they liked, since they're so fond of their "loonies.")

And the short-lived (paper) dollar bills could finally be phased out.

[23 yrs in Inwood (aka 18, etc.)]

Sewers at Capacity, Waste Poisons Waterways
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/us/23sewer.html



***


Ick and eww..

[Bloo Pynt]

I believe I've mentioned before how I once saw raw sewage spewing into the ship canal from a pipe on the northern side of the peninsula in Inwood Park, opposite the Marble Hill station and the Columbia "C."