Vitamin D and Diabetes: New evidence

It appears that vitamin D supplementation may help with pre-diabetic conditions.  See the news item from the National Library of Medicine's Medline Report.

Tales of Two Fracking States: PA and MD

I just read a ProPublica report on Pennsylvania's department of environmental protection's new rule requiring inspectors to get all violations of natural gas drilling operations approved by the head of the agency.  Implication:  this is bad for the environment.  But I'm not so sure.  If human being regulators are susceptible to corruption, isn't it better to have one central actor to blame when the stuff hits the fan?  Having a lot of manipulatable inspectors with the power of the citation is not my idea of responsible regulation.  Nevertheless, PA seems hellbent on sucking the stuff out of the bowels of the earth.

Maryland, on the other hand, is delaying, studying, etc., according to the Washington Post's article a few days ago.  Will that be any better in the end? 

Oh, we of little faith -- science is our hope.  science is our folly.  Which?

Natural gas Fracking in Pennsylvania could ruin New York's Finger Lake

Friend Mary let me know that today's New York Times Article on natural gas fracking wells and their impact on the environment is a must read for anyone who loves the still relatively pristine beauty of New York's Finger Lakes, particularly Cayuga. 
Put it together with the ProPublica report mentioned in my previous post, on what the fracking technology has done to water in Wyoming, and it's scary that, once again, we seem unable as a society to limit our use of energy and abuse of the environment.

Fracking for natural gas, or conserving at the pump?

The new fracking technology proposed by the natural gas industry promises to reduce energy costs in the near term, but at what cost to the environment?  Fracking began in the US in Wyoming, and the current action is in Pennsylvania, New York State, and even Maryland.  Here is a ProPublica article on the impact of fracking on fresh water in Wyoming.  It's long but gripping.
Meanwhile, I'm cheering the rising price of oil, due to international events and China's demand, which may lead us Americans to start conserving at the pump.  There's nothing like $4.50 a gallon to get one to start thinking about high-mileage cars.  A gas tax that would get us there-- coupled with fixed dollar relief through payroll tax holidays and social security checks -- is what I think is the only sensible long-run energy-related response to so many problems:  balance of payments, federal deficit,  national security, and global warming,
Especially if you live in New York, Maryland or Pennsylvania, and are alarmed by what's happening in the shale bed regions of those states, you can pass on the Propublica article.   People should start contacting their state legislators about this before it's permanently too late. 

ProPublica is an on-line experiment in investigative journalism that is independent and thorough.  You can subscribe to email alerts -- I do. 

Here's a great information source on Vitamin D.

My last blog, about the IOM's new recomendations, led to a comment by one Henry Lahore, who has taken upon himself to keep a "Vitamin D Wiki" site.  I checked it out.  It is a truly amazing source of info on the latest research on Vitamin D.  I don't know HL, but in his "about us" he says he's a retired engineer who seems to be doing this for fun and not money, just like I am.  I am thrilled to have found this site, as I am not nearly as disciplined and complete as he has been.  I'll register for his site, and if you're as vitamin D-obsessed as I am, you can too.  But, I'll also post interesting stuff that I find on his site here, hopefully giving him full credit for alerting me.

An Expert's Comments on IOM Vitamin D-Calcium Report

Digesting the IOM's recent report on recommendations for calcium and Vitamin D seems to be as difficult for me as absorbing Vitamin D itself.  I'm on the second read, word for word.  I'm not a trained nutrition scientist, but I  know a bias toward the null (i.e., no benefit) when I read it.  Still, it's reasoned and thorough, so I've been reluctant to comment, as I know a bias toward the positive (my own) when I feel it. 
But, here is a comment in the Newsletter of the Harvard School of Public Health put out by two leading researchers on nutrition, one of them a legendary figure in nutrition and epidemiology, Walter Willett.  It rings true to me.  Let me know what you think.

More on GE and its quality control

Friend Lupi enthusiastically supported my conclusion about GE in a previous blog.  Here's what she had to say about her own experiences:

Loved your comments on GE appliances. We will never buy another GE appliance again. We wouldn’t take one as a gift. Here are my 2 favorite stories. A year after we got our (installed in cabinet) GE microwave, the interior light went. We were also having trouble with our GE oven, so I asked the repair person to replace the light (John having been unable to figure out how.) He told me that it would be good if I could do without the light because there was no way to replace it without removing the entire unit from the wall and that would involve a service call with 2 workers. I was so steamed I wrote GE suggesting that the engineer who had designed this model be fired. No response, of course. Next the GE dishwasher. The cup dispenser wouldn’t open. Apparently, there was no fix for this other than getting a new dispenser (at a cost of about $140). No one apparently can repair anything anymore; they can just “replace components.” We replaced it twice. The next time it went, we bought a Kitchen Aid, then decided it was so ugly we installed it at work and got a Bosch. The interior of our model was designed by a moron, but it’s only had one problem, so we will keep it until it dies. It’s blessedly quiet.