Health

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will give $500 million over five years to the United Nations' Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (for example, see an article in the Toronto Star). In contrast, prominent evangelical James Dobson (among others) is erecting roadblocks in the path of the Global Fund because it relies on condoms rather than abstinence and faithfulness as the most pragmatic means to limit the spread of AIDS. Way to let your light shine, James! From a recent article in The Onion titled "U.S. Dedicates $64 Billion To Undermining Gates Foundation Efforts":

The Bush Administration unveiled a new $64 billion spending package Monday for a joint CIA-Pentagon program aimed at neutralizing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's global humanitarian network. "The fight against Gates will not be easy, will not be quick, and will not be without enormous cost," said Director Of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte of the new program, which calls for the creation of a new $20 billion counter-philanthropy unit aimed at punishing those countries that accept or use, directly or indirectly, any financial support from the Gates Foundation... "Our enemies want to eliminate disease in the Third World, which is exactly why we're creating a $900 million pro-AIDS campaign that makes the deadly disease available to millions of uneducated poor people," said CIA Africa specialist Alberto O'Hara, who briefed the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Monday. "We're also considering an $800 million food-interception initiative."

I love salsa...especially "Jack's Special". From an article of the same title by Karen Collins on MSNBC.com:

Salsa has become a more popular condiment than ketchup, according to some sales reports. Most say this points to Americans' growing love of hot and spicy foods and interest in ethnic foods. Salsa can also help us meet the goal of working more fruits and vegetables into a healthful and delicious diet. Salsa actually means sauce, and traditionally has referred to a very specific combination of tomatoes, onions, cilantro and spice from chili peppers... A tablespoon of a condiment, whether ketchup or salsa, cannot supply a very large amount of nutrients, no matter what the ingredients. But in larger portions, the various vegetables and fruits in salsa can supply a wide range of antioxidant vitamins, natural phytochemicals (such as lycopene in tomatoes), and the mineral potassium that is in such short supply in our diets.

From a Reuters article of the same title on MSNBC.com:

Breastfeeding's calming effects seem to be long-lasting. Years after being weaned, breastfed children cope better with stressful situations like their parents' divorce than their bottle-fed peers, researchers said on Thursday... Breast milk is full of nutrients, hormones, enzymes, growth factors and antibodies that are passed from mother to child. Research has shown breast-feeding reduces infections, respiratory illness and diarrhea in the child and cuts the risk of post-birth bleeding in the mother. In an observation study published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, Montgomery and his team studied how breast- and bottle-fed 10-year-olds coped with the stress of their parents' marital problems. The children were among 9,000 youngsters who had been monitored from birth for a major British study. Their teachers were asked to rate their anxiety level on a scale of 0 to 50. There was a higher level of stress in all the children but the breastfed youngsters coped better.

Not exactly shocking news, from an AP article of the same title by Maria Cheng:

European and international health experts say a new study makes the most convincing case yet for the benefits of children being active. They say the research may lead to new guidelines saying youngsters between ages 5 and 16 need to be active up to 1 1/2 hours a day. For some parents, that might be accomplished simply by showing their children the door... The study looked at 1,732 9-year-olds and 15-year-olds from Denmark, Estonia and Portugal. Physical activity was monitored for four consecutive days by strapping little machines to the youngsters' hips, which monitored accelerations in body movements. Despite differences among the three countries where children were monitored, the benefits of physical activity were consistent. The more active children had healthier numbers for blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin.

Via Digg, an article by Becky Barrow in the Daily Mail titled "19 minutes - how long working parents give their children":

A typical working parent spends just 19 minutes a day looking after their children, official figures revealed yesterday... The Office for National Statistics looked at nearly 4,950 people over the age of 16 in Britain to find out what they do all day... Parents who work full-time spend just 19 minutes every day "caring for [their] own children", according to ONS's "Time Use Survey", published yesterday. A further 16 minutes is spent looking after their children as a "secondary activity", but this means that they are doing something else - such as the weekly supermarket shop - at the same time...