Overheard in NYC: Bite Forfeits Frozen Dessert, is Asserted
March 16, 2008
“If you bite her, you won’t get your ice cream.”
– overheard in an Emack & Bolio’s store on Amsterdam between 78th and 79th Streets
Your Brain is Not the Boss: Untrustworthy, Storytelling Neurons
March 8, 2008
. . . from a brain linked to what is “out there” by a few million fragile sensory nerve fibers, [these are] our only information channels, our lifelines to reality. They provide what is essential for life itself: an afferent excitation that maintains the conscious state, the awareness of self. Sensations are set by the encoding functions of sensory nerve endings, and by the integrating neural mechanics of the central nervous system. Afferent nerve fibers are not high-fidelity recorders, for they accentuate certain stimulus features, neglect others. The central neuron is a story-teller with regard to the nerve fibers, and it is never completely trustworthy, allowing distortions of quality and measure. . . sensation is an abstraction, not a replication of the real world.
–Vernon Mountcastle, as quoted in Eric R. Kandel’s, In Search of Memory
Enzyte male ‘enhancer’ president guilty of fraud; faces 20 years in prison, purchasers bilked out of $100 million
March 7, 2008
Could not resist this. The AP report on the trial outcome, and the Cincinnati Enquirer piece on the company’s vice-president James Teegarden Jr.’s testimony.
“So all this is a fiction?” Judge S. Arthur Spiegel asked about some of the claims.
“That’s correct, your honor,” Teegarden said.
Bizarrely enough, the Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals site is still up, though it carries a copyright date of 2006 and they are still pitching Enzyte. Look for these links to be broken soon.
Airborne supplement scam costs makers $23.3 million
March 7, 2008
I just love it when practitioners of medical fraud get nailed, details below. Here’s a link to an excellent commentary on the whole sad affair from the Respectful Insolence blog.
The makers of Airborne–a multivitamin and herbal supplement whose labels and ads falsely claimed that the product cures and prevents colds–will refund money to consumers who bought the product, as part of a $23.3 million class action settlement agreement. The company will pay for ads in Better Homes & Gardens, Parade, People, Newsweek, and many other magazines and newspapers instructing consumers how to get refunds.
Concocted by second-grade teacher Victoria Knight McDowell and her screenwriter husband Thomas Rider McDowell, Airborne promised to “boost your immune system to help your body combat germs” and instructed users to “take it at the first sign of a cold symptom or before entering crowded, potentially germ-infested environments.” The company’s folksy “created by a school teacher!” slogan and insistence that the product be stocked with real cold, cough, and flu medicines instead of with dietary supplements, helped turn the company into an overnight success, as did an appearance by Victoria Knight McDowell on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Science is Beautiful – Mars Ice Crater
March 7, 2008
I’m a huge fan of science and technology, the only two things that have consistently improved the quality of life for everyone on our pale, blue dot.
Some find refuge in religion or New Age beliefs, complimentary and alternative medicine or fantasies of being abducted by aliens with an bizarre interest in human genitalia. But when they have a toothache they go to a modern dentist, not a Reiki healer or an aromatherapist. Even if someone swears by acupuncture and believes that being practiced for two thousand years lends it some credibility, no one I know is willing to go back to the dental practices of 2,000 years ago.
Here’s a question to ponder: MDs, Ph.Ds, astronomers, chemists, economists, physicists and academic researchers are well represented among the ranks of those who have won Nobel Prizes in their fields. Why hasn’t an acupuncturist or a naturopath or a homeopathic doctor or an herbalist ever won a Nobel Prize for their ‘contributions’ to science or medicine?
A friend who is heavily into astrology and a therapist I know who does alleged “past life regressions” both claim my skeptic, science-oriented world view devalues the mystery and beauty of life. Nonsense. There is real mystery and beauty enough in the universe without having to resort to the manufactured mysteries of frauds, con artists and miracle-mongers.
In support of this I present the following: a link to a stunning image of an ice crater on the north pole of Mars, from the the website of the University of Virginia Department of Astronomy.
I submit this is beautiful and mysterious and only science and technology could bring this view to us.
Bob Dylan – “Tangled Up in Blue” Rolling Thunder Revue 1975
February 13, 2008
It was 1966 when I first discovered Bob Dylan and for me, like so many others, his songs became the musical backdrop of my formative years. Of all the talents to come up through folk and rock in the 1960s, his work is the most likely to endure into the far future, in my opinion.
It’s impossible for me to select a single song in his vast catalog as my favorite but Tangled Up in Blue stands apart for me. That’s because I lived through many of the scenes referenced in the lyrics, after a fashion. Tangled Up in Blue is, for me, the most personal of all his great tunes for that reason.
This live version from his Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975 shifts the perspective from first person to third yet it remains one of the best renditions primarily because it is stripped down to simply Dylan, acoustic guitar and harmonica.
Tangled Up in Blue YouTube video
Note: Please ignore the comments section on this video. This applies to almost all comments and replies that have become one defining feature of Web 2.0. As the Arabic proverb goes, “The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.”
In Search of Memory by Eric R. Kandel
February 5, 2008
I’ve been fascinated by memory since, oh, I can’t remember when. One of the best books on the subject I’ve ever read was Daniel Schacter’s Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the Past from 1997. I would still recommend that book as a great place to start exploring this field. The sad truth is that the primary way in which researchers learn about memory is by studying people who for various reasons have memory deficits. Their personal stories can be heartbreaking, aside from the scientific information we can glean from their tragic situations.
Now, a decade later there’s another phenomenal book that deals with the discovery of the molecular basis for memory by Eric Kandel, In Search of Memory. Everything that make you, YOU is tied into memory: personality, emotions, skills, our likes and dislikes. Without that continuous chain of memory that stretches back to our infancy how could we know who we are, what we are capable of?
And don’t be afraid that this is one dense slog through a lot of mind-numbing statistics, experiments and discoveries. Kandel’s book is filled with hot sex, Hollywood orgies, porn stars, suburban exhibitionism and perverse, though intriguing, variations on intercourse.
OK, that last part I made up.
But don’t let the lack of sensationalism deter you. This is essential reading if you want to know how your mind works.
Kandel, who received the Nobel Prize in 2000, traces advances in understanding learning and memory. His own groundbreaking findings showed that learning produces changes in behavior by modifying the strength of connections between nerve cells. He conveys his immense grasp of the science beautifully, but it is his personal recollections that make the book especially compelling. He begins with his searing childhood memories of the German annexation of Austria and his family’s escape to the U.S. when he was nine. And he ends with a conference he organized in Vienna to examine the strange reluctance of Austria (unlike Germany) to acknowledge its role in the Holocaust. One comes away in awe of the scientific advances—and of a life well and fully lived.
–from Scientific American
NASA beams Beatles’ “Across the Universe” to aliens
February 4, 2008
Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing meJai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
John Lennon’s Across the Universe is being sent out towards Polaris, the North Star and you can watch this happen live and pretend you’re excited! Actually, I think this is one John would’ve enjoyed.
Note: Please forgive us for posting an article that uses the words “harmonic convergence” without irony.
LONDON (Reuters) Mon Feb 4, 2008 3:28pm GMT – An intergalactic celebration of The Beatles is launched on Monday with the beaming of their peace anthem “Across the Universe” into outer space.
The man behind the idea, which marks the 40th anniversary of the recording of the song in 1968, is an avid Beatles fan who has persuaded U.S. space agency NASA to kick off the party and now hopes to convert alien life forms to The Beatles.
“At the moment we are sending up Morse code as a way of contacting aliens,” Martin Lewis told BBC radio. “Maybe we should send them something a little more cheery.”
If all goes according to plan, NASA will transmit the Beatles tune via its deep space network at Midnight British time.
At exactly the same time, fans across the world are being asked to play “Across The Universe” in a bid to “create a harmonic convergence” around planet earth and throughout the universe.
According to a statement from NASA, the transmission will be aimed at the North Star, Polaris, which is 431 light years away from earth. The song will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second.
Former Beatle Paul McCartney, who beamed his first intergalactic concert to the International Space Station in 2005, congratulated NASA and asked them to pass on his regards to anyone else out there.
“Amazing! Well done, NASA!” he said in a statement released by the space agency. “Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul.”
Fans can watch the event online via the Web site www.acrosstheuniverseday.com.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland. Editing by Paul Casciato)
Premium Blend Weblog – Terms of Use
December 15, 2007
All images, videos, audio clips or other media presented on this site to illustrate posts are copyrighted by their respective owners.
Removal of comments is at our sole discretion.If you wish to contribute “comments” (meaning any content whatsoever contributed by a visitor to this site, www.premiumblend.net) you must abide by and accept the following conditions.
If you don’t want your comments to be used in this way, don’t post it.
Once you have made a comment, you can’t withdraw or retract your licence and consents. We reserve the right to amend these Terms of Use at anytime and without notification. We will remove comments that breach the wording or spirit of these terms of use without notice. We may also ban users who breach these terms of use, and delete their postings.
All images that appear on the site are copyright their respective owners and Premium Blend claims no credit for them unless otherwise noted.
Don’t make comments that:
- contain racist, sexist or homophobic comments;
- harass or ‘stalk’ any person;
- contain defamatory statements or personal attacks on others;
- contain personal details or private information about any other person;
- are made under another person’s name or impersonating another person;
- contain commercial advertising;
- contain excessively coarse language or content;
- breach any intellectual property rights law or discuss how to commit illegal activity.
You give us a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide licence to reproduce, communicate, re-publish, edit, adapt or otherwise use your comments as we see fit. You also give us a licence to deal with the comments as necessary to perform technical and administrative functions in running this forum.
We are not responsible to you or anyone else for any loss, damage, liability, cost or expense suffered in connection with the use of the Premium Blend web site or any of its content. We make no warranties or representations about this online content and exclude any liability which may arise as a result of the use of this content.
We will never be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, or loss of business profits or revenue arising out of the use of Premium Blend web site.
You indemnify Premium Blend against each claim, action, proceeding, judgment, damage, loss, expense or liability incurred or suffered by, or brought, made or recovered against us in connection with any breach by you of these terms of use.