Over One Billion Flu Deaths This Year???

Wow - this won't affect lineups for the flu shot at all...

A Russian Expert is saying an influenza epidemic may kill over 1 BILLION - that's with a 'B', within the next 6 months.

Valid scientific protocol? Or a media outlet running wide eyed and crazy at the prospect of scaring the bejeezus out of everyone?

I guess we'll find out 8 months from now, huh?

The "War on Fat."

I have to admit, I'm getting a little sick and tired of hearing about the "War on Fat." How obesity is rising, how it's becoming a pandemic, blah blah blah.

For the record, I'm 6'4" and about 220 lbs. That puts my BMI at around 27 - which according to the US National Institute of Health categorizes me as "Overweight." For my height, to be categorized as "Normal" I should be anywhere from 152 pounds to 204.9 lbs.

I'm 6'4" tall - can you imagine what I'd look like at 152 pounds? But apparently, that's "Normal" weight.

So today, I see another article about how obesity is costing us tons of money in the healthcare system.

What I find particularly galling is the statement "From 1987 to 2001, medical bills for obese people constituted 27 percent of the growth in health care spending."

Why do I find this galling? Because the definition of obesity was changed in 1998! On June 17, 1998, the NIH changed the obesity standard to the now used BMI rating. This new measure meant an additional 29 million Americans went to bed at a "normal" weight on the 16th, and woke up on the 17th "obese."

What's really quite amusing is the follow up quote in the Washington Post in 1998 - Under the new guidelines, 97 million adults – nearly 55 percent of the U.S. population – would be considered overweight, placing them at increased risk of such health problems as diabetes, elevated blood cholesterol, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.

Don't mistake me - obesity is a problem, and I'm even a public supporter of Southwest Airlines policy of charging overweight people for an extra seat, if it's necessary. After all, we are facing a personal responsibility deficit.

But claiming mass obesity isn't a way to fix a problem. Amongst other things, it allows people with legitimate weight issues to shrug off their obesity as 'normal.'

Plastic makers squeezed

The future of biotechnology isn't going to be driven by the "gee-whiz" factor of upward potential.

In other words - while it's really cool that we can grow vaccines in tobacco plants or develop new types of fuels and plastics, that alone doesn't really mean anything.

In order for technology to really move forward, it has to be commercially viable. People have to WANT to buy it - not out of a sense of novelty, but out of genuine economic need.

Enter the plastics industry, which is getting buffetted by rising oil prices - and thusly, higher costs.

Making new types of plastics from corn or other bio-products is just one example of the commercial future of biotech. Petrochemicals aren't going anywhere - they're just going to become increasingly expensive.

I have a friend who says "The stone age didn't end because we ran out of stone." Well, the petrochemical industrial age won't end because we run out of oil. But industry is going to start turning to bioproducts because they're a better commercial alternative.

It's happening sooner rather than later. And with the increased commercial viability comes increased public perception risks. After all, farmers aren't growing food anymore... they're industrial chemical suppliers.

Thus, defeating the purpose???

Remember when the flu shot was dangerous and considered bad for you?

Now that there's a flu shot shortage in the United States, people are camping overnight to get flu shots. Outside. In the rain.

Maybe the farmed salmon and GMO food industry should announce shortages as well?

Starbucks watch out...

Everyone sing the song with me now - biotechnology is a wonderful thing.

We can grow corn that doesn't need pesticides. We can grow vaccines in tobacco plants. We can develop new fuels, plastics and medications...

... and now, we can even grow decaffeinated coffee.

Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta are trying to teach bacteria how to devour and destroy the caffeine contained in a coffee plant.

If successful, which the scientists say is years away, the experiment may yield a naturally decaffeinated brew that could have a richer and deeper taste than the decaf fare currently available.

In an era where coffee is "Fair Trade," "Bird-Safe," and organic, this will give the left-wing, holier than thou coffee crowd nightmares. On one hand, they can have lousy decaf that meets all their artificial criteria...

...or they can have (and sell) really good tasting decaf, only available through biotechnology.

Media bias? Naw...

Want to do a funny experiment?

Go to the New York Times and do a search on Susan Sarandon.

8 hits, including the obligatory anti-Republican message. She is a Hollywood Actress, not engaged in a high profile movie project or debut right now... but rabidly anti-President Bush.

But do a search on Nobel Prize. You won't find this story - where Nobel Prize winner (in Economics!) Edward Prescott says President Bush's tax cuts weren't steep enough... but you will find a story saying that a lot of people thought Prescott shouldn't have been awarded the prize in the first place.

Incidentally, it's not just the New York Times that's guilty here. You'll find similar treatment in the Washington Post, Miami Herald, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Detroit Free Press and the Los Angeles Times.

Makes you wonder why people got so upset about Dan Rather being caught of having a bias... heck - this should hardly come as news to people.

Pig Manure Converted to Crude Oil

So how long will it be before we see picket signs in front of the family farm?

Sooner than you may think. Let's face it - the face of agriculture is changing, and changing quickly.

Firefox - Rediscover the web

OK - completely off topic but:

If you haven't tried the Firefox browser by Mozilla, go download it now.

I'm not a 'techy' or web guy by any stretch of the imagination. But the more I play with this, the more I'm loving it.

Green Fuels...

Every day inches us closer and closer to a huge bio revolution. But some days it feels like we leap forward a foot or two at a time.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is expected to pass a law dictating mandatory renewable fuels content in the province-wide gasoline pool.

Fuel from corn and soybeans. It's just the beginning.