Have a Beer - For Your Health

Health news is usually flooded with precautionary studies and strict warnings: this is bad for you, that can cause cancer, you shouldn't put those up your nose; enough to ruin whatever mediocre day you happen to have been having. That's why I always get excited when I find a good health news story. And this one's great. Let's check out a snippet:

Moderate consumption of any alcoholic beverage, including beer, has been shown to increase HDL cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol and reduce the risk of blood clotting, Giancoli writes in ADA Times. Moderate alcohol consumption has also been associated with a lower incidence of gallstones, decreased risk of type 2 diabetes and improved cognitive function in older adults.

Excellent! Not only does drinking make those around you less boring, but it's also good for your health. Now I can finally focus on beer drinking in a positive light.

But shouldn't you take into account the fact that this is just one study and will most likely be replaced by contradictory data in the near future?

Um, I guess.

And what about alcohol dependency and liver disease?

Oh, yeah, those aren't good.

And the link between alcohol consumption and certain types of cancer?

Really?

Yup.

Now I feel like crap.

Want a beer?

Sure.

Last Minute Travel Idea - Cairo

People often ask for my advice. Ok, not really, but if they did it would probably be something similar to the following: where should I go on my next trip? how can I get a really good deal? how can I diversify my retirement portfolio to better meet my individual needs? which is better, Roquefort or Gorgonzola?

Today I have an answer to the first two questions: Cairo.

Big Eyes

While reading a piece in National Geographic the other day, I was reminded of a walk I took earlier in the year in the South Korean coastal town of Sokcho. The particular piece I was reading described, among other things, the genetic evolution of photoreceptors, and connections between various eye types in animals. Somewhere in there the eye of an octopus was mentioned, which led me to think about the ginormous eyes of giant squids, then I remembered the fairly large eye of an ocean sunfish I encountered on the aforementioned walk, and from there my mind went to dwell on various types of pickles eaten around the world - but let's stop at the fisheye.

The large fish was being gutted and cleaned out before being sold to a couple who I assumed owned some type of restaurant - or they were paying to watch the fish disemboweled and cut into pieces for lack of anything better to do that afternoon. It was a brisk autumn day and the sun, when it managed to tear, with what must have been much effort, through the amorphous cloud cover, provided only some respite from the cool breeze coming off the ocean. This guy's hands must have been really cold.

Delicious, I'm sure