Dragon*Con

I just found out Phil Plait is going to be there. *squee*

There's an actual Space & Science track, with a presentation by the GA Skeptics, and the pocast track is hosted by Derek & Swoopy of Skepticality. And the Mythbusters backup trio will be there. There's going to be a Mad Scientist of the Year award and a bake sale by Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow. Grrr, baby, yeah!

For those DC veterans out there, is one hotel better than the other? Any better bargains nearby?

Who Should Dish Up Nutrition Advice?

BusinessWeek.com

Since launching a venture last fall to provide cooking instruction, and food shopping and dinner-preparation services to busy families, Julie Kowalski has been busily doing what any entrepreneur in her situation would—trying to obtain customers. Now that the Troy (Mich.) company she and a partner started, Forget Perfect NOW, is finally starting to show some positive results—its next four cooking classes are filled at 25 participants each—Kowalski has had to hire a lawyer to determine whether her company's services will still be legal come July 1.

That's because a new Michigan law—enacted last summer after 30 years of pressure from the Michigan Dietetic Association (MDA)—beginning this summer makes it illegal for individuals who aren't licensed as nutritionists and dieticians to dispense advice about nutrition.

( Read more... )

This is a big ol' can of worms that's just been waiting to pop open. On one hand, I absolutely agree that anyone who wants to distribute nutritional advice in a professional capacity (calliing themselves a "nutritionist" or "dietitian") should have thorough training in biology, anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and nutritional science from an accredited (NOT new agey, NOT correspondence) institution of higher learning. Some required anthropology, psychology, and sociology courses would be a good idea, too.

On the other hand, I don't agree with a lot of the ADA's positions on nutrition subjects, in part because they are NOT impartial and often act like a parrot of BigPhood, saying whatever the food industry tells them to so they can keep raking in the funding buck$. I also think their curriculum requirements SUCK: they are scientifically inadequate, encourage no critical or independent thinking, and hyperfocus on food service and business management crapola when those credits would be far better spent in detailed physiology and human behavior courses.

Crackpots and quacks who call themselves nutrition professionals but who don't know dick about real nutrition science make me sick. But so do registered dietitians who peddle "alternative" or "complementary" diet products just to turn another quick buck when they should know better.


Maybe I was right in thinking I had to play their game and get registered, after all.

Pet Food Recall fallout

First, according to Banfield, The Pet Hospital's epidemiological records, "Cases of kidney failure among cats rose by 30% during the three months that pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical was sold." Read the rest at USAToday.com

. . .

Forbes answers the question, What should the [pet food] industry be doing? (Hint: Not what it's doing right now, which is NOTHING USEFUL.)

. . .

An FDA rep squeals, "It musta been a conspiracy!" (No, no, years of FDA slackerliness and the fact that the U.S. does not bother to inspect imported foodstuffs had nothing to do with it...)

. . .

Finally, Time reviews the ongoing controversies and theories surrounding the contamination. The last line in this article contains a statement from a Cornell researcher that really grinds my gears:

"I would hate for people to stop using commercial pet food, because it's the healthiest diet in the long term for dogs and cats who need multiple vitamins at the proper ratios."

As much as I respect the science of animal nutrition, this is one of those supreme WTF?! moments. This guy is saying, basically, that we're too DUMB to feed our pets. It's too HARD to look up their nutritional requirements and we don't have the TIME to make some simple fresh chow for them. We NEED to have somebody hand us a box/bag/can full of unidentified swill stamped with a reassuring label that says, "OF COURSE IT'S GOOD TO EAT - WOULD WE LIE TO YOU?"

Oh. Wait a minute.

I just described the entire HUMAN food industry.

Growing Up in the Universe

Freakin AWESOME!!!

The Richard Dawkins Foundation has announced that you can pre-order copies of Dawkins’ 1991 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for Children that were originally broadcast by the BBC and are now available for the first time. In Growing Up in the Universe (to be officially released April 30th, 2007) Richard Dawkins presents a series of lectures on life, the universe, and our place in it. With brilliance and clarity, Dawkins unravels an educational gem that will mesmerize young and old alike. Illuminating demonstrations, wildlife, virtual reality, and special guests (including Douglas Adams) all combine to make this collection a timeless classic.

Watch the video trailer on YouTube!

Congressmen Say the Darnedest Things...

"Like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime."

~ Mike Pence, Indiana Republican, commenting on his recent bulletproof-vest-clad visit to a marketplace in Baghdad.


John Kenney of the LA Times skillfully agrees. ;)

Academic Fangirl SQUEEEEEEE!

Video of E.O. Wilson's 2007 TED Prize acceptance speech~!!!

Dear lord, he rocks the world.