of cancers and cellphones

Currently reading this article on Salon.com about how we are all living in some kind of petri-dish where almost half of the stuff we are in contact with can give us cancer. It's an interview with Devra Davis, head of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute in relation to her new book, "The Secret History of the War on Cancer."

A big part of the blame is attributed to relevant agencies'(at least in the US) apparent lack of concern in regulating cancer-inducing products.

Why do you have concerns about aspartame, the artificial sweetener in many soft drinks and other low-calorie foods? What's a drinker of Diet Coke to think?

I can't tell you what to think: I can just tell you what I know, and what I recommend to my children.

In 1977, Richard Merrill, who later became dean of the University of Virginia Law School, was the chief counsel of the Food and Drug Administration, and he formally asked the U.S. attorney to convene a grand jury to decide whether or not to indict the producer of aspartame, G.D. Searle, for misrepresenting "findings, concealing material facts and making false statements" in aspartame safety tests.

This is not some left-wing group. This is the actual chief counsel of the FDA asking the U.S. attorney's office to convene a grand jury. It never happened, because by the time the grand jury was ready to be convened we had a new president. That president was Reagan, and within a month of Reagan taking office, he had a proposal from a guy you might have heard of named Donald Rumsfeld [who was then chief operating officer of Searle].

And Jan. 22, 1981, one day after Reagan's inauguration -- one day -- Searle reapplied for FDA approval. Prior to that, ever single request for approval was turned down by all the scientists ever looking at the data. That's a fact. There's no dispute about that fact. And then, it gets approved May 19, 1981.

Remember what happened with the Reagan revolution? It was: "We need to get the government off our backs." One of the backs it got off of was suppressing the aspartame industry. Later, many of the people who worked at the FDA to evaluate aspartame ended up going to work for the company producing it.

So you tell people to avoid it?

Absolutely.

First of all, there's no evidence that it helps you lose weight. And there are people who drink a lot of diet soda. It's a question of a risk-benefit trade-off.

read the whole article called Life Will Kill You by Katharine Mieszkowski.

Karapatan ng mga Bata

Because I had a hard time looking for a Filipino translation of the condensed version of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Mabuhay, magkaroon ng pangalan at nasyonalidad
To live, to have a name and nationality

Magkaroon ng pamilyang magmamahal at kakalinga
To have a family who will love and care for me

Mamuhay sa isang tahimik at kaayaayang kapaligiran
To live in a peaceful community and wholesome environment

Magkaroon ng sapat na pagkain at malusog at masiglang pangangatawan
To have adequate food and a healthy and active body

Mabigyan ng magandang edukasyon at mapaunlad ang potensyal
To obtain a good education and develop my potential

Bigyan ng mga pagkakataon upang maglaro at maglibang
To be given opportunities for play and leisure

Proteksyon mula sa pang-aabuso, pagsasamantala, kapabayaan, karahasan, at panganib
To be protected against abuse, exploitation, neglect, violence and danger

Ipangtanggol at bigyan ng tulong ng pamahalaan
To be defended and given assistance by the government

Malayang magpahayag ng pananaw
To be able to express my own views

the politics of engagement rings

from slate.com

Until the 1930s, a woman jilted by her fiance could sue for financial compensation for "damage" to her reputation under what was known as the "Breach of Promise to Marry" action. As courts began to abolish such actions, diamond ring sales rose in response to a need for a symbol of financial commitment from the groom, argues the legal scholar Margaret Brinig—noting, crucially, that ring sales began to rise a few years before the De Beers campaign. To be marriageable at the time you needed to be a virgin, but, Brinig points out, a large percentage of women lost their virginity while engaged. So some structure of commitment was necessary to assure betrothed women that men weren't just trying to get them into bed. The "Breach of Promise" action had helped prevent what society feared would be rampant seduce-and-abandon scenarios; in its lieu, the pricey engagement ring would do the same. (Implicitly, it would seem, a woman's virginity was worth the price of a ring, and varied according to the status of her groom-to-be.)

via feministing

if men had periods...

So what would happen if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?

Clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, worthy, masculine event:

Men would brag about how long and how much.

Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood. Gifts, religious ceremonies, family dinners, and stag parties would mark the day.

To prevent monthly work loss among the powerful, Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea. Doctors would research little about heart attacks, from which men would be hormonally protected, but everything about cramps.

Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of such commercial brands as Paul Newman Tampons, Muhammad Ali's Rope-a-Dope Pads, John Wayne Maxi Pads, and Joe Namath Jock Shields- "For Those Light Bachelor Days."

Statistical surveys would show that men did better in sports and won more Olympic medals during their periods.

from Gloria Steinem's classic essay, If Men Could Menstruate which is included in her book Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions.

Makes me laugh and shake my head every time i read it.

Made of what?

Indi posted a thinker in her blog today.

I followed the link to Momus' Click Opera and this quoted text from Ronald Inglehart' Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society struck me:

"Inglehart's thesis, restated repeatedly throughout the book, is that a gradual but steady and profound shift has been occurring in the basic values of the mass publics of the more advanced industrial societies. The shift is away from the long predominant preoccupation with material well-being and physical security and toward greater concern for the quality of life, more self-expression, greater sexual freedom, and interpersonal relations that are less formal."

Indi and I have had numerous conversations about the merits and advantages of favoring quality of life over material aspirations (within our/my context mas mananatiling aspirational ito than actual possesions, hahaha). Just three weeks ago, we had this YM conversation:

cocobeans12000: alam mo theory ako, (naks, i read tom wolfe's i am charlotte simmons and there's this group of student intellectuals who are forever forming theories in the hope that one of these will be the one that catapults them to fame)
yinyoung: ah ooo. student careeristas
yinyoung: they wanna be the next chomsky or chuva
cocobeans12000: i have this theory about the expectations of this age. parang since we have all these technology and time-saving devices coupled with the fact that we're forever bombarded by consumerism and we're somehow obliged to display everything we own including the kitchen sink, parang unti-unting namamatay tayo inside
cocobeans12000: para na tayong automated na habol ng habol sa next big thing, i mean even the travels which are supposed to revive us have become hobbesian, pagalingan sa pictures, patalbugan sa kung sino ang nauna, pataasan ng ihi sa kung ano ang authentic
yinyoung: competitive chorva
cocobeans12000: ewan ba, tapos parang kailangan lagi kang nasa uso pagdating sa mga tech advancements
cocobeans12000: correct
yinyoung: its da kano
yinyoung: eyyy try wiki-pedia-ing "affluenza"
cocobeans12000: mismo. i've read about that before

I have this childhood friend who seems pre-occupied with ‘making’ it, not that i judge her or anything. Iba lang talaga ang perspectives namin. we seldom see each other due to our busy lives but I remember this one gimmick a few years ago and I found out that our other dear friend is already at the top echelon of her company – one of the biggest in the country. Turning towards me, she remarked “I’m happy for her. She’s already made.”

That got me thinking about what that means, especially in these times. Momus writes a lot about Slow Life (a Japanese-led lifestyle movement which aims to “pursue satisfaction and quality of life, with comfort rather than economic and material prosperity”) and it is inspiring. It fits in so neatly with this passage quoted by Momus from Yu Dan's book, a modern adaptation of Confucian philosophy which has become a surprise hit within the economic-miracle nation that is China.

"Just because you have a successful career does not necessarily mean you have made your dreams come true," writes Yu Dan. She tells the story of three field mice preparing for winter. "One gathered food, one built shelter and the third did nothing but play. Winter came and there was plenty to eat but nothing to do inside the hideaway. That was when the third mouse made himself valuable by telling stories from his days of fun and games."

Thanks, Inds for that lovely blog entry. I initially started this out as a comment in your page, but look at that hahaha.

The Big C

I’ve been in front of the computer for the better part of the day, mostly editing, partly reading this really engrossing graphic novel about a 43-year old woman’s battle (war metaphor talaga) with breast cancer.

It starts innocuously enough: “What happens when a shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, wine-swilling, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, single-forever, about-to-get-married, big-citygirl cartoonist with a fabulous life finds a lump in her breast?!?”

What happens is an adventure filled with denial, dread, financial scares (her insurance lapsed months before the diagnosis), hope, love, anger, despair, confusion all set against a backdrop of loving, demanding friends (“bossiness is love”), a devoted fiancée later husband, dedicated (s)mothers, among others. And though it is only an excerpt, there are 136 pages online. Riveting and engaging, it presents an honest insight about her whole ordeal presenting the varied aspects of breast cancer and how one phone call can neatly divide one’s life into two categories: BC (before cancer) and AC. Although it’s written almost tongue-in-cheek (she’s a New Yorker, after all), you can feel the emotions run through the screen. I may have to rethink my former position on paper being more tangible and transcendent than its online counterpart.

The author also manages to put in the varied aspects of breast cancer: the science behind it, advocacies, and controversies surrounding the causes of cancer – it manages to be political without resorting to hysteria.

The storytelling reminds me of Marjane Satrapi's brilliantly written and illustrated Persepolis (except this one’s in color).

Even though my eyes (and pointy finger) are tired (and of course there’s work to be done) I can’t seem to stop reading. To borrow Teenee’s expression, it’s like crack. I keep telling myself, last page, last page. Where am I now? Page 91.

And oh, it’s called Cancer Vixen and is written and illustrated by Marisa Acocella Marchetto.

to the promised land

my cousin called me up yesterday at lunch to tell me he's leaving for Qatar to work as a laborer there. I was mildly surprised but not really. There really is no way for him to get a decent job here. He didn't graduate from college and the past 8 years or so, he was doing this dead-end job doing menial stuff.

His salary there is really small. I kind of made provisions of the fact that he has free uniform, lodging and food but it still doesn't give much comfort. His fiancee was really sad to see him go but what can they do? Kung yung mga me college diploma nga wala pa ring mapasukan dito, paano pa siya? How can he hope to give his future wife and family the good life he envisions for him when even brilliant teachers are forced to become domestic helpers abroad (where good-for-nothing recruiters complain about DOLE's edict that the minimum wage of DH be increased from $200 to $400 saying that in essence it's a buyer's market out there and we have no right to complain. “The Philippines, being a labor-supplying country cannot demand what it wants from foreign employers,” Fama president Eduarto Mahiya said. “That is a function of a free market, dictated by supply and demand.”)

Naalala ko tuloy itong sabi ng isang kolumnista sa Inquirer nung malaman niya na $200 lang ang sweldo ng mga DH sa Lebanon, yung mga nagsiuwian nung panahon ng pagbobomba ng Israel at Hezbollah : Why can't we even provide them with jobs that pay P10,000 here in the country?

Imagine, that they risk life and limb in a fragile country for just so they can provide for their families. And now my cousin has joined their ranks, taking the same path that his older brother and sister took a decade ago.

the flip side of "supersize me"

Ever wondered why environmentalists like Greenpeace, consumer groups, labor rights activists seem to be forever getting on the case of Mcdonald's?

Here's a game that lets you experience the ins and outs of mcdonald's and its global impact. It might give you an understanding of where these activists are coming from.

Making money in a corporation like McDonald's is not simple at all! Behind every sandwich there is a complex process you must learn to manage: from the creation of pastures to the slaughter, from the restaurant management to the branding. You'll discover all the dirty secrets that made us one of the biggest company of the world.

Do give it a try and see if you can come up with an environmetally-, consumer-, employee rights- friendly food corporation? Or give in and accept that "this is the price to pay in order to preserve our lifestyle."

the cost of life

I came across this game called the cost of life. you are given a haitian family to take care of: 2 parents, 3 kids all uneducated with limited funds and a small farm. The goal mo is to help them overcome their very third world beginnings - get them to school, work, volunteer with unicef. Nakakaloka kasi ang mga trabahong nakukuha nila ay pamatay katawan dahil nga wala silang napag-aralan. It took me a long time before I got the right strategy.

What is it like to live in poverty, struggling every day to stay healthy, keep out of debt, and get educated?

Find out now in this challenging role playing game created by Global Kids and Gamelab, in which you take responsibility for a family of five in rural Haiti.

Play it here. (via jayisgames)