Tag: medical

• From the “I’m Not Dead Yet” Department: This just in… from CNN… Abe Vigoda is not yet dead.
• From the “They give us those nice bright colors, They give us the greens of summers” Department: However, Kodachrome may be dead. According to CNN, there is only one processor of the color film left, and they are only manufacturing one speed (ASA 64) left, and they only have one 35mm format left, and they only do one production run a year, if that. It has been supplanted by digital and by easier to develop color film (evidently, Kodachrome gives you those night bright colors by being purely black and white when exposed. The three primary colors that mix to form the spectrum are added in three development steps rather than built into its micrometer-thin emulsion layers). Kodachrome is one of those famous films (after all, is there a park named after Ektachrome, or does Paul Simon sing of Tri-X). So, Kodak, don’t take our Kodachrome away.
• From the “Did you wash your tie?” Department: Your mother always taught you to wash your hands, and you always make sure your doctor does. But that may not be what does you in. According to the New York Times, it may be your doctor’s clothing. In 2004, a study from the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens compared the ties of 40 doctors and medical students with those of 10 security guards. It found that about half the ties worn by medical personnel were a reservoir for germs, compared with just 1 in 10 of the ties taken from the security guards. The doctors’ ties harbored several pathogens, including those that can lead to staph infections or pneumonia. Another study at a Connecticut hospital sought to gauge the role that clothing plays in the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The study found that if a worker entered a room where the patient had MRSA, the bacteria would end up on the worker’s clothes about 70 percent of the time, even if the person never actually touched the patient. Thus, it is to your advantage if your doctor wears a short-sleeved T-shirt than looking professional in long sleeves and a tie.
• From the “No, It’s Not From The Onion” Department: WPTZ NBC 5 is reporting that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow’s milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk. PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health. PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman is quoted as saying “Everyone knows that ‘the breast is best,’ so Ben & Jerry’s could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk.”
• From the “But Why Are They Building Houses Now” Department: Lastly, an item of personal interest. The Ventura County Star is reporting that a proposal to build as many 13 homes off of Pacific Coast Highway at the southern edge of Ventura County cleared its last government hurdle Tuesday when it was approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. The proposal adds four homes to the nine that are already permitted on vacant land near Neptune’s Net restaurant, near the Ventura-Los Angeles county line. In exchange for the Coastal Commission’s permission to build, the owners agreed to pay for 11 camping cabins at Leo Carrillo State Beach. They also gave up their request to privatize Ellice Street and put a gate on the road. Now what caught my eye in this article was Neptune’s Net, which is at Yerba Buena Road and PCH… across the street from Camp Hess Kramer. The mention of Ellice Street confirms it.

(Now to figure out why my turkey and cheese sandwich just gave me a niacin flush. Ouch!)