I knew there was a reason Tofu should not be eaten

All this time - from the newswires of netscape.com And there is a reason I am short, heeheehee......

Wait a minute, I had the, you know, so it really does not matter......

This Food Can Damage Men's Fertility

A natural chemical found in soy, tofu and legumes can potentially damage sperm and lower men's fertility, Reuters reports of new research from King's College London.

The plant chemical, genistein, mimics the effect of the female hormone estrogen and in turn affects sperm in laboratory mice. Tests in humans have shown an even stronger impact than in the rodents. Research leader Lynn Fraser found in lab tests that small amounts of genistein can cause human sperm to "burn out" and lose fertility, reports Reuters.

And it's not just men who should avoid eating soy, tofu, and legumes. Women who are trying to conceive a baby should also avoid it since the chemical can affect sperm when it is in the female preparing to fertilize an egg. "Maternal exposure to the compounds is probably more important than paternal exposure," Fraser told a meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting.

How Many Men Wear Boxers vs. Tighty-Whities? [Netscape] 7 Myths About Infertility [Ladies Home Journal] What Makes a Man Look Really Sexy? [Netscape] Sperm Count, TB Risks & More [AskMen] Being Tall May Heighten Risk of Testicular Cancer [WebMD]

Even though the research is still preliminary, Fraser advised couples who are trying to conceive to restrict their soy intake during the window of ovulation.

Others say the results are surprising, especially since Asian societies eat a diet rich in soy and show no signs of reduced fertility. In addition, what happens to sperm in a laboratory setting may not apply to real life.

And the age-old question men have wondered about: Does the type of undies you wear affect fertility? At one time, it was thought that tighty-whities might lead to infertility by raising the temperature of the testes so it interfered with sperm production. But this theory, however grand it sounds, was bashed in 1998 by Drs. Robert Munkelwitz and Bruce R. Gilbert. They analyzed semen samples from 97 men, all of whom had fertility problems. Half wore briefs and half wore boxer shorts. The results? There were no significant differences between the two groups of men in scrotal temperature, sperm count, sperm concentration or sperm motility, they wrote in the Journal of Urology.

 

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An old National Geographic Article

This is an old National Geographic Article:


By Joel K. Bourne, Jr.
Photographs by Robert Caputo and Tyrone Turner


The Louisiana bayou, hardest working marsh in America, is in big trouble—with dire consequences for residents, the nearby city of New Orleans, and seafood lovers everywhere. 

It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV "storm teams" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday.

But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however—the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.

The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level—more than eight feet below in places—so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.

Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great.

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The battle over New Orleans

This says it all.  (Original source not cited)
 
Here is something else that Tim Russert forgot.

On Friday night before the storm hit, Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of NO, and they said they'd take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves before it was destroyed.

President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act). Just before  midnight Friday evening, the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up. He was told that they didn't think it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet. After the President's final call to the governor, she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance, it would make it look as if they had failed, so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.

Saturday before the storm hit, the President again called Blanco and Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation.  After a personal plea from the President, Nagin agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action. In frustration, the President declared the area a national disaster area before the state of Louisiana did, so he could legally begin some advanced preparations. Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into the ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can move into a state with troops - but that had not been done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.

Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to NO for levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a marina and support the gambling ships. Toss in the investigation that will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the federal
government for funding and published on the city's website was never implemented and, in
fact, may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or coordinated into any planning-- though the document implies that they were.

The suffering people of NO need to be asking some hard questions as do we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining
states. Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his disposal to use between the local school busses and the city transportation busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.

This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in the future.

 

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The preceding was received without a cite of its original source.  Please identify this properly if you can and let me know.

 

 

 

Ups and down

The past week and the state of the nation has proven to be a challenge to individuals and groups across the states. What is with the vietnamese refuges? They are setting peacefully waiting for help while the natives of the US are raping and piliging crying foul of the government for not providing assistance immediately. Based on what I am hearing, it sounds like the elected officials of the state of LA turned down offers. Hopefully this will be addressed in the mainstream.
And what is with people shooting at helicopters, aid, and medical staff? Nurses were fearing for their lives? Are we in the middle east?
Tammy Bruce raised the issue in a broadcast the issue of leadership and chaos. Compare the aftermath of 9/11 and Katrina. Compare new orleans to haiti after a hurricane. Uhm, see the contrast and comparasions?
Another question - walmart [the evil industrialist] has offered millions in relief and jobs to the displaced. Where are the unions and communities that are againt walmart? Which plate have they stepped up to?
I noticed the one president of a parrish has toned down his remarks.
There are times when we become dependent on someone else to take charge and when something major happens we hide in the water closet until the someone thinks about brinking us the tp. Take charge and deal with the boundry issues later. The local government should have done so.

Last thing, what about these people w/ animals?

Prayer and support is now needed, not some western state cracker's monday morning quarterbacking.
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