Archive for May 27th, 2010

The Sestak predicament: somebody’s gotta be lying … uh-oh.

May 27, 2010

Long ago, Congressman Joe Sestak said that he was offered a high ranking position in the Obama administration if he’d step aside rather than challenging Sen. Specter in the Dem primary.

Of course, Obama folks denied the claim.

Issue would have faded … but Sestak screwed things up by staying in the race and winning.

Why is that a problem?

Well, it gives the GOP a ‘”can’t lose” issue.

I see  only 3 options:

(1) Obama folks continue playing rope-a-dope and the issue stays alive … seeming sinister and begging the question what are they hiding ?

(2) Obama folks “prove” that Sestak is fabricating the story … and, who wants to elect a Senator who gets caught lying from the get-go?

(3) Sestak names names and gives details of the offer … which causes legal problems for the administration.  Why ? It’s reported to be a Federal felony to tamper with an election – and to bribe somebody to drop out of an election is, well, tampering. 

I expect option(1) to prevail. so if the GOP wins a majority of either the Senate or Congress in Nov., expect investigative hearings on this issue to be high on the agenda. 

Hope so – they’ll be fun to watch and might keep our elected reps distracted from their spending bills.

Posted in Obama Administration, Politics | Leave a Comment »

I’ll have a burger, hold the hot dog …

May 27, 2010

Punch line: The conventional wisdom is that red meats have higher saturated fat and cholesterol levels which increase heart  attack risk. 

The good news:  a new study suggests that a juicy burger isn’t a heart-attack-on-a-plate after all.

The bad news: hot dogs, bacon and sausage are still no-no’s.

Badest of the bad: there was a TV special on the least healthy restaurant foods served in America … my favorites: a place in NJ serves deep fried hot dogs and a place in Tennessee serves deep fried burgers … both had lines running down the street ala Georgetown Cupcakes.

* * * * *

Excerpted from WSJ: A Guilt-Free Hamburger, MAY 18, 2010

A new study from Harvard suggests that the heart risk long associated with red meat comes mostly from processed varieties such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs and cold cuts — and not from steak, hamburgers and other non-processed cuts.

The finding is surprising because both types of red meat are high in saturated fat, a substance believed to be partly responsible for the increased risk of heart disease. But the new study raises the possibility that when it comes to meat, at least, the real bad actor may be salt. Processed meats generally have about four times the amount of salt as unprocessed meats.

The findings suggest that people, especially those already at risk of heart problems or with high blood pressure, should consider reducing consumption of bacon, processed ham, hot dogs and other packaged meats that have a high salt content. Salt increases blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

None of this suggests that steak is a new health food. While red meat wasn’t linked to an increased risk of heart disease in the study, it didn’t lower it either.

The American Meat Institute Foundation took issue with the findings, saying they conflict with national dietary guidelines. “The body of evidence clearly demonstrates that processed meat is a healthy part of a balanced diet.”

Full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704314904575250570943835414-lMyQjAxMTAwMDEwOTExNDkyWj.html

Posted in Food & Drink, Health & Nutrition | Leave a Comment »