Good news for George

Which George did you think I was talking about?

The giant Galapagos tortoise that became a conservation icon when it appeared he was the last of his kind is not so alone after all.

"Lonesome George" was thought to be the only survivor of a tortoise species native to the isle of Pinta.

Now, the journal Current Biology reports the discovery of a hybrid - the offspring from the union of a Pinta tortoise and another island species.

The "new" animal thus shares about half its genes in common with George.

Unfortunately for efforts to get George to reproduce, this hybrid tortoise, recently found on Isabela isle, is also a male.

Nonetheless, its discovery in a relatively small sample of tortoises raises fresh hope for the future of George's species (Geochelone abingdoni).

A more thorough sampling of the 2,000 tortoises living on Isabela could yet reveal a genetically pure Pinta tortoise, say the researchers.

Destination, Lithuania

Vilnius, Lithuania is billed in the Times today as the poor man's Paris. It's a good article and makes me think the town has a little more originality than that.


"The night life is lively and unpretentious..." And as if that weren't enough, I do believe that's a Red Bull sign above the bar.



More pictures and full text available at this link.

Small World

View from the Albany condo:


View from the Samos house:

Copycat threat revisited

A letter from our dean re: the Boalt student who's hoax disrupted Hastings School of Law last week. Prior post here.

April 25, 2007

To: Boalt Community

From: Dean Christopher Edley, Jr.

It has been a week since the distressing events involving a Boalt
student’s threat —a hoax — against the community at Hastings College of
the Law. I am writing to let you know that all our actions following the
incident have been taken with the intention of securing the safety and
well-being of our community and that at Hastings, while respecting the
procedural rights of the student.

On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, the Law School filed a complaint with the
U.C. Berkeley Judicial Affairs Office against the law student who
claimed responsibility for posting the threat on a website. We, the
administrative leadership of Boalt, believe that the student’s action is
clearly in violation of a number of regulations detailed in the Student
Code of Conduct. The case will be adjudicated by Judicial Affairs
according to campus regulations. Those regulations prohibit us from
disclosing the name of the student against whom we are proceeding.

Based on the facts as we understand them today, we have recommended
expulsion. This is based not only on the intrinsic wrongfulness of the
act itself, but also the disruption, turmoil and emotional toll on the
Hastings community and, to a more limited extent, the Boalt community as
well. I have received ample evidence of this through a great many
emails, some of them painful to read.

This incident has once again confirmed for me the strength and qualities
of the Boalt community. Even in this challenging circumstance, you have
engaged in thoughtful and productive discussions. We should all take
some pride in this, imperfect though we are.

Christopher Edley, Jr.
Professor of Law and Dean

I was a little surprised to hear the school has settled on expulsion as the recommended course of action so soon, though I do believe it's warranted (maybe) if we're looking only at punishment and deterrence. From a policy standpoint though, expulsion would send a strong message to people like Trustafarian that the best course of action when one realizes the full ramifications and costs of one's mistake is to stay silent, lest you be made an example. Think about how much worse the situation would have gotten, how much more costly, how much greater a toll would've been exacted on Hastings students on the cusp of final exams and graduation had this guy not come forward so soon. That he did should be good for something. A public apology, as some have suggested, would have been worth even more - but would perhaps have been as bad for the perpetrator as expulsion since breaking his anonymity will inevitably tarnish his legal career for a very long time. It may be too late already to salvage his 'character' since state bars typically require disclosure of any 'non scholastic' school discipline. I.e. disciplinary discipline as opposed to grades-based discipline. On the other hand, I've never heard of anyone not getting into the bar because of a line item on their moral character and fitness application. Which is not to say it doesn't happen but my guess is that it's rare. In any case, this whole episode has been an oft forgotten lesson as to how seriously jokes, mistakes, and lapses of judgment and character are taken in this community.

I have to commend the system for an air-tight job keeping the name of the perpetrator confidential. None of the student-run threads or blogs in the Boalt or Hastings communities have come up with a name. That said, it can be (only speculatively) narrowed down to 3-4 people in the facebook based on uncorroborated self-descriptions Trustafarian has left over the past several months on AutoAdmit.

Note that the word in the halls these days is that Edly's (perhaps draconian) recommendation is really a strategic ploy to come off as hard-on-crime when everyone is aware that the notoriously flaccid Judicial Affairs won't really kick him out.

Alcohol makes fruit healthier

Sweet. Bring the Vegas-sized pomegranate cosmos.

But there must be a downside, right?

[Strawberries contain] compounds that can protect against cancer, heart disease and arthritis.

But having them with alcohol, such as in a daiquiri, boosts these antioxidant properties, the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture says.

The researchers, from the Kasetsart University in Thailand and the US Department of Agriculture Research Service, were actually looking for more effective ways of keeping fruit fresh during storage.

They found that treating strawberries with alcohol enhanced the antioxidant capacity within the fruit - which boosts the fruit's power to neutralise destructive molecules called free radicals - by a third.

Free radicals are highly reactive oxygen molecules which damage DNA and cell membranes.

They are linked to a wide range of diseases and are thought to be one of the chief causes of ageing.

Treating blackberries in the same ways also had beneficial effects.

Still good....ok, here's the downside:

"Whilst this study suggests that consuming strawberries with alcohol increases the antioxidant capacity, there are clearly detrimental effects of consuming alcohol in terms of cell damage.

"So any potential antioxidant benefits may be cancelled out by the potential liver damage caused by too much alcohol.

Whilst? Seriously? Who would take advice from someone that uses the word "whilst?" Clearly they are channeling a time long before the advent of modern medicine.

And here's the let-me-rain-on-your-parade-by-mentioning-that-the-same-advantages-of -wine-can-be-obtained-by-eating-grapes bit of psychobable:

But Dr Frankie Phillips of the British Dietetic Association said: "It's well known that some preparation of fruit and veg can enhance the availability of nutrients and other plant chemicals including antioxidants.

"For example, cooking tomatoes or stir frying pepper facilitates availability of the lycopene and beta-carotene they contain.

"That's why the five-a-day message states to include a variety of fruit and veg as fresh, frozen, juice, dried and canned, and encourages different preparations."

Oh stop.

Please note that Dr. Phillips is the one who said 'whilst.'

Loose cannon at boalt high

I haven't posted anything about the Virginia massacre because the more I think about it, the more moments of visceral empathy I experience, the more convinced I become that nothing I could write in a few sentences could do the situation justice. It's truly an unimaginable catastrophe and I don't want to trivialize it by posting a few pictures or a link. I think everyone has been pretty well appraised of the events as they've unfolded by the media and I mention it now only because it's been made into a backdrop for the drama that's unfolded over the last 48 hours on our own turf at Boalt.

I've visited law-related threads on AutoAdmit (self-billed, somewhat ironically, as "the most prestigious college admissions discussion board in the world") before and have been unpleasantly surprised to find that the maturity level of the discussions often bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the the yahoo chat rooms I remember from high school. Wednesday, someone on the message board spouted off some empty threats, meant as a joke, about a copycat VA attack on Hastings Law School. Turns out, it was one of our own.

The person whose threats of violence shuttered Hastings College of the Law on Wednesday was a student at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, according to officials at both schools.

The message was headed, "Just decided not to do a murder-suicide copycat at Hastings Law" and was authored by a user called "Trustafarian," who went on to write, "I went to bed all set for 'Bloody Wednesday,' but when I woke -- to sun, to flowers in bloom -- I just couldn't bring myself to suit up. Maybe tomorrow; I hear rain's in the forecast."

Hastings officials closed the law school Wednesday after being made aware of the threat and increased security in the wake of the incident, according to [Hastings Dean} Newton. The heightened security will remain in effect through the end of the school year, she wrote in the e-mail to students.

In Edley's [Dean of Boalt Hall] e-mail to Newton, he expressed his "deep regret and sympathy," to the Hastings community for "the anxiety and upset," created by the posting.

The FBI and San Francisco Police Department determined that the suspect "does not pose a risk to others," Edley wrote, and continue to "investigate whether criminal charges are appropriate."

Regardless of the criminal investigation, Edley said, the school will consider disciplinary proceedings against the student.

While this 'joke' was an unbelievable and costly display of bad judgment, insensitivity, and recklessness, there are mitigating circumstances. The post came down within 10 minutes and the student made an immediate confession permitting the assurance of the comment being a joke almost before news of the threat got out. I, for one, didn't hear about the threat until I received Dean Edley's email reassuring the Boalt community that the suspect and circumstances had been investigated by the FBI, no less, and were not considered a legitimate threat. I don't have any sympathy for whoever this is and the massive trouble they've gotten themselves into, but I'm also not proud of some of my classmates' reactions.

Much of the Boalt community is understandably enraged, but some are responding with a maturity level similar to that of the mystery 1L and a total disregard for all things "due process." Concern about rank, reputation, convinced this person should be barred from the profession forever or at least socially ostracized during the rest of his time in law school. There are threats to post his name on a Boalt blog and make his life a living hell forever more. Also some blog commenters have made the excellent point that Boalties have publicly slammed Hastings for far more docile offenses and today, not an ill word about Boalt can be found on popular Hastings blogs and bulliten boards.

High school never ends, indeed.

I'm betting a name will come out in the next week or two. These things have a way of doing that. Note that it is widely speculated, from this guy's own writings and other similarly unconfirmable and uncorroborated evidence, that "he" is a white male.

I think anyone with such an extreme deficit of common sense, discretion, intelligence and maturity is going to learn his or her lesson soon enough. Particularly in the highly competitive and hyper-critical world of law. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of assholes in the profession, but really, unless this person is smart enough to learn a lesson now and get his attitude in check, he won't have a good time of this profession, even if he does manage to survive law school. We live in a paranoid world. And no one should know that better than a lawyer.

Consumer Review - Diet CokePlus

I have an acquired taste (regrettable passion?) for diet soda which makes what I have to say about DietCokePlus all the more sad.

The first disappointing thing about it is the label. The front is nice, "plus" is in rainbow letters, that's cute. I like the choice of seabreeze blue for the accents and cap. "Diet Coke with Vitamins & Minerals," it says. But then you turn to the Nutrition Facts on the back and realize you can probably get more vitamins and minerals out of a tablespoon of the water from your showerhead. Or maybe, depending on your cleaning habits, from the showerhead itself.

Per 8oz serving...
Niacin - 15% Daily value
Vitamin B6 - 15%
Vitamin B12 - 15%
Magnesium - 10%
Zinc - 10%

Notably completely absent are vitamin A, calcium, iron, and perhaps the most commonly (i.e. easily and cheaply) dissolved vitamin in prepackaged food and food-like products, vitamin C.

Also notably, in the ingredient lineup, coloring, aspartame (nutrasweet), and caffeine all occur in greater amounts than any of the above vitamins & minerals.

So if you were expecting a significant dose of anti-oxidants, this isn't for you. If you were looking for cough syrup that comes in coke flavor, this is a close substitute, which brings me to my second disappointment. Diet beverages are usually 'too sweet' but this is off the charts, and I think it only comes in "diet." I would recommend adding a cup of tap water to every 20oz bottle in order to dilute the aspartame and and top off the minerals.

Cognition Enhancers

How have I not heard about this? Modafinil, is said to improve a range of brain functions including memory, concentration, and ability to learn.

The drug is not without dissenters.

New drugs that can boost brainpower could be given to children by pushy parents, it was claimed yesterday.

There are also fears that high- flying professionals might take the "cognition enhancers" to gain a competitive edge at work.

The warnings came as [British] Government backed researchers examine the potential of the drugs which previous research has shown to improve memory, concentration and learning ability.

There are some side effects, of course...like brain damage.

Critics say users can put themselves at risk of sleep deprivation and suffer damage to their brain and central nervous systems.

And it may be addictive.

But this is America, so bring it.

In the U.S., cognition drugs are taken by people such as long-distance truckers, students and taxi drivers because it 'turns off' the need to sleep while allowing them to remain mentally alert for days.

In the UK it's used only for narcolepsy. And it's been banned by the International Olympic committee.

Despite potential problems, researchers are optimistic about marketability:
t looked at the potential development of cognitive enhancers over the next 20 years and concluded they could become as "common as coffee".

Well ok, let's not get carried away. Maybe as common as no-doz. Which is totally passe. It would probably help sales a bit if they use this as a tag line:

Research carried out at Cambridge University in 2002 found that healthy volunteers taking modafinil scored higher on computer games designed to test their mental functions than those given a placebo.

But check out the pills - they may not need any creative sales strategies. This stuff couldn't look more like E if it was dyed blue and yellow.


Yes, I think it says "mod" in a cutesey font. Shameless.

And while we're on the topic, I should mention Robert Wright's hypothesis that there's a positive correlation between the amount of Prozac (and other SSRI's) in the world, and the amount of email. No joke. Well, sort of a joke, but he makes a good point. Here's the link.

Zach Braff - actor, director, and model. Who knew?

My better half thinks I have a crush on this guy. But really I just admire his work. And he looks really good in bowling shirts, turns out....

In case you like what you see, I'll include some price points.

Jacket - $3,995 by Giorgio Armani

Jacket - $1,450 by Dolce & Gabana

Pants - $168 by Juicy

Priceless

Isn't it arbitrary....

...when the same week Imus is fired for saying "nappy-headed hos," the
Supreme Court decides not to hear the appeal of a man who was fired for
complaining too much about a white co-worker who referred to the
snipers who ran amok in Washington DC in Oct 2002 by saying:

"They should put those two black monkeys in a cage with a bunch of black apes and let the apes [sexually assault] them,"

Was
this somehow less bad than Imus? It was certainly less "celebrity." But
it was 'uttered' (<-- legal term meaning 'said') at work to a somewhat captive audience. Then again, the co-worker was talking about murderers. I think I've said before that I'm a fan of free speech, but with freedom comes responsibility not to be an ignorant prick. My thoughts are that Imus had it coming...although I'm not sure why this particular jab was the one that got him thrown out. Power of the media perhaps? As for the Court, from the little I know about the incident, I think they made the right decision. Full article here.

Consumer Review - Kinky Boots

No one can mix a risque topic with a feel good lesson about life like the british. In the spirit of The Full Monty and Calendar Girls they've done it again with Kinky Boots. It's hot. That's really all there is to it. And it makes me want to go out and buy shoes. But it doesn't take much to make me want to buy shoes. The previews give away all the epic soundbytes ("sex isn't supposed to be comfortable!") but I still laughed at one and all.

Characteristically priceless advice from the CODE Prophet

Perhaps you've noticed that for a bar-inspired blog, this one has had precious little to do with the bar thus far. That's because I was trying not to say anything about it, whether in real life or the www until graduation. But alas, we can't all be purists.

I write now to convey some well reasoned and wise advice from a certain esteemed, brilliant, and french upholstery-enamoured professor (who passed the NY bar w/ a week of study, btw):

"BarBri teaches you way more than you need to pass the bar. If you think about it, knowing to much could be harmful. If you really know the law you'll end up doing badly on the Multistate [day-long, super-tricky multiple choice section referred to by the founder of PMBR as "one atomic skull-crusher after another for six hours"] because you'll realize that either none of the answer choices are true or that more than one is."

This guy is my idol, if for no other reason than because he never fails to remind one of one's mediocrity.

On Marriage

This is brilliant.

Consumer Review - Enviga

I've been eyeing it in the supermarket, I've been blogging about it, I've been innundated with the posters at the gym (it's marketed in there as a "workout in a can," essentially). And today I tried it for the first time. Green Tea flavor. Conditions were perfect, it was ice cold, I'd been in a hot car for over an hour (with an hour to go) - there was no excuse for it not to hit the spot. But despite this, it was so unbearably gross that notwithstanding my desperation for something refreshing (and caffinated - my only entertainment for this roadtrip was the PMBR property lecture), I was forced to reach for my half-day-old luke warm coffee instead. Here's the best description I've been able to compose: It's like someone threw some alka-seltzer tablets into diet tonic water and then added more nutra-sweet (specifically the kind in the pink packages) and some tannins. Chalky and dry with that bizzare plasticy-saccharine aftertaste, it truly made me feel a little sick.

Bottom line: At a buck fifty a pop, I don't care how many calories it burns or how much EGCG and calcium is dissolved in there - I'd rather go for a run or pay the $2 for a sugar-free Red Bull. That stuff is money.

Selective enforcement

Cocaine (the energy drink) has been deemed 'illegal' by the FDA. The problem seems to be that the company is making drug-like claims without having approval from the FDA from a drug-like product rather than simply a food product. But I think the real problem is that the FDA is uncomfortable with the marketing. It has the same name as an illegal drug, unlike 'red bull,' 'enviga,' or 'go girl.' And a suggestive font (read on).

This Cocaine is an energy drink produced by a Las Vegas company. It contains no actual cocaine but is being marketed as "The Legal Alternative" to the illegal drug, according to its website. Its logo appears to be spelled out in a white powder that resembles the drug.

The Food and Drug Administration said Redux Beverages was illegally marketing the drink as a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement, according to a warning letter dated April 4 that was released Wednesday. The FDA cites as evidence the drink's labeling and website, which include the statements "Speed in a
Can," "Liquid Cocaine" and "Cocaine — Instant Rush," according to the letter.

I've tried a lot of energy drinks and I don't know of many that don't make drug-like claims, take enviga which will boost your metabolism, and is "proven to help you burn calories." If this isn't a medical claim, I don't know what is. Plus it "provides 20% of the daily value for calcuim." How is this not marketing the drink as a dietary supplement? Note that milk makes a similar claim about calcium. And I think you could qualify just about anything we consume "street drug alternatives?"

In addition, dietary supplements cannot carry claims to prevent or treat a disease — something only drugs can do, according to the letter. The Cocaine website lists an ingredient called inositol and says it reduces cholesterol and helps prevent hardening of the arteries, among other health claims, the FDA said.

While we're at it, lets reclassify honey nut cherrios and quaker oatmeal.

"Your product, Cocaine, is a drug," the three-page letter reads in part. It's also a new drug and as such cannot be sold without FDA approval. In addition, the FDA said, the product is mislabeled because it doesn't include "adequate directions for its intended uses."

Drug yes. More of a drug than coffee or alcohol? No. Warnings I'll buy, I don't want kids to be having panic attacks or being rushed to the hospital in the middle of school and god knows the marketing poses a danger that the stuff will be over-used, but this is not the kind of thing anyone expects to find in the "No-Doze" or Vitamin section. If the FDA has a problem w/ the marketing and lack of warnings, that's fine, but by classifying the drink as a drug for the reasons in the letter, their regulations become unconstitutionally vague and overbroad (thank you PMBR). A better option would be getting the AG to prosecute for 'time place manner' violations in advertizing. Oh, the AG is tied up right now? My bad. Cheers.

When tax cuts become a Democratic platform

An idea whose time has come. Again, and again, and again.

The good:

Between now and the end of May, House Democratic leaders hope to draft a permanent overhaul of the [Alternative Minimum Tax] that would effectively exclude anyone who earns less than about $200,000 a year — about 97 percent of taxpayers.

The bad:

But that plan would leave a $1 trillion hole in the federal budget over the next decade, which Democrats would have to replace with revenues from other places or with spending cuts, under new “pay as you go” budget rules. Just postponing the expansion of the tax for one more year would reduce revenues by about $50 billion, according to Congressional budget projections.

And the ugly...

After his re-election in 2004, Mr. Bush vowed to overhaul the income tax and abolish the alternative minimum tax as part of the process. But even though he received recommendations from a handpicked advisory panel, Mr. Bush ignored the proposals and never came out with a plan of his own.

Well, I can see as how that would be difficult, what with not even being able to come up with a thought of his own. Oh but I exaggerate, I guess the war was his idea.

The Democrats themselves are divided on how to alter the alternative minimum tax. The Democrats’ chief tax-writer in the Senate, Max Baucus of Montana, has shown little enthusiasm for replacing it with tax increases in other areas. Earlier this year,... Mr. Grassley introduced a bill that would repeal the tax entirely, without trying to recoup the lost revenue from tax increases elsewhere. Mr. Baucus joined in sponsoring that bill.

Gramm-Rudman who?

And in yet another moment of lucid congressional logic...

“You’re talking about replacing a hidden tax which most people don’t even know about with an explicit tax,” said Leonard Burman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. “On policy grounds, it’s a good idea. On political grounds, it’s a lot easier to have the tax hidden.”

Good plan! Making the code so complex that the public doesn't even know they're paying taxes is certainly air-tight public policy.

Why is this not a bipartisan issue? Blame the Dems for this radical leftist plague of fiscal conservatism.

The House Democrats’ embrace of tax-cutting rhetoric stems in part from a pragmatic consideration: the alternative minimum tax has a disproportionate impact on Democratic-leaning states. That is because those states tend to have higher incomes, higher property values and higher state and local taxes — all factors that expose people under the alternative tax formula.

A new analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice, a liberal research group, predicts that almost one-quarter of all taxpayers in Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts will have to pay the alternative tax in 2007 unless Congress freezes it again. About one-fifth of all taxpayers in New York and California would be exposed.

RIP AMT

Vitamins are still bad for you

The battle of the experts (for grant $'s and patents) continues...

Looking at dozens of previous studies, Copenhagen University researchers suggested these appeared to raise, not lower, the risk of early death.

A supplements industry expert said the Journal of the American Medical Association study was fatally flawed.

But nutritionists said it reinforced the need to eat a balanced diet, rather than relying on supplements.

Note: this article doesn't offer much that wasn't included in the link from a previous post. BBC is behind the Times on this one. Ha ha.

Beijing's Penis Emporium

I guess boiled sheep testicles were just the beginning. This is completely grotesque, don't read it if you've eaten anything in the last hour. Do read it frequently if you're trying to lose weight because it's a guaranteed appetite supressant. I couldn't finish it and I've got a pretty strong stomach. Don't tell me how it ends.