STFU mccain
Headline: McCain Arbitrarily Picks Scapegoat for Financial Crisis

Yeah, the SEC is totally at fault for the entire banking/subprime/mortgage/credit crises. Rather than getting out the guillotine, why don't you try coming up with something that'd actually make a difference - maybe talk to some, oh, economists perhaps, come up with a lil' plan, something nice, hmm, something reasonable? fucking politicians.

More on why this is incredibly stupid later. busy with work at the moment.

p.s. - hey obama, this sounds like an opportunity...
- posted by vcmc @  9/18/2008 12:24:00 PM  |  0 comments

 
LOL financial ruin!
These amused me:

AIG insures Lehmann's UK rent payments. hah! financial karma.

McCain wants to put together a 9/11-style 'commission' to study the economic crisis. Oh! Really? Genius! Not like the Treasury, Fed, NBER, et al., do any of that stuff. I'm pretty sure they're just drunken economics-nerd parties full of drugs, debauchery and ethics violations.

LOL AIG's balance sheet! f-u-c-k-e-d!

Wannabe rich republican douchebag makes up story for big press! My intarnet time machine sends me word he's in jail for insurance fraud six months from now - or he, uh, "can't find the receipts".

Failed ex-CEO of HP questions McCain/Palin's ability to run a major corporation. Let's see... this is the exec who performed so poorly that the market thought HP was worth five billion dollars more (by my rough research of market caps) once they heard news of her firing. I'm sensing... um, some - uh, I think it's called... irony? - to this statement.
- posted by vcmc @  9/16/2008 07:08:00 PM  |  0 comments

 
inflammatory political commentary
if i was more irreverent (or just drunk all the time) I would think about getting/wearing this:

sarah palin is a cunt
(the cinelli hat's a nice touch too.)

ok, yeah, 'cunt' has the wrong implications in a political context, but i'd have voted for hillary for president over anyone - no matter how qualified - accompanied by palin on their ticket. unfortunately, "SARAH PALIN IS NOT FIT TO LEAD A NATION" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, nor does it fit on a t-shirt as well.
- posted by vcmc @  9/12/2008 12:23:00 PM  |  0 comments

 
How to: not kill your liver, or, "Tylenol + alcohol = very bad"
The drug warnings on the back of any Tylenol/acetaminophen bottle usually say something along the lines of, "Talk to your doctor before you take Acetaminophen or other fever reducers if you drink more than 3 drinks with alcohol per day."

That's reasonable, right? I think most people would understand that to mean you're fine unless you're essentially an alcoholic or, ahem, an "enthusiastic" social drinker.

Not so. The stats are as follows:
Approximate threshold for risk of permanent liver damage in a non-drinker: 20 normal tablets (500mg each),
Approximate threshold for risk of permanent liver damage in someone after several drinks: as little as 8 normal tablets. That's otherwise considered a safe dosage if taken over the course of 24 hours, as recommended by the manufacturer.

This occurs due to the fact that both alcohol and acetaminophen depend on the same chemical within the liver (glutathione) in order to be removed from the body. Alcohol is easier for the liver to process, so it 'hogs' the liver's supplies of glutathione, leaving acetaminophen to only be partially metabolized - the byproducts of which are severely toxic. Additionally, liver supplies of this chemical can remain depleted well after the last drink was consumed - sometimes up to 48 hours afterward - and can be further depleted without proper nutrition before or after drinking.

So:
- Don't take anything containing acetaminophen after drinking*. As a very rough rule of thumb, consider abstaining for at least:
12 hours if you've had up to 3 drinks
24 hours if you've had up to 6 drinks
36 hours if you've had more than 6 drinks
(where a drink is a 12oz of 5% beer, 5oz 12% wine, a shot (1.5oz) of 40% hard liquor, or equivalent)
- Check your labels! You might find acetaminophen where you don't expect - NyQuil, Percocet, Vicodin may contain it, to name a few.
- Consider ibuprofen as an alternative, as it is metabolized differently and will not cause toxicity - but take it with food or a glass of milk if you can, as it's irritating to the stomach and esophagus over the long term.

*There is a way to prevent this toxicity, but it's not practical unless you know about it in advance as it requires a specific nutritional supplement - and with viable alternatives to acetaminophen available, you might as well not take the risk anyway. I will cover this in more detail in a future post.

- posted by vcmc @  9/05/2008 07:46:00 PM  |  1 comments

 
How to: mitigate the negative health consequences of drinking, pt. 1
Drinking's a pretty big deal. (I should probably have some statistic about how many billions of dollars the industry's worth every year - but I'm lazy so go google it yourself). Lots of people do it - some in extreme moderation, some to excess, and everywhere in between... As any doctor will tell you, moderation is the simplest way to minimize health problems (or in some cases, confer health benefits) as a result, but realistically most people who drink reasonable amounts socially don't adhere to those limits.

So, having extensively studied the physiology and biochemistry of drinking, I, VCMC, M.D.*, will present a serialized, summarized guide in layman's terms - the application of which will help you with the following:
- Significantly reduce the incidence and severity of hangovers**
- Minimize the long-term health consequences of social drinking**
- Prevent or cure the HIV!

Stay tuned for updates!

*Not actually. I just spent too much time on Google Scholar reading medical abstracts is all.

**These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. The use of this blog is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
- posted by vcmc @  9/05/2008 07:23:00 PM  |  0 comments