Stronger And Smarter With Chocolate

The NY Times reports great news but surprisingly, it is great news only for conservatives:

To Improve a Memory, Consider Chocolate

Science edged closer on Sunday to showing that an antioxidant in chocolate appears to improve some memory skills that people lose with age.

In a small study in the journal Nature Neuroscience [link], healthy people, ages 50 to 69, who drank a mixture high in antioxidants called cocoa flavanols for three months performed better on a memory test than people who drank a low-flavanol mixture.

On average, the improvement of high-flavanol drinkers meant they performed like people two to three decades younger on the study’s memory task, said Dr. Scott A. Small, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center and the study’s senior author. They performed about 25 percent better than the low-flavanol group.

“An exciting result,” said Craig Stark, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in the research. “It’s an initial study, and I sort of view this as the opening salvo.”

He added, “And look, it’s chocolate. Who’s going to complain about chocolate?”

Who's going to complain? Seriously? Does he not know anything about the Times readership?

First, the study was partially funded by Mars, Inc., the privately held chocolate behemoth:

The findings support recent research linking flavanols, especiallyepicatechin, to improved blood circulation, heart health and memory in mice, snails and humans. But experts said the new study, although involving only 37 participants and partly funded by Mars Inc., the chocolate company, goes further and was a well-controlled, randomized trial led by experienced researchers.

 The Times later runs a disclaimer from the lead researcher, Dr. Small:

[Mars] funds many flavanol studies and approached Dr. Small for this one. (“I nearly threw them out,” said Dr. Small, who added that he later concluded that the company employed serious scientists who would not bias the research.) Mars financed about half the study; other funders were the National Institutes of Health and two research foundations.

Yeah, well, proper progressives will see through that and run away from the looming alliance between Big Food and Big Pharma.

To get the chocolate benefit an eager consumer faces some dubious choices:

But unless you are stocking up for Halloween, do not rush to buy Milky Way or Snickers bars. To consume the high-flavanol group’s daily dose of epicatechin, 138 milligrams, would take eating at least 300 grams of dark chocolate a day — about seven average-sized bars. Or possibly about 100 grams of baking chocolate or unsweetened cocoa powder, but concentrations vary widely depending on the processing. Milk chocolate has most epicatechin processed out of it.

Ahh, but what about raw cacao powder? Not so fast - among foodies, raw normally means no processing above 118 degress Fahrenheit, so as to avoid destroying vital nutrients. That standard is almost surely not being met even with lightly processed cacao. And do bear in mind the heavy metal question - lead and cadmium accumulate in cocao beans, although arguably at tolerable amounts.

So Plan C - read the research paper and use whatever supplement the researchers were using. Simple, yes? Well, for some of us. 

A cocoa flavanol-containing test drink prepared specifically for research purposes was produced by the food company Mars, Incorporated, which also partly supported the research, using a proprietary process to extract flavanols from cocoa beans. Most methods of processing cocoa remove many of the flavanols found in the raw plant.

Oh, no! Mars made the supplement being tested?!?The last lib standing has now hit the floor. And we haven't even covered whether the supplement is GMO-free from Fair Trade products harvested and processed by workers with health benefits and contraception benefits earning above the the minimum wage. And don't even ask about Locally Grown.

But for the rest of us, Mars actually offers high flavanol supplements through their subsidiary, CocoaVia. This may not be precisely what the researchers were using but I'll bet it is close. More on CocoaVia from the article:

Mars already sells a supplement, CocoaVia, which it says promotes healthy circulation, including for the heart and brain. It contains 20 to 25 milligrams of epicatechin per packet of powder or capsule serving, Dr. Schroeter said; 30 packets cost $34.95.

30 packets is costing more than $34.95 on Amazon, but at the CocoaVia website that is the current price. Quick math tells me that if the test subjects were getting 138 mg of epicatechin per day, I would need six or seven CocoaVia supplements a day to match that. What price better memory? Well, $7/day, apparently.

A review of other cocoa flavanol research is here. ACTICOA cocoa powder gets a mention. Here is their website; it is a Euro-based product selling in commercial quantities to food manufacturers. Barry Callebaut and Mars have aligned (as of 2010) on producing and promoting flavanols.

OOPS, I FORGOT. Yes, the headline to this post promised "Stronger" as well as "Smarter". Some research suggests that epicatechin, one of the active flavanols described above, promotes the retention of muscle mass. And a quick PubMed search indicates that this human mini-test was building on promising studies performed on mice and rats. Yes, truly a Golden Age for mice.

Comments

[Jeff Dobbs]

Is this what Ray Nagin was talking about?

[NKreBootDeux]

I've got 3 bars of Ghiardelli 80% dark chocolate at home right now, one with caramel sea Salt... yummmm.

[Jack is Back]

Wonderful. Another reason for Mrs. JiB to continue her Belgian fancy for deep dark chocolate. The Belgian's even have it for breakfast by sprinkling it on their toast or taking bars and breaking them into pieces and putting them in buttered rolls.

Don't get me started on Nutella.

[NKreBootDeux]

I wonder if they serve milk chocolate where Nagin is serving time. Our Fla commenters can add details, but a vicious hurricane hit southern Fla 10/25/85, and a year earlier in 2004 2 serious hurricanes hit Fla. Ole Jeb Bush/FEMA handled those emeergencies with little loss of life. Yes NO has serious topo/hydro flooding issues, but Nagin and that b*&#* former governor were recklessly negligent or worse in September '05 and have blood on their hands.

[GMax]

Apparently one Brett Hulsey who ran and lost in the Democrat primary in Wisconsin for Governor has not given up and is waging a write in campaign for the post. Probably nothing of consequence, but in a tight race every vote he takes from Burke is a good thing...

[James D.]

Nagin and that b*&#* former governor were recklessly negligent or worse in September '05 and have blood on their hands.

Yes, and the MSM does, too.

[henry]

GMax, Hulsey went to the WI GOP convention wearing a CSA uniform. Perfect magnet for Madison loons, but they are too lazy to write in anyone. He won't get over 100 votes.

[narciso]

I don't remember the one in 1985, but I recall the season in 2004, that was when Jim Wolcott
was all atwitter, they nitpicked at Mike Brown's efforts, there was a fellow on Drudge's
radio show, a professor from LSU, that warned of New Orleans precarious position,

[henry]

One week from the election, unions sue Walker over minimum wage. Dane County (Madison) judge, expect a ruling by next Monday to drive the vote.

[BR]

Ha, who knew snails had memories! Wonder if they asked the snails about their past lives :)

[Sandy fallow districts~engorged capital Daze]

Two threads in one; combining daddy's investigation into Japanese color-blindness investigations, with M&Ms, what's not to like ?

[NKreBootDeux]

sorry for the typo-- it was a 2005 Hurricane Wilma. A vicious storm, yet Florida wasn't on the Legacy Media news for weeks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Wilma

[NKreBootDeux]

sorry for the typo-- it was 2005 hurriccane Wilma. Vicious storm, yet the Legacy Medi didn't spend weeks on Fla -- wonder why: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Wilma

[NKreBootDeux]

woops-- first did post.

[Jack is Back]

October 24th, 2005, Hurricane Wilma: The last hurricane to make landfall in Florida. 9 years last week without a hurricane in the State. Scott has not had to deal with that and he's lucky because one like Wilma will break the bank on our state funded insurance.

[narciso]

Oh you mean, Bam Bam, I remember that one, I was without power, for the better part of two weeks, they thought they had covered GOP malevolence with Katrina, and then they ridiculed the response with Rita, narratives have little to do with reality,

[NKreBootDeux]

so SNL writers find the time to mock Obummer now that his open borders madness makes their subway rides more precarious? Precious.

[BR]

For Beasts: May there be much schadenfreude soufflé in this your birthday week! Aha, another reason why you're so likeable, you're a Scorpion!

[NKreBootDeux]

is it BoE's birthday?

[Dave (in MA)]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2014/10/26/charlie-baker-for-governor/r4Yymw55jVr20D53EhUIkK/story.html

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/10/27/video-snl-mocks-entire-obama-tenure-in-ebola-skit/

I woke up in the Bizarro universe.

[narciso]

When they could have done something, they didn't, they actually abetted him, specially a certain gal from South Darby, PA.

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2014/10/27/sharyl-attkisson-a-government-related-entity-bugged-my-computer/

[peter]

happy birthday beasts,. I can't believe Christie caved. I was just about to forget Hurricane Sandy

[Beasts of England]

@BR: thanks for the soufflé! And I don't think I've ever been called 'likeable', that's quite a compliment. I do embrace the Scorpio sign, though.

[NKreBootDeux]

Happy B-Day BoE!

[Jeff Dobbs]

Wednesday is Beasts b-day, but he declared yesterday the start of b-day week.

In fact, I'm headed out Wed-Sun for some beach time on Bald Head to celebrate with him in spirit.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Any one else on the edge of their seat waiting and wondering if today will be just a two thread day or a six thread day?

The suspense is killing me.

[Beasts of England]

Thanks, NK! It's actually on Wednesday, I just started the party a few days early. And am paying the price with a fine hangover this morning. lol

[NKreBootDeux]

If Coakley does croak, it would be just desserts, as her misconduct regarding the Amiraults is one of the worst government abuses of power of the past 40 years.

[James D.]

Happy birthday week, Beasts!

[James D.]

The fact that, even if she loses, something close to half the MA electorate would vote for Coakley, even after she demonstrated she would destroy innocent lives solely to further her own career, and never apologize or even look back - that makes me both depressed and sick.

[Beasts of England]

The nurse was released? Good grief! A fine flip-flop by Christie. I'm sure that wont come back to haunt his aspirations, right?

[matt]

Beasts, you are one of the few, the chosen few, to deserve a week of birthday.

Out here the LA Times is calling voter ID the new racism in an editorial this am. The Crazy gets stronger every day.

[Iggy]

Ralph Peters on the absurdity of jaw-jawing fanatical muslims.
At first I thought he was being a bit uncharacteristically intemperate toward our trusty president but then realized he was just talking about the ideas in Barry's idiot head;

The latest vogue in Washington is a bastard, idiot child of liberal parentage, of the “non-judgmental” Left’s conviction that Iran can be talked into giving up any thought of nuclear weapons; that Vladimir Putin will succumb to our logic and vacate Ukrainian territory; and that people who hate each other (with good reason) can be cajoled to resurrect Iraq.

[Iggy]

In = Mounds
Out = Almond Joy

[James D.]

The really idiotic thing is, the qwuarantine doesn't even need to be all that bad.

Just route all U.S. citizens coming back from the infected countries to one airport, and one airline (or, better, put them all on charter flights that fly in three times a week).

Rent out a hotel/motel near the airport to serve as the quarantine facility. Dedicate a bus to shuttle returnees straight from the charter terminal to the hotel. Staff the hotel with CDC personnal (I'm sure, since it's so hard to catch ebola, there would be no shortage of volunteers).

Cover the returnees under FMLA so they can't lose their jobs for being unavailable during the quarantine period. Heck, pay them $1,000 a week stipend for the inconvenince, too. Let them order take-out food (it can be dropped off on in the parking lot), give them cable or satellite TV, provide internet access and free laptops or iPads, order whatever books or games they ask for.

Thirty days there, and then assuming they're still symptom-free, they can go home. They're treated comfortably and with dignity, public health is protected, problem is solved.

If the ACLU still wants to sue because we're giving people a nice hotel room, $1,000 a week and free pizza for a month so we can ensure they don't pass a deadly disease on to others, let them go to court on that.

[NKreBootDeux]

JamesD-- I would your quarantine plan would get about 80% agreement amongst voters.

[Dave (in MA)]

Out here the LA Times is calling voter ID the new racism in an editorial this am. The Crazy gets stronger every day./blockquote>One side thinks that minorities are too stupid to get IDs, the other side is racist.

[Dave (in MA)]

Nice typing there.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

"I don't remember the one in 1985, but I recall the season in 2004,"

You need more chocolate.

Seriously, if this thing were true, I'd have the memory of an elephant/supercomputer, but, alas, the one thing I can remember is how bad my memory has become.

[Jack is Back]

Today is the 50th anniversary of Reagans "A Time for Choosing" speech. I suggest you read it and contemplate how much little has changed. Taxes, spending, debt, freedom, rights, etc. Very compelling.

http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/timechoosing.html

[clarice]

Iggy, do you suppose this moral jaw-jaw position is held by lots of people who fear taking a stand? I do. wusses for the most part, I think.

[RickB]

"the one thing I can remember is how bad my memory has become"

That will pass as well.

[clarice]

H B , Beasts.

[MarkO]

Happy Birthday BoE.

[Marlene]

The nurse has been released.The boyfriend isn't talking. He is in clinical training at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. He is in the nursing program at Univ. of Maine at Fort Kent. The boyfriend won't give an update on Kaci Hickox and the hospitals in Maine have received no information about her. Isn't it interesting how they have been media hogs since her arrival on Friday and now they want privacy.

[centralcal]

Hey Beasts, my oldest daughter shares a birthday with you (Wednesday, is it?). She has many of your personality traits (as displayed here on this blog) - ha ha. You Scorpios are something else! *wink*

Have a great Birthday Week and Day (when it arrives) and Year ahead!

[GMax]

Still behind the paywall, but thanks to a paying customer at RAS we have an up to date look at Colorado. You are going to like this one:

CO Senate

Gardner (R) 51%
Udall (D) 45%

Boom!

[Iggy]

Kevin McCarthy who replaced Cantor sounds pretty smart and has a good plan.
Not sure he ever stated a sound philosophical reason for his plan, so not sure if it will matter, but at least he appears to be thinking about actually winning, even if I'm not sure what he wants to win.

[Iggy]

--Iggy, do you suppose this moral jaw-jaw position is held by lots of people who fear taking a stand? I do. wusses for the most part, I think.--

clarice,
IMO, the vast majority of those who wish to reason with the unreasonable are liberals who are themselves incapable of reason.
They break down into your subgroup of wusses who live a life of perennial fear and safety-seeking and the hard leftists who jaw-jaw islam as a pretense, while actually encouraging it because it is engaged in the same project they are; destroying Western Civilization.

[glasater]

I gave the cocoavia site a quick look over checking to see if the company added some Tumeric to their potion. Tumeric is also said to be good for memory and have been sprinkling it on/in various foods.
I think its all good :-)

[glasater]

*˛˚ ♫ ♪* ˚˚ ✰* ★Happy Birthday Week, Beasts! ✰˚♫ ˛★*♫♫*˛ ˚* ✰

[clarice]

That's a good analysis, Iggy.

[MarkO]

It's not his birthday? That's not how it works. That not how any of this works.

Take the week off.

[Janet]

Your 11:27 is a great point, Dave.

What James wrote about Christie on the other thread is so true too.

"But when it's the lives of actual human beings, he can't stand up to an editorial in the NYT or a pack of lies from the corrupt jackasses at the CDC."

And it seems like 99% of all politicians would rather represent citizens of other countries rather than their own citizens!

It has all gotten too weird.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Do the high flavenol supplements taste like chocolate? If so, I'm all in.

[Threadkiller]

Once they redefined "citizen", Janet, the rest was easy.

[henry]

Hmmm. JEF lends merde touch to MD race. 9 point swing down for Dem after people walk out of JEF speech. Or it could have been Christie campaigning for the R. If not an outlier, maybe the combination of JEF in Milwaukee tomorrow plus Christie campaigning with Walker this week will generate similar magic. (or I can avoid chocolate & tumeric and forget government exists).

[Extraneus]

Joint Chiefs call for quarantine of troops returning from Ebola zone

[NKreBootDeux]

Gas prices are dropping quickly and getting close to $3/regular average. There are wide variables, formula requirements in various regions, but of course taxes are the primary driver of that disparity. Here's a handy reminder of taxes by state: http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/API-US-Map.jpg

[MarkO]

The other evening, contrary to my good judgment, I was discussing politics with a self-described liberal. She was waxing poetic about the Republicans need to find moderates, someone who could support gay marriage and be pro-choice and see the need for immigration.

I asked her who among the Democrats would reach across the divide and support gun rights, a constitutional right.

She got up, left the room and literally disappeared into the night.

Liberals are all just one sentence deep.

[Captain Hate]

I don't know how many of you remember my writing about a documentary I saw earlier in the year about a strange photographer, Vivian Maier; it was by the BBC and was a fascinating portrait of somebody whose work wasn't discovered until after she was dead but is a wonderful collection of street photography, which I ordinarily find uninteresting, which she did while working as a nanny to a number of families and just stored away unseen. It featured a number of people who knew her, including children for whom she was the nanny, but there was a mention of one person who declined to be interviewed because he had bought boxes of her undeveloped film and negatives in an auction from the storage locker where she had kept them and other things, and was planning to do his own movie. His name is John Maloof and this morning I watched "Finding Vivian Maier" and it's probably even better told than what I saw in February. I'm a big fan of documentaries it they're done well (if they aren't they're just bad movies) and I highly recommend this to anybody who cares about art or the human condition. I laughed out loud at least three times while watching it. Plus it has a nice jab at the snobs at MOMA who rejected a chance to display her work.

[boris]

Sounds like Rush has been reading JOM lately.

What purpose do US care workers serve? Seems like they're getting their halo so shiny they don't have to submit to quarantine.
Also mentioned dog quarantine in Hawaii.

[Captain Hate]

She was waxing poetic about the Republicans need to find moderates, someone who could support gay marriage and be pro-choice and see the need for immigration.

Unfortunately Top Men are swayed by this type of claptrap. Excellent response, btw; I've mentally stored it in case I have an opportunity to employ it as you did.

[lyle]

She was waxing poetic about the Republicans need to find moderates, someone who could support gay marriage and be pro-choice and see the need for immigration.

So, she justs wants these "moderates" to vote dem, then. Too bad there are so many Rs already in Congress who want the same thing.

[lyle]

Oops, sorry, CH.

[narciso]

So Carlos Slim's is up with their revised chocolate ration count, I was right after all,
'Congi City has never won the FA Cup', it takes skill to lose nine points in Maryland, in a week,

[Danube on iPad]

I believe the nurse's release was conditioned on her leaving the state by private aircraft.

[boris]

"She got up, left the room and literally disappeared into the night"

Riding her slow motion horse no doubt.

[Bori]

So the former/current EIS CDC nurse got released? Why am I not surprised?

[Threadkiller]

According to this report Christie's office "blasted" out a statement that the nurse was leaving on a private plane, Danube.

The lawyer for the nurse said nothing has been arranged though.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/26/politics/ebola-quarantine-christie-white-house/index.html

For the record. I only scanned the first page of the article.

[Captain Hate]

No need to apologize, lyle; it just confirms how flawed the party of stoopid's strategery is.

[sbw]

Dear Kaci,

Just because you are outraged doesn’t mean you aren’t incubating Ebola.

[cathyf]

Thirty days there, and then assuming they're still symptom-free, they can go home. They're treated comfortably and with dignity, public health is protected, problem is solved.

The math still doesn't work -- the quarantined people need to be quarantined FROM the other quarantined people, not WITH them. Otherwise, you get somebody who catches ebola on the 29th day of the quarantine from somebody else in there, and gets released and goes out and infects people.

If you are going to have a group quarantine like that you will need to keep everyone for however many days after the last person arrives or after the last person gets ebola, whichever is LATER.

[Jeff Dobbs]

"Thom Tillis is a real leader. He understands the threats we face today, and he'll do whatever it takes to ensure we leave a safer America for our children.

"The stakes are too high to keep sending the same people back to Washington. With the threats facing America, we can't risk another six years of Kay Hagan."
--stuff John Bolton said emailed

[Jeff Dobbs]

TK:
For the record. I only scanned the first page of the article.

What model Xerox did you use?

[Threadkiller]

The Xerox Composite 2008, Hit.

If I had the 2011 model I could scan 9 pages at the same time.

[Marlene]

The Maine media is getting their information about Kaci from the national media,so info is scarce. I have read that both Eastern Maine Medical and Northern Maine Medical have not been contacted about her.That makes sense,because the designated hospital in Maine is Maine Medical in Portland. If she travels to Fort Kent and begins to show symptoms (while under self-quarantine) in their house in the woods,then good luck. Fort Kent is 300+ miles north of Portland. The logistics will be interesting.

[Dave (in MA)]

In Spain they incinerate your dog. In the US, you go bowling.

[Threadkiller]

Where was the release Nurse Freebola lawyer when Justina Pelletier was locked up?

Maybe he will take action on this:

Jaxon Adams is only eight and is mildly autistic. He just wants to go home, but he can’t. His parents are being treated like criminals because they dared question authority and ask for a second opinion about the care of their child under Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. Advocates for the family are fighting to get their story told because the family has received threats telling them to shut up about their son’s case or else.

http://www.inquisitr.com/1565015/hospital-seizes-custody-when-eight-year-old-jaxons-parents-ask-for-a-second-opinion/

[Old Lurker]

OT...always pay attention to Narc for book advice.

Even after he warned us off it, I read the third Ken Follet book and almost threw up. I had no idea what a left wing propagandist he is and how shallow is his take on the same history I lived through. What a waste of good reading time...

[James D.]

If you are going to have a group quarantine like that you will need to keep everyone for however many days after the last person arrives or after the last person gets ebola, whichever is LATER.

True. Maybe they each get their own room, which they can't leave. Or all people who come in on a given week get put on the same floor and they're limited to that area.

I'm sure some system could be worked out to keep people sufficiently isolated and yet keep them reasonably comfortable.

But since our "leaders" don't seem to care at all about endangering all of us, as long as they can keep their illusions about open borders and get pats on the head from the editors of the NYT, it doesn't really matter anyway.

[sbw]

Has anyone researched whether the Census bureau in the White House has been passing information to the Democrat GOTV program.

That would be an interesting question for the House Oversight Committee.

[RickB]

Kaci's $20K20day "We care enough to kill." lapel button used resources which could have supported 10 Liberian families for a year. Alternatively, the resources used to inflate her ego could have been used to train 100 Ebola survivors to provide all the "care" which Kaci delivered in 20 days for the duration of the epidemic.

It's hard to determine whether Christie or Kaci is the bigger fool in this clown show.

[Captain Hate]

Where was the release Nurse Freebola lawyer when Justina Pelletier was locked up?

Justina wasn't some America hating whore who appeals to ambulance chasers.

[Carol Herman]

Okay. A bright person goes to school and aces all the hard courses. Calculus. triginometry. These days, computer science. And, also aces chemistry (the toughest), and biology, where there's not much interest in monkeys.

Graduates. And, looks around for a field of study. And, falls into a box of chocolates.

Could'a become a scientist on cake batter. But, no. Chooses instead to study monkeys. To really, really watch them. And, to see what they remember when they eat chocolates. (Not bananas.)

I'd have put my money on bananas, instead. But my math skills were meh.

[Old Lurker]

The default choice is Christie, Rick.

Always.

[lyle]

Even after he warned us off it, I read the third Ken Follet book and almost threw up. I had no idea what a left wing propagandist he is and how shallow is his take on the same history I lived through. What a waste of good reading time...

Almost verbatim response from my M-I-L last Sat night at dinner, OL. She took it to read on her trip to Thailand. My wife is crestfallen as she loved the first two, was looking forward to this one, and has been a Follet fan for some time. Credit to narc.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of narc, somebody else shares his skepticism of "lone wolf":

http://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2014/10/26/the-big-lone-wolf-dodge/

[Carol Herman]

When it comes to "write-in" votes, the star is Mickey Mouse.

Here, in CA, the writing is done on your ballot flap. Not enough to write in a name, you have to write in the "category" ... For a judge? Which judge?

Usually judges (in CA),run "unencumbered." In other words, no oppositional candidate. This year, however, below each judges name was a box that said "no."

My happy ballot said "no" every time I saw the option. Including all the "propositions."

Before this year where judges faced a choice of a "no vote" ... it used to be a category I'd just skip. (Except for Alex Kazinski, who holds a Federal Circuit position on the 9th.)

[James D.]

TK @ 1:19

Wow. The story at your link is every bit as horrifying as the Justina Pelletier story. It makes me wonder how many more of these stories are out there that we're not hearing about.

I found it especially chilling that the hotshot doctor who has secret access to all medical records has diagnosed over 40 cases of Munchausens by Proxy just in one city just this year.

I used to wonder how people could sit by and watch while the Nazis built the camps and murdered people by the trainload. I don't anymore.

[Carol Herman]

Christie is no longer a choice! Too many Americans remember that he interfered with morning traffic. The stuff that gets you to work. And, a smart politician wouldn't touch by putting cones in the road.

Of course, the media won't help you figure out that it was about BILLIONS! Billions sit in Ft. Lee, NJ. Where IF a new road goes in ... new development has access to NYC without having to go even a quarter of a mile out of the way.

Not for nothing that happened!

Then, of course, the stupid party could run with Jeb.

The only thing worse than the GOP bench is the bench that belongs to the NY JETS.

[lyle]

There will be more of these:

http://thehill.com/opinion/ab-stoddard/221707-ab-stoddard-what-if-dems-win

[Iggy]

--Has anyone researched whether the Census bureau in the White House has been passing information to the Democrat GOTV program. --

IIRC they proposed moving it there but abandoned the idea early on.
Of course I have no doubt the Census Bureau is doing exactly what you suspect, SBW, just out of their old offices.

[Carol Herman]

James D: People subjected to the confinement could end up with Ebola, by getting it HERE. It just takes one passenger. (Like DUNCAN.)

Duncan gave it to two people. And, in Africa it's the same. Every infected person infects TWO people. Lots of other people don't get it. And, some? Have antibodies showing their blood is resistant.

Immunity is how vaccines work.

I remember with polio, back when I was a kid living in Brooklyn, summers came and parents refused to let their kids go anywhere near the water. As big as your Atlantic Ocean is, parents refused to allow their kids to swim at Brighton Beach or Coney Island. (Swimming was considered dangerous.)

[Old Lurker]

Lyle at least your MIL had the excuse that she was trapped on a plane with only one book. I slogged through the damn thing on my iPad and could have gone on to the next book with two clicks.

[Marlene]

I just read the St. John Valley website. The NJ Dept. of Health's press release said officials in Maine have been contacted and will determine her status when she arrives in Maine. That doesn't make sense. She won't accept quarantine in NJ,she sure won't accept in Maine. Christie violated her human rights.Ha! Wait until she hears from Lepage.

[lyle]

You froze, then, OL? ;)

[Jack is Back]

lyle @1:39 is another reflection of my own dark mood when it comes to this election. I will never forget our unfettered exuberance - Obama is going to be shitcanned - in 2012 ony to let down on our own petards.

RickB's "Free Shit Army" will not go quietly. I expect the worse in order to be pleasantly surprised.

Signed,

Your Friend Eeyore

[Old Lurker]

Go to the Follet book on Amazon and click on the 255 one-star reviews. I read the first ten and they were dead on.

Shorter suggestion: pay attention to Narc.

[Porchlight]

I hear you, JiB. But in 2012 the polls were against us; in 2014 the polls are with us.