Last fall, Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert was playing the best basketball of his careeruntil November 12, when he dislocated his foot in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was an injury far too gruesome to show on replay, the kind involving a mangled extremity that causes teammates and opponents to collectively shake their heads in disbelief while the crowd sits in absolute silence. (Seriously, dont Google it.) Except, LeVert remembers, it didnt actually hurt that much. At first.

I was more mad than anything, he says. I wasnt even thinking of the pain, which was probably partially adrenaline and disbelief. It didnt hit me until we got in the ambulance 15 minutes after they carted me off the court, and my trainer was talking to metrying to distract me. Next thing I know, theyre jerking my foot, and thats when I realized, Oh, this is real. That moment was the worst pain Ive ever felt.

Remarkably, after doctors popped LeVerts foot back into place, no surgery was required. He missed three months, but returned to action in February. He had an (understandably) up-and-down remainder of the season, but capped it off with an impressive performance in the first round of the playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers.

This offseason, LeVert prioritized strengthening his foot and ankle by employing a variety of balancing drills, while also squeezing in a healthy amount of hooping. LeVert logged four-a-days: two on-the-court workouts and two off-the-court workouts. Thats an encouraging development for Nets fans hoping hell emerge as the teams second star this season, behind Kyrie Irving (and third star next season when Kevin Durant presumably returns after suffering a ruptured Achilles.)

A few weeks ago, I spoke to LeVert about the full extent of his offseason routine, recent changes to his diet, and his affection for float tanks. At the time of our conversation, LeVert was gearing up for his first-ever trip to China as part of a preseason double-header against the Los Angeles Lakers, and Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey had yet to fire off his fateful tweet about Hong Kong. LeVert said he was looking forward to the overseas experience, which presumably became a bit more complicated than originally anticipated.

GQ: Can you walk me through a normal day for you this offseason?

Caris LeVert: I took about two weeks off after we lost to the 76ers in the playoffs. After that, I started my workouts here in Brooklyn. First, Id get some breakfast inusually two or three eggs, some veggies like broccoli, and I love oatmeal in the morning, too. Id head to the gym around 9 a.m. to do a 30-minute lift. We call those correctives, where youre more working on balance drills, hamstrings, and core work. The Nets are big on that. The corrective workout isnt your typical lift, but it helps strengthen your little muscles.

Then, Id have an hour-and-a-half workout on the court, and after that is a bigger upper- or lower-body lift. Id get some treatment, do some more balance drills to strengthen my ankle back up. Then Id usually go home and take a nap, chill for a couple hours, and head back to the gym later that night and get a bunch of shots up.

Have you always stuck to a healthy-sounding diet?

No, thats been the biggest adjustment the past couple of years: I wasnt really very educated on what makes up a healthy diet. In college, I would eat a lot of Five Guys and burgers. Everybody eats differently, but thats not the best for your digestive system, and Ive learned that over the years. Now I stay away from pork, beef, and things like that. I stick to chicken a couple times a week, and I eat a lot of fish and veggies. I dont really like fruit, so I drink a lot of smoothies to get my fruit intake up.

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Caris LeVert: The Real-Life Diet of the NBA Player Who Swears by Fruit Smoothies - GQ

Gov. Cuomo has been using state police to patrol deep into the boroughs (claiming theyre just patrolling MTA bridges and tunnels sure, right), which feels menacing and police state-y.

Now it turns out that the governor has hired another 500 state cops at a cost of $663 million over 10 years to knock down the straw man of fare evasion in the subway (a barely worth mentioning minor crime that is disproportionately enforced against people of color). Oh, and if that isnt bad enough, Gothamist reported on Monday that these friendly neighborhood officers wont have body cameras like the NYPD.

So thats roughly $125,000 per cop per year to criminalize poverty and do so in a way thats unaccountable. Your tax dollars at work. (Counterpoint? The MTA says aggressive enforcement is working, as the Post reported, though the Wall Street Journal reported just the opposite.)

Now, the rest of the days news:

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Tuesday's Headlines: What Could Possibly Go Wrong Edition - Streetsblog New York

You don't want to ever get too close to a piranha, but if you did, you'd notice something rather strange: these freshwater fish shed their old teeth in groups, one side of the mouth at a time, with new teeth growing in as replacements simultaneously.

A new study has found that an interlocked half mouth of new teeth wait in 'crypts' underneath the old teeth, allowing them to instantly take over once the previous teeth fall out.

The researchers who discovered this rather unusual odontological manoeuvering which happens several times in a piranha's life say it might have evolved from the piranha's main needs to guard against tooth loss, and always ready for feeding.

Previous research had already established that piranhas lost their teeth one side of the mouth at a time, but the exact mechanism for how they were being replaced had remained a mystery until now no museum specimens had ever appeared showing the creatures with half a mouth of teeth missing.

(University of Washington)

"I think in a sense we found a solution to a problem that's obvious, but no one had articulated before," says biologist Adam Summers, from the University of Washington.

"The teeth form a solid battery that is locked together, and they are all lost at once on one side of the face. The new teeth wear the old ones as 'hats' until they are ready to erupt. So, piranhas are never toothless even though they are constantly replacing dull teeth with brand new sharp ones."

Using detailed computed tomography or CT scans, the team looked at 93 deceased specimens of piranhas and their plant-eating cousins pacus, sampled across 40 species.

By adding in other types of imaging, tissue staining, hereditary analysis, and the study of fish specimens being held in museums, a detailed picture of what was happening began to appear: as the old teeth wear out, new ones wait in a sort of 'crypt' underneath.

Additionally, the rows of teeth form a strong interlocking block, according to the researchers, and this helps to explain why the fish still shed teeth in groups and haven't developed the habit of losing them individually.

(Frances Irish/Moravian College)

"When one tooth wears down, it becomes hard to replace just one," says biologist Matthew Kolmann, from George Washington University.

"Once you link teeth together, if one wears too much, it becomes like a missing link in an assembly line. They all have to work together in a coordinated way."

With a diet that can rely on being able to chomp through flesh, scales, bones, plants and more, these fish don't want to be left without a set of sharp teeth to call upon and this newly discovered replacement process makes sure that's the case.

Having teeth interlocked together likely gives piranhas extra stability when chewing, as the stress is more evenly spread out. There is some variety, though, in the locking mechanisms used by different piranhas and pacus.

There are still questions to be asked here for example, is it the new teeth pushing upwards, or the old teeth finally wearing out, that triggers the switch? Scientists will have to run further studies to find out, but part of the success of this current study has been in showing that museum collections still have scientific value.

"The motivation for this work came out of an effort to take those collections and come up with new ways of learning about the biology of fish," says Kolmann.

The research has been published in Evolution & Development.

Read more:
Piranhas Have a New Set of Pointy Sharp Teeth Waiting in 'Crypts' Ready to Emerge - ScienceAlert

Did you know that the 16th of October is celebrated as World Food Day? Well, with so much going on in our lives Blackouts from Eishkom, the DAs federal chair election and the traffic to and from work, I wouldnt be surprised if this particular day didnt even register in your mind last week. According to the United Nations (UN), the theme for World Food Day 2019 was Our Actions Are Our Future. Healthy Diets for A #ZeroHunger World. It focuses on tackling global hunger. There are so many healthy diets competing for our attention that we have to...

Did you know that the 16th of October is celebrated as World Food Day? Well, with so much going on in our lives Blackouts from Eishkom, the DAs federal chair election and the traffic to and from work, I wouldnt be surprised if this particular day didnt even register in your mind last week.

According to the United Nations (UN), the theme for World Food Day 2019 was Our Actions Are Our Future. Healthy Diets for A #ZeroHunger World. It focuses on tackling global hunger.

There are so many healthy diets competing for our attention that we have to demystify the topic of a healthy diet. We also have to emphasise how exercising without eating correctly wont help us get our weight right.

However, for someone like me who grew up in abject poverty, a day like this will always be acknowledged. It is personal, and as a mentor to more than 60 young men, I thought it would be befitting to invite someone to speak to them and teach them about healthy diets.

So on Saturday, I organised a dietitian to be a guest speaker in one of the sessions I hold for my mentees. Over the years I have spent with them, I have overlooked the issues around their body image.

To be quite frank, I became a typical man, and thought that body image challenges were womens issues. We, as men, dont stress about such things.

However, 2019 proved my backward-thinking convictions wrong. I am more worried now about what I eat, how much I weigh and how well I fit into my clothes. And, certainly, I dont want to be obese.

The self-consciousness took me back to the days when I was a teenager. I remembered how I was mocked for being so tall and skinny. My fellow learners at school would tell me that I was so boney that if a strong wind blew they would have to set up a search party to find me.

My self-esteem took a serious knock. I started having confidence issues. I had to be conscious about what I said to ensure it wouldnt backfire and get me mocked.

I heard the boys make unpalatable remarks to each other about their weight and the big portions of food they ingested.

I have learnt that, as boys and men, we neglect our diets until its almost too late. We carry on as if the chesanyama we have every second day doesnt affect us. We neglect eating fruit and vegetables but are surprised when we are diagnosed with serial killers like hypertension.

It is our responsibility to nourish our bodies and to check what we eat. As young boys, our bodies can take in the junk we consume. However, the older we get, the body deteriorates.

The reality is that the development of boys requires that we have healthy diets. There is no beauty in poverty or not having money. Nevertheless, I have realised that I used to eat better with less. Money doesnt encourage one to eat healthier, but to eat a lot of food that kills us.

Furthermore, World Food Day provides an occasion to highlight the plight of 870 million undernourished people in the world.

I live in rural Pankop, and I hope that the boys will start recognising the importance of healthy diets. In doing so, we will also encourage each other as boys and men to consult a dietitian every now and then.

Kabelo Chabalala is the founder and chairperson of the Young Men Movement (YMM), an organisation that focuses on the reconstruction of the socialisation of boys to create a new cohort of men. Email: kabelo03chabalala@gmail.com; Twitter: @KabeloJay; Facebook: Kabelo Chabalala

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We carry on as if that chesanyama every other day isnt killing us - Citizen

Life expectancy is falling in America, and the obesity epidemic is one of the causes.

Weve all heard alarming stories and seen the evidence. An astonishing two-thirds of adults, and nearly 30% of children are overweight or obese. Obesity-related illness is costing America $190.2 billion or nearly 21% of annual medical spending in the United States.

Adult-onset diabetes is now so common in children that the name of the illness was changed to Type 2 diabetes. Each year, the National Institutes of Health reports, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is increasing by 4.8 percent among children and teens. Then there is the astonishing prediction by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that one in three children born in the United States in 2000 will likely develop type 2 diabetes sometime in their lifetime unless they get more exercise and improve their diets.

Ask most people, and they will have a theory about obesity. Some stigmatize the obese saying they lack willpower. Others believe particular nutrients such as fats, carbs or sugars are to blame for our alarming obesity pandemic, Ellen Ruppel Shell reports in her essay, A New Theory of Obesity, in the October 2019 Scientific American.

Those who believe that carbs are the culprit might gravitate towards a keto or paleo diet, while thinking they can safely binge on a pint of Halo Top. Others, believing that fats are the culprit, might try a low-fat vegan diet, but then innocently partake of junk food binges on fat-free SnackWells.

Shells essay relates findings from multiple studies revealing a new theory of obesity. As nutrition researcher Kevin Hall began his research, he too felt certain he would find that carbs were behind our obesity crisis. Instead Hall found obesity is caused by how much ultraprocessed food is in our diet, not the percentage of carbs or fats we eat. Shell explains Halls work:

[Halls] studies suggest that a dramatic shift in how we make the food we eatpulling ingredients apart and then reconstituting them into things like frosted snack cakes and ready-to-eat meals from the supermarket freezerbears the brunt of the blame. This ultraprocessed food, he and a growing number of other scientists think, disrupts gut-brain signals that normally tell us that we have had enough, and this failed signaling leads to overeating.

Halls studies found that people ate hundreds more calories of ultraprocessed than unprocessed foods when they were encouraged to eat as much or as little of each type as they desired. The result was significant weight gain.

Ultraprocessed foods are ubiquitous in our diets. Shell reports,

An estimated 58 percent of the calories we consume and nearly 90 percent of all added sugars come from industrial food formulations made up mostly or entirely of ingredientswhether nutrients, fiber or chemical additivesthat are not found in a similar form and combination in nature.

Some ultraprocessed foods, such as candy and soda, are obvious. Other foods might seem like benign or even healthful products such as commercial breads, processed meats, flavored yogurts and energy bars but are ultraprocessed.

Reading food labels, you can often identify ultraprocessed foods by long-lists of ingredients that you would never have at home, synthetic flavors and colors, emulsifiers, preservatives, and thickeners.

Recently my wife and I were hungry after a long hike. We stopped at the supermarket and grabbed what looked like a healthy optionorganic tortellini. After ravenously eating our dinner, we were dismayed to find that cellulose was on the list of ingredients of our ultraprocessed healthy meal. In home kitchens, who adds wood pulp to thicken their food?

Were we to make this ultraprocessed healthy product a regular part of our diet, the pounds would soon pile on.

Shell also reports on studies in neuroscience that explain the link between obesity and consumption of ultraprocessed food. Dana Small is a neuroscientist at Yale University. Smalls research supports the theory that ultraprocessed foods disrupt the gut-brain signals that influence food reinforcement and intake overall.

Eat an apple and its sweet taste signals the body to expect and prepare for that calorie load. But drink soda with artificial sweeteners and you get the anticipation and experience of sweet taste without the energy boost.

Small makes clear the consequences: Disrupt the gut-brain signal and we will keep eating. Small says, [When] the brain does not get the proper metabolic signal from the gut the brain doesnt really know that the food is even there.

If the food goes down easy, beware, you will probably overeat. The pint of Halo Top might be low in calories (compared to regular ice cream) but you will keep eating other food.

While hypervigilant about calories, weve lost track that all calories are not the same. Small says, Weve created all these hyperpalatable foods filled with fat, sugar, salt and additives, and we clearly prefer these foods. But these foods dont necessarily provoke satiety. What they seem to provoke is cravings.

If you prefer ultraprocessed foods, you live in a golden age. If you want to change your eating habits, you also live in a golden age. Supermarkets have large fresh produce sections, large meat, poultry, and fish counters, and aisles of whole grains and beans. And now there is the miraculous Instant Pot to help you cook your unprocessed ingredients in record time.

Making the change takes the willingness to increase your cooking skills and the willingness to wash pots each night. Enlist the family. The family that cooks together bonds together and learns life-long skills together. With the assistance of well-designed kitchen step stools, even young children can safely be in the kitchen. You might find the improvements in your health and well-being are more than worth the effort.

[Image Credit: Pixabay]

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Has Science Discovered a Cure for Obesity? - Barry Brownstein (10/21/2019) - WallStreetWindow.com

If you're obsessed with brewing pumpkin-flavored coffee and lighting pumpkin-scented candles in the fall, it's easy to forget that pumpkin is actually produceand it's in season from late August through December. But even ardent pumpkin fans who eat the gourd regularly may not be aware that the orange winter squashwhich is technically considered a fruit, given that pumpkins bear seedsis actually quite nutritious. Both in its whole form and in pures, pumpkin contains more essential nutrients than many other leafy greens and fruits in the produce aisle.

Westend61 / Getty Images

"Pumpkins are a great example of nutrient-dense foods; it's high in fiber and several vitamins and minerals while relatively low in calories," says Ali Webster, PhD, RD, the associate director of nutrition communications for the International Food Information Council Foundation. Here, we're highlighting all the ways that these great gourds can supercharge your diet and boost your health. To make adding this gourd to your diet even easier, Webster also shares her best tips for selecting healthy pumpkin products in the supermarket.

Related: 20 Pumpkin Recipes That Go Beyond Pie

Believe it or not, a cup's worth of raw pumpkin packs in more vitamin A than the same amount of kale, per data from the United States Department of Agriculture. "Pumpkin is incredibly high in vitamin Aone cup provides over twice the amount recommended for daily intake," Webster says. "It's also a great source of carotenoids, several of which can be converted into vitamin A in the body." In addition to vitamin A and a smaller amount of vitamin C, one cup of pumpkin pure holds more than seven grams of raw fiber, which is more than a cup of cooked quinoa. "[That's] about a quarter of what's recommended for women each day, and about a fifth of what's recommended for men. Pumpkin is also equally high in potassium," Webster says. Overall, a cup of cubed pumpkin contains only 30 calories, and virtually zero fat, cholesterol, and sodium, according to nutrition info from the USDA.

The same can't be said for pumpkin seeds, though. This delicious snack isn't as nutrient-dense as pumpkin in its original form, Webster says. "Pumpkin seeds are a totally different ball game. There's virtually no vitamin A or beta-carotene in them, but they still provide a little bit of fiber and nutrients like potassium, phosphorus, and zinc," she shares.

The three most appealing health benefits of incorporating more pumpkin into everyday dishes are the squash's elevated vitamin A, fiber, and potassium levels, according to Webster, who flagged its vitamin A content (believe it or not, more than 40 percent of American adults aren't eating enough for optimal health, according to the Environmental Working Group) as particularly noteworthy: "Vitamin A is essential for maintaining good vision and a strong immune system, and it's also important for healthy reproductive systems."

Cooking with more whole pumpkins (luckily, roasting or baking this squash wont totally diminish its nutritional value; Webster recommends serving it as a side dish, on its own, or in salads, and to incorporate pulp and pures into soups or stews like chili for an added nutritional punch) could also be a boon for our gut health. "Fiber is crucial for maintaining a healthy gastrointestinal tract. It helps move digestion along, [and] feeds our gut microbes," Webster says. The gourds soluble and insoluble fiber can help us feel satiated for longer, which can also play a hand in weight management. Fiber is also complemented by a rich amount of potassium, which plays a "critical role" in almost every bodily function and regulatory system, Webster says. "It's indispensable in processes like keeping our heart beating, sending nerve signals, and contracting muscles."

If you don't have access to a fresh pumpkin to cook with in your kitchen, don't fret; Webster says you can pick up a can of organic pumpkin pure to use at home without sacrificing its nutritional value. "Canned pumpkin pure is an excellent option for people hoping to cook or bake with pumpkin," she says. "It's nutritionally equal to making homemade pure, saves a lot of time, and is much more convenient than buying a whole gourd." Be sure to look for pumpkin products that aren't processed or loaded with artificial flavorings and additional added sugarthese options are nowhere as nutritionally valuable as pure pumpkin. "I wouldn't say anyone should look to foods like pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, or pumpkin-spiced lattes for a nutrition boost, but they're tasty seasonal foods that can definitely still be included in an overall healthy eating pattern."

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The Health Benefits Associated with Eating Pumpkin Will Inspire You to Cook More Squash This Season - Yahoo Lifestyle

What parents may ask about before agreeing to a playdate. Credit: C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital National Poll on Childrens Health at the University of Michigan.

The new school year often leads to playdate invitations, sometimes between families who dont know each other.

But parents dont always agree to such invites, with nearly half in a new national poll saying they have declined a playdate because they didnt feel comfortable leaving their child in the other parents care.

Parents top concerns about playdates include children being unsupervised, hearing inappropriate language, getting into medications and harmful substances, and getting injured, according to the C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital National Poll on Childrens Health at the University of Michigan.

Despite such concerns, just 1 in 4 parents have been asked about safety issues by another parent before a playdate, the poll suggests.

Playdates allow children to develop independence, gain experience interacting with other children in an unstructured setting, and have fun with a friend, says Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark. Before parents send their child on a playdate, they need to feel confident that their child will be safe and appropriately supervised.

Making sure children will be safe and well supervised during a playdate often means asking the host parents about key safety issues. However, our poll suggests that many parents are not proactive when it comes to having these conversations.

The report is based on responses from 881 parents who had at least one child ages 4-9. In response to a playdate invitation at the home of a family they dont know well, 22% of parents would let their child have the playdate without them there while 43% would stay with their child. Another 22% would say no to the playdate invitation.

Influences on parent decisions about playdates include the child being shy around strangers (17%), being afraid of certain pets (11%), having a food allergy/special diet (8%), or having a health condition (6%).

The majority of parents say they would try to meet the other parents before the playdate. Some would also would try to learn about the other parents by asking friends and neighbors, checking social media, going to the other familys neighborhood, searching sex offender registry/criminal records, or asking a teacher or other school staff.

Many parents seem to be cautious about sending their child on a playdate at a new friends home, especially if they arent familiar with the family hosting the playdate, Clark says. There are several steps they can take ahead of time, including meeting and talking to the family, that may help them decide how to respond to a playdate invitation.

But there are other aspects that parents should consider about playdates, such as supervision, risks related to activities such as trampolines and pools and whether the host family owns harmful medications or guns and if so, whether they are locked and stored safely away from the children.

However, few parents seem to be asking these questions, Clark says, which may reflect their worry about the host familys reaction. However, three-quarters of parents in this poll said they wouldnt be offended if another parent asked about playdate safety.

Clark suggests parents have a plan for a pre-playdate conversation to go over concerns.

It may be helpful to develop a checklist to guide the conversation, Clark says. This could include asking questions about supervision, weapon and medication storage and the familys rules about potentially hazardous activities like using a trampoline.

Parents should also communicate in advance if their child is fearful of certain types of pets or has allergies. Together, parents sending their child on a playdate and the host family can determine strategies to help children feel safe and comfortable.

Original post:
Half of Parents Have Declined Kids Play Date Invites Here Are Their Top Concerns - SciTechDaily

Electoral straitjacket

I hate strategic voting, and yet Ive been forced to do it in this federal election (and the last one). To prevent Andrew Scheer from becoming the next prime minister, I am forced to vote Liberal not that hard, as their candidate is fine here in Central Nova. But with him tagging along, so to speak, I have to accept Justin Trudeau, too.

Id like to be able to vote for the local candidate and the prime minister separately, not as a package. There are easily two other better choices for prime minister, but to prevent a Scheer government, I must vote Liberal or split the vote and give the Conservatives an advantage.

This system is a great advantage for the two old mainstream parties and almost ensures one of them always wins. Just look at any past election counts: 60 per cent of the public voted against the so-called winner.

In my younger days, this was not such an issue, as Liberals and Progressive Conservatives were so close you could hardly tell the difference. But today, with the Reform/Canadian Alliance takeover of the old PCs, there is a much bigger difference in philosophy.

The two main parties know the systems shortcomings, yet maintain it for obvious reasons. In the last election, Justin Trudeau ran on a promise to move towards more proportional representation to provide a fairer, more accurate reflection of voters wishes. He dropped that like a hot potato as soon as he was elected simply because the current system allowed him to win, and it would most likely keep him in power in the next election.

The Americans have their Electoral College, and it has its flaws, but at least they can pick a president separately from a congressman or senator. Their two parties have simply taken turns ruling. Libertarians and independents are simply dreaming they cant win by design.Even Donald Trump was smart enough to realize that to win, you must run for one to the two main parties, and he camouflaged himself as a Republican to do it.

We need electoral reforms badly, but I truly doubt the two main parties will ever do it; theyd be shooting themselves in the foot and they know it! It would be as if Canadas chartered banks supported changes to their privileged position and allowed more banking competition. It just wont happen!

Ron MacCarthy, Caribou Island

As the federal election nears, Im encountering more and more people who are troubled about which candidate or party to support. They ask, Should I vote for the one that will let more of my money stay in my wallet or the one with the broadest vision of social equity and justice or the one that ensures the bad guys wont get in?

The best answer Ive heard is from Nova Scotians whove made a different decision. Theyre voting for their children and grandchildren. Theyve glimpsed the clouded future the next generations face and are choosing the platform that will give their young ones the best chance at lives of achievement and fulfilment. Theyre doing what elders have always done: sacrificing their own priorities for the good of the ones they love.

Those elders are choosing the candidate and party that have the courage to put clear, decisive climate action first and betting that we will multiply that action to create a future thats good for all Canadians to come. Our children and grandchildren are counting on the rest of us to make that bet, too.

David Henry, Halifax

I have been a resident of Dartmouth for over 40 years and have experienced the benefits of scientific pursuits at our universities and colleges, as well as at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and the defence research facilities on the Dartmouth side of Halifax Harbour. I have also witnessed the cutbacks at BIO and the restrictions placed on the qualified professionals employed there.

Scientists across Canada have spent the last four years enjoying the freedom to do their work and to talk about it. Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that wasnt the case. Science, it seemed, was not fact, but a myth.

As we look forward, I worry about going back to those days especially as we need more people working on taking action on climate change.

The Liberal platform ensures that more money is invested in clean technology, which means more scientists working to address a major issue in the world today. While the Conservatives and Peoples Party of Canada continue to challenge the validity of climate change, Ill be voting for the party that has a plan to take action, and to let those who are fighting the problem lead the way.

Bob MacKay, Dartmouth

Amid a nasty federal election campaign dominated by schoolyard bullying, alt facts, attack ads, divisiveness, brownfaces, and dual citizenship, both the parties and the electorate seem to have forgotten Bill Clintons famous 1992 presidential campaign slogan: "It's the economy, stupid!"

This is especially surprising from the Liberals standpoint, given that Canadas economy has been a strong performer for several years. We lead the G7 in the latest quarterly economic growth update (higher than the U.S.!). A record 1,162,000 jobs have been created since the Liberals came to power (84 per cent full-time), the unemployment rate is a tick above the 40-year low, and Canada has the most viable fiscal position in the G7, as evidenced by having the lowest federal debt compared to the size of our economy.

Its the economy, eh!

Alex Roberts,Halifax

Re: Red meat, science and buffets (Oct. 5 column by Sylvain Charlebois).

Mr. Charlebois makes much of the Annals of Internal Medicine study which claims to have evidence that red and processed meats arent as unhealthy as most doctors are now saying.There are, however, cogent criticisms of that study:

From a Sep. 30 Washington Post article, by Laura Reiley: Another critic of the study, Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the Annals of Internal Medicine study also ignored solid science in the arena.

. Willett says the panels conclusions and recommendations do not reflect the studys findings. Their meta-analyses of large cohorts showed that dietary patterns with a moderate reduction in red and processed meat consumption were associated with lower total mortality by 13 per cent. If a drug brought down the number of deaths to that degree, he says, it would be heralded as a success.

.... Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says one of the studys chief flaws is its reliance on the Womens Health Initiative study, a huge analysis of 48,000 women that had half the participants eating their regular diet and half eating a low-fat diet, which in many cases led to a half an ounce difference in meat consumption per day in the two groups, about a fifth of a hamburger. No surprise, there wasnt much difference in outcomes. Because of its size, the womens study may have skewed the overall results of the Annals of Internal Medicine report.

In other words, the study to which Mr. Charlebois refers did in fact show a 13 per cent reduction in mortality from a moderate reduction (note:not elimination) of red and processed meat in the regular diet. But the study doesnt support the conclusion that even those eating, say, 15 servings a week of red meat (the U.S. average), or more, can safely carry on.

Neil Bell, Baddeck

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VOICE OF THE PEOPLE Oct. 17, 2019 - TheChronicleHerald.ca