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[DERBRUCER]

Did anyone else catch the news about the news conference that was held today in Sacramento in regards to the toxic properties of aspartame (NutraSweet/Equal)?

Oy veh - again!

Like the Flat Earth Society and the Black Heliocopter Crowd, the Anti-Nutra Sweet Clique has been ranting and raving for years - to no avail!

The Straight Dope comments:

Other claimed dangers of aspartame may not be so farfetched, but it's hard to tell. Folks have been arguing about the safety of this stuff for more than 20 years. The weight of scientific evidence is that the sweetener is harmless. Nonetheless since its introduction in 1981 thousands of complaints have been filed with federal health authorities from people saying aspartame gives them headaches or worse.

Sure, where there's smoke maybe there's fire. The problem is that people tend to blame aspartame for everything. The sweetener has been associated with something like 90 different symptoms, including vision problems, dizziness, drowsiness, abdominal pain, anxiety attacks, depression, confusion, memory loss, ringing in the ears, chest palpitations, personality changes, convulsions, and irritability. It's also been linked to conditions ranging from brain tumors, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis to chronic fatigue syndrome.

Scientists say real toxins don't work that way--they produce a specific cluster of symptoms. One chemical can't possibly be causing all this stuff.

For the most part researchers have been unable to replicate adverse aspartame reactions in the lab. In numerous studies investigators recruited individuals who said aspartame triggered headaches, epileptic seizures, or what have you. Typically they fed half the subjects aspartame and the other half a placebo. In most cases there was no observable difference.

Aspartame opponents are a vocal bunch and include some reputable scientists. But their claims are often dubious. For example, Dr. John Olney, a longtime aspartame foe, recently published a study linking the sweetener to an increase in brain tumors in the U.S. The NutraSweet company promptly rounded up experts to point out an obvious flaw: the incidence of brain tumors had begun to rise before the introduction of aspartame and has been leveling off since. Meanwhile use of the sweetener has increased sharply. You don't need a Ph.D. to figure out that if there really were a connection the two rates would go up together.

Mary Stoddard, the head of an antiaspartame group called the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, told us she and her daughter suffered a broad range of health problems, some quite serious, that she attributed to the sweetener. Ms. Stoddard is a nice lady, but her belief that aspartame was the cause of her difficulties seems largely a matter of personal conviction. She declined to participate in controlled tests that might have conclusively established a link.

Like any substance, natural or artificial, there is likely anecdotal evidence or half-baked experiments that suggest something or other could go wrong.

This seems little or no substantive evidence that Aspertame is any more hazardness to the average person's heath than the white sugar it so often replaces.

der debunking Brucer

(And on another site I have to cope with AIDS dissidents who insist that HIV does not cause AIDS and want an end to HIV testing and the use of pharmaceuticals to manage the syndrome.)

[DERBRUCER]

Don't know why I have that weird look on my face.

Could becasuse they refer to the youngsters in your life as "brats".

[DERBRUCER]

The label says: "Warning - may have come into contact with nuts."

In three languages, no doubt.

der Brucer

Hmm I need a T-Shirt with "Has Frequent Contact with Nuts" on it.

[DERBRUCER]

.. I bought the DVD of "Home on the Range," featuring the voice of Mr.  Jason Graae (a Michael Shayne reference) BUT... I didn't recognize his voice, and he is not listed in the credits.

He is listed in the part of the credits that deal with who sang what song.

der "SWoody Told Me So" Brucer

[DERBRUCER]

How does Hagen do Weill?

Well I suspect she does Weill well.
(Three times fast, please)

der Brucer

[George]

Oy veh - again!

Like the Flat Earth Society and the Black Heliocopter Crowd, the Anti-Nutra Sweet Clique has been ranting and ravaing for years - to no avail!

The Straight Dope comments:Like any substance, natural or artificial, there is likely anecdotal evidence or half-baked experiments that suggest something or other could go wrong.

This seems little or no substantive evidence that Aspertame is any more hazardness to the average persons heath than the white sugar it so often replaces.

der debunking Brucer

(And on another site I have to cope with AIDS dissidents who insist that HIV does not cause AIDS and want an end to HIV testing and the use of pharmaceuticals to manage the syndrome.)

[move=right,scroll,6,transparent,100%] [/move]

[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%]DER BRUCER, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/move]

[move=right,scroll,6,transparent,100%] [/move]

Yours,

The (sadly) sometimes very gullible George

[bk]

Still unboxing.  She of the Evil Eye is gone (and did as much as she could do today - she'll be back next Friday after everything is unboxed.  I must say the central air works great in this house.  Wiring Man is still Wiring.  I must take a shower and shave sometime in the next hour.

Thanks to all for excellent vibes and xylophones - escrow closed right on time today and money was supposedly wired in time to show up this afternoon (if not, it will show up Monday).  I can now relax for the next two years.  Whew!

[Michael]

So glad that everything went well BK. Forgot to post the good vibes but was thinking them.

[Michael]

Below is one of the fourteen pictures that came in the press kit for the First Nudie Musical. The man sitting on the left on the couch is NOT Hy Pyke who played Uncle Benny.

Who is it and what happened to him?

Hard to tell in the posted picture but he sorta looks like Canadian Actor Jack Duffy. I am sure DR Panni knows who I talk of.

[Michael]

A closer view of that actor

[bk]

His name is Herb Graham.  Dunno what happened to him, but he was a very nice guy.

Re Sailors: It was meant to follow up Nudie.  There is a script and a full score, which I have a demo of somewhere.  We just never got it together - it was a funny idea and some of the songs were really cute.  It was going to star Stephen Nathan, me and Alan Abelew, with Diana Canova, Annette O'Toole and a third girl I can't remember.

[bk]

Money did indeed get wired - I just logged onto my bank account.   Yummilicious.

[JoseSPiano]

Good Afternoon!

I'm back from breakfast/brunch/lunch - I ended up heading down to Fred 62 and having eggs, sausage (homemade), hashbrowns (nice and crispy - just the way I like them) and some sourdough toast.  Very good.  And I got one of their "punk tarts" to go.  I'll be supping on that when I get back from the show tonight.

In other news, I just went through the latest batch of mail from home.  Bills, credit card offers, etc... The usual.  However, I did receive the season brochure from the Virginia Symphony.  They really have seemed to continue their "climb" as it were.  The roster of special guests and soloists this season is mighty impressive.  And for their Christmas concert, they will be presenting Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors" in the first half, and the Christmas portion of Handel's "Messiah" in the second.  Interesting.

Oh, and I also received the "Season of Savings" brochure for Broadway/Off-Broadway, etc.  Of course, about five or six of the shows listed have closed already.  Ah, well...

But - and this could be of interest to DR Jane especially - there is a discount code listed for Amtrak!  

[JoseSPiano]

Well, time for me to start getting ready to head in for tonight's show.

Laters...

[Danise]

 Evening all!

Before I say anything, Jane, here is that link I told you about.  It’s the map to Times Square.  I hope you find it as useful as I did when I made my plans going up.

http://www.timessquarebid.org/map.html

I do hope you find it helpful.

When I went in to work today, I had a huge report to do drop on my desk.  Being the professional, dedicated, hard working, detail oriented employee that I am, I begin to work on said report which is due on Monday.

At about three o’clock, my boss comes to my desk and says, “You’ve been quiet all day.  What’s wrong?”  

I told her nothing was wrong.   I was busy doing that report.  At which time everyone in the section burst out laughing.  I fail to see what was so funny.    

[Danise]

What will be in my CD player at work:  "The Threepenny Opera" with Max Raabe, Nina Hagen and HK Gruber.  It's all in German and has Bertolt Brecht's concert narration between the songs, which is the first time that the narrations have been recorded.  The only problem is that the center of the CD jewel box held the CD so tightly that when I took it out of the case for the first time, it cracked the center of the disc a little bit!  I filed down the center tines (or whatever they're called) so that it doesn't hold so tightly.  I also put a Post-It note in the case saying "DISC 2 CRACKED!!" to remind myself of that whenever I want to remove the disc.  If I'm careful, it shouldn't be too much trouble.  The crack doesn't go into the silver part...yet.  The worst part, though is that I JUST GOT IT BRAND NEW LAST WEEK!!

DR George, can't you just rip the songs on that  broken CD onto your computer and burn them to a new CD?  

[Danise]

Hmmm....

Did anyone else catch the news about the news conference that was held today in Sacramento in regards to the toxic properties of aspartame (NutraSweet/Equal)?

Here's a link to the lawsuit filing:

http://www.wnho.net/nutrasweet_company_lawsuit.htm

Just as long they don't start anything about Splenda.  It's the only one of those diet sweetners that I can stand.  

[JoseSPiano]

Oy veh - again!

Like the Flat Earth Society and the Black Heliocopter Crowd, the Anti-Nutra Sweet Clique has been ranting and raving for years - to no avail!

The Straight Dope comments:Like any substance, natural or artificial, there is likely anecdotal evidence or half-baked experiments that suggest something or other could go wrong.

This seems little or no substantive evidence that Aspertame is any more hazardness to the average person's heath than the white sugar it so often replaces.

der debunking Brucer

Like I said, a friend of mine sent me the original article, so...  He sends me a lot of stuff.  A Lot.  99% of the time I usually delete it right away without reading it, but this time... That 1%.  Ah, well...  I even got suspicious myself when I read the name of the groups who were behind the lawsuit.

[Ron Pulliam]

Congratulations on your move, your wiring, your wired money and your peace of mind, BK!

And also on the new equipment, whatever THAT might entail.

[George]

DR George, can't you just rip the songs on that  broken CD onto your computer and burn them to a new CD?

I can easily, and was actually thinking about doing just that!

[Ron Pulliam]

It's the ODDEST thing!

Wednesday, I got the urge to acquire "Murder on the Orient Express" thanks to DR MattH's goings-on about working it into his viewing schedule (did you ever watch it, Matt???).

Anyway, I went to Amazon, and when I selected it, I got a note saying I could get it by Friday if I selected one-day delivery (this was in the afternoon, so it would not have mailed until Thursday).  I looked at that option, but the postage was as much as the DVD, so I decided to go with 2-day shipping.

While I was at it, I "shopped" other Christie movies on DVD that Amazon littered upon my screen and I selected "Death on the Nile," "Evil Under the Sun" and "And Then There Were None."  (I've done "10 Little Indians" twice in my lifetime, being the first-to-die shallow/callow youth in the first production, and the hero survivor in the second).

When I checked out the postage for 2-day delivery on all the titles, it was a bit more than I wanted to spend, so I asked for 3-5 day delivery.  Also, my default is for everything to be shipped together and it was predicting a delivery of 10 days away.  I selected "send titles as they are available."

What I was told was that "Murder on the Orient Express" would be shipped Friday and the other three would be shipped on Monday.  Regardless, I'd get them all next week.

Now here is what is odd.  I have in front of me the shipment of three titles that does NOT include "Murder on the Orient Express."  That's right!  The titles that were allegedly holding up my combined order were, in fact, shipped yesterday.  And they were shipped to be delivered in 3-5 days.  But they got here in one day via UPS ground service.

My "Murder on the Orient Express" has also shipped....today, in fact...but it's going USPS and should be here "sometime" next week.

Sigh.  

Ain't that just the oddest thing?

[Danise]

 

[DERBRUCER]

Just as long they don't start anything about Splenda.  It's the only one of those diet sweetners that I can stand.  

WARNING - EXTREME CRUELTY FOLLOWS

Extracts from the Sucralose Toxicity Information Center

Splenda, also known as sucralose, is artificial sweetener which is a chlorinated sucrose derivative. Facts about this artificial chemical follows:
·   Pre-Approval Research
Pre-approval research showed that sucralose caused shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage) and enlarged liver and kidneys.
…

Conclusion
While it is unlikely that sucralose is as toxic as the poisoning people are experiencing from Monsanto's aspartame, it is clear from the hazards seen in pre-approval research and from its chemical structure that years or decades of use may contribute to serious chronic immunological or neurological disorders.
…
It is very important that people who have any interest in their health stay aware from the highly toxic sweetener, aspartame and other dangerous sweeteners such as sucralose (Splenda), and acesulfame-k (Sunette, Sweet & Safe, Sweet One).

der "the Devil Made Me Do It" Brucer

[Danise]

Aggggghhhhhh!

[Danise]

Well, the good news is that I only started using it when I started my diet.  I don't think it had anything to do with my kidney stone.

[DERBRUCER]

Well, the good news is that I only started using it when I started my diet.  

Diet? Diet!

Must I link you to the "Dieting is Fatal" website - lots of lovely pictures of Karen Carpenter!

Denise, to be honest, breathing is also quite hazardous (what with rocket fuel Oxygen, Oklaholma City Explosive Nitrogen, suicidal Carbon Monoxide, and the really fatal H-Bomb Hydrogen)  but I've not yet found the "Hold Your Breath For Life" website.

der "always trying to be helpful" Brucer

[Ben]

DR Jane (and other NY Kimlets who might be interested). I looked at the calendar/book for October 6th. I can do an early dinner. I have theatre tickets that night. I'm seeing something at Playwrights Horizons and it starts at 7:30. If we do an early thing like we did when Penny, Larry, Jason and I got together I can be there. Say 5 or 5:30. How does that sound?

[Danise]

I know.  We can only do what we think is right for ourselves.    

[Panni]

Haven't been home most of the day and am now rushing out again -- to have dinner and then see...Guess What?

I hope to come home to a huge FRENZY of posts.

[Noel]

October 6 I teach the first night of my new advanced song improv performance class at 7.  Happy to meet earlier, though.
Aspartane is a big part of my life, even though I prefer good ol' saccharine.  Did someone imply the sugar lobby is behind all these news stories and lawsuits against various artificial sweeteners?