Below The Beltway

Scientists have identified a substance in red wine that may explain why French wine drinker are not only healthy, but live longer:
Scientists have found another clue to explain why red wine may be good for you, identifying substances in vin rouge that appear to be associated with increased longevity in parts of France.
Researchers have long [...]

As if the news from earlier today about the health benefits of coffee and beer weren’t good enough, now it looks like pizza is good for you:
Researchers claim eating pizza regularly reduced the risk of developing oesophageal cancer by 59%.
The risk of developing colon cancer also fell by 26% and mouth cancer by 34%, they [...]

Perfect together:
CHICAGO (AP) — Coffee may counteract alcohol’s poisonous effects on the liver and help prevent cirrhosis, researchers say.
In a study of more than 125,000 people, one cup of coffee per day cut the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by 20 percent. Four cups per day reduced the risk by 80 percent. The coffee effect held [...]

Don Surber injects a little perspective in the increasing panic over Avian Flu.
29 years ago tomorrow, I stood in line in a gymnasium in Darmstadt, Germany, to roll up my sleeves and take a Swine Flu Shot. Surprisingly, it was one of the few times in my brief military career that I didn’t bitch all [...]

In today’s Washington Post, Wendy Orent interjects some much needed sanity into the Avian flu story.
For two years, a deadly strain of chicken flu known as H5N1 has been killing birds in Asia. While slightly more than 100 people are known to have contracted the disease, and 60 of them have died, there is still [...]

Last week, scientists were able to resurrect the virus that caused the 1918 flu epidemic, a disaster that spread worldwide and killed up to 50 million people. Among the more interesting things they found is the fact that the 1918 flu is, like the Avian flu currently causing concern worldwide, a bird flu that mutated [...]

Two stories today about the Avian flu leave little room for comfort.
First there’s this story about the world’s ability to respond to an epidemic
NOUMEA, New Caledonia (Reuters) - The initial outbreak of what could explode into a bird flu pandemic may affect only a few people, but the world will have just weeks to contain [...]

From Winds of Change, comes this story which asserts that the Chinese government is playing a cover-up game over the avian flu, and that this is a bigger problem than the world realizes.
I can’t speak to whether this is true or not, but its certainly more important than a missing woman in Aruba or who [...]