Tom Laskawy’s Posts

• the empire strikes back

  Soda lobby gets its game on 2

  Posted 2 days, 20 hours agoThe sugar lobby has kept their work against the soda tax off their paperwork and thus out of public sight. But its invisibility doesn't lessen its ferocity or, so far, its effectiveness.

• ISI isn't so popular

  New allies in fight against Obama's pesticide lobbyist nominee 1

  Posted 3 days, 22 hours agoI'm sure many of you have seen the various petitions zipping around the Internet encouraging opposition to President Obama's nomination of pesticide lobbyist Islam "Isi" Siddiqui to the Office of the United State's Trade Representative. The argument against him goes something like this:

• weasel in sheep's clothing

  If you can't beat 'em, cheat 'em 2

  Posted 5 days, 20 hours agoIssue 2, on Ohio's ballot, is the livestock industry’s attempt to head off restrictions on their worst practices, such as tail docking, battery cages, and gestation crates

• GMO wishes, geo-engineering dreams

  Save us, [insert techno-fix here], you're our only hope! 7

  Posted 1 week, 3 days agoWatching SuperFreakonomics author Steve Levitt sitting next to Jon Stewart as they shook their heads in disbelief that everyone wasn't on the climate change/geo-engineering bandwagon depressed me to no end. Techno-fixes--you gotta love 'em. Or not.

• Jonesin' for a Ho-Ho

  Scientists claim junk food is as addictive as heroin 18

  Posted 1 week, 4 days agoWith the rumors swirling that Michelle Obama is a big fan of former FDA Commissioner David Kessler's new book The End of Overeating, it seems reasonable to check in on the science behind an "addiction model" for salty, sweet, and fatty processed food. As it happens, a group of researchers has just released a new study on the subject. The conclusion: the brain responds to junk food the same way it does to heroin.

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Tom Laskawy’s Recent Comments

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  Yes.On Soda lobby gets its game on posted 2 days, 3 hours ago 2 Responses

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  Hmmm... The link had disappeared! Fixed, with a note on who did the research added. Thanks!On Scientists claim junk food is as addictive as heroin posted 1 week, 4 days ago 18 Responses

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  Do you have a cite? My figure came from that just-released UCLA study. I'm also curious if your figure is for *total* sugar intake (i.e. including naturally occurring sugars such as in fruit and so on). If you have a handy link, please post it.On Is Michelle Obama about to take on Big Food? posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago 40 Responses

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  Maybe so. But the role of government is to support behavior we as a society wants and to reduce behavior we don't. Just because people "should" be able to act in a certain way doesn't mean government can't act when they don't. It can and it does in almost every aspect of our lives. And it needs to act to address obesity because we've proven too many individuals can't do it on their own.On Can Jamie Oliver cooking lessons cure obesity? posted 3 weeks, 4 days ago 10 Responses

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  For the record the FDA does NOT inspect meat, eggs and poultry. That responsibility lies solely with the *USDA*, which is sort of the point of my post. When the House food safety reform bill tried to bring the FDA into the picture regarding meat, the industry was able to strip that provision from the bill. Yes, the FDA is underfunded -- but the USDA is utterly captured by the industry it regulates and does not seem to be able to act in the public interest to reform the US meat processing system. Some believe the FDA would take a more rigorous stance on food safety and act in ways that would truly enhance safety -- but of course it's also possible that it would in turn be captured by the industry it regulates (as seems to have occurred with the FDA and drug companies). But we need to some *something*.On Warning: This product may cause sickness, paralysis, and death posted 1 month ago 51 Responses