HIV news for World AIDS Day

Yesterday (which is still today from Chicago west to the Aleutians) was World AIDS Day.  I marked it a week late last year, when I posted AIDS: The pandemic in our midst. This year, I'm observing it along with the western two-thirds of North America and all of the eastern Pacific, so I'm not completely tardy.

Like last year, I'm sharing the news stories from Overnight News Digests, this time going back to The Archdruid on Ebola and other epidemic news, the last time I mentioned the disease.  I begin with two stories about in utero HIV transmission.

SUNY Stony Brook: Dr. Sharon Nachman Leads Network Involving NIH-Sponsored Study that Identifies Superior Drug Regimen for Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

Stony Brook, NY – November 24, 2014 – The results of an international clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that taking a three-drug regimen during pregnancy prevents mother-to-child HIV transmission more effectively than taking a single drug during pregnancy, another during labor, and two more after giving birth.

“This study will help us to understand the safety and toxicity of these specific regimens in HIV positive pregnant women and their children,” said Dr. Nachman, Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Pediatrics at Stony Brook Medicine, and the Principal Investigator of the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) network, which conducts the PROMISE (Promoting Maternal Infant Survival Everywhere) Study. “As these women and children are followed, we will learn more about the long-term issues that may arise from these medications.”

Wayne State University: Research shows anti-HIV medicines can cause damage to fetal hearts
Just-published findings in the journal AIDS raise concern about potential long-term harmful impact of “antiretroviral therapy” on in-utero infants whose mothers are HIV-positive, but who are not infected with HIV themselves.
November 19, 2014

DETROIT, Mich., Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 – A study by a Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit Medical Center research team is shedding new light on the troubling question of whether the drugs often given to HIV-positive pregnant women can cause significant long-term heart problems for the non-HIV-infected babies they carry.

The study recently published in the journal AIDS shows that while the HIV medications have been successful in helping to prevent the transmission of the virus from mother to infant, they are associated with persistently impaired development of heart muscle and reduced heart performance in non-HIV-infected children whose mothers received the medicines years earlier.

“What our study indicates is that there’s potentially a long-term price to be paid for protecting the children of HIV-infected mothers from the virus,” said Steven Lipshultz, M.D., pediatrician-in-chief at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and chair of pediatrics for the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Dr. Lipshultz is a specialist in the study of long-term toxic cardiac effects among children affected by cancer and HIV drug therapies.

Follow over the jump for more stories from the past three months in reverse chronological order.

Saudi Arabia opens a trap door on oil prices

It's time for me to make good on two promises.  First, I concluded Tales of two trailers by telling my readers to "stay tuned for a new Nablopomo theme and a post about this weekend's oil news.  The gas price rollercoaster is set for another drop."  Second, I made a prediction to close Gas bounces off the floor.

The neighborhood price should be no lower than $2.75.  That's where I expect all the stations should be within a week, possibly even by next Monday, when the opportunity presented by Thanksgiving travel will be over.  As for $2.65, that might just be the low for the year.  Don't expect to see limbo kitty again until prices fall to within a dime of that price.

The corner station was at $2.75 yesterday after passing through $2.77 on its way down.  That may not be a four-year low for the neighborhood, but it is the lowest the corner station has been since the beginning of this blog.  It's also within a dime of the low price of $2.65, so limbo kitty has returned.

Prices are likely to go even lower.  Follow over the jump to read why, as well as how this price drop is setting up the trigger for the next recession.

Nablopomo for December: Joy

December's NaBloPoMo Theme: JOY!
From the email:

Soft fleece pullovers. Cinnamon tea. Reading while curled up on the sofa under a blanket. Snow days. These are a few of my favourite things. What are yours?

Because that's sort of the point of this month: to figure out what makes us joyous. To write out all the things that we know make us happy (as well as thinking up a few things we can do to make other people happy) and carry that list with us into the new year. After all, if you know that chocolate, writing, and trips to the beach make you happy, why wouldn't you schedule those things in for 2015?

Because here's the thing: while we want to be happier, our personal happiness usually gets pushed to the back burner. We make sure we take care of everything and everyone else and then we work to make ourselves happy. But this NaBloPoMo, we're going to make sure that you rethink that plan and start scheduling in joy time so you can do the things that make you happy and kick off 2015 right.
You can read more about the new NaBloPoMo theme on our opening post.

That opening paragraph makes me want to embed "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.  I'll refrain.

Follow over the jump for more.

Tales of two trailers

For this week's entertainment entry, I present two trailers, both of movies that are revivals of science fiction franchises, Star Wars and Jurassic Park.

First, STAR WARS: EPISODE 7 - THE FORCE AWAKENS - Official Teaser Trailer #1 (2015) [HD].


Next, JURASSIC WORLD Trailer #1 (2015) Chris Pratt Sci-Fi Movie HD.


Follow over the jump for links to reactions from Vox, io9 and Jalopnik, Irish Examiner, and one big name fan.

Small Business Saturday 2014

Today is Small Business Saturday.  I skipped observing the day specifically last year, covering all the shopping days of the long weekend in KPBS on retail desperation.  This year, I return to KPBS with two videos.  First, Small Business Saturday Keeps Money In the Local Economy.


Next, San Diego Small Businesses Are Banking On Saturday Shoppers.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is designated Small Business Saturday, a day created by American Express to encourage shoppers to buy local. In San Diego, many businesses are hoping shoppers will spend money at their stores.

That's what the day looks like in San Diego.  Follow over the jump for how it's playing out here in Detroit.

Pie drinks for Thanksgiving 2014

I concluded Food news for Thanksgiving 2014 by telling my readers to "stay tuned for more pie drinks for Thanksgiving.  Tipsy Bartender has at least three recipes to share this year."  It turns out to have been exactly three.

The first pie drink recipe posted for this year's Thanksgiving was Apple Pie Sangria.

The APPLE PIE SANGRIA is cinnamon flavored, delicious and perfect for the holidays!
...
RECIPE
=======
Bottle of Moscato
3 1/2 oz. (105ml) Caramel Vodka
3 1/2 oz. (105ml) Apple Cider
3 1/2 oz. (105ml) Soda Water
Apple Slices
Pear Slices
2 Cinnamon Sticks

Yum.  Follow over the jump to see two more recipes for pumpkin pie drinks.

Food news for Thanksgiving 2014

It's Thanksgiving, which means, like last year and the year before it's time for me to reprint all the food, farming, and nutrition news from Ovenight News Digest:Science Saturday since Food Day 2014.  Appropriately enough for the theme of this blog, I begin with some post-apocalyptic food news from Michigan Tech.

Bacterial Slime: It's what's for Dinner (After a Catastrophic Crop Failure)
by Danny Messinger
November 19, 2014

If it were the end of the world as we know it, we’d be fine, according to Michigan Technological University professor Joshua Pearce.

“People have been doing catastrophic risk research for a while,” says Pearce. “But most of what’s been done is dark, apocalyptic and dismal. It hasn’t provided any real solutions.”

Even when looking at doomsday scenarios—like super-volcanoes, abrupt climate change and nuclear winter—society’s forecast isn’t horrific. In fact, Pearce says life will still have a sunny outlook. His research is outlined in a new book, Feeding Everyone No Matter What, out this week.

The good news is that we can feed everyone, as long as people plan ahead and are willing to eat bacteria, fungi, and insects for up to five years until what passes for normal agriculture returns.  The latter part I'm not as worried about as the first part.  I'm not as optimistic about people preparing.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the food news, presented in more-or-less reverse chronological order.

Gas bounces off the floor

It's time to check my predictions from Local gas now $2.77.

Yesterday, the three stations down the street lowered their price one more notch to $2.77.  That didn't take long.  It's only a matter of time before the corner station joins them.  In fact, it may have done it this morning.

It had.  Sunday and Monday, all four stations in the neighborhood were selling regular for $2.77.

Prices look they'll continue to fall, as the national average is now $2.82 and falling.

Prices dropped spectacularly during the day yesterday, as the three stations down the block were selling regular for $2.65.  That's as low as I expected prices to go this year.  However, the corner station actually raised its price to $2.95.  It was almost enough to prompt me to post the jumping over the limbo bar graphic.  Then I saw that the next prediction might just have come true.

However, the floor may be in sight, as WTI is back above $75 and Brent has climbed over $80.  Let's see if they manage to stay above these levels of support on Monday

Last night, the three stations down the block raised their prices to $2.85, while the corner station remained at $2.95.  It looks like gas prices hit the floor and bounced, making the first half of my quoted passage appear good.  The second part of the prediction didn't hold up as well.  While Oil-Price.Net shows that WTI stayed above $75 and Brent remained above $80 on Monday, both fell on Tuesday, WTI to $74.09 and Brent to $78.33.  Back to $70 and $75 as support levels for now.

The local jump in prices reflected larger trends, as GasBuddy shows the national average bouncing off $2.80 a couple of days ago to $2.81 and the Detroit average briefly falling to $2.83 before sharply rising to $2.86 and leveling off.  No wonder the price jumped back up so sharply; the price environment would not support it.  The neighborhood price should be no lower than $2.75.  That's where I expect all the stations should be within a week, possibly even by next Monday, when the opportunity presented by Thanksgiving travel will be over.  As for $2.65, that might just be the low for the year.  Don't expect to see limbo kitty again until prices fall to within a dime of that price.

The law is an ass with music by Leonard Cohen

When Zimmerman was acquitted, I responded by posting A picture of hope and innocence from 40 years ago. In that entry, I mentioned what I was thinking of posting instead and when I would use it.

I'd much rather have this video as my comment on the Zimmerman trial than “The law is an ass with music by Leonard Cohen.”  I'll save that thought I left at Kunstler's blog for the next time the legal system disappoints me.

With the decision not to prosecute Darren Wilson, that next time has arrived.  I present "Everybody Knows."  The words are still by Leonard Cohen, even though the performance is by Concrete Blonde.

Professor Farnsworth approves of the University of Michigan's predictions

As if Good economic news for election day wasn't enough, the University of Michigan provided two more pieces of good news, or, rather, two forecasts of good news for business as usual, last week that I included in the tip jar for Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Philae discovers organics) on Daily Kos.

First, The US economy: Ready for takeoff on November 20, 2014.

ANN ARBOR—The U.S. economy will grow by more than 3 percent next year—its highest rate in 10 years, say economists at the University of Michigan.

Overall economic output growth (as measured by real Gross Domestic Product) will jump from 2.2 percent this year to 3.1 percent in 2015 and 3.3 percent in 2016.

"We expect that 2015 will be the year when U.S. economic growth will finally accelerate meaningfully," said U-M economist Daniil Manaenkov. "This year, severe winter weather joined the list of headwinds that have prevented U.S. economic growth from picking up. Even still, both private and total payroll job gains during 2014 are on track for their best performance since 1999. And going forward, strong GDP growth supports steady employment gains."

We should be so lucky.

The very next day, the prediction was for Michigan's economy: Onward and upward.

ANN ARBOR—After five years of steady job growth, the Michigan economy will continue to move forward at a solid clip over the next two years, say University of Michigan economists.

In their annual November forecast of the Michigan economy, George Fulton and colleagues Joan Crary and Donald Grimes say the state will add more than 132,000 jobs over the next two years.

All told, Michigan will have added nearly 463,000 jobs during the economic recovery from summer 2009 through the end of 2016—returning the job count to levels posted at the end of 2006 and a little more than halfway back to job levels posted in mid-2000.

Ah, yes, good news for business as usual.  Too bad these are not business as usual times.