by *CA* Flickr Creative Commons

From my column in Communities @ Washington Times

WASHINGTON, DC, April 2, 2013- A number of recent polls show that a majority of Americans think that animals raised for food deserve some level of protection from harm and exploitation.   Even self- described “meat-eating conservative Republican” Mary Matalin has sided with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to fight against so-called “ag-gag” bills.

(Matalin has gone as far as filming a new ad for PETA, and the unusual alliance has apparently already paid off: Arkansas lawmakers have just abandoned a proposed “ag-gag” bill.)

“Ag-gag” bills are laws that criminalize whistleblowing on factory farms.  Even though ag-gag bills differ from state to state, they share a few common elements including criminalizing the taking of pictures or video at a factory farms without authorization, banning investigators from taking jobs at factory farms, and compelling mandatory reporting within short timelines that would make it impossible to establish punishable patterns of abuse.

Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/world-our-backyard/2013/apr/2/ag-gag-bills-criminalizing-whistleblowing-factory-/#ixzz2T5FugSzC

Related articles

• A Utah Woman Is Being Prosecuted for Filming a Slaughterhouse from a Public Street (motherboard.vice.com)
• Ag-Gag laws seek to put factory farms off-limits to whistle-blowers (thehill.com)
• Why It’s Literally Sickening to Ban Whistleblowers from Exposing Cruelty at Factory Farms (alternet.org)
• First Ag-Gag charges brought… and then dropped (salon.com)

From my column in Communities @ Washington Times

WASHINGTON, DC, March 29, 2013- When asked to describe their bicycle in one word, many cyclists of all kinds use the word “freedom.” Nowhere is this description more appropriate than for the women who make up the Afghan National Women’s Cycling Team.

Challenging the long- held cultural belief that a woman cycling is offensive, these dedicated young athletes are standing up to social norms and becoming vehicles of change.

“Daily in Afghanistan, girls risk their lives to go to school, women risk their lives to work in government, the police forces, and even the army.  Women activists march in the streets to fight for their rights, knowing that they are making themselves targets,” says Shannon Galpin, currently producing a documentary film about the team.  “The women cyclists are doing something very simple that we take for granted, but making a huge statement in a country that doesn’t allow their women to ride bikes.”
Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/world-our-backyard/2013/mar/29/afghan-women-cyclists-riding-freedom/#ixzz2T5EjhZFs

Related articles

• Teenage cycling prodigy leads Afghan women to new freedoms (dailynightly.nbcnews.com)
• Afghan women are not allowed to cycle! (cyclophily.wordpress.com)

WASHINGTON, DC, April 30, 2013- I resisted reading this book for the longest time.  I still haven’t watched the movie.  It’s strange how books sometimes come to you when you are receptive.  Had I started this book two years ago, I probably wouldn’t have made it through the first section.  In this autobiographical book, Elizabeth is in her mid-thirties and going through a terrible divorce from her estranged husband and a pretty bad break up with her boyfriend.  She decides to travel for a year, dividing her time between Italy, India, and Indonesia.

During the year and through her travels, Gilbert finds her physical, emotional and spiritual center as each section of her trip provides her with numerous planned and unplanned learning experiences.

I was reticent to read this book, thinking it would be too esoteric for me, but it wasn’t.  I especially loved Gilbert’s description of her four months in Rome, for obvious reasons.   I lived in Rome for a year in 2002, coincidentally very close to where Gilbert stayed.  This part of the book brought great memories of my neighborhood by Piazza del Popolo and other wonderful little places around the city.  I also appreciated how Gilbert described her stay in Italy mostly in terms of food, since that’s the way I remember my travels.

Even though I liked the other two parts of the book, I liked but did not love them.  I thought the ending was predictable.  Enough said, since I don’t want to give anything away to those who haven’t read the book.

I enjoyed Gilbert’s writing style and loved the humor in the book.  I also found many parts of her spiritual journey touching and relatable.  Many of the people she met along the way were memorable and her interactions with them moving.

I was especially drawn to her relationship with Wayan in Indonesia.  Coming from a third world country but living in the US for almost 16 years, I often have similar experiences with loved ones.  I wish, however, that I could say that I handled it with the same grace and wisdom that Gilbert did.

I think that her way of handling such difficult and mixed feelings when someone you love and have done something nice for reacts in a selfish way is another facet of Gilbert’s spiritual growth and maturity.   Of course, the fact that Felipe was there to explain Wayan’s motivations in such a generous way probably went very far in helping Gilbert not to take anything too personally.  Perhaps since it was not her culture, it was easier for Gilbert to understand and forgive than it is to me because it is my culture.

All in all, however, I enjoyed the book, but enjoyed Gilbert’s wit and writing style even more.  Some may have found her self-centered—just take a look at some of the Goodreads reviews, –but aren’t all writers self-absorbed?

If you liked this Book, I recommend:

• Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes
• Dreams of Joy, Lisa See  

Go back to Book Reviews

Years ago, I began writing a novel based on a family’s collection of discarded buttons because I liked the idea of small, tangible items telling stories that weave together to form a larger truth.

At the time, I had no idea how many button aficionados exist in this world.  Or how devoted they are.  Or talented.  Or insightful.  Since then, I’ve come across countless button jewelers, button crafters, and button florists who create objects of beauty ranging from whimsical earrings to festive bridal bouquets.  I’ve discovered artists who transform buttons into complex, sophisticated mosaics, mandalas, and even sculptures.  I’ve become aware of clubs and organizations just for button collectors, including The National Button Society, which is made up of 3000 serious collectors who research buttons as historical artifacts.

Button fans, it would seem, are legion.  But beyond the hard-core button contingent is an even greater number of regular folk who have vivid memories of playing with their own family’s collection of buttons.  Here are some typical reactions I get when I tell people the basic premise for my book, THE BUTTON COLLECTOR:

“I did that! My grandmother had a box of buttons I used to play with.”

“I can see my mother’s button jar right now.”

“I loved the sound they made when I poured them out of the tin.”

The memories are obviously visceral, the kind of memories that serve as a time portal.   As I talk with these people, in their eyes I can almost see the switch flip and the past come to life.

In my casual, on-and-off study of people and their buttons, I recently came across one of the most poignant examples of all—The Holocaust Memorial Button Project in Peoria, Illinois, which I discovered through a wonderful blog called Bonkers About Buttons.   The memorial is made of glass stars and triangles encasing 11 million buttons, one for each person murdered in the Holocaust.  As Bonkers about Buttons explains:

The visual image the group selected to use was a simple button, which was chosen to represent each life because of their circular shape reminding us of the cycle of life. Buttons are also enduring – they last long after garments have faded and unraveled to remind us of the past.

The memorial contains a staggering 11 millions buttons – some big, some small, some fancy and some plain and provides a visual representation of what is too startling and too staggering for the mind or heart to comprehend.

The idea is similar to a popular middle school exercise in which students collect paper clips to represent people killed in the Holocaust.  While paper clips work well to show the scale of atrocity, I believe buttons give the memorial added depth because they are personal. They remind us of our own clothing, our own details, our own humanity.  I like the fact that people donated their buttons for the project.  In this situation, the buttons have an almost talisman-like power that appears to demand memory, respect, and justice.

From time to time over the years I’ve doubted the whole idea behind my book.  Who wants to read about buttons anyway?  People might think the idea is silly, frivolous, childish.  Fortunately, realizing that I’m not alone in my appreciation for these little objects of art and history gave me confidence to keep going until now, I’m happy to say, I have a book.

As a writer, I also feel validated when I notice buttons making appearances in other writers’ words.  About half the books I’ve read this year have included details, passages, or even recurring themes focused on buttons.  I don’t think these references are anything another reader would notice, but I do, and it underscores one of my guiding beliefs as both a writer and a person—small things matter.   They matter a lot, even more, usually, than big things.  Small things are the way you make a story true and alive, how you give it the power to reach out from the page and crawl into a reader’s soul, how you make memory dance and dreams shimmer.

The big things in a story—epic battles, age-old betrayals, mountaintop experiences—only have power if they can be made particular, if the reader can experience them up close and personal.  That’s why it’s possible for me to read accounts of Roman gladiators and feel only a whisper of unease–I can’t relate to those people.   I don’t know what they ate, how they played with their children, or any other details of their daily life.  On the other hand, just glancing at the guide for the Anne Frank Memorial is almost more than I can bear because the little details in it make it easy for me to imagine myself and my children in her place.

Small things have the power to make happiness come alive too, and that brings me back to buttons. Imagine 30 satin buttons tracing down the back of a wedding gown.  Imagine three baseball buttons on a baby boy’s playsuit.  Imagine a single metal button shining on a new leather satchel.

Imagine elegance, innocence, possibility.

Imagine the details of the stories.

Imagine life.

www.elizabethjennings.com

Related articles

• Book Diva Review: The Button Collector (bookdiva.wordpress.com)

The Knowles Gallery, Flickr Creative Commons

From my column at Communities @ Washington Times

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2013 — Last week, the U.S. Senate approved HR 933, a short term funding measure designed to avoid a March 27 government shutdown.  Hidden within HR 933 is section 735, the “Farmer Assurance Provision.”

Called the “Monsanto Protection Act” by critics, this section gives the USDA the power to allow the planting, harvest and sale of genetically engineered crops, even if a court rules that they were not properly approved. Short of a Presidential veto, the provision is a certain victory for genetically engineered foods.

In the past, if a court ruled that a genetically engineered crop was not properly approved by USDA and could pose a risk to health or the environment, the court could halt its planting and sale, pending a review of the approval.  This so-called “biotech rider” effectively strips courts of this power and allows the production and commercialization of the crop during the appeals process.

Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/world-our-backyard/2013/mar/25/frankenveggies-monsanto-protection-act-passes-sena/#ixzz2QrlQqiDz

Related articles

• Rising Outrage As Obama Signs ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Into Law (vineoflife.net)
• ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Gives Monsanto Power Over Government (readersupportednews.org)
• New ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Gives Monsanto Power Over US Government (naturalsociety.com)

Jamison Wieser, Flickr Creative Commons

From my column in Communities @ Washington Times

WASHINGTON,  March 21, 2013 – Views on same-sex marriage have been rapidly shifting in the U.S.  From politicians coming out in favor of marriage equality to growing portrayal of homosexuality in the media, popular opinion is decidedly changing. Two separate national surveys conducted earlier this month confirm rising support for gay marriage and homosexuality in general among Americans.

Why and how are attitudes shifting?

Politicians and public figures now regularly support same-sex marriage.  Vice President Joe Biden, President Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton are only a few examples.  Even some Republicans like Dick Cheney and Rob Portman have voiced their support for gay marriage.  Though the core of the Republican Party still opposes gay marriage, their arguments have grown less passionate, focusing more on the legality rather than the morality of the issue.
Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/world-our-backyard/2013/mar/22/why-opinion-shifting-same-sex-marriage/#ixzz2QrjnKXlI

Related articles

• The Greatest Speech on Same Sex Marriage You Will Ever Hear (notthesingularity.com)

Cover via Amazon

**1/2

Barcelona: Seix Barral, 2005 (Spanish)

WASHINGTON, DC, April 16, 2013 – Gioconda Belli’s The Scroll of Seduction weaves together two stories: the life of Juana of Castile in sixteenth century Spain and the story of Lucía, a young girl in 1970s Madrid.  Perceptive and extensively researched, Belli’s narrative reveals a more human side of the ill-fated queen of Spain through Lucía’s experiences.  Even though Belli does a superb job at redeeming an often-misunderstood historical figure, the story of Lucía and her affair with a much older man does not come across as well.

Juana of Castile (1479-1555), better known now as Juana la Loca, “Juana de Mad,” was a widely misrepresented figure in Spanish history.    The third child of Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, Juana was not brought up to inherit the throne.  However, after the death of her older siblings, she became the unlikely heir after her mother Isabel’s death in 1504.  By then, she was married to Philip of Burgundy, known as Felipe el Hermoso, “Philip the Handsome,” with whom she shared a widely chronicled passionate love affair.

Treated as mentally ill from early in her marriage, Juana was never allowed to rule Spain directly.  Blaming her mental health, she was kept confined from the time of Felipe’s death in 1506 until her death in 1555, while her father, son, and other men ruled in her place- a total of 49 years of imprisonment.

Modern historians question whether Juana was truly mentally ill, or whether her natural reaction to forced confinement and separation from her children for decades was used as an excuse for others to assume power in her place.

In the novel, Lucía is a 17-year-old orphaned young woman who has been living in a convent in Madrid since her parent’s death.  Her rich Latin American grandparents have a minor role in her life, as she is raised amid the strict and quiet life of the convent.  On one of the grandparents’ visits to Madrid, when Lucía meets Manuel Denia, a history professor who serves as a tour guide for the family.

Forty-something Manuel and convent-raised Lucía end up forming a friendship where he tells her the story of Juana la Loca.  Manuel, from an old and respected Spanish family has his own connection with Juana: his family was responsible for Juana’s confinement for many decades.

As the story of Juana and Felipe begins to take over her life, Lucía finds herself in a strange and new situation where the actions and feelings of a queen who lived centuries ago are stronger than anything in her present life.

Interpreting her apparent madness as a normal reaction to her unjust circumstances, Belli reveals a different queen Juana from the one depicted in history books.  While her so-called madness was unquestioned in her time and for centuries since, modern researchers and writers have inquired whether she was really as mad as she was made out to be.

In The Scroll of Seduction the reader is presented with a very sane Juana who simply reacts to her situation and the injustices in her life in a way that most people would react to a state of utter powerlessness.

While the author achieves her goal of making readers see a different side of Juana, who maybe wasn’t as loca as history made her out to be, she is perhaps less successful with the story of Lucía and Manuel.  The “modern” love affair lacked the depth and purpose –and propriety- that was so present in the story of Juana and Felipe.

If you enjoyed this book, I recommend:

• Wolf Hall, Hillary Mantel
  
• Fall of Giants, Ken Follet

Go back to Book Reviews

By Klearchos Kapoutsis

From my column at Communities @ Washington Times 

WASHINGTON, DC, March 19, 2013 – The residents of Ikaria, a Greek island on the Aegean Sea, live significantly longer than most other communities.  In a study published in Vascular Medicine, researchers concluded that drinking boiled Greek coffee might contribute to the islander’s longevity and robust health.

Boiled Greek coffee, similar to Turkish coffee, is different from the coffee predominantly drunk in the U.S.  Finely ground and mixed with sugar, it is boiled in a small pot called a briki.  Served unfiltered in a small coffee cup and drank once the grounds have settled on the bottom, Greek coffee is often accompanied by a glass of cold water to cleanse the palate.

Many scientists have looked to the residents of Ikaria for clues on longevity and health.  While only 0.1% of Europeans live beyond age 90, over 1% of the residents of Ikaria live past their 90^th birthday- one of the highest longevity rates in the world.  And the elderly islanders are also surprisingly healthy.

Relying on recent studies associating moderate coffee consumption and a slight risk reduction in cardiovascular disease, medical researchers focused on the coffee-drinking habits of Ikarians and how coffee may relate to their longevity.

Led by Gerasimos Siasos, MD, professor at the University of Athens Medical School, researchers randomly picked 71 women and 71 men from the 673 Ikarians over the age of 65 who lived on the island permanently.  Scientists collected information on participants’ medical health, lifestyle, and coffee-drinking habits.  They also gathered data on participants’ endothelial function.

The endothelium is a thin layer of cells that lines the inside of blood vessels, and endothelium function is associated with cardiovascular risk.  Aging and lifestyle choices like diet and smoking affect endothelial function.  Endothelial dysfunction is linked to early signs of arthrosclerosis and hypertension.

The study found that 87% of the participants drank boiled Greek coffee daily.  It also found that participants who consumed Greek coffee daily had significantly better endothelial function than those who consumed other types of coffee.  Surprisingly, the study also found that even Greek coffee drinkers who suffered from high blood pressure had improved endothelial function.

Researchers hypothesize that Greek coffee may be more beneficial than other coffee drinks because it has a moderate amount of caffeine and is rich in antioxidants and polyphenols.  They also suggest that when coffee is boiled it retains more of the healthful chemical compounds than when it is filtered or prepared by other methods.

It is important to point out that while many studies have linked coffee and caffeine in general to a series of health benefits including preventing cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease, reducing the risk of oral and skin cancers, and promoting weight loss, most studies – including this one- show a correlation, but not causation.  Ikarians may lead longer lives because, besides drinking Greek coffee, they engage in other healthful habits, like exercise and a healthy Mediterranean diet.

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Mike Tyler

From my column at Communities @ Washington Times

WASHINGTON DC, March 18, 2013- Researchers from the Lazarus Project are on their way to bringing back an extinct frog species to life.  Led by paleontologist Mike Archer of the University of New South Wales, scientists successfully created early-stage embryos of the extinct gastric brooding frog.

The gastric brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus), also known as the platypus frog, was discovered in the early 1970s.  Native to the rainforests and creeks of Queensland, Australia, this frog had a very particular way of reproducing.  The female swallowed eggs fertilized by the male, incubated the tadpoles in its stomach, and gave birth to small frogs through its mouth.  While the eggs were incubating (about six weeks), the frog would not eat and its stomach would cease to produce gastric juices.

Scientists are unsure what led to its extinction, but it is believed to be a combination of habitat loss and degradation, pollution, and disease.  The gastric brooding frog was officially declared extinct in 1983.  Until now.

In an announcement last Friday, Lazarous project scientists revealed that they had successfully used somatic cell nuclear transfer to create gastric brooding frog embryos.  Scientists inserted the extinct frog’s DNA into donor eggs from the great barred frog, a species related to the gastric brooding frog.  The donor eggs were treated with UV light to deactivate the great barred frog DNA, preventing it from interfering with the inserted gastric brooding frog’s genetic material.

The extinct frog’s DNA was obtained from frog samples frozen by Adelaide Professor Mike Tyler before the frog became extinct, and stored in a University deep freezer for over 30 years.  Even though the embryos lived for a few days and did not develop into tadpoles, researchers are optimistic. Tests of the embryos confirmed that the DNA was that of the extinct gastric brooding frog.

The breakthrough was announced Friday in Washington, DC at the TEDx DeExtinction event hosted by Revive & Restore, with the support of TED, in partnership with the National Geographic Society.  The event centered on discussions about the practical, moral, and ethical questions that arise from bringing extinct species back to life.

As discussed at Friday’s event, there are many questions involved in attempting to bring back an extinct species.  For one thing, are these scientists bringing back an extinct species, or creating a new one that looks like the extinct species?  Other questions include how to introduce genetic variation, whether species should be brought back for research of repopulation, what the challenges of reintroduction are, and perhaps on a more fundamental plane, why bring back a species in the first place.

Lazarus Project scientists anticipate their research can be used to conserve other endangered species.  Other researchers have already expressed uses for this kind of technology beyond conservation.  For example, biologists have expressed an interest in studying the way the frogs stop producing digestive juices in the hope of developing medical treatments for people suffering from gastric disorders.

This kind of science poses all kinds of questions on several levels, many of which cannot be answered at the moment.  Some think that in a way it is like playing God.

The Lazarus project has announced that it plans to focus on cloning the extinct Tasmanian tiger next.  Meanwhile others are already clamoring to bring back the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth.

Read more of my articles

Related articles

• Lost frog DNA revived: Lazarus Project (eurekalert.org)
• Scientists Bring Extinct Mouth-Brooding Frog Back to Life After 30 Years (inhabitat.com)
• Scientists Resurrect Freaky Extinct Frog That Gives Birth through Its Mouth (neatorama.com)
• Bizarre extinct frog brought back to life (vineoflife.net)

by botheredbybees

From my column at Communities @ Washington Times

WASHINGTON DC, March14, 2013 –A paper published in the current issue of Antiviral Therapy suggests that bee venom may be the next line of defense against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.  While research is in its preliminary stages, there may be reasons to be optimistic.

According to specialists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, melittin, a toxin found in bee venom, can be used to destroy HIV cells while not harming surrounding cells.  Differing from current HIV prevention and treatment, researchers at Washington University devised a novel way to deliver a toxin that attacks HIV cells directly, and not the virus’ ability to replicate.

HIV has proven difficult to combat because of its small size when compared to other cells, its ability to adapt and develop resistance to treatment, and the fact that HIV cells are covered with a double-layered membrane that forms a protective envelope around the cells which makes them difficult to eliminate.  Melittin works by forming “pore-like attack complexes” that rupture and strip the protective envelope from HIV cells.

To deliver the toxin without harming other cells, scientists used melittin-loaded nanoparticles equipped with special bumpers that bounce off regularly sized cells.  Conversely, the much smaller HIV cells fit between the bumpers and come into contact with the melittin, which goes to work destroying the HIV cells’ outer envelope.

This delivery system was originally developed as an artificial blood product to deliver oxygen, but was not very successful.  However, since it circulates in the blood safely, Hood and his colleagues adapted it to deliver melittin instead of oxygen.

Currently, most retroviral drugs used to treat HIV target the virus’ ability to replicate. This research is seen as groundbreaking in that it attacks the virus’ structure.  By attacking a physical property of HIV, according to lead researcher Dr. Joshua L. Hood, MD, PhD, it is unlikely that the virus will develop resistance because there is no way for the virus to adapt to losing its crucial protective outer layer.

Researchers foresee two uses for melittin in preventing and treating HIV: as a vaginal gel to prevent infection and as intravenous therapy for existing HIV infection.  The gel would be especially helpful in preventing new infections in places where HIV is widespread, according to Dr. Hood.  In treating existing infection, this therapy could be particularly useful in drug-resistant cases.

The results of the study go beyond combating the spread of HIV.  Samuel A. Wickline, MD, the study’s senior author, has also shown that this type of therapy may have the same effect on tumor cells.  Moreover, it has been suggested that this melittin-loaded nanoparticle therapy could also be effective against a range of viruses, including Hepatitis B and C, since these viruses rely on a similar protective envelope.

Most specialists and experts agree, however, that it is too soon to tell.  Research is still in its preliminary stages, and has only been tested in a lab and not on a living organism.  Much more research and testing will need to be done before it can even be tested on humans.  However, it does show a new way of tackling the virus and thinking outside the box–which may be just what is needed to eradicate HIV and AIDS.

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