BREVITAS

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HEALTH

TREEHUGGER - According to New York Magazine, A New Yorker born in 2004
can now expect to live 78.6 years, nine months longer than the average
American will. The traditional ways of dying young in New York
(homicide, AIDS, and drugs) continue to decline, but so does cancer and
heart disease. One reason: people not only walk, they walk fast, faster
than anywhere else in the country. "Walking speed absolutely reflects
health status," [epidemiologist Eleanor] Simonsick says.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/why_new_yorkers.php

ABC NEWS - The Indiana State Fair, which runs through Sunday, is
requiring vendors to use trans-fat-free cooking oil. No other state has
reported an outright ban, says Marla Calico, a director at the
International Association of Fairs and Expositions. Of the five largest
state fairs, some vendors at three - Iowa, Texas and Minnesota - will be
posting signs at the fairs in the next few weeks announcing they are
using trans-fat-free oils. The Eastern States Exposition is "strongly
encouraging" its vendors to reject trans-fat oils. There is no plan for
a ban at the Arizona state fair. The Indiana ban comes amid a trans-fat
purge. Fast-food chains such as KFC have banned them within the past
year. One of America's classic indulgences, Girl Scout cookies, also
gets a merit badge for cutting trans fats. Even New York City has issued
a ban.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/story?id=3482493&page=1

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NATURE & ECOLOGY

PERRY BACKUS, THE MISSOULIAN - In the 28 years that deputy incident
commander Tony Doty has been fighting fire, he's never seen anything
quite like the Jocko Lakes fire burning near Seeley Lake. With the
larger fuels essentially drier than kiln-dried lumber and the smaller
stuff almost off the bottom of the fuel moisture chart, everything in
the fire's path ignites easily and burns with an intensity rarely seen.
"None of us have any historical context to this fire," Doty said. "We
are seeing things every day that none of us have seen or heard about in
our career." That's probably not the kind of news the 80 or so Seeley
Lake area residents hoped to hear at Monday's fire briefing meeting in
Bonner.
. . . As of Monday, the 22,000-acre fire is being fought with about 900
firefighters, 45 engines, 14 dozers, and five helicopters. So far, the
effort has cost about $7 million.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/08/14/news/mtregional/news07.txt

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INDICATORS

NY POST - A surprising 94 percent of Americans say they are satisfied
with their lives - although far fewer in New York and other Eastern
states think they're better off than they were five years ago, according
to a new survey. The Harris Poll of more than 1,000 people reported the
overall "satisfaction" level, defined as people who said they were
either very or somewhat satisfied with their lot, was up 4 percentage
points, from 90 percent two years ago. But only 42 percent of people in
the Eastern U.S. said things had improved since 2002. By contrast, 60
percent of Southerners and 62 percent of Westerners said their lives had
improved.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08152007/news/regionalnews/happy_days_here_again_regionalnews_chris_michaud.htm


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CORPORADOS

REGISTER, UK - While the legal arm of the Recording Industry Association
of America is lightning fast to attack at the slightest inkling of
copyright infringement - justified or not - it appears the arm which
holds the organization's billfold isn't nearly so quick on the draw. In
the case of Capitol v. Foster, where the RIAA was ordered to pay
$68,585.23 in attorney fees and costs after unsuccessfully suing over
copyright infringement, Deborah Foster has yet to receive payment.
Despite the judge's ruling, laid down a month ago, Deborah Foster hasn't
heard back from the RIAA, much less received any money, prompting her to
file a motion of judgment against the organization. . .

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/15/riaa_doesnt_pay_legal_fees/

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THE MIX

HISTORY NEWS NETWORK - A decade ago, the list of the top 10 TV shows
favored by African-American viewers and the list of top shows among all
viewers shared only one program: Monday Night Football. But this year,
for the first time in a generation, the polls on shows favored by white
and black audiences are strikingly similar, in agreement on eight of the
top 10. Never in the 20 years that the data from Nielsen Media Research
has been systematically compared based on race has such a convergence
between black and white TV tastes emerged.

http://hnn.us/roundup/41.html#41825

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FIELD NOTES

WAR MADE EASY - What's changed in the rhetoric of war since the 1960s? A
new film, War Made Easy, explores how media and government spin from the
Vietnam era to today has kept America at war. The film has been adapted
from the critically acclaimed book by Norman Solomon, "War Made Easy:
How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death," which was
published in 2005.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/56526/

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