Let's play spin the facts with CBC : Is moderate wine drinking beneficial or harmful?

[Corey]

Ok let's have a little fun. The CBC attacks moderate wine drinking with some good old fashioned fact-free scare tactics in this recent 15 minute prime time video clip. If you have 15 minutes to spare give it a quick watch and tell me if you can spot one single *fact* in there which supports their position. BTW Note the misinformation at [11:50] when the interviewer states:

"Have you heard [..] that a glass of wine can increase your risk of cancer?"

http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/f...er20041205.ram

"A glass" of wine can increase your risk of cancer? One glass? Misinformation like that should be illegal. Drinking "a glass of wine", as she states, will definitely not increase your risk of cancer, not by a *long shot*. You couldn't find a single physician anywhere who would agree, and indeed most would be downright appalled at her implying that. The true fact is that there is *no* food or drink item on the common marketplace today which will increase the risk of cancer in a healthy person with a single serving. Besides, humans have been here for millions of years and grapes have been a part of our diet since very early. If wine is as dangerous as she implies where is the historical evidence?

And to be clear here, I never drink. I've had a few occasional glasses of wine in my day and I'll no doubt have a few more, but overwhelmingly I don't drink and never have. I have nothing against it nor for it, my only interest is in the *actual facts*. Obviously wine enhances certain mental health benefits too which they do not address, i.e. stress relief, socializing, laughter, etc. Those things must be fully quantified in any intelligent risk analysis. The real facts seem to indicate that a lack of fun, relaxation, and laughter in your life is far more corrosive to your longevity than drinking a couple of glasses of wine in the evening and I am inclined to agree with that.

I'm astounded at the level of deception in this video, particularly in her quote above. This interviewer is funded by our tax dollars, and she makes *big big dough*. I'm exasperated with the whole thing frankly. I mean can you imagine all the people who are going to go into work tomorrow morning and say, "Hey Bob, have you heard? Even a single glass of wine can increase your risk of cancer? Yeah! It's true, I saw it on TV, they had scientists and everything. CBC..."

Anyhow what's your personal opinion of the show? Let me know... I'm really curious what everyone thinks after watching that clip and I promise not to argue.

[gbrown]

The report is what we here In The States would call a "sweeps week story". Specifically, one created to boost viewership. You can usually tell these stories because they (a) appeal to a broad audience; (b) have at their core a "scare" related to some common activity; (c) "experts" espousing a view.

The "reporter" goes on and on about how the wine & alchohol industry supports all the "pro-drinking" studies. Well, duh... how come all the "anti" bunch are addiiction control folks?

This all gets down to comparative risk analysis. It's like the old scare about birth control pills. A woman taking the pills will have X percentage greater risk of death from stroke than those not on the pill. This ignores the fact that if one assumes that the woman who is on the pill is on it because she is having intercourse then she is subject to getting pregnant. Now, the risk from dying from pregnancy is MUCH higer than the risk from dying from the pill. Therefore, the pill is just fine since the greater benefit is from not getting pregnant.

I'm taking classes at university now in hopes of SOMEDAY getting a masters in education. One of the classes I designed was on teaching the concept of comparative risk analysis to middle school science students. In doing a dry-run of the class to my graduate school classmates I was amazed at how few of them had really thought about comparative risk.

You've got to remember that when dealing with science And The Masses that a BIG percentage of The Public doesn't accept evolution as science fact, thinks that the moon landings were fake, and can't tell on a map where Canada is. THAT'S the population that stories like the wine one are aimed at.

I live in Minnesota, "Home of the 12-Step Program" (heck, we even have 12-step programs for people that are in too many 12-step programs ). Years ago whilst undergoing mariage counseling it came out that I like to have a glass of scotch (Laphroig, if you must know) as I watch Masterpiece Theater. I do this EVERY time I watch shows from the beeb. The counselor treated this a horrible. I looked her in the eye and said "I don't consider drinking a scotch while I watch Masterpiece Theater an illness, I consider it civilization!". I stand by that... and I stand by my glass of wine with dinner (current favourite: Goats do Roam red from South Africa).

I remain, imbibingly yours,

[Corey]

Yep. I agree. And I'll be the first to toast you when you get your Masters. Education was an interest of mine also until about two days ago. I give up. I have done similar tests in classes I've taught, and I also have found that university students overwhelmingly think the same way, i.e. extremely "inside the box", etc. I've spent massive energy developing tools to help people overcome typical barriers and so forth but it's an uphill battle to get anything into play and I've decided it's time to stop being overly idealistic and focus my spare time back on music for a while...

Anyhow I did enjoy how they went out of their way to shoot the one addictions specialist shooting pool in the bar and made a special point of showing his [mostly empty] beer mug. Producers... Anyhow I'm unclear does he specialize in being addicted or not being addicted?

Minnesota, eh? Seems to me our own esteemed Adam was just there not too long ago, he drove there from Canada so he could shop.

So he could shop.

Shop.

[gbrown]

Oh, Adam was probably down here for the cheap drugs. You know we get busloads of you Canadians down here for 'em. Something about how a six-pack of Molson's is less expensive.

So, we going to get together for a party somewhere and have an Indigo Rose Employee & Customer Jam session?

[Brett]

I love Minnesota. We used to go down to the Detroit Lakes area in the Summer occasionally when I was a teen. I have been to Minneapolis only once but I think I might load up the mini-van and take the kids to Camp Snoopy at Mall of America this Summer (makes me think of a Chevy Chase movie ...holiday ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ad, holiday r-o-o-o-o-o-o-ad...)

Oh yeah, and your Masterpiece Theatre story reminds me of a similar tradition I had last Winter - Sunday night Sopranos and a glass (or two) of Rye and Coke (how very Canadian, eh?) Less refined to be sure, but relaxing none-the-less.

[gbrown]

Consider this an Open Invitation to the Indigo Rose possee to give me a yell when in town... who knows, we may even be playing a gig that night and you could come over and wing dud distribution CD's at the band .

[Corey]

Oh, Adam was probably down here for the cheap drugs.

Yes, it seems that Adam, ever impressionable by his older brother, has established a weekend ritual of his own. Desperate Housewives with 2 osteoporosis tablets (how very Canadian, eh?) Less refined to be sure, but relaxing none-the-less.

[gbrown]

Brothers? Hmmm...

Nepotism is OK if you keep it in the family.

[Corey]

Naw, it ain't nepotism. Adam earned his slot on the team honestly and fairly by taking a 347 volt shock on a ladder, 20 feet off the ground. True story.

We all did, even Sandy... Untrue story.

But seriously I'll tell you something in all earnest. I only know a handful of people in this world who could handle the support load and other related issues which Adam does without going nuts. He's the proverbial bullet catcher. And he does it all with a chuckle. A *cartoon* chuckle.

It takes a very specific type of personality not to take that stuff home at night. I'd be a wreck.

[gbrown]

347 Volts? Hmmm... Neighborhood feeder line? I thought Canada was 220V. Then again... wacky 3-phase stuff?

ANYONE who does support needs all the help, respect, and appropriate medication they can get. Ghu knows I know... 5% of one's customers provide 95% of your headaches. Illiad absolutely nails it on the head with UserFriendly. (You do read that, don't you? Fellow Canadian, and all...)

"Taking it home at night..." Guess that's the downside of having the office in my house. I just LOVE those 3AM calls from the London Stock Exchange (as in the UK, not Ontario). Put on my bunney slippers and head downstairs... They know only to call if it's critical. I guess that's why they went with a tiny software firm instead of one of my Big Competitors. Let's see THEM give out there home phone number.

[gbrown]

220v CENTER TAP... I should say.

[Adam]

Thanks for all of the kind words folks.

347 Volts? Hmmm... Neighborhood feeder line? I thought Canada was 220V. Then again... wacky 3-phase stuff?

It was the feeder for a fluorescent light in a large warehouse. That was a rush. On a side note gbrown we use the same electrical components as you guys do. 120V and all that. It is the Europeans that use 220V. The main difference in components is that products manufactured in the US use the philips screw head (X) while we use the Robertson (Square). Either than that it is all the same.

Yes I went shopping last summer in the US, yeah I’ll admit it. We went to a town just outside of Minneapolis named "Albertville" that is all those outlet stores. I love the interstate highways, I went pretty soon after getting my current car and man was I movin on those highways 80+ Miles per hour. And the funny thing is that I was actually getting passed. Good times

Adam Kapilik

[gbrown]

Speaking about power... Did you know that in almost ALL instances the sockets in the US (and I presume Canada) are mounted upsides down? The guy who invented that socket (for GE, I think) visited my sweetie's family hardware store way-back-when and told her dad that the ground-pin hole was supposed to be UP. Two advantages: If the plug isn't all the way in and something drops down it won't short out accross the other pins. Secondly, since the ground pin is longer than the other pins it will make contact first. This is a Good Thing. You can tell when I met my girlfriend.... after that date all the sockets in the house are ground-side-up.

If you look at a 240V UK socket you'll see that the ground is on top.

[Adam]

I did know that but I didn't know why. Whenever I do electrical jobs I always mount them "Ground Down" since that is all I have seen around.

The only downside I can see to mounting the plug "Ground Up" is for some adapters.. The really big ones are usually bottom heavy so "Ground Up" may give bad results. It seems that the manufacturers of electronics have designed adapters to be placed "Ground Down". Electrical work is my second best skill (next to computers). I do side jobs all the time.... and if you are an inspector then I would like to change that statement to "I do not do side jobs all the time"

Adam

[gbrown]

I love doing electical work, too. It's one of those things I learned from my Dad back in the 60's. Dress Those Wires. When Screwing the Screws Into a Plate Make Sure the Slots for the Heads Line Up. The sort of thing you would expect from a guy who graduated from a technical high school in the early 1940's and had worked at Bell Labs since '45. I find wiring a very relaxing task.

It is VERY satisfying to plug in the "did I do it right" gizmo into the socket and have the little bulbs all light up in the right pattern. My best wiring job to date was controlling a set of bulbs from THREE switches. Two switches is a piece of cake. THREE switches are obnoxious. Worked first time!