But it remains a best seller at Whole Foods

Hook, line and sinker

NYT: Fish oil is nothing but snake oil

Fish oil is now the third most widely used dietary supplement in the United States, after vitamins and minerals, according to a recent report from the National Institutes of Health. At least 10 percent of Americans take fish oil regularly, most believing that the omega-3 fatty acids in the supplements will protect their cardiovascular health.

But there is one big problem: The vast majority of clinical trials involving fish oil have found no evidence that it lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke.

From 2005 to 2012, at least two dozen rigorous studies of fish oil were published in leading medical journals, most of which looked at whether fish oil could prevent cardiovascular events in high-risk populations. These were people who had a history of heart disease or strong risk factors for it, like high cholesterol, hypertension or Type 2 diabetes.

All but two of these studies found that compared with a placebo, fish oil showed no benefit.

And yet during this time, sales of fish oil more than doubled, not just in the United States but worldwide, said Andrew Grey, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and the author of a 2014 study on fish oil in JAMA Internal Medicine.

“There’s a major disconnect,” Dr. Grey said. “The sales are going up despite the progressive accumulation of trials that show no effect.”

UPDATE: I just looked up “hypophosphites”, which Scott’s Emulsions claims to contain. According to Wikipedia, its primary use is for electroless nickel plating (whatever that is), proving that the modern purveyors of pseudo-supplements have nothing on the early pioneers in the business.

FURTHER UPDATE: History of Scott’s Emulsions here. I just love the internet.

I myself intend to follow the advice of my doctors (especially my primary care physician, Dr. Jeffery Weinberger, of Riverside)  – if you can’t trust Jeff, who’s left?

Dr. Jeff relaxes after running the NYC Marathon (and what the HELL is going on with that arm?)

Some relationships just never heal

Man crushed when mother-in-law embraces him.

It took eight years, but Ogilvy’s found a buyer

33 Twin Lakes

He listed 33 Twin Lakes (Gilliam Lane South) back in 2007 for $8.2 million, an aggressive price even then, and the property’s been on and off the market ever since, at a gradually diminishing price. A year ago he dropped it to $5.6, and there’s  a contract reported on it today.

Given the lengthy time spent on the market even at this last price, I doubt the selling price will be close to it. Then again, it’s Riverside, so who knows?

Swift boating John Kerry, again

And while I was getting a bandaid on my scratched knee, I personally witnessed my fellow sailors raping women, children and puppy dogs and then I ….

Al Gore may have invented the internet, but it turns out John Kerry did not ring out the warning bell on global warming back in 1988, despite his repeated claims that he did.

Secretary of State John Kerry is taking heat for exaggerating his role as a senator in organizing the chamber’s first climate-change hearings.

Questions about Kerry’s repeated assertions that he helped organize and participated in the Senate hearings roughly 27 years ago resurfaced after a March 12 speech before the Atlantic Council, in Washington, D.C.

“Climate change is an issue that is personal to me, and it has been since the 1980s, when we were organizing the very first climate hearings in the Senate,” Kerry told the audience. “Al Gore, Tim Wirth and a group of us organized the first hearings in the Senate on this, 1988. We heard Jim Hansen sit in front of us and tell us it’s happening now, 1988.”

The Washington Post fact-checker concluded that Kerry at least exaggerated about his involvement and — comparing his statements to recent tall tales by anchor Brian Williams — gave him four “Pinocchios.”

The paper concluded he likely didn’t attend the June 23, 1988, hearing and perpetuated often-told details about the event that proved to be false. According to the Post, the March 12 speech was hardly the first time the tale was told.

Liars lie – it’s in their genetic makeup; just ask Dick Blumenthal.

Sale price reported

17 Pintail Lane

17 PintailLane, new construction, $2.5 million. Pintail is off Mallard, removed from the traffic, and that makes it far more desirable, in my opinion.

And a contract in Glenville

20 Bailiwick Rd

20 Bailiwick Road, asking $2.795 million. Nice house, but this is  tough price range for the Bailiwick neighborhood, and the time this spent on the market proves it. Owner paid $2.4 million for it in 2005 (and that seller had started at $2.995 the year before), renovated it, and put it back up for sale in 2012 at $2.850. After a year, she and her agent tried the old, “if it won’t sell, raise the price” strategy, which usually doesn’t work, and it didn’t work here. But a price cut or two later, she found a buyer.

 

Old Greenwich bank sale

1 Random Road

1 Random Road, $1.750 million. A very nice house, but with so many unknowns, and with it being sold in “as is” conditions (banks won’t do it any other way), my clients passed. Water stains, all seemingly recent, make one wonder what’s going on behind the walls and above the ceilings, and the huge open pit in the back yard, the result of a still-ongoing legal fight with a neighbor, sent us over to Riverside, where my people bought a house of the same age, for less than $200,000 more, in great shape and no lawsuits.

Worked for them, but some brave soul has tackled this one. He should do well, because it has plenty of room to expand and the location is good.

That was then, this is now

54 Terrace Avenue

54 Terrace Avenue, Riverside, took quite  a while to sell back in 2012 before it finally sold for $805,000. The buyer painted it, redid the kitchen, added a playroom in the basement and seems to have added 120 sq.ft. of space, increasing its size from 1,520 to 1,640 sq. ft. It still has a “master” bedroom upstairs sharing a bathroom with the other two bedrooms, which are tucked beneath the eves. It was listed at $1.450 million 28 days ago and now reports a contract.

Getting there, but not quite yet

12 Byfield Lane

12 Byfield Lane, that failed spec house built in 2009 and at that time priced at $12 million, has had its price dropped again by its bank/owner, to $6.999. As the years pass and the house continues to sit empty, I would think a buyer’s wariness would grow. Still, if it passes inspection, at the right price this house might be a good deal. Maybe at $4.5?

Round Hill Road contract

434 Round Hill Road

434 Round Hill Road. 8 acres with a disposable house, asking $5.295 million. It started at $7 million a couple of years ago, reflecting the once-accepted price of (roughly) $1.000,000 per acre for the Back Country’s 4-acre lots, but it looks as though that price has dropped down to $625,000 or so; this is the second recent land sale up here that’s traded at the lower number.

Another campaign promise met: he vowed to change America’s image abroad, and he’s done it

Success

Former allies flocking to join China’s new development bank, causing Obama “massive embarrassment”.

Try as it might, the US government can’t persuade its allies to stop joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The bank will be a bit like the World Bank, providing loans to developing countries in Asia for infrastructure projects.

Unlike the World Bank, China will hold the reins of the AIIB. The US administration is publicly worried that the institution will not meet high governance standards, but it really seems opposed to the move because it signals a growing Chinese influence in the region and in global politics.

Our former allies in the Middle East are forming their own armies and scrambling to buy nuclear arms now that they no longer can count on us, and this cozying up to China is just more of the same. Obama himself is a massive embarrassment to the country; and a menace.

Shorelands contract

15 Meadow Marsh Lane

15 Meadow Marsh Lane, Old Greenwich, $2.995 million, 24 days on market. It didn’t sell last fall, but this time around, it found a buyer quickly.

Perhaps he should announce his next re-election bid from there

Campaign motto: “DOA”

Peter Tesei opens funeral home.

It’s like that infamous red line of his

State Department now says the March 31st “deadline” for Iranian nuke talks isn’t really a deadline at all, and promises “no consequences” should it not be met. Like everything Obama does, he sees no consequences if he fails. No consequences for him – for our country, however ….

The term “feckless” keeps reverberating around this administration.

UPDATE: “Well okay, June then, but this time we really mean it.”

After intense negotiations, obstacles remained on uranium enrichment, where stockpiles of enriched uranium should be stored, limits on Iran’s nuclear research and development and the timing and scope of sanctions relief among other issues.

The joint statement is to be accompanied by additional documents that outline more detailed understandings, allowing the sides to claim enough progress has been made thus far to merit a new round, the officials said. Iran has not yet signed off on the documents, one official said, meaning any understanding remains unclear.

The talks have already been extended twice as part of more than a decade of diplomatic attempts to curb Tehran’s nuclear advance.

I’ll believe there’s a crisis when they act as though there’s one

Now for a spot of wooly rump rustling, what ho?

Prince Charles admonishes his subjects to observe “Earth Hour” by turning off their lights to save energy, then hops into his helicopter for an 80-mile jaunt to the countryside.

It is estimated the helicopter burned through around 54 gallons of fuel on the journey.

If he had taken his Jaguar XF it would have used around 1.7 gallons, taking just over an hour and a half.

Charles and Camilla were seen enjoying themselves on Sunday as they watched a herd of sheep fence jumping at The Prince’s Countryside Fund Raceday at the prestigious racecourse.

No word whether Leonardo DiCaprio flew over to join Charles in his sheep chase, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he had.

Good question

Study shows that middle-upper-class women just want to get laid.

…By contrast, women from higher socio-economic groups start their sexual activity later, but go on to have more partners throughout their lifetime.

One possible explanation is that highly educated women tend to forge careers before settling down, and so have more years on the singles market.

The real question is, have white, middle-class feminists become so singularly focused on birth control and abortion in order to advocate for their “deprived” sisters, as they claim? Or are they so sex-obsessed in their politics solely in order to sustain their seemingly insatiable, promiscuous lifestyles?

 

Bring back segregation!

Black NYC councilwoman demands that public housing units be segregated by race so that those pesky Asians won’t take over.

I’m no fan of taxes, but this is outrageous

Remember, Andrew, the poor have their troubles as well as the rich

New York pols exempt yachts and personal aircraft from sales tax in this year’s budget.

ALBANY — It’s smooth sailing for yacht owners under the state’s new budget.

The spending plan hammered out by Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders Sunday night includes a sales tax break for the buyers of luxury boats and private planes.

Under the deal, sales tax would only be applied to the first $230,000 of a yacht’s purchase price. Anything above would be exempt.

The deal also exempts the sale of general aviation aircraft from any state sales tax.

It’s bad enough when our Hartford leeches target “millionaires” and add an extra tax for expensive homes and toys, but a special tax break? Makes you wonder how much one has to bribe a politician to get what you want up in Albany. “Spokesmen for Governor Cuomo declined comment.”

Fatal, blind obedience

Don’t GPS, think

Wife burns to death after husband follows GPS off a missing bridge.  This guy not only obeyed the voice in his GPS, he made extraordinary efforts to do so. The picture to the left is one of the actual barricades he went around.

The deadly crash took place at around 9.30am at the Riley Road exit on southbound Cline Avenue. The ramp has been closed since 2009.

Investigators suspect the 64-year-old motorist was following GPS directions when he bypassed several barricades blocking the road and ultimately drove his 2014 Nissan Sentra off the bridge.

The Cline Avenue bridge was erected in 1982. During construction, the span collapsed, killing 14 workers. It was closed to traffic in 2009 and was condemned by the Department of Transportation the following year.

 

Forclosure “bargain” in Byram

17 Candlelight Place

17 Candlelight Place, off Shore Road in Byram, $1.695 million, reports a pending sale. Its unfortunate owner borrowed $1. 950 million to build this home in 2008, then placed it up for sale 1,294 days ago in July, 2011, asking $3.2 million. That wasn’t gonna happen and only now, with a judgement of strict foreclosure temporarily reopened, did he find someone to take it off his hands. It was a Hudson City Savings Bank loan, and the fact that it loaned so much on this property is yet another example of why that bank is no longer with us.