Some disturbing news is out today about cholesterol drug Vytorin, news that says the drug failed to meet it’s main goal of improving cardiovascular outcomes in a closely-watched heart study. Don’t know which drug I’m talking about? (there are so many.. it’s understandable)

This commercial may jog your memory:

According to The New York Times Vytorin actually seems to have very little effect:

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With the birth of Nicole Kidman’s new baby making headlines, it reminded of a little movie she made called Birth that I’ve been meaning to see for some time. After seeing the film this weekend, I can’t help but wonder why her actual birth got more press than her performance in Birth - it was one of the best performances I’ve seen in some time.

The story focuses on Anna (Kidman), a woman who lost her husband Sean 10 years prior, and is now remarrying. At a party to celebrate her engagement to Joseph, a 10 year old boy shows up claiming to be her dead husband come back. From here the story becomes a ghostly look at how we deal with death and the nature of true love. Kidman steals the show as her Anna slowly begins to believe the young boy and we watch her fall back in love with someone she thought she had lost.

The clip below says it all:

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If you thought global warming was a metaphorical pain before, research suggests that pain is going to become quite literal.  Scientists and researchers based out of the University of Texas, Dallas have concluded that due to climate change, up to 2.25 million more Americans will have kidney stones by 2050 than do now.

Kidney stones are calcium deposits caused by dehydration and low urine volume (I know, gross), and NewScientist.com states that these are “factors likely to rise as temperatures creep up.”  Says the article,

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HBO has announced plans to develop a show abut the herbal weight loss industry called Fat Sells:

It’s the magic pill theory,” Dave Broome (25/7) said. “As a society, we don’t care what the side effects are to these pills. I thought it would be an interesting world to look into, the fact that it’s a market unregulated by the FDA. [Variety]

Sounds interesting to me, even more so because Forest Whitaker is set to produce and I’ve always been a big Forest Whitaker fan. Plot wise, I’m excited for a program that examines the effects of what we put in our body - this is something everyone could stand to do a little more often.

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Social Action + Cinema Videos of the Day:

Cystic Fibrosis and The Thin Red Line

1) Current TV presents ‘Dying Young’

For the Cinema YouTube Video of the Day, Click here >>>

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Singer Kelly Rowland took an AIDS test in Africa to raise awareness of the disease. Rowland took the test while in Nairobi on Thursday to help reduce the stigma of the disease in the country, where people fear discrimination if they are tested.

“Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to HIV infection, and it is important for everyone to know their HIV status,” she said. “The quicker you know your status, the sooner you can receive treatment if you’re HIV+, and reduce the risk of inadvertently infecting future partners.” Rowland is in Africa as the first ever Ambassador for MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation, and hopes to help the people of Kenya get the disease under control. HIV/AIDS is at pandemic levels through much of Africa, with UNAIDS-the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS – estimating that more than 22 million adults and children are living with the disease on the continent. The singer also took the time to visit the 2008 recipients of the Staying Alive Foundation’s grants, who have been chosen for their efforts to encourage, educate and empower their peers in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

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Elizabeth Pisani’s new book The Wisdom of Whores examines AIDS research and treatment and how bureaucracy plays a role in both. More than that though, she offers an alternative to a system she sees as broken:

“It would mean spending lots more of the available money on prostitutes, addicts, and gay guys, and lots less on school kids, pregnant women, and church groups,” Pisani writes. “It would mean making fun things (sex, drugs) safe, instead of trying to make safe things (abstinence, monogamy) fun.” [NPR]

Sounds good to me…

takepart to learn more from Pisani in her NPR Fresh Air interview and also
takepart to read her blog, a funny yet serious series of posts about AIDS, sexuality, sex and reality - this opening was perhaps one of the best things I have read in some time

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Really, everyone is standing up to cancer:

The Big Three television networks — NBC, CBS and ABC — have never done anything like it before. On Friday, Sept. 5, their news anchors — Brian Williams, Katie Couric and Charles Gibson, respectively — will sit on one set for a commercial-free, prime-time simulcast entitled “Stand Up to Cancer.” [MSNBC]

Major League Baseball is teaming up with entertainers, foundations, businesses and three of the top four television networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — in the quest to find a cure for cancer.

The new initiative, called “Stand Up To Cancer,” was introduced on Wednesday morning on all three networks and at press conferences at the Paley Center for Media in New York. It will also be introduced in Beverley Hills later today.

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“Amal” a new independent feature, directed by Richie Mehta and starring Rupinder Nagra, has won the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Shot in Digital Video on the streets of New Dehli, the narrative follows a humble autorickshaw driver - the title character, Amal - as he happily plies his trade on the streets of India’s capital. Things change though when he comes across a passenger who changes his life.

According to the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles program:

“This charming fable examines the true nature of happiness in a society obsessed with speed, technology and monetary wealth. In AMAL, Mehta introduces the rarest of heroes, one whose spirit will undoubtedly leave an indelible impact.”

Director Richie Mehta tells more about “Amal” below:

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GQ makes charity stylish with the Gentlemen’s Fund, an initiative to raise support and awareness for five cornerstones essential to men: opportunity, health, education, environment, and justice. Through it’s site http://www.thegentlemensfund.com you can click on one of the five categories and donate to the Gentlemen’s Fund chosen charity for that category.

John Legend, the Fund’s spokesman encourages visitors to the site to make donations and to buy special merchandise from marketers like Nautica with proceeds benefiting the Fund charities. (Click here for a video of Legend talking about the Fund)

The Fund was established in 2007 to commemorate GQ’s 50th anniversary, and raised $1.55MM that year.

Want to be a generous gentleman? Visit http://www.thegentlemensfund.com