Winners

Talk about giving. Tim and Kellie Guderian, the Fort Dodge couple who won the $200 million Powerball jackpot in September, announced in a press release that they gave a $2 million gift to the Community Foundation of Fort Dodge, with a portion of that going to the Humane Society of North Central Iowa. Now if they could only figure out what to do with all the remaining millions.

And while we are on the subject of giving, we want to acknowledge the people and businesses that unselfishly donate time and money to charitable foundations and don’t send press releases to local media outlets in efforts to make sure everyone knows about it. A little humility, please.

The executive committee of the board that oversees the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum appropriately distanced itself last week from Dennis Prager, a member of the Council and a conservative radio talk show host who publicly criticized Democratic Rep.-elect Keith Ellison’s decision to use the Quran during his ceremonial swearing-in. The board passed a resolution stating, in part, that the Executive Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, while recognizing that Dennis Prager has the right to express his personal views freely, disassociates itself from Mr. Prager’s statements as being antithetical to the mission of the Museum as an institution promoting tolerance and respect for all peoples regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity.

Losers

Deb Wretman, principal of an Iowa City junior high school, implemented a “no hug” rule in the building to prevent aggression, clogging of hallways and tardiness with students. According to a recent report, the school prefers handshakes. Here in Central Iowa, we are more of the huggy, feely type.

It is hard to determine who the biggest loser was when a 1-month-old baby was put through an X-ray machine at Los Angeles International Airport. Was it the idiot caretaker (and we use the word caretaker loosely) who placed the infant on the conveyor or the incompetent security staff who failed to notice it until they saw the kid on the screen? A spokesman for LAX said the incident was an innocent mistake. Fortunately, the baby is OK. Lawyers are undoubtedly drooling over this opportunity.

The FBI came clean last week on surveillance tapes of the late Beatle, John Lennon, showcasing the agency’s obsession with the musician. Authorities often bugged Lennon’s phone and collected intelligence on his whereabouts. Though Lennon was certainly tied to several antiwar groups at the time, the idea of him spreading revolutionary news through the contents of his songs makes us wonder what J. Edgar Hoover and the Nixon administration were smoking.

Bacteria in your stomach may be the determining factor in whether you gain or lose weight, according to Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D., of Washington University. He says that when overweight people go on diets, one group of efficient bacteria moves out of their gut and another less-efficient group moves in to fill the void. As reported in the Dec. 21 issue of Nature, this finding suggests that these intestinal microbes may someday be manipulated to treat obesity. The real question, according to the story, is whether the change in bacteria drives the weight loss, or the weight loss puts pressure on the bacterial composition of the gut. The findings raise interesting questions about the cause of obesity. And a bunch of fat laboratory mice agree.

A 23 percent drop in the use of illicit drugs among American teenagers was reported last week by Partnership for a Drug-Free America, leaving those fighting the war on drugs with an important victory. Meanwhile, the increased use of narcotic painkillers like Vicodin has become quite alarming. Prescription medications such as this have become the drug of choice for the wealthy, and are, unfortunately, becoming too easily accessible. Vicodin effects are said to be so severe that the body stops trying to fight the drug, weakening the natural immune and detox system. Experts say that parental involvement and education about the dangers of drug abuse have helped reduce the use of illicit drugs, and that these same efforts need to be made to curb the use of prescription drugs. But we think the problem also lies in identifying the providers of these “painkillers.” These doctors and pharmacists should be sought out, fined heavily and banned from ever working in the health profession again. With one in five teens now intentionally abusing drugs like Vicodin, the likelihood of these young people becoming addicts for life is all too real. CV

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