Cartoonists Around the Globe Get Sassy on Climate

Props to The Guardian for sharing the results of the Ken Sprague Fund's International Political Cartoon Competition.

Apparently Sprague was a leftist political artist, and pretty good at his craft. The Fund seeks to further his vision by engaging artists to promote social justice, peace and tolerance through their media.

Having spent a year of college studying Art and Social Change, I must say, I am partial to him already. As further evidence of his merit, check out his mustachio:




The Fund's 2008 contest theme: climate change.

Of the 19 finalists and runners-up, my six favorites are below. The rest are worth checking out at one of the links above.

There's Wine A-Flowin' through Them Veins

But that's apparently not how red wine conveys its coveted health benefits, reports a recent article in The Economist.

It has long been thought by scientists that a group of strong antioxidants called polyphenols, which are found in red wines, can protect against cancer and heart disease. But, says the article, those antioxidants never make it to the bloodstream. Thus, the exact process by which wines' benefits accrue "has been mysterious." Until now.

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently offered evidence that red wine works its cancer-reducing magic in the stomach. There, the antioxidants in wine mix with other ingested substances. Like food. This mixing inhibits the production of harmful chemicals that are normally released when the stomach digests certain fats.

This important study has led the anonymous-but-clever authors at The Economist to observe, "pairing red wines [...] with red meat appears to be more than just a matter of taste."

And it leads ME to conclude that multiple vices cancel each other out - so go on and indulge!

If you just can't bear the thought of those happy-go-lucky antioxidants getting thwarted before they ever do reach a set of juicy veins, worry not. With these designer carafes, you might still be in luck - delicate, morbid luck: