Tag Archive
Just How Much do We Value Privacy?
It has become clear that the United States government is spying on it’s citizens in the name of preventing “terrorism.” Just exactly what they are doing is under debate. Most experts outside the government itself seem to believe it is mathematically impossible for such surveillance to be effective. Many private citizens are asking what they can [...]
Hospitals Should Not be Allowed to Advertise
Recently, I received two ads for two different hospitals, and of course their emergency departments. The first hospital’s ad arrived in the mail. It included a map, labeled “You’re only 6 miles from EXPERT ER CARE,” and the actual route I would need marked with a nice bold, blue line. Oh thank goodness, otherwise I [...]
Angelina
Alright, by now everybody and his or her dog has heard the latest about Angelina Jolie, right? Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average. Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be [...]
America Knows Best
Sorry for the little hiatus. Finals are coming Real Soon Now and my writing has been monopolized by a paper on Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells. Fascinating stuff. For a minimally sciencey version, check out this biography. Depending what day it is, the world news front is likely to say something about Iran, North Korea, [...]
Reframe
Imagine that you work for a relatively small company. One fine Friday in Spring you go to pick up your paycheck, and the owner of the company asks you to sign this: I agree to use none of my paycheck from XYZ LLC to purchase novels in the Twilight or 50 Shades series. If I [...]
Music Monday: ?
Happy Birthday to both John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Alex Kingston (Melody Pond River Song). In Closing: let’s just get all the TSA bashing out of the way; hope nobody is surprised that Federal law still says pot businesses aren’t legal; Sir Patrick Stewart; no plan is a plan; I already said this; [...]
Bath Salts Shorties
Bottom line: “Even healthy oils are not calorie free.” “You only think you need medication for that”: 5 psychiatric disorders with probable genetic basis. Ancient Sea Creature: ”The fossilized animal, an arthropod called a fuxhianhuiid, has primitive limbs under its head, as well as the earliest example of a nervous system that extended past the head. The primitive creature [...]
40 Years Later
The Roe v. Wade ruling turns 40 today. Most of us think that’s a good thing. If I may be blunt, this would have been the alternative to a safe abortion for many women: Hmm, not as warm and fuzzy as adoption or a happy little family, now is it? You want to prevent [...]
Music Monday: What’s Going On
In Closing: the cat came back; the wages of austerity; aww rats; adventurous surrogate mother wanted; rubber duckies; well yeah, it looks silly when he does it; too redacted; Clouds! Pork Exercise! Mexico! Pass the word; backtrack; never occurred to them that’s not an option for everybody; locking up the dumb b**** for not knowing what’s [...]
Music Monday: Happy Hanukkah
Comrade Misfit already posted the Adam Sandler Hanukkah song, so here is something different…. In Closing: staying in shape while traveling; what?; duh; it never was the union’s fault; backfired; surprise, most doctors are bad a math; and 10 things you probably didn’t know about Christmas.
