News of the day
Maine voters repeal gay-marriage law.
David Tennant is filming a pilot for NBC.
A play depicting Jesus as transgendered is causing controversy in Glasgow.
Sacked British government drug adviser says he has financial backing from an anonymous source to set up an independent drug policy group.
From lightcastle: Asperger's may disappear as a diagnosis in the next DSM; there's a proposal to combine it with "autism" to make "autism spectrum disorder". The article also goes into the difficulties with judging the "severity" of these neurological differences, as well as some of the general changes they're making to the DSM.
From rezendi: Iraqi security forces are using the equivalent of dowsing rods to "detect" bombs. The devices cost $16,500 to $60,000 each and are being used in place of physical inspections. "[The manufacturer]'s promotional material claims that its device can find guns, ammunition, drugs, truffles, human bodies and even contraband ivory at distances up to a kilometer, underground, through walls, underwater or even from airplanes three miles high." Amusingly, I spent the first half of the article thinking, "The Randi Foundation needs to get in on this action" -- and then saw that they did.
CIA agents convicted to kidnapping by Italian court. Not that anything will happen to them... NYT version.
Danish high school in pilot program to allow students full access to the internet during exams.
Mountain Equipment Coop to start selling bikes under a house brand, raising objections from bike shops. (For non-Canadians, MEC is the equivalent of REI, except cooler.)
Canada's Auditor-General releases scathing report on federal immigration policy, charging that major changes have been made with little analysis of their impact. For instance: "In her first use of these new powers last year, then-immigration minister Diane Finley dropped the list of eligible occupations for the skilled worker program to 38 from 351." An earlier version of the article mentioned that the government couldn't provide any reasoning to back up that move, or to explain why those 38 professions were kept. Meanwhile, the number of refugees granted asylum has dropped drastically since the Conservatives took power.
Prosecutors are having difficulty assembling enough evidence to convict Raymond Jessop, one of the leaders of a polygamous Utah Mormon sect, of sexual assault.
The poor quality of interpreters working for the Canadian and US military in Afghanistan may be leading to innocent people being jailed and other mistakes. Annoyingly, the article tosses around "interpreter" and "translator" like they're interchangeable. I wasn't able to figure out which one they really meant until the last paragraph, which mentions "oral abilities" (yes, yes, snicker away). Anybody registered with the G&M want to make a comment to that effect? ;-)
An interesting look at a study on workplace gossip.
Shallow-breathing technique may help asthma sufferers. The theory is that, counter-intuitively, asthma attacks are triggered and worsened by rapid, deep breathing. "Various trials, including a British study of 384 patients, have found that, on average, those who are diligent about practicing Buteyko breathing can expect a 90 percent reduction in the use of rescue inhalers and a 50 percent reduction in the need for steroids within three to six months."
David Tennant is filming a pilot for NBC.
A play depicting Jesus as transgendered is causing controversy in Glasgow.
Sacked British government drug adviser says he has financial backing from an anonymous source to set up an independent drug policy group.
From lightcastle: Asperger's may disappear as a diagnosis in the next DSM; there's a proposal to combine it with "autism" to make "autism spectrum disorder". The article also goes into the difficulties with judging the "severity" of these neurological differences, as well as some of the general changes they're making to the DSM.
From rezendi: Iraqi security forces are using the equivalent of dowsing rods to "detect" bombs. The devices cost $16,500 to $60,000 each and are being used in place of physical inspections. "[The manufacturer]'s promotional material claims that its device can find guns, ammunition, drugs, truffles, human bodies and even contraband ivory at distances up to a kilometer, underground, through walls, underwater or even from airplanes three miles high." Amusingly, I spent the first half of the article thinking, "The Randi Foundation needs to get in on this action" -- and then saw that they did.
CIA agents convicted to kidnapping by Italian court. Not that anything will happen to them... NYT version.
Danish high school in pilot program to allow students full access to the internet during exams.
Mountain Equipment Coop to start selling bikes under a house brand, raising objections from bike shops. (For non-Canadians, MEC is the equivalent of REI, except cooler.)
Canada's Auditor-General releases scathing report on federal immigration policy, charging that major changes have been made with little analysis of their impact. For instance: "In her first use of these new powers last year, then-immigration minister Diane Finley dropped the list of eligible occupations for the skilled worker program to 38 from 351." An earlier version of the article mentioned that the government couldn't provide any reasoning to back up that move, or to explain why those 38 professions were kept. Meanwhile, the number of refugees granted asylum has dropped drastically since the Conservatives took power.
Prosecutors are having difficulty assembling enough evidence to convict Raymond Jessop, one of the leaders of a polygamous Utah Mormon sect, of sexual assault.
The poor quality of interpreters working for the Canadian and US military in Afghanistan may be leading to innocent people being jailed and other mistakes. Annoyingly, the article tosses around "interpreter" and "translator" like they're interchangeable. I wasn't able to figure out which one they really meant until the last paragraph, which mentions "oral abilities" (yes, yes, snicker away). Anybody registered with the G&M want to make a comment to that effect? ;-)
An interesting look at a study on workplace gossip.
Shallow-breathing technique may help asthma sufferers. The theory is that, counter-intuitively, asthma attacks are triggered and worsened by rapid, deep breathing. "Various trials, including a British study of 384 patients, have found that, on average, those who are diligent about practicing Buteyko breathing can expect a 90 percent reduction in the use of rescue inhalers and a 50 percent reduction in the need for steroids within three to six months."