News (in)Digest: Poor NeoCons, Boobs, Sexy Science
It is a bad day to be a NeoCon:
* "Hulk pleads 5th" - AK Sen. Ted Stevens' home investigated by FBI as part of corruption scandal.
* Maybe Miers was less of a lemon: Chief (in)Justice John Roberts suffers seizure, collapses. Rumor is he may have epilepsy. I thought the point of placing such a young tyrant on the court was to ensure he'll be there forever. Of course, he was probably given his physical using faith-based medicine. Another possibility is that the great evils he has wrought so far are already eroding his soul.
* Impeachment proceedings for Gonzales called for. And according to Keith Olbermann, even "Fox and Friends" can't come up with anything nice to say about him. Ouch.
* It appears that Gonzales has had a tenuous relationship with The Truth for years. And one wise (or paranoid) commenter points out the dangers of ousting Gonzales while Congress is out of session - an interim lemonAG could be appointed by Bush. Maybe Harriet is interested…
* Another example of our great AG's wisdom: Gonzales' advice to police and prosecutors re: net porn - "Be Graphic". Because he likes to watch.
Boob News:
* New York City eliminates formula samples for new mothers in hospitals, replaces with breastfeeding incentives.
While there are some criticisms of such policy changes - Breast-Feed… Or Else. - I think that the new policy adequately allows for mothers who choose not to or who cannot breastfeed while providing positive encouragement for mothers to try it (while removing a large opportunity for formula makers to capitalize on their captive audience). I do wonder how many "generous samples" would be acquired if the brand names were removed from the formula before distribution at a hospital.
I am amused at the proposed warning labels on cans of formula at the store. Comparing formula to tobacco products is a little to lizziey-esque for me.
* The Stranger takes a quick jaunt explaining Congressman Dave Reichert's religious affiliation - Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, adding:
"Sure, it makes us uncomfortable to bring up someone's religious beliefs-this is traditionally a private matter. But when private matters start undermining public policy (women's health) and when moral superiority is used to win elections (remember the moral values vote of 2004-the election that swept first-time GOP candidates like Reichert into office), it's time to make things uncomfortable for those who would force their religious values on others."
Word. (Oh, and it seemed fitting to put a story about Reichert in "Boob News"… since he is one)
Sexy Science:
* Hay look! A study actually published on cannabis!
Oh wait, it say bad things about it. No wonder.
* Consumers mad that many brands of bottled water are just packaged local tap water. Pepsi-Co's stock will probably be ripe to buy in a couple weeks due to the fallout from this.
* Terminator Sex Positions
*A keyboard with real support…
*Color-changing chair developed in Japan. Amongst the triggers are objects of certain colors and someone who is overweight. Heh.
*German study suggests not enough sex leads to more work and less play. Not really surprising, but actually pointing to shouldering increased responsibilities at work that preclude what little sex is left is interesting.
* One reason people aren't having sex vs. 237 reasons people are having sex. (NYT, sfw)
* The Subconscious Brain: Priming people with hot or cold coffee. (NYT)
* Smart dolphin tricks.
* This is a gem: Biologists Helping Bookstores. (via Pharyngula) This helpful scientist chronicles a valiant quest to correctly shelve books that were miscategorized - books on Intelligent Design in the "Science" section that belong in the "Theology" section, for example. The flippant narratives are quite amusing as the blogger proceeds on their scavenger hunt. *Note that I do not necessarily endorse this activity, although I don't see more harm from this than what other patrons do. Hmm... I think I need to swing by my local bookstores today. 'scuse me.
* Stunning revelation: Doctors doing philanthropic practice are NOT more likely to be religious. As PZ states: "Charity, service, self-sacrifice, generosity, and kindness are human properties, not religious virtues."
* Richard Dawkins is trying to start a new movement - the "OUT" movement. I am amused at the choice of a red letter 'A' as the symbol, but I am not wholly sold. I still struggle with the semantical and conceptual differences between labeling oneself "agnostic" versus "atheist", and whether "atheist" has come to mean something other than its literal meaning (which would be compatible with identifying as an "agnostic" since it would simply mean - "without a deity" as opposed to "against believing in a deity".) But it is a cute idea. I'm just not sure if I care to spend that money on a shirt; better to buy Dawkins' books.
* I have been reading Daniel Dennett's book, Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, and in it he uses the term "Brights" to describe people who base their worldview on a naturalistic basis. I personally quite like the term, and feel no qualms using a *gasp* word with positive connotations given the number of terms that religious people use to describe themselves.
Local News:
* I was downtown coming up from Pike Place Market right after the shooting there. If I hadn't stopped for sushi, I might have been caught in it. Thankfully, I just had to make a short detour through Macy's to get around the scene.
* 70 sites volunteered for UW branch campus. Two are in downtown Everett, which is good.
Addition:
* "Fat-Free Half-and-Half": WTF? It's basically skim milk with a lot of sugar and thickeners added. What gets my diglyceride is that a dairy processor is allowed to call this dreck "half-and-half" when it has nothing to do with the substance, but at the same time the dairy industry was riding soy milk producers for using the word "milk" on their products. What a load of FDA-humping bullshit. Fat-free bullshit.
* "Hulk pleads 5th" - AK Sen. Ted Stevens' home investigated by FBI as part of corruption scandal.
* Maybe Miers was less of a lemon: Chief (in)Justice John Roberts suffers seizure, collapses. Rumor is he may have epilepsy. I thought the point of placing such a young tyrant on the court was to ensure he'll be there forever. Of course, he was probably given his physical using faith-based medicine. Another possibility is that the great evils he has wrought so far are already eroding his soul.
* Impeachment proceedings for Gonzales called for. And according to Keith Olbermann, even "Fox and Friends" can't come up with anything nice to say about him. Ouch.
* It appears that Gonzales has had a tenuous relationship with The Truth for years. And one wise (or paranoid) commenter points out the dangers of ousting Gonzales while Congress is out of session - an interim lemonAG could be appointed by Bush. Maybe Harriet is interested…
* Another example of our great AG's wisdom: Gonzales' advice to police and prosecutors re: net porn - "Be Graphic". Because he likes to watch.
Boob News:
* New York City eliminates formula samples for new mothers in hospitals, replaces with breastfeeding incentives.
While there are some criticisms of such policy changes - Breast-Feed… Or Else. - I think that the new policy adequately allows for mothers who choose not to or who cannot breastfeed while providing positive encouragement for mothers to try it (while removing a large opportunity for formula makers to capitalize on their captive audience). I do wonder how many "generous samples" would be acquired if the brand names were removed from the formula before distribution at a hospital.
I am amused at the proposed warning labels on cans of formula at the store. Comparing formula to tobacco products is a little to lizziey-esque for me.
* The Stranger takes a quick jaunt explaining Congressman Dave Reichert's religious affiliation - Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, adding:
"Sure, it makes us uncomfortable to bring up someone's religious beliefs-this is traditionally a private matter. But when private matters start undermining public policy (women's health) and when moral superiority is used to win elections (remember the moral values vote of 2004-the election that swept first-time GOP candidates like Reichert into office), it's time to make things uncomfortable for those who would force their religious values on others."
Word. (Oh, and it seemed fitting to put a story about Reichert in "Boob News"… since he is one)
Sexy Science:
* Hay look! A study actually published on cannabis!
Oh wait, it say bad things about it. No wonder.
* Consumers mad that many brands of bottled water are just packaged local tap water. Pepsi-Co's stock will probably be ripe to buy in a couple weeks due to the fallout from this.
* Terminator Sex Positions
*A keyboard with real support…
*Color-changing chair developed in Japan. Amongst the triggers are objects of certain colors and someone who is overweight. Heh.
*German study suggests not enough sex leads to more work and less play. Not really surprising, but actually pointing to shouldering increased responsibilities at work that preclude what little sex is left is interesting.
* One reason people aren't having sex vs. 237 reasons people are having sex. (NYT, sfw)
* The Subconscious Brain: Priming people with hot or cold coffee. (NYT)
* Smart dolphin tricks.
* This is a gem: Biologists Helping Bookstores. (via Pharyngula) This helpful scientist chronicles a valiant quest to correctly shelve books that were miscategorized - books on Intelligent Design in the "Science" section that belong in the "Theology" section, for example. The flippant narratives are quite amusing as the blogger proceeds on their scavenger hunt. *Note that I do not necessarily endorse this activity, although I don't see more harm from this than what other patrons do. Hmm... I think I need to swing by my local bookstores today. 'scuse me.
* Stunning revelation: Doctors doing philanthropic practice are NOT more likely to be religious. As PZ states: "Charity, service, self-sacrifice, generosity, and kindness are human properties, not religious virtues."
* Richard Dawkins is trying to start a new movement - the "OUT" movement. I am amused at the choice of a red letter 'A' as the symbol, but I am not wholly sold. I still struggle with the semantical and conceptual differences between labeling oneself "agnostic" versus "atheist", and whether "atheist" has come to mean something other than its literal meaning (which would be compatible with identifying as an "agnostic" since it would simply mean - "without a deity" as opposed to "against believing in a deity".) But it is a cute idea. I'm just not sure if I care to spend that money on a shirt; better to buy Dawkins' books.
* I have been reading Daniel Dennett's book, Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, and in it he uses the term "Brights" to describe people who base their worldview on a naturalistic basis. I personally quite like the term, and feel no qualms using a *gasp* word with positive connotations given the number of terms that religious people use to describe themselves.
Local News:
* I was downtown coming up from Pike Place Market right after the shooting there. If I hadn't stopped for sushi, I might have been caught in it. Thankfully, I just had to make a short detour through Macy's to get around the scene.
* 70 sites volunteered for UW branch campus. Two are in downtown Everett, which is good.
Addition:
* "Fat-Free Half-and-Half": WTF? It's basically skim milk with a lot of sugar and thickeners added. What gets my diglyceride is that a dairy processor is allowed to call this dreck "half-and-half" when it has nothing to do with the substance, but at the same time the dairy industry was riding soy milk producers for using the word "milk" on their products. What a load of FDA-humping bullshit. Fat-free bullshit.