Vaccine Denial

Frontline produced a piece on Vaccines, as mentioned by Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker.

One of the issues mentioned by Tucker is the bogus story of a woman who claimed to have serious side effects to the flu shot. Watch the video below and you will see how absurd her claims are.

I'd like to write more, and may have time later.

Declare War on the Groin Joke!

This is an interesting piece on how the "acceptable" nature of genital assault on males is a significant problem, one leading to very negative outcomes for some boys and young men.

The Unintended Consequences of CSI

From BoingBoing, how CSI is helping criminals become more effective.

Saw this coming a while ago.

Awesome Video Saturday CXXXII

A funny, Twilight-themed clip from Jimmy Kimmel-

US Supremacy and the Space Program

I've been meaning to write about this for days and days, but haven't the time to do it justice. Instead, I am going to do this in bullet format:

• There are very different opinions of how NASA should proceed after the Space Shuttle program ends in several months.
• I agree with this column from Car-and-Driver's Aaron Robinson, where he argues that government involvement in the Space Program is critical, not just technologically, but from emotionally.
• Proponents of private space travel are happy with the President's proposal to shift the focus away from government-led technology.

Polio makes a Comeback

In a sad turn of events for the fight against Polio, the disease has made a resurgence over the last 12 months. This is terrible, as the previous 12 months were among the best ever, with the disease being limited to just 4 countries. That is no longer the case.

This great article from the Wall Street Journal examines the very significant effort that Bill Gates has made to eradicate the disease, in concert with various government agencies and Rotary International (of which I am a member).

It is possible to eradicate Polio. It is debilitating and sometimes deadly. If there is a massive effort and a huge amount of funding it could be successful in as few as 2 or 3 years.

A Rundown

Happy Earth Day! I hope you will do something Earthy, which does not include supporting well-intentioned but deeply flawed climate change remedies like carbon offsets and cap-and-trade.

Here are some links of interest (perhaps to me and no one else).

• The man who invented Tickle Me Elmo has designed a non-lethal weapon for military use. It uses compressed air and delivers what you might call a VERY BIG TICKLE.
• Chris Collinsworth on why Ben Roethlisberger's suspension was the right thing to do. I agree.
• Some reasonable criticism of the President and Vice-President's trips to New York, on environmental grounds.
• A great piece on the badness of Jaws III, unnecessary Florida jabs notwithstanding.

New iPhone Emerges...Accidentally

This is a great post from Gizmodo. They came into possession of a disguised, genuine, next-generation iPhone. You can hit the link for their analysis.

Their generally positive review makes me wonder how accidental the iPhone's loss really was. This could be a case of brilliant, free marketing, where the new version's design and hardware could receive a real-world critique, months before its initial release. This would allow time for refinements to be made to design, and the wipe of the phone's firmware meant that bugs in that system would largely be unknowable at present, at least to those outside of Apple.

Either way, I think it only helps Apple.

Pic Tricks

Here are a few cool photography tricks, some of which can be done with lenses and/or software (via Instapundit).

The Tilt-Shift Effect is my favorite, as demonstrated in the post and on my sis-in-law's blog.

Awesome Video Saturday CXXXI

Pixelation.

The Therapist as Narcissist

This is an interesting article by Helen Smith, a psychologist, on how the role of a therapist may be changing, and not for the better.

I like her mention of the term "social justice," a catch-all phrase which doesn't have a place in the individually-focused discipline Smith discusses.

Point A to B

Consumer Reports thinks a big Lexus is unsafe. Poor Toyota. I just think that the big Lexus is overpriced.

Speaking of expensive vehicles. Here is a VERY expensive one, while not quite top-of-the-line for it's brand. Still, it seems an impressive car-

Everything about the Rolls feels gusseted, wrapped in velvet, strung with silk, double-isolated with hydro-elastic this-and-that and suspended on bushings made of fetal pigskin.

Moving up the ladder to the EXTREMELY expensive, here is a review of the race-ready, only-29-will-be-made Ferrari 599XX. It sounds like a wonderful achievement, the kind of thing I would like to experience someday.

Sir Charles Weighs In

I enjoy listenting to the Dan Patrick show when time allows. Otherwise I will check out the website, where I happened upon today's interview with Charles Barkley. He is always entertaining and opinionated. An excerpt:

DP: You also said Tiger should quit saying he's not black.
CB: I've been telling Tiger that for 10 years or more. Quit saying you're not black, because when you screw up, you will be black. You will be black in a hurry. We, not me, we, all of us have been telling him that.
DP: What's Tiger say when you say, Look, your dad's black?
CB: He didn't want to offend anybody, but I said it doesn't work like that. You don't get to choose the way it is, bro. Everybody who's got a black daddy is black.
DP: Do you think Tiger would be treated differently if he were white?
CB: Of course, of course. I'll give you an example. The way that Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are treated are like night and day. There's hatred and venom toward Barry Bonds. Roger Clemens ... there are some people who still think he didn't do steroids. There is a double standard. First of all, everybody knows that. Any person who doesn't know there's a double standard when you're black and white is living with their head in the sand.

Awesome Video Saturday CXXX

This is a pretty amusing clip that a math professor created for his students.



I guess the guy at the end is the University President.

The Oprah

There is an unauthorized biography of Oprah Winfrey that comes on sale next week. According to this post from Margo Howard, many media elites are not going anywhere near it for fear of upsetting the Oprah.

I don't think any of the people mentioned, such as Barbara Walters or David Letterman, should be required to have anyone on their shows. It does say something about them that they have refused to address the book for fear of offending Oprah.

I've never read any books by Kitty Kelly. Not my genre of choice, but a major book about someone as powerful as Oprah Winfrey is certainly newsworthy.

Facebookism

I've been meaning to write about the benefits and drawbacks of Facebook. Among other things, it provides the illusion of intimacy. You can spend hours looking at photos and reading about the likes and dislikes of family, friends, and acquaintances, without any actual interaction. Yet the level of knowledge you possess may provide an approximation of contact.

You might leave a comment on the post of a person that you would likely never call or talk to, if that required something more overt, like picking up a phone.

Obviously people can be too free with information. Many times I have seen people wonder why their isn't an "Awkward" button alongside the one for "Like."

Still, I love Facebook. I have been able to get in touch with old friends and enjoy the occasional philosophical and political discussions that can emerge. I also play stupid games. But I also try to be discreet, and encourage the same, particularly with young people I am acquainted with.

This post from a WSJ blog questions how Facebook and other social media may have led people to becoming too free with personal information- she calls it "oversharing."

I wonder whether society's tendency toward being less discreet is what led to social media's rise, rather than the other way around.

Food for thought.

Surprise, Surprise

I am going to be critical of an Obama policy. Or at least relay some criticism.

The sad part it, I was hopeful when I first learned about this idea- that offshore drilling would be allowed by the Obama administration. Unfortunately the policy is very limited and will not begin for several years. It is also tied into an energy tax, which is exactly what a recovering economy needs.

The Left is unhappy that any kind of drilling will occur. Some drilling is better than none I suppose.

Any thoughts?

Awesome Video Saturday CXXIX

One of the most clever advertisements I've seen in a while.

Misadventures in the 3rd World

Libya has made tremendous strides toward more normal relations with the West. They have a looong way to go, as evidenced by this somewhat humorous anecdote by a journalist who tried to attend a conference there.