Not dead, just getting back from a visit to our nation’s capital. Will post a few tidbits soon. This gives you time to read “Deb’s post”:http://www.globalspin.com/mt/archives/000543.html below or catch up on your “Fafblog”:http://fafblog.blogspot.com/.
Monthly Archives: May 2005
Not All Sperm Created Equal
Obviously we are still living in the dark ages where AIDS is concerned. I mean, the FDA is all about statistics, right? So maybe they should check the current trends on AIDS infection? Here are just a few websites, some newer some older, that belie the FDA’s blatant prejudice: world overview/statistics, infection doubles in black population, women’s mortality from HIV.
Rant Warning!
I mean, this sends me into apoplectic fits. Where the hell did this come from? What is wrong with current screening processes? Are they having a problem with AIDS infection from AI (artificial insemination)? But no, this is not a rational decision, obviously. This is more from fear and homophobia and based on the current climate in this country. It is part of the backlash — and intended to create such headlines as “AIDS virus rate higher in gay men.” Um, no, people. This is a pandemic and this kind of misinformation and bad press is not helping . . . not by a long shot.
social security update
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo has a “fantastic explanation of the Bush administration’s ‘solution’ to the Social Security ‘crisis’”:http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_05_01.php#005638. In short, both the ‘crisis’ (reduced benefits starting in 2041) and the ‘solution’ (reduced benefits starting in 2012) are the same.
The CBPP has kindly provided the “numbers to back that up”:http://www.cbpp.org/5-10-05socsec.htm, showing that the President’s plans don’t even solve the solvency problem they claim to solve. Instead, they create trillions of dollars in new debt for no reason at all.
next course: plague of frogs
And you thought nothing odd ever happened in my home town. Apparently there was a “rain of shrimp”:http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/bell/20050510-9999-1m10bell.html recently, which is the La Jolla version of a rain of fish.
cosmetology is not a science
Note to self: “don’t move to Kansas”:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002265204_evolution06.html.
_The first [proposal] recommends that students continue to be taught the theory of evolution because it is key to understanding biology. The other proposes that Kansas alter the definition of science, not limiting it to theories based on natural explanations._
_”Part of our overall goal is to remove the bias against religion that is in our schools,” said William Harris, a chemist who was the first witness to speak yesterday on behalf of changing the state’s curriculum._
I’m personally in favor of teaching the “supernatural theory” that magical pixies inhabit my television and whisper messages to me while they put on fanciful light shows to lull me into a stupor. Perhaps I should write a textbook.
If you’re getting tired of this debate (I am), you might like the “Fafblog version”:http://fafblog.blogspot.com/2005/05/science.html instead. Ah, humor… eases the pain…