Cell Phones, Cancer and the Ambiguity of Causation
Incredible article from the New York Times: See: Do Cellphones Cause Brain Cancer? Excerpt: Our vision of carcinogenesis has become vastly more complex since 1853. We now know that there is no “one cancer.” Breast, lung, prostate and blood cancer share a similarity — the uncontrolled growth of cells — but the specific genes and behaviors of these cancers are far from identical. Nor is there “one material for cancer” — one archetypal carcinogen. Agents that cause cancer are chemically diverse and cancer-specific. Estrogen can provoke cancer in the breast, but destroys prostate-cancer cells; vinyl chloride is exquisitely carcinogenic to the liver but not to the skin; chlorine and nitrogen mustard are both poison gases, but only one causes...
Apple is like a gorgeous girl who gives you an STD
No one can deny that the Macbook Air is an incredibly hot piece of aluminum encased circuitry. Its sensuous curves beckon you with a nearly irresistible force, but if you succumb to its sultry charms you’ll find, albeit several months later, that you have a nasty case of the Digital Clap. That’s right. The locked down battery and sealed case (effectively preventing upgrades) is akin to a disease gotten by ignoring reason and self-control and instead acting on sheer desire and impulsive passion. Practice restraint, practice safe computing— Don’t buy the Macbook...
Radioface
Radiohead took the world by storm with a surprise album release announcement… Radiohead dropped a bomb on the music industry last night, announcing their new album In Rainbows. What’s the big deal? Well, first of all, it’ll be released in a mere 9 days, catching everyone off guard (it was expected sometime next year) and keeping the tracks from leaking to the web. Secondly, you’ll be able to download the album from their official site for any price you want to pay. Yes, it’s pay what you want, including free. Really. If you want a physical copy, you’ll need to drop a whopping $82 on the “discbox,” which includes both CD and vinyl versions of the album, plus an additional CD/vinyl of more new songs, with the CD also...
America at a Crossroads
If you have any interest at all in current events I imagine you’ve likely spent a fair amount of time pondering or worrying about events in the Middle East. It isn’t uncommon for me to run into people who have managed to develop incredibly strong ideas about what is wrong and how it ought to be fixed. It seems like everyone these days professes to be some kind of expert about the conflict between “the West” and militant Islam. I’ve spent a bit of time myself looking into the matter and have managed to read a small stack of books exploring the history of Islam. Some of these books have veered into a historiography of sorts and have posited theories of how and why the situation that exists today came into being. I do think it is...
RE: Imus isn’t the Real Bad Guy
If you haven’t heard about Imus yet you probably live under a rock in the desert. There’s been a considerable uproar about the whole incident. Some good thoughts, along with a tremendous amount of noise, has arisen from multiple perspectives on the issue. Jason Whitlock, an excellent columnist for the Kansas City Star (my hometown paper), published a column today on the incident that I find to be superb. I’ll quote a good deal of it here, but I encourage you to read the whole thing at the source. Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem. You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is...
300
I can’t wait to go see 300. Every preview I’ve seen makes me shiver with anticipation; only a 30 second glimpse is enough to grab my full attention: brilliant other-worldly colors and movement, the epically pervasive grandiose desire for glory that inspires men to do impossible things and of course the movie’s setting in Greek classical legend. I’ve been reading reviews on the movie out of curiosity, and the reactions it is getting are interesting to examine. Some gush over the undeniable aesthetic majesty of the film, but seem unsure about how such remarkable beauty should be viewed when inseparably mingled with incredible violence: “What is most disturbing about the violence here is how awfully pretty it is – so pretty that...