Oh, Look! The Jumbotron Wants To Kill Us!

Oh, look! A helpful message on
The giant Times Square Jumbotron,
Reminding us to “get the facts”
And think again, before we vax.

I found out, after several queries,
It’s but the first in quite a series—
They’ll run a few more giant ads
To help inform the moms and dads:

For instance—think about demands
That doctors make, to “wash your hands”
A helpful ad will tell you “Think!
Before you rush to use your sink!”

(On thinking, you’ll recall, they hope,
Big Pharma’s ties to Giant Soap—
It’s nature’s way, and cannot hurt,
For hands to cake with germs and dirt)

Another ad suggests you eat
More spoiled eggs and rancid meat;
To throw them out is such a waste—
Bacteria just add more taste!

(The FDA, whom we abhor,
Says throw it out and buy some more;
They frame concerns about your health,
But care about the farmers’ wealth)

So get the facts, and take control!
Empowerment should be your goal!
You tell the experts where to go—
Cos really… what do doctors know?

I don’t have much time this morning, so I’ll just point to Tara C. Smith’s helpful post at Aetiology where you can find info on how to try to pressure CBS to leave the ranks of those who put children at risk, and use their influence to make children’s lives better. Write, email, call, petition, whatever you can. This is not a difficult issue; right and wrong are very clear here. Right now, CBS is wrong.

Beer, Fast!

Come fast with me and be a dear,
And we will dine on naught but beer
The liquid bread that’s heaven-sent
To take us through the time of Lent

Until the time of fasting stops
It’s yeast and water, grain and hops
All else we shun, and do without,
Save lager, pilsner, ale and stout

And we shall drink from frosted mugs
Or chalices, or earthen jugs,
Our fragrant draughts with creamy heads,
And smile as pure contentment spreads

We’ll have no meat; we’ll have no fish
No edamame vegan dish
No yogurt, milk, or even cheese,
Our fast allows us none of these

Our spirits, though, will never fail
Supported so, with pints of ale.
You like what I’m describing here?
Then fast with me and be a dear.

We’ll need no knife or fork to sup,
Just glass by glass, and cup by cup
For breakfast, lunch, and supper too
It’s beer, beer, beer, for me and you

The German monks, in times long past,
Invented such a pleasant fast;
If to this plan you could adhere
Then fast with me and be a dear.

Via CNN, religious extremism I can agree with! CNN’s Belief Blog reports on an Iowa man on his 31st day of a Lenten fast. What has he given up for Lent? Everything but beer.

When Experts… Aren’t

I’m giving my opinion
And there’s got to be a way
To have people pay attention
To the things I want to say

I tried to be a scientist
But classes were too tough
But I took a course in marketing
That surely is enough

A course in methodology
Or others of that kind
Might have taught me the importance
Of proceeding double-blind

Or statistical analysis
And other science stuff
But I took a course in marketing—
That surely is enough.

I’ll talk about the benefits
Religious faith can bring—
It’s really not important
That I know a single thing

What the hell, it’s only blogging;
I can yammer off the cuff—
Hey, I took a course in marketing–
That’s got to be enough.

I’ll look at how I think, and then
Extrapolate from there—
An atheist must think like me;
If not, well… I don’t care.

So I posted my opinions
And the readers called my bluff!
But I took a course in marketing—
Why can’t that be enough?

The past day or so, I’ve been having my head explode. I blame Furious Purpose, whose post “What is it with Psychology Today?” introduced me to a couple of extraordinarily bad posts that ignorant (and, I suspect, stupid) bloggers had made about atheism. On the Psychology Today website, where no self-respecting magazine would allow such tripe to be associated with their name. (warning–read only if you like the idea of an ignorant fool lecturing others who know more than he does) The commentary at the site is wonderful–the readers are (mostly) far more knowledgeable about atheism and science than the blogger. Other nice commentary at Pharyngula, expectedly.

Attack Of The Flat-Heads?

Carefully, warefully
Parents of neonates
Watched how their babies took
Naps in their bed;
Led to an increase in
Plagiocephaly:
Flat-headed babies are
Better than dead.
I found this report (and the reactions to it) very interesting, in part because I just absolutely love babies.  I’m one of the folks who rejects the notion of a platonic ideal baby (“nobody’s perfect” implies an ideal perfection that we all fall short of) in favor of a wide variety, a population of equally perfect babies.  Round-headed, flat-headed, pointy-headed, it’s rarely “a face only a mother could love”, cos I love it too.
So this story, on an increase in reports of plagiocephaly (flat-headedness) in babies caught my attention, in part because of all the concerned parents who want perfect round-headed babies.  (This is, as I am given to understand, very much a cultural thing, and not every culture thinks round heads are adorable.)  Some are “blaming” the “Back to Sleep” program, which combats Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (or “cot death” or “crib death”) by warning parents to make sure their babies sleep on their backs; the actual report in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine suggests that differences in reporting may be as much or more responsible (in part due to insurance coverage changes).  
Looking back on my childhood pictures, my own skull was a lopsided potato–it pretty much still is, and it is who I am.  I have yet to see a baby whose head I reel from in horror.  Given the plasticity of the brain, I have serious doubts whether head shape is anything more (absent extreme cases) than a matter of aesthetics.  Variety being the spice of life, I welcome our new flat-headed future overlords.

Hue And Cry

When they banned Red number 2
It seemed the candy world turned blue
Though red M&M’s, in truth, had never used it
But they dropped their favorite color
And the children’s days got duller
Just in case the buying public had confused it
We fast forward to today:
Will our favorite foods turn gray
Due to fear (which spreads more quickly than a cancer)
That an artificial yellow
Might put poison in your Jell-o?
So we cast about us, searching for an answer
Are the dyes amongst our diet
Problematic? Some imply it,
But experiment’s the better way to know
Loving parents have detected
The effects that they’ve expected
When they’re tested double-blind, the answer’s no
I’m not knee-jerk prejudicial
Cos a color’s artificial
Though I understand the public hue and cry
I would rather put reliance
On the ways and means of science
So, for now, at least, I say “Live Free and Dye”


As is often the case, the commentary around the issue is as interesting as the issue itself.  After the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the government to put warning labels on foods containing artificial dyes, the Food and Drug Administration reviewed the evidence.  Their expert panel concluded that there is nothing inherently dangerous in the dyes, and since foods are already labeled with information about the presence of dyes, individuals who are particularly sensitive have the information they need.  

The New York Times article, to my eye anyway, reports the results fairly dispassionately.  Other sources, though, reveal the emotionally charged views that led to the CSPI petition in the first place.  The Atlantic, for instance, while reporting the FDA’s findings, ask “Is It Right?” and claim that “Food dyes have only one purpose: to sell junk foods.”  Looking around the store, that would imply a very wide definition of “junk foods”.  A different NYTimes article notes that the color of our food is intimately involved in our taste perception of it–junk or not.  

An interesting reaction at the Baltimore Sun (edit–thanks, Ridger!), while acknowledging the FDA findings, spends the article looking at more natural alternatives to artificial dyes.  My question (only out of bemusement, not concern) is whether the natural colors they use have been tested anywhere near as rigorously as the artificial dyes they aim to replace.

Bad Person Says Bad Things About Other Bad Person

NH House majority leader: Bishop is a ‘pedophile pimp’ – Saturday, Apr. 2, 2011

D.J. Bettencourt, the NH House majority leader, took a recent break from cutting social services, lowering taxes on tobacco, and gutting unions (although, to be fair, they put off denying same-sex marriage for a bit) to express his opinion about Catholic Bishop John McCormack on Facebook:

Would the bishop like to discuss his history of protecting the ‘vulnerable?’ This man is a pedophile pimp who should have been led way from the State House in handcuffs with a raincoat over his head in disgrace. He has absolutely no moral authority to lecture anyone.

The archdiocese claimed that Bettencourt was simply trying to distract attention from budget issues.

While it is not true that “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”, I must confess I am hoping both sides go down in a blaze of glory. Read the article; this one has some serious potential.

Popcorn?

When heartless men have quarrels
Over who determines morals
It’s absurd
Though it gets a bit exciting
Just to watch the bastards fighting
With their words
In this fight, there are no heroes
Just a nasty pair of zeroes
On attack.
Though you’ll probably abhor it,
If you’ve got the stomach for it…
Grab a snack.

Right And Wrong In Iowa

The religious right is showing its might
As the season rolls along
As we head to the gates in the primary states
And the candidates start to throng
They aim for notes that will get them votes
It’s quite a familiar song
As they eat up lies, there’s but one surprise—
Why not “the religious wrong”?
The New York Times, showing why their content is worth charging for, reports on a frankly frightening “Pastors’ Policy Briefing” in Iowa.  Nearly 400 pastors attended this one (there have been dozens of similar conventions across some 14 states in recent years), where they got to listen to christian leaders and potential presidential hopefuls speak.  
I had no idea the right to bear arms was ordained by god.  But this is the sort of vital information I might have learned, had I been there.
The organizers stay out of the spotlight, preferring to work through local groups.  This is, frankly, brilliant.  The organizations are already there, the issues are known, and all a candidate must do is throw red meat at hungry dogs.  Well, hungry, carnivorous sheep, perhaps.  I don’t think there is an equivalent set of highly motivated organizations on the left (or for that matter, in the center, or anywhere where reality is recognized).  
Now, I had heard that the country was founded as explicitly christian.  But, see, I had heard that it had explicitly not been, so maybe I’m all turned around on the issue.
Anyway, if you woke up cheerful and happy this morning and want to do something to change that, read the article.  And remember it, when it comes time for being politically active in your community.  These people may be wrong, but they are powerful and organized.  

The Total Perspective Vortex

Before yesterday:

Including yesterday:

April first was not merely my biggest day (in terms of blog hits) ever, by a factor of five, but it was also my biggest month.  In one day, I beat any previous thirty.

I thank all the commenters for their kind words.  I know I am flattered that a handful of people thought it might be possible that I am PZ; I hope he was flattered as well.  I also thank the many of you who did know it all along, but who played along anyway just for fun.

I also found out that it makes me very uncomfortable to lie to you.  Yes, it was a silly April Fool’s prank, but I still apologize to you for abusing your trust, and I hope you can forgive me.  And PZ, as well, although, as it turns out, I can’t speak for him.

So pregnancy means a total surrender of autonomy?

This is is how to handle a depressed person:
On December 23, 2010, Shuai, a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was suffering from a major depressive disorder, attempted to take her own life. Friends found her in time and persuaded her to get help. Six days later, Shuai underwent cesarean surgery and delivered a premature newborn girl who, tragically, died four days later.
On March 14, 2011, Shuai was arrested, jailed, and charged with murder and attempted feticide.
Don’t get pregnant, ladies! It means that every risk you might take becomes a criminal offense! I always thought it was a joke to criminalize suicide, too, but here’s a case where they’re actually prosecuting a woman for the crime.
Next up: every time you kick a man in the balls, you are a mass-murderer.

Elmhurst today!


Rats, I didn’t realize what day it is, and now no one is going to believe the announcement I just made is real…at least not until the 2nd rolls around and the persistence of reality sinks in. So I guess I better post stuff both here and there, just for today, since no one is going to switch their feeds around just yet.
Anyway, I’m in Illinois, at Elmhurst College! Some people were asking for the details: I’ll be speaking at 4pm in Illinois Hall, the auditorium in the science building on campus. It’s an open lecture, feel free to show up.
I currently have no specific plans for the evening afterwards. If any locals want to make suggestions, do so in the comments. I’m easily swayed, so if you can’t make it to the talk, maybe we can get together afterwards.