Joanna Russ
What a week! First Pheobe Snow, and now science fiction goddess Joanna Russ has died. She was one of the best and most original writers of the 70′s, and will be missed. I found one of my favorites of her short stories on Google Books. When I first read it I didn’t catch her Lovecraft [...]
Do Cellphones Cause Brain Cancer?
No clear answer on that, but the New York Times Magazine has an excellent article on the science of epidemiology, and the difficulty of finding a common cause for relatively rare diseases. You can read it here.
Children and Radiation
The Hindu reports that the special adviser to the Japanese prime minister has resigned over new standards raising the allowable radiation exposure for schoolchildren in Fukushima. The standard set for schoolchildren’s exposure to nuclear radiation in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture has caused a political furore. In prime focus is an expert’s disapproval of the “high” permissible [...]
Maybe He’ll Repent
I heard a commentator on the radio yesterday say that the Vatican usually takes six years just to open its mail, and the beatification of Pope John Paul II only six years after his death is extraordinary. The unresolved child abuse scandals continue to haunt his tenure, and that of Pope Benedict, but the Church [...]
Grace
Today’s Providence Journal has a story of guilt and the grace of not seeking revenge… PROVIDENCE — In a heart-wrenching address to the magistrate who would sentence the man who killed his son, rabbi and lawyer Arthur Schaefer said it mattered more to him what the defendant did after he got out of jail than [...]
A Math Problem
I have a copy of Moby Dick that I haven’t read yet, so it will be a long time before I get around to Ayn Rand. I do hear a lot on the radio about the movie release of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and its disappointing performance at the box office. I feel your pain, guys. ‘Serenity’ [...]
The Dark Roots of Orly Taitz
Like unwanted facial hair that keeps on sprouting, Orly Taitz is back in the news with her birther conspiracy theories– now embellished to fit changing circumstances. I’d like to know why the press is side-stepping the question we all want to ask. Does she, or doesn’t she? Can Orly Taitz prove she is a natural-born [...]
Trickle-Up Medicaid
No time to write a detailed post with citations and links. I’m working today, facilitating gummint health care. Most of the people I serve are elderly on Medicaid, though I’m lately seeing Medicare and VA clients as well. Because the older generation, those in their 70′s and 80′s, have secure health care, people in my [...]
Phoebe Snow
She had a lovely and distinctive voice, she was a dedicated and loving mother, she’s one of the sounds of our youth. Phoebe Snow has died. She could have been a superstar, but she left the career behind to care for her daughter, Valerie Rose, born with hydrocephalus. She had soul, on and off the [...]
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