j7uy5 | January 14, 2008
href="http://www.researchblogging.org/">
alt="Blogging on Peer-Reviewed Research"
src="http://www.researchblogging.org/public/citation_icons/rb2_large_gray.png"
height="50" width="80">Sounds
too good to be true. Perhaps it is. For one,
there is only one
published case. For another, it has to be injected near the
spine in order to have
this effect. The arthritis medication,
href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a602013.html"
rel="tag">etanercept (
href="http://enbrel.com/" rel="tag">Enbrel®)
has been shown, in at least one case, to result in…
j7uy5 | January 14, 2008In the great role-playing game of life, I did not get very many
audiophile points. I mean, fine machinery is something I can
appreciate, but I'm pretty indifferent to the sounds those machines
make.
So it strikes me as remarkable that anyone would make, much less buy, a
$300,000 turntable.
No, you can't go into a store and buy one. You can't even get
one on the Internet. If you want one, you have to make an
appointment.
They are made by a Swiss company,
href="http://www.goldmund.com/company/" rel="tag">Goldmund.
The turntable is called the Reference II. They've
only made 25…
j7uy5 | January 9, 2008The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments in Baze v. Rees
(
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010700618.html">WaPo,
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/washington/07cnd-scotus.html">NYT).
This is a case about a guy who killed a sheriff and a deputy.
He is on death row in Kentucky. Kentucky plans to
execute him using a three-drug cocktail: sodium thiopental, pancuronium
bromide, and potassium chloride.
Thiopental is a barbiturate sedative; pancuronium is a paralyzing
agent; potassium chloride is a salt. The barbiturate causes a
loss…
j7uy5 | January 8, 2008Previously, I posted a photo of
href="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2006/07/noctilucent_clouds.php">noctilucent
clouds, as seen from earth. Now, NASA's Earth
Observatory Newsroom presents us with
href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17883">a
photo of the same phenomenon,
as seen from a satellite.
These clouds appear when ice-crystal-laden clouds for high in the
atmosphere, high enough that the sun strikes the clouds while the
ground is in darkness.
This photograph was produced by NASA’s
href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages…
j7uy5 | January 7, 2008Several of the candidates have been found to have made egregious
misstatements in the
href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/05/nh.debates/?iref=mpstoryview">New
Hampshire debates. FactCheck.org, the organization
made famous by Dick Cheney when he
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12901-2004Oct6.html">erroneously
referred to it as Factcheck.com, has
href="http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/nh_debate_the_gop_field.html">an
analysis of the Republican candidates' statements.
There is a lot of material there. The one that really stands
out for me…
j7uy5 | January 6, 2008
Keith Olbermann Special
Commentary on Bush Lies
Ron Paul was
href="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01042008/watch2.html">interviewed
by Bill Moyers last Friday (1/4/2008).
Paul Responded to Moyers' observation that
the media have been complicit in keeping the War out of the public eye
as the campaign is heating up.
But, you know, isn't it amazing at the end of last
year they turned this into almost like another mission accomplished,
you know. It was our worst year, you know. If you go by years, it was
our worst year. We lost 900 men in Iraq, over 100 in Afghanistan.…
j7uy5 | January 6, 2008I know I've been a bit lax with this blog lately, but just
in case anyone still cares, and has a mobile device (such as a Palm
Pilot, smart phone, etc.) you now can get the RSS feed for Corpus
Callosum on your device. You have to use the
href="http://www.avantgo.com/">AvantGo service.
If you want, follow the AvantGo link, and download the software, then
install it on the computer you use to sync your mobile device.
Then go through the setup as directed by AvantGo.
Then come to CC and click on the AvantGo button in the left
sidebar (where it says Quick Add-Feed Links). That's it (…
j7uy5 | January 5, 2008There are only two interesting things about what happened in the Iowa
caucuses. One, the turnout for Democrats was much higher than
the turnout for Republicans. Voter turnout is everything in
US elections. It will continue to be the single most
important factor, until we adopt a civilized form of Democracy and make
voting mandatory. Two, a lot of young people got involved.
Progressives have known for decades that the key to any
meaningful reform is to get young people to vote.
I think the Internet has something to do with the improved
participation by young people. Let's hope that…
j7uy5 | January 5, 2008Instantly! This product gives you an immediate
Save!
It's like getting a thousand gold coins in Super Mario
Brothers all at once!
Doubters say it works via the placebo effect, but why not
try it, if it could give you eternal life?
(source)
j7uy5 | January 2, 2008This photograph expresses my hopes for the new year:
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/"
title="Click this link to find out details of the Creative Commons license associated with this image.">
src="http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.gif"
alt="There is a Creative Commons license attached to this image."
style="border: medium none ;" height="31" width="88">
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">
src="http://l.yimg.com/www.flickr.com/images/cc_icon_attribution.gif"
alt="Attribution" title="Attribution" border="0"…
j7uy5 | December 31, 2007Bill O'Reilly has
href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200712050006">declared
victory in the secular humanist's War on Christmas.
"If I had not done the campaign, then the
forces of darkness would have won"
But O'Reilly did not do his homework. He did not know about
the secret weapon...
Start with gingerbread dough, put it through a pasta press, bake,
decorate, enjoy...
href="http://flickr.com/photos/fsmcookies/332425454/in/set-72157594437045295/">
src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/145/332425454_bcf44ae3e5_m.jpg"
alt="fsmcookies3" height="180" width="240">
href="…
j7uy5 | December 30, 2007This cartoon was written before intranasal orexin was
developed, but
the same idea applies:
href="http://www.researchblogging.org/">
alt="Blogging on Peer-Reviewed Research"
src="http://www.researchblogging.org/public/citation_icons/rb2_large_gray.png"
height="50" width="80" class="inset">
title="Provigil.com" href="http://provigil.com/"
rel="tag">Provigil (
title="monograph about modafinil"
href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a602016.html"
rel="tag">modafinil)
title="A Review of the Effects of Modafinil on Cognition in Schizophrenia"
href="…
j7uy5 | December 29, 2007
This came in an email from a neighbor. It's from
href="http://www.freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Main_Page">FreeThoughtPedia.com
While not as sophisticated as
href="http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2007/02/scientific_and_unscientific_co.php">Janet's
treatment, I think it is amusing. Image below the
fold.
j7uy5 | December 29, 2007Mike Huckabee is on the warpath again.
In Washington state, there has been
href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/92789.php">an
outbreak of
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosis" rel="tag">psittacosis,
a pulmonary infection caused by contact with imported birds that carry
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlamydophila_psittaci"
title="Chlamydophila psittaci">Chlamydophila psittaci
bacteria.
Responding to the outbreak, Huckabee decried the widespread practice of
cockatiel-human fraternization. He said, citing
rel="tag"
href="http://technorati.com/…
j7uy5 | December 29, 2007What would you do if a series of archaeological expeditions
uncovered ancient texts that indisputably showed that Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John each independently quoted Jesus as having said that
waterboarding is immoral?
j7uy5 | December 26, 2007I know people are complaining that I go too easy on
political candidates. It is true. But with
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney" rel="tag">Mitt
Romney, I will make an exception.
I wanted to like Romney. George Wilcken Romney, Mitt Romney's
father, had a truly inspirational life. He was a Mexican
immigrant who became a successful businessman. In fact, he
led American Motors to some degree of success, albeit short-lived, when
he promoted the sale of small cars.
He later became an influential politician, a Republican governor in a
heavily-Democratic state. He was…
j7uy5 | December 25, 2007I feel bad: I am infringing on Karmen's territory. She
put up a
delightful
href="http://scienceblogs.com/chaoticutopia/2007/12/heres_wishing_you_the_very.php">fractal
Christmas tree for everyone. And she opened the
title="Chaotic Utopia Curio Shop"
href="http://www.cafepress.com/chaoticutopia" target="_blank">Chaotic
Utopia Curio Shop to meet all of your fractal needs.
Be sure to check it out, especially if you do not have the
patience or skill to make these yourself:
These are featured on the blog,
href="http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/fimofractals">Evil
Mad…
j7uy5 | December 23, 2007Roche
Molecular Diagnostics offers a test that can determine which
type of genes a person has for enzymes that metabolize antidepressant
medication. The test costs $ 300 to $400, and can be ordered
by healthcare professionals, or by consumers.
The idea is that it might be possible to predict which medications
might be better for a particular patient. That has appeal,
because many people have to try more than one medication in the quest
to find one that is both tolerable and effective.
If a person metabolizes a drug much more rapidly than most
people, then that person might need a higher…
j7uy5 | December 22, 2007Someone, with a lot more patience that I, has compiled a
href="http://www.netrootsmass.net/Hugh/Bush_list.html?">list
of Bush administration scandals. The truly amazing
thing? Some people voted for this crook twice.