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Swine Flu Shots Revive a Debate About Vaccines - NYTimes.com
Excerpt: "According to a CBS News poll conducted last week, only 46 percent said they were likely to get the [H1N1 flu] vaccine... Web sites, Twitter feeds, talk radio and even elevator chatter are awash with skeptics criticizing the vaccine, largely with no factual or scientific basis. The most common complaint is that the vaccine has been newly formed and quickly distributed without the benefit of clinical trials; in fact, the swine flu vaccine was made using the same techniques as seasonal flu shots over the last two decades... There are also claims that the vaccine contains adjuvants -- sometimes added to make vaccines more effective -- although they have not been used in this one. In addition, there is fear that the vaccine could lead to Guillain-Barré syndrome, as was suspected the last time a swine flu vaccine was distributed, in 1976; flu vaccines are now much purer than they were, minimizing the risk, and Guillain-Barré is far rarer."
Swine Flu Shots Revive a Debate About Vaccines - NYTimes.com
Excerpt: "According to a CBS News poll conducted last week, only 46 percent said they were likely to get the [H1N1 flu] vaccine... Web sites, Twitter feeds, talk radio and even elevator chatter are awash with skeptics criticizing the vaccine, largely with no factual or scientific basis. The most common complaint is that the vaccine has been newly formed and quickly distributed without the benefit of clinical trials; in fact, the swine flu vaccine was made using the same techniques as seasonal flu shots over the last two decades... There are also claims that the vaccine contains adjuvants -- sometimes added to make vaccines more effective -- although they have not been used in this one. In addition, there is fear that the vaccine could lead to Guillain-Barré syndrome, as was suspected the last time a swine flu vaccine was distributed, in 1976; flu vaccines are now much purer than they were, minimizing the risk, and Guillain-Barré is far rarer."
Elephants could be extinct in 15 years - ban ivory sales (petition)
Fifteen?! I Apparently this is true, though.
Malcolm Gladwell reviews Free by Chris Anderson : The New Yorker
Though I don't typically think of Gladwell as big on common sense, here he definitely injects a little common sense into the hype about how, in the new golden age of the web, everything will be free and everyone will get rich. As he points out, the psychology of free stuff has its downsides, and more importantly, no one is paying any attention to infrastructure costs. Reminds me of the old story of the town where the households all made a living by taking in each other's laundry.
A new survey by the Barna Group claims that "Americans Are Exploring New Ways of Experiencing God"
From the article: "Almost half of the nation's 230 million adults are open to changing their church home, demonstrating their lack of connection with their present community of faith." I'm skeptical.
Is your car making any of these noises? Get it checked out (Bankrate.com)
A handy, informative little list.
Warmer, Fuzzier - The Refreshed Logo - NYTimes.com
A really interesting piece on the recent trend towards softer-looking ("non-threatening, reassuring, playful, even child-like") corporate logos -- more lower-case lettering, curvier fonts, lighter colors, and cheerful flourishes like leaves and stars. (Pretty sickening, if you think about it. So don't.)
Readers’ Photos: Polaroid Gallery - Lens Blog - NYTimes.com
A collection of reader-submitted Polaroid photos. Very cool.
Swedish Liberal Party ministers argue for revoking exemption to sex ed and phys ed requirements based on parents' culture or religion
From the article: "Liberal party ministers Jan Björklund and Nyamko Sabuni have proposed a new schools law which removes the right to seek exemption from sexual education and swimming classes. 'All pupils, including immigrant girls, have the right to swimming lessons and to take part in physical and sexual education classes,' Björklund and Sabuni argue."
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- Bullied Swedish schoolboy given bodyguard (5 May 09)
- 'Let schools suspend pupils': Björklund (14 Apr 09)
- 'Honour' culture common in Stockholm (14 Apr 09)
Liberal party ministers Jan Björklund and Nyamko Sabuni have proposed a new schools law which removes the right to seek exemption from sexual education and swimming classes.
"All pupils, including immigrant girls, have the right to swimming lessons and to take part in physical and sexual education classes," Björklund and Sabuni argue in an opinion article in Dagens Nyheter on Sunday.
Nicholas Kristof, "Would You Slap Your Father? If So, You’re a Liberal" - NYTimes.com
On the moral psychology of political positions. This isn't exactly new news, but it's interesting, and Kristof sums it up well. Liberals care about preventing harm and about fairness; conservatives care about these things but ALSO about loyalty, authority, and avoidance of taboos (i.e., disgust). He also says, rightly I think, that people tend to stake out moral positions on emotional grounds and seek rational justification for them later.
Edmund Andrews, "My Personal Credit Crisis," New York Times (May 14, 2009)
One man's personal experience with subprime mortgage and financial collapse. It's pretty frightening.
Teaching for the Future - Open Source Alternatives for the K-12 Windows User
Another great list of open-source teaching resources.
Ban the Breast Pump - Judith Warner Blog - NYTimes.com
From the article: "Why, as a society, have we privileged the magic elixir of maternal milk over actual maternal contact, denying the vast, vast majority of mothers the kind of extended maternity leave that would make them physically present for their babies? Why do we keep sticking our heads in the sand, putting all the burdens of our half-changed society on women – their 'choices,' their 'priorities,' their bodies – instead of figuring out reasonable ways to make our new family lives work?"
¡SUPER NAFTA LAND! - a set on Flickr
An amazing set of images from a Rice U. thesis project, representing an imaginary "artificial landscape" on the US-Mexico border called "¡Super NAFTA Land!" Discovered via BLDGBLOG.
Researchers find ways to sniff keystrokes from thin air | ITworld
Now ... this is kind of scary. Every time you press a key on your computer, a distinctive electrical signal is generated; this signal can be detected and decoded from up to 20 meters away using relatively simple and inexpensive equipment. So much for encryption.
Li-Young Lee, "The Hour and What Is Dead," from Rose (1986), read by the author | Poets.org
Li-Young Lee is not only an extraordinary poet, but he's a great reader as well. This poem is not my absolute favorite but hearing it read aloud still gets me a little shaky.
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