Risk

"Anyway, the risk assessment indicated that a child could develop cancer if exposed to the soil at this site therefore the site needed to be remediated. I made my presentation using the same numbers but came at the problem from a different angle. For a child to be exposed to enough of the contaminant to develop cancer they would have to grab a handful of the soil and eat it on the way to school every day they were in school from K through high school. I then observed to the public that if their child was eating a handful of dirt on the way to school every day they had a bigger problem than whatever contaminant was in the dirt."

Child Murdered

Abortionists Upset About Botched Abortion. Because, y'know, cold blooded murder of a newborn is just SO acceptable if you say "oh, I meant to kill him two hours earlier!"

Tweet: Twitter, Explained

Mr. Lileks managed an amusing and informative post on Twitter. Sample:

Let me explain. Twitter is the latest thing on the Internet, which means all the really wired people were so over it six months ago, and are currently playing with something that lets you send smells via text messaging.

I follow two Twitter feeds, myself-- and don't have one, thank you! Lileks is one, and Othar is the other. (Er, that's other, not Other, for those in the know....)

A Dream-

set in Star Trek terms, Next Generation or Deep Space Nine- the classic Out Of Place character who Knows, talking to another out of place character- "They are so far removed that the phrase "I am Spartacus!" means nothing to them." Bonus: my spell check knows "Spartacus...."

Worth Reading

"Rome looks familiar to us from this great distance; I wonder if Los Angeles of the 50s would have made sense to them. To the smart ones, no doubt. All the churches might surprise them. That guy? Seriously, that guy? But they’d recognize the architecture. You could take a Roman to an old movie and point out the numerals - we kept those around because they class things up. The politics they would surely understand. You could explain it all over a sandwich made with Roman Meal bread. He’d like that. Show him some pictures of Caesar’s Palace in Vegas. I suppose it would be like waking up in 2000 years and finding a vast gambling joint based on the 1939 World’s Fair. On the moon."

As always.

Aye yi yi.....

Laura over at Persuing Holiness brought my attention to the latest "outrage" at the Pope-- the last one was lifting the Excommunication on all the SSPX (Society of St. Pius X) Priests; check here for why it's not a "reinstatement." More here, here and here for more information, if you'd like to geek out on it. Now, that last link is related to my pet peeve: there is no lack of really bad reporting about religious issues. Shoot, I didn't even believe that this story until I double-checked it and there was a direct quote, even on major US news sources.  That was on a story that most of the press wouldn't want to spread-- it's good news, and positive towards former President Bush. (Hey, if you don't think there's some bias there, you may as well leave-- there's nothing I can say or do to change your mind.)

 This story-- "Pope promotes cleric who called Katrina God’s punishment for sin in New Orleans"-- is right up their ally, though; critical of traditional organized religion, controversial, and it brings up Katrina! Small problem: I can't find a single source that will say they're quoting him when they say that; the closest I can find is the AP quoting a site called Kath.net that claims to have partially quoted a newsletter back in 2005. The only direct quotes I can find directly attributed to the new Bishop are “It’s no coincidence that in New Orleans all five abortion clinics as well as night clubs were destroyed.” and “Is the noticeable rise in natural disasters a consequence of environmental pollution or rather of spiritual pollution?”

 Anyone remember the big to-do with Harry Potter? This, this or this might remind you..... There was bad translation, massive over-assumption and a lot of flat out ignorance and unwillingness to look for more information displayed by reporters-- reporters, of all folks! It's their dang job to get the story right, but sometimes they seem to go all Procrustes on some stories.