Nicholsclan.com : a dimension of mind...

Medical Update

I'm not sure the Journal of the American Medical Association will publish this, so I'd better get the news out here. My kids - each of them - consumed 1/2 stalk of asparagus at dinner tonight. Granted, they were told by their autocratic father that they had to, but they ate it without undue fuss. However, not without undue drama.

As each piece crossed their lips the facial contortions would set in. I'm pretty sure Socrates didn't make that much of a face sipping the hemlock. But with dinner behind them, their faces are slowly returning to normal. They are both expected to make a full recovery.

On a related note, their strategic thinking still seems a bit under par. When faced with "undesirable food", their strategy was to leave it until dead last, and then cut it up into microscopic pieces, thus prolonging the agony. Of course it made for a better show that way, so I didn't mind. Consider renting them for your next dinner party.

Are You Ready For a Brave New World?

Just read this. Then sit and think about it awhile.
t r u t h o u t - Stirling Newberry | Rove's Revolution

And You Think Your Family Is Screwed Up?

In case you've been experiencing anxiety over your family lately, I thought I'd just provide a view of a lower bar under which your family is unlikely to crawl - regardless of how drunk Uncle Harry gets at the reunion.

The I's Have It

Did you ever notice that sometimes the most interesting things are things you find when looking for something else entirely? I discovered that Countries which begin with the letter "I" have a startling correlation to the list of countries where religion is a news-worthy topic. Consider this list:

India (home of Hindu)
Indonesia (active Muslim unrest)
Iran (Muslim theocracy and nascent nuclear power)
Iraq (do I really need to explain this one?)
Ireland (intra-Christian squabbles with occasional explosions
Israel (home of 3 major religions, with feuding between two of them)
Italy (have you heard there's a new Pope in town?)
Iceland (home of many blondes, guys tend to worship them)

Okay, I'll admit to Iceland being a stretch, but the rest are dead on. Conversely, what other countries can you think of where religion is a major media topic? The only one I can come up with that's not on the list is us. Which leads me to conclude that maybe we should negotiate with Iceland to swap names. Alternatively, we could just get ourselves off the list and keep our name. Yeah, I like that idea better. Let's go with that one.

Shoe Fly, Don't Bother Me

So shoe bomber Richard Reid, the most hated man among airline passengers, gets 13 years in prison. This is the man who now forces me to consider how presentable my socks are prior to going on a trip. I now actually consider how easy my shoes are to remove and put on again when I travel. And frankly, I'm unconvinced that any of us are any safer in the air as a result of having our footwear x-rayed. I suppose I should be grateful he didn't hide the explosives elsewhere, or I'd have to be worrying about the whole clean underwear thing too.

Dave's Here

For those who may have been missing Dave Barry in the newspaper, apparently he has come out of hiatus for a guest spot.

And as a bonus, I now have an idea for my son's Science Fair project next year.

Scientific American.com: Okay, We Give Up -- We feel so ashamed

At last, the scientists give in to the overwhelming ignorance which passes for public opinion. This is the long overdue critical step to acheiving the Bush administration's educational policy goals of dumbing down society so that no one knows more than the President.

Hey Buddy! You Gotta Light? ...BANG!

Gotta love those Republican Bush brothers. Always erring on the side of life.

WARNING: Jammies Make You Sleepy

Columnist Suzanne Fields is all in a tizzy because of a study showing that 72% of all college faculty members are liberal. She goes on to note that this proves a statistical hiring bias on the part of universities. And somewhere along the way, the hippie culture gets blamed for having grown up into the current crop of professors.

But wait a minute... aren't these the same hippies that grew up to be today's corporate tycoons, conservative politicians, and talk show radio hosts? Noting that there are a lot of liberals in academia and concluding it is the result of a hiring bias is a lot like noting that most people sleep in pajamas and concluding that jammies make you sleepy.

Now I can't prove this postulate either, but it is also possible that those with higher academic aptitude are attracted to liberal philosophies. After all, there were numerous polls prior to the last election showing a direct correlation between educational levels and support for John Kerry. Could it be that people who are prone to thoughtful introspection and intellectual pursuits have trouble getting behind the conservative "mind-control" policies bent on restricting personal freedoms? Might those people not find short sighted initiatives which shift burdens to future generations somewhat distasteful? Perhaps they have a mind's eye for seeing through the Rove-ian sophistry and the Fox News chicanery.

...but I suppose I shouldn't expect Ms. Fields to think too hard about this stuff. After all, she is a Conservative.