The recent ???mega conspiracy??? takedown has caused the Pirate Party of New Zealand to take a deeper look at exactly what we stand for. We???re about the free flow of information. The pirate party would like to reform copyright law so that peer to peer filesharing is legal and copyright law only covers ???commercial activity??? […]
They’re here.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my book was just reviewed on Slashdot. One thing that struck me in reading all the resulting comments was the (several different copies of an) apparently famous quote that goes something like:
Some people, when confronted with a problem, think
“I know, I’ll use regular expressions.” Now they have two problems.It’s apparently quite well known, so it floors me that this is the first I’ve seen it.
Heard it here first
The UAE uses over 20 billion plastic bags each year. This has become such an environmental problem, that the Minister for Environment has a set goal for the UAE to become plastic bag-free by 2013.
Occupy is not over. We come now to another winter of our discontent, and though the tents and signs and shouts of the movement have been momentarily subdued, they will return. Spring is coming, the rocks are already rolling down the mountainside, and while there is still time for the pebbles to catch up, gravity is an absolute. Sooner or later, those rocks will reach the reckoning that has been so long in coming, and when that happens, nothing in this country will be the same again.
With Spring comes the rain, and the rain is coming to this dry and thirsty land.
The rain is coming.
By God and sonny Jesus, the rain is coming.
This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Few of the studies that these stories are based on are ???bad science???, but overeager reporting of findings can turn interesting, but minor, findings into overblown news. Thankfully, dangerous claims are rare. More often, the claims made in the media are just plain weird. Here???s a selection of the strangest:
- Saucepans can cause early menopause. This bizarre claim suggested that household objects may be a health risk. In fact, they based this inference on a limited study of chemicals called perfluorocarbons (PFCs) in drinking water. The research did not prove that PFCs can bring on the menopause.
- Bear bile may help the heart. Ursodeoxycholic acid can affect heart rhythm in heart cells extracted from rats ??? beyond that it???s unclear what this chemical that is produced synthetically (but can be extracted from bears??? bile) does for humans.
- Quilting keeps you happy and healthy. One paper hyped this survey of 29 women that did not objectively measure any aspect of their physical or mental health, or compare quilt-making to any other type of hobby.
Hamish MacEwan 