Linkfest

I normally don’t like just posting links to articles unless I have a lot to say about them. However, I haven’t had much to say about anything else, so I’ll ramble on about some interesting links and what I’ve been thinking about them.

One of the first ones that really strikes me is the recent recreation of the Spanish Flu virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic. The NYT has an article about it, but I’ve read about it in several other places. It’s interesting that most people have never heard of the Spanish Flu of 1918. I admit that I don’t remember hearing about it until about 8 years ago. I think I watched a special on plagues on The History Channel or something. Since then I have read about it several times, once in Guns, Germs, and Steel, and I have seen a movie about researchers looking for the virus to help combat a new disease. It’s a great example of how genetic research can increase understanding of a disease and how it forms. This was one of the nastiest diseases of modern times, and understanding its evolution and development can help us track and combat new viruses. It’s also scary to realize how close the H5N1 flu strain that is being tracked is to becoming like it. On the bright side this is giving disease preparedness a shot in the arm. Given the problems brought to light by Katrina, this could roll into even broader and better disaster preparedness. We have to realize that for right now these diseases will pop up, and given our transportation capabilities, they will spread like wild fire across the globe. That will continue, until we get more people separated from domestic and wild animals. The cross species jumping of disease is usually what creates the most dangerous strains.

Speaking of viruses and vaccines the NYT has an article up about a vaccine for several of the viruses that can cause cervical cancer. I read about this in a couple of places. I think it is a great development, but I am more impressed at how it is being publicized. It’s touted “a vaccine against cancer,” rather than a vaccine against a primarily sexually transmitted disease that so happens to cause cancer. Ooo that gets a little stickier doesn’t it. I remember months back about a bunch of hooplah over the recommendation that a vaccine for an STD be added to a standard vaccination routine for pre-teens. (Sorry, I can’t find the link or remember the STD.) The abstinence fanatics said it would “encourage young people to have sex.” I have to call bull shit on that one. Vaccinating a child at age 8 will not promote promiscuity. It’s not a punishment from God. It’s a damned disease, and there are all kinds of innocent ways you can catch it. I say that if you have a safe, affordable vaccine for a fairly common, communicable, and incurable disease, then it should be a part of standard vaccination sequences. And for all the people that think vaccinations cause some cases of autism, poo on you. Yeah you heard me. Frankly the infant mortality rate has dropped so much that we should be seeing more unusual disorders. Used to, those children would have died, or been killed, before their disorder became diagnosed or recorded. The vaccines protect against much more dangerous things.

Speaking of religious zealots, Ars has a journal entry up about intelligent design. I wondered how long it was going to take. It looks like a group of parents are suing the school board because they required the teaching if ID in biology class. The jist is that the recommended book was basically a book on creationism, except that the word “creationism” has been replaced with “intelligent design.” Is it me or did we not used to have this happening. This really stuck with me because of an article in the NYT about the subject of evolution and ID. I personally don’t see much place for ID in the class room, unless you give time to all kinds of other ideas. I believe in teaching the facts as they occur. I like a study of what Darwin discovered on the Galapagos followed by an explanation of the expansion of those ideas into current evolutionary theory. Sure there is a lot of missing information, but most of the current information fits the idea of evolution. The holes and the outliers are what make it interesting.

Speaking of lawsuits, a few months back Ars talked about the SCOTUS upholding a decision to take someone’s land away under eminent domain so that it could be used for a business to build on. Welp it’s happened again. This time, however, the land was taken from the owner, who wanted to build townhouses on it, so that it could be sold to someone who wanted to build townhouses on it. Yeah I expect this to either sort itself out, or the SCOTUS will be having déjà vu.

Speaking of Constitutional rights, after all the hubbub about reporters giving up their sources and no shield law, I was glad to see, at Ars again, that a blogger’s right to anonymity and free speech has been upheld. I don’t write anything too bad on mine, but I read some blogs, and other sites, that really lay in on some politicians and others. I’m glad to see that this right to expression isn’t being trampled on yet. It gives me some hope for the future.

We are a suing nation aren’t we. I also like Ars in case none of you noticed. For a long time many have accuses the RIAA of racketeering by scaring people accused of illegal file sharing into settling out of court. Put on top of that the illegal warrants that needed no judge signature, and you can say I don’t much like the RIAA’s business practices. Ars has an article about a woman countersuing the RIAA. She reports that she was wrongfully accused of downloading music illegally. When she notified them of the mistake, THEY AGREED THAT SHE WAS PROBABLY INNOCENT, but that they would sue her anyway to discourage others. Frankly, I hope she manages to rip them a new asshole. Pardon my French Freedom. I’ll chip in a few bucks for the legal.

I just had two more things about property ownership and fair use. An Australian court has ruled that you can modify hardware for a PS2 in order to play any legally purchased software that you may own, and there isn’t a damn thing Sony can do to stop you. The real question is does this apply to all media. If so it basically takes a big step towards making region free DVD players legal in Australia. It might even make region limiting illegal. This could turn into a big kettle of worms before it is over. I like it. I don’t usually say this, but I may be proud of Disney. Robert Iger looks like he may be shaking up the status quo over there. He’s preaching that the consumer world is changing and that Disney is going to try to innovate to keep up with it. He wants new ideas and concepts in media and content distribution and sale coming from every department. Right now I’m saying, “Lead the way sir.”

Maybe I did have something to say afterall.