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1. desember 2002
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Open War Between Union and Tony Blair
The conflict between the striking firefighters and the British government escalates. Union boss Andy Gilchrist recently stated his goal was to "replace New Labour." Of course, this gave the government ample ammunition to fight back, arguing that the union leaders had lost sight of its objectives..
It is interesting to note that there are quite a few similarities between the politics of Margareth Thatcher in the 1980s and Tony Blair now.
1:12:55 PM 
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Comics Against Creationists
 Even though American law prohibits the teaching of creationism in public schools, creationists in all sort of disguises have been extraordinary imaginative in their efforts to try make sure that school children receive the necessary dose of ancient superstition to become sufficiently ignorant of science.
For example, comic books misrepresenting evolutionary biology are readily available among bible-thumpers. Now Jay Hosler, a biology professor, strikes back with pro-darwinian comics. Imagine that!
9:18:58 AM
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Inquiring Minds Want to Read
New edition of The Occoquan Inquirer is fresh on the cyberstands, with some of the best in last weeks' blogs in one neat package. Mark picked up, as I guessed he would, my article about the Nigerian Miss World fiasco, blaming the victim (original here). He also picked the Raven's tour de force of the darkness of human nature, or, rather, why none of us want to stand behind him in line in the local supermarket.
3:31:14 AM
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False Confessions
"Over the last decade, DNA testing has cleared 27 people nationwide who were convicted of crimes based on some form of confession, according to records kept by the Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University." (NYT)
The brutal gang rape of a jogger in a park in New York City in 1989 made headlines across the world, and I remember it well even now. The lack of remorse in the young gang members was a major theme in the stories. More recently, however, DNA evidence has shown the boys who confessed the crime most likely were not involved at all. How many innocent people have been imprisoned by a court system putting too much emphasis on eye witness testimonies and even confessions who have been demonstrated to be flaky evidence at best?
3:16:01 AM
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How Quack Medicine Can Endanger Us All
 Medical science along with improved nutrition and hygiene has improved human quality of life to a tremendous degree in the 20th century, something a lot of people are blissfully unaware of. Perhaps the most benefital programme ever undertaken in the world has been the compulsory and extensive vaccinations against diseases like smallpox, polio and measles, which used to claim millions of lives a few generations ago.
The health is improved to such a degree that people seemingly can afford to ignore medical science altogether, and rely on quack science like homeopathy when they get sick. And some refuse to let their children be vaccinated, citing a mixture of real and perceived dangers, including a few conspiracy theories, as an article in the New York Times recently discussed.
Ironically, it can be safer to not vaccine an individual, since there are also some side effects of some vaccines. That is, if near everybody around you chose to take the vaccine, making you (and your children) a freeloader in an effective system of herd protection. This only works until a sufficient number of people refuse a vaccination, making even some vaccinated individuals potential victims.
It is sometimes argued that alternative medicine, while not really working, at least do not have dangerous side effects. This is a good example that argument is false, and that ignorance may be bliss only until we have a serious epidemic helped by the propagation of anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. Or, as the nurse interviewed in the NYT article put it, until they experience "measles coming across the water."
2:49:55 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.01.03; 03:59:40.
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