M.A.W.B. Squad

I Need a Break

So, I'm taking one.  I'll be back later.  Maybe next week.  Maybe later.

Stanford on iTunes

This is an interesting application for the iPod:

Download faculty lectures, interviews, music and sports. Play audio on your iPod, Mac or PC, or burn a CD. Stay connected anytime, anywhere. Experience Stanford on iTunes today and continue learning with Stanford.

Missed class today?  Pick up the lecture through iTunes.  It also says it will be expanding to include video.  Speaking of the Video iPod, I saw one at the Apple Store yesterday.  It was Shiny.  I don't own an iPod, though both household males do.  I could see using one on long flights to watch shows.  I could use my laptop, but the battery on the iPod would last longer.

Quick Links

That's all I've got for now:

For new-dad Chad:  Daddy Types, the weblog for new dads.  I have only glanced at the site, but I noticed they have some electronic gizmo that's supposed to analyze the pitch of baby's cry and tell you why they're crying.  Leave it to the men to come up with a power tool.

Stossel on Gun Control:

A study funded by the Department of Justice confirmed what the prisoners said. Criminals buy their guns illegally and easily. The study found that what felons fear most is not the police or the prison system, but their fellow citizens, who might be armed. One inmate told me, "When you gonna rob somebody you don't know, it makes it harder because you don't know what to expect out of them."       

What if it were legal in America for adults to carry concealed weapons? I put that question to gun-control advocate Rev. Al Sharpton. His eyes opened wide, and he said, "We'd be living in a state of terror!"

In fact, it was a trick question. Most states now have "right to carry" laws. And their people are not living in a state of terror. Not one of those states reported an upsurge in crime.

Finally:

My blog is worth $68,873.88.
How much is your blog worth?

Sleep Number Bed?

Does anyone out there have one of those Sleep Number Beds by Select Comfort?  I ask because we've been considering buying one, and I'm looking for some feedback.  If you've got one, did you go with the adjustable bed option, (you can raise and lower the head and feet and it has a massage feature)?

We stopped by one of those mall stores.  Maybe it's just me, but for some reason I couldn't really get a feel for the thing while laying in the fish bowl of a mall window, on display for every Sally and Joe walking by.  Add to that the salesman following you around, you know, selling, while you try them out.  "Well, we just go through these steps at the different beds to find out your number.  It should only take 20 minutes."  Sorry, but No We Won't.  I'm sure salesmen would really appreciate it if the whole family would just wear warning signs, "Caution. Approach carefully. Prone to general crankiness. Known to respond to salesmen in a negative fashion."

Anyway, you can return the matress if you decide it's not for you, but they only take return of the adjustable frame if it's defective.  So, if anyone has some insight, leave it in the comments or e-mail me.

DC_brainstorming AT hotmail.com

Zombie Worms

It would be a great band name, no?  It gets better:

Adrian Glover and Thomas Dahlgren tell the journal the new species has been named Osedax mucofloris, which literally means "bone-eating snot-flower".

Bone-eating snot-flower.  There's a name only a mother could love. 

"But, Hans, what shall we name it!" 
"We'll call it bone-eating snot flower, Franz!"

Anyway, they found some off Sweden.

Lookin' Out My Back Door: Fall 2005

Sometimes it seems like I never get away from this computer.  I'm sure none of you can relate. Uh-huh.  It turns out there's a whole world out there, and as of today I don't need multi-layers of Thinsulate if I step out the door, (a situation that can change tomorrow here in the north woods.)  A sample of what you might see if you take the plunge:

Share the whole experience by clicking here.

I've also invited the folks from the Political Teen to share a peek, even if this is so not political.  I bet they wonder what's outside too.

Hallelujah!

Someone please check and see if hell has frozen over, because the words we've all wished to hear have finally been spoken:

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department aims without exception to expel all those who enter the United States illegally.

"Our goal at DHS (Homeland Security) is to completely eliminate the 'catch and release' enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions.

"It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year," Chertoff told a Senate hearing.

Via Drudge.

The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have

A mother of a Down Syndrome daughter writes in the Washington Post:

Margaret's old pediatrician tells me that years ago he used to have a steady stream of patients with Down syndrome. Not anymore. Where did they go, I wonder. On the west side of L.A., they aren't being born anymore, he says.

Some estimates are as high as 80-90% of Down Syndrome pregnancies are terminated.

To them, Margaret falls into the category of avoidable human suffering. At best, a tragic mistake. At worst, a living embodiment of the pro-life movement. Less than human. A drain on society. That someone I love is regarded this way is unspeakably painful to me.

This view is probably particularly pronounced here in blue-state California, but I keep finding it everywhere, from academia on down. At a dinner party not long ago, I was seated next to the director of an Ivy League ethics program. In answer to another guest's question, he said he believes that prospective parents have a moral obligation to undergo prenatal testing and to terminate their pregnancy to avoid bringing forth a child with a disability, because it was immoral to subject a child to the kind of suffering he or she would have to endure.

What does it say about our society that we not only deem it acceptable but "moral" to deny life to those with disabilities?  How do we explain it to our children? 

"Well, honey, your brother/sister had problems the doctors couldn't fix."

And when they ask, "But, Mom, what if I get problems the doctor can't fix?"

Video iPod Questions?

Answered here.

Meet Oliver Google Kai

"When we first knew that my wife Carol is pregnant, I said, 'we will name our child Google.' Everyone laughed and did not take me seriously. My brother said, 'Yeah, name the next one yahoo fuji nikon." And then, says Dr. Kai, the day came to make the baby official in the Swedish Registry. "I was with my friend Magnus Foss and my wife Carol, and I said yes, GOOGLE KAI. Carol knew how serious I am, she knows how much I adore Google services."

Of course, he has his own website. See the baby pictures.