I believe in the germ theory of disease
Measles is back.

11 cases of measles surfaced in Brooklyn the past two months. Nearly all of them occurred in children who were not vaccinated.

Measles is not common in the city, but is highly contagious.

Symptoms include fever, rash, cough, runny nose and red eyes, with more serious cases potentially leading to diarrhea, ear infection or pneumonia.

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Public Service Announcement
We have received several reports that citizens in the Northeast have seen a strange yellowish globe in the sky today. Please do not panic, but be advised that risks of blindness and cancer are associated with this object. We urge the public to stay indoors and minimize contact. We at the weather control bureau expect to re-establish the cumulonimbus shielding by tomorrow morning. Thank you for your cooperation.

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I know someone who predicted Michael Jackson's death

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Happy Canada Day!
On this day in 1867 the British Parliament passed the British North America Act or 1867, which created the federal government of Canada. It united Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec as a single dominion of the British Commonwealth. Canada Day celebrates this important milestone in peaceful political process that created the modern nation of Canada.

If you read this paragraph you now know more about Canada than 90%* of Americans.

* I pulled that percentage out of my ass, the real number is probably higher. =)

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And then there were 60

For all of the foregoing reasons, we affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under Minn. Stat. § 204C.40 (2008) to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota.

http://www.mncourts.gov/opinions/sc/current/OPA090697-6030.pdf

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE55T5Y420090630

Update

Coleman has conceded.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Politico.com%3A+Coleman+concedes+Minn.+Senate+seat+to+Franken&articleId=d8f347c5-a44f-4b1e-874b-c78ae3054c60

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Iran and Michael Jackson
Because I'm always known for looking on the bright side, and especially interested in celebrity news...

If these celebrity deaths take Iran out of the American news cycle, it will deflate the escalating rhetoric coming from American government officials. I don't think the protesters are going to topple the government. But the only way they can is if the Revolutionary Guard stands down or changes sides. Foreign threats rarely cause military folks to be more sympathetic to domestic dissent.

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Judicial Activism
The Supreme Court ruled that strip searching 13 year old girl for suspicion of carrying extra strength Advil is unconstitutional. I wonder if this is the kind of "judicial activism" that conservatives hate so much. Justice Clarence Thomas (the lone dissenter) complained the ruling "grants judges sweeping authority to second guess the measures that these officials take to maintain discipline." I'm pretty sure conservatives don't want any more activist judges like Justice John Paul Stevens who claim "that it does not require a constitutional scholar to conclude that a nude search of a 13-year-old child is an invasion of constitutional rights of some magnitude."

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Atheist Ten Commandments

1. Have no gods.
2. Don’t worship stuff.
3. Be polite.
4. Take a day off once in a while.
5. Be nice to folks.
6. Don’t kill people.
7. Don’t cheat on your significant other.
8. Don’t steal stuff.
9. Don’t lie about stuff.
10. Don’t be greedy.

Nicely put. Let’s get that version up in a courthouse…

From I Am an Atheist by way of The Friendly Atheist

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Hantavirus
Because I need to quit getting into stupid fights on other people's blogs. From the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, how Hantavirus spreads:

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a deadly disease from rodents. Humans can contract the disease when they come into contact with infected rodents or their urine and droppings. HPS was first recognized in 1993 and has since been identified throughout the United States. Although rare, HPS is potentially deadly. Rodent control in and around the home remains the primary strategy for preventing hantavirus infection.

. . .

Infected rodents shed the virus through urine, droppings, and saliva. HPS is transmitted to humans through a process called aerosolization. Aerosolization occurs when dried materials contaminated by rodent excreta or saliva are disturbed. Humans become infected by breathing in these infectious aerosols.

Prevention:

Trap rodents around the home to help reduce the rodent population.

Choose an appropriate snap trap. Traps for catching mice are different from those for catching rats. Carefully read the instructions before setting the trap.

. . .

We do not recommend using glue traps or live traps. These traps can scare mice that are caught live and cause them to urinate. Since their urine may contain germs, this may increase your risk of being exposed to diseases.

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Abington Township School District v. Schempp
Today, Jun 17th in 1963, the Supreme Court saved me from having to read the Bible every day in school. The case was Abington Township School District v. Schempp. The case began when 11th grader Ellery Schempp refused to pay attention or stand during the mandatory Bible reading and Lord's Prayer.

My Homeroom teacher was puzzled, but focused on my disobedience. I was very nervous, but I replied, "This violates my religious conscience and is a violation of the First Amendment." He sent me to the Principal.

Read his own account of his story here.

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Georgia Errata
Remember the the Russo-Georgian war of 2008. Lots of pundits, and a certain failed presidential candidate were pounding their chests and condemning Russia for beating up innocent Georgia. They were half right. Russia did beat up Georgia, but Georgia wasn't innocent.

The European Union created a commission to examining the records and details of the war gives us the following timeline. On the morning of August 7th Georgia moved 12,000 soldiers and 75 tanks to the border with South Ossetia. That night Georgia invaded South Ossetia violating the binding 1992 agreement between Russia and Georgia. Georgia initially captured much of South Ossetia including the capital Tskhinvali. In this process they also attacked a based used by Russian peacekeepers, there as part of the 1992 agreement.

Because Georgia attacked this base, Russia could invoke its right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. However, Russia's response was a clear violation of the principle of proportionality. Russian military aircraft flew into Georgian airspace around 10am. The first Russian tanks came through the Roki tunnel at 2pm. The first infantry units started at 2:30pm.

Heavy fighting followed in the capital of Tskhinvali and throughout South Ossetia. Moving troops and tanks through the narrow Roki Tunnel slowed the Russian advance, but by August 9th the Russia with their South Ossetian allies outnumbered the Georgians. By the end of August 11th, Georgia had completely retreated from South Ossetia. Russian troops moved into Georgia the morning of the 11th. On the 12th Russian President Medvedev announced an end of military operation in Georgia. A French sponsored peace treaty was signed on August 14th.

Georgia confirmed that 161 of its soldiers had been killed and 1,964 were wounded. Russia confirms 74 of its solders were killed and 283 were wounded. The South Ossetia's report 320 dead. Russia claims 364 civilian causalities, while Georgia claims 228. The estimated number of civilian refugee range from 158,000 to 230,000.

Along the way the Russian allied South Ossetia militia who looted, killed, and burned several Georgian villages in South Ossetia. Russia as the occupying force was obligated to reestablish public order according to the Hague Convention on Land Warfare but did almost nothing to prevent atrocities. The armies of both Georgia and Russia violated the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War by using of cluster bombs.

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Iran
Iran had a rather surprising result announced in their election. This probably means one of three things. The I think is most likely is that Ahmadinejad (or his supporters) believed their own propaganda expected him to win and when he didn't ordered the election results be faked in a way that turned out to be rather ham fisted and obvious. It is also possible that the election fraud was planned in advanced, and the ham fisted nature was intended to bait the opposition into the streets with the hope of using military force to crush them and consolidate power. And of course there is also the possibility that Ali Khamenei is right and the election results were a miracle from god.[1]

Right now we are seeing massive street protests by supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Police are responding with tear gas and at least one protester was shot and killed. But so far we haven't seen a massive crack down. This could be the regime showing restraint, it could be that Mousavi is supported by Rafsanjani who has strong ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, so perhaps the powers that be are torn. The Iranian reformist factions have always backed down when conflict got hot in the past, but so far they haven't yet. We may yet see a velvet revolution of sort, but the situation is volatile and the outcome is far from clear.

One thing though should be stress. The Iranian election was not about us in America. There are lots of complex factors and strange bedfellow coalitions on both sides of this conflict. There is a tendency of some commentators to declare Mousavi the "pro-western" candidate (aka the good guy) and line up in support behind him. Mousavi is less likely to deny the holocaust, but if you think Ahmadinejad's holocaust denial is the reason for the US/Israel/Iranian conflict you aren't paying very close attention.

Ultimately the Iranian election is a conflict between Iranians. Though we may wish democracy to flourish and prefer the less incendiary candidate win, there isn't a much we can do to make that happen. Worse many commentators are advocating responses that would make the desired outcome less likely.

The Iranians who voted for Mousavi were not voting for the United States. The United States government is not very popular in Iran. For American political leaders to openly align themselves with Mousavi does not help his case. And what should be obvious, but sadly isn't in our current discourse, allying ourselves with Mousavi while threatening to bomb Iran is doing Mousavi no favors and only strengthens Ahmadinejad.

[1] Some may dismiss the idea that god would intervene in an election as absurd. But it might also explain why the Orlando Magic lost the NBA finals. Dwight Howard, of the Orlando Magic had previously said that his team would win the NBA championship because "God. That’s the reason, I’m telling you." If god was busy fixing the Iranian election he might not have gotten back in time to fix the NBA game. It is also of course possible that there is no god and both of these people are delusional.

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Happy Loving Day!
Today in 1967, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a law based upon this was unconstitutional

Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.

The Supreme Court said

Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival

. . .

There is patently no legitimate overriding purpose independent of invidious racial discrimination which justifies this classification. The fact that Virginia prohibits only interracial marriages involving white persons demonstrates that the racial classifications must stand on their own justification, as measures designed to maintain White Supremacy.

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Canadian Terror Myths
As is common when it comes to conservative rhetoric, fear of others one of the prime talking points. In the health care debate the other to be hated and feared is Canada. But Canada's health care system while hardly perfect, is not the hell on earth conservatives make it to be. In fact if you prefer medical decisions to be made by you and your doctor, it an awful lot better.

Myth: Canada's government decides who gets health care and when they get it. While HMOs and other private medical insurers in the U.S. do indeed make such decisions, the only people in Canada to do so are physicians. In Canada, the government has absolutely no say in who gets care or how they get it. Medical decisions are left entirely up to doctors, as they should be.

There are no requirements for pre-authorization whatsoever. If your family doctor says you need an MRI, you get one. In the U.S., if an insurance administrator says you are not getting an MRI, you don't get one no matter what your doctor thinks — unless, of course, you have the money to cover the cost.

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Playing Hardball
One of my biggest complaints about the Democratic Party was its tendency to bring knives to political gun fights with Republicans. The pattern I've seen way too many time involved the Democratic Party making compromise after compromise until they finally brought a very watered down almost useless measure up for a vote. At this point the Republicans they watered it down for would vote against it. So we watered down the legislation for zero gain.

So this makes me VERY HAPPY.

“They said, ‘Republicans are having this meeting and you need to let all of your clients know if they have someone there, that will be viewed as a hostile act,’” said a Democratic lobbyist who attended the meeting.

“Going to the Republican meeting will say, ‘I’m interested in working with Republicans to stop health care reform,’” the lobbyist added.

They're saying that you're either with health reform, or you're against it. And if you're against it, you can't expect to be taken care of in the final legislation. They're not going to save your seat at the table while you're trying to burn down the room. And the AMA, it seems, got the message.

Three cheers! I like it when the kicking ass icon isn't ironic!

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Responsible white separatist community [sic]
As you probably heard a white supremacist terrorist murdered Stephen Tyrone Johns, a security guard at the National Holocaust Memorial Museum yesterday. Today white supremacist John de Nugent tells us

"The responsible white separatist community condemns this," he said. "It makes us look bad."

I'll give you a second to digest that statement. It is obviously patterned after similar statement by pro-life movement after one of their members murdered Dr. George Tiller.

Now here is my questions, has the white supremacist movement put up pictures of Stephen Tyrone Johns with the caption "wanted dead or alive"? Have any of the white supremacist organizations posted the home or church address of Stephen Tyrone Johns on their websites?

Hat tip to cchan8

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Arsenic is a natural element
Pharmaceutical drugs have to show evidence to the government that they are both safe and effective before they can be sold. In 1994, a law was passed excepting dietary supplements which do not need to show evidence of either safety or effectiveness to be sold. But don't worry about

Lead in ginkgo pills. Arsenic in herbals. Bugs in a baby's colic and teething syrup. . .

All these substance, lead, arsenic, bugs, and parasites are completely natural.

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Bacon
Adria and I recently joined a meat farm share. While I'm skeptical about the localvore fad*, I do care about animals and am happy to know the animals I eat had good lives. Tonight I made bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with Pig Will Fly bread. They were very tasty!

* Skeptical in this context means I haven't done research, but know enough about economies of scale and comparative advantages to realize that "local is better" is not always going to be true. I will await a thorough economic and scientific analysis of the environmental impacts before I take a position.

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Public Option
If I understand the debate on the health care bill, opponents of the public option are concerned that the public option would provide better health care coverage than existing private plans. Why that is bad is never fully explained.

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Faith based medicine for animals

Acupuncture points also haven’t been shown to exist in animals (or people, for that matter). In fact, the acupuncture charts devised for animals are inventions of the 20th century, made by “transposing” one of the myriad human charts directly onto animals. That’s one reason why horses have a “gall bladder” meridian (putative channels which connect acupuncture points, which also haven’t been shown to exist), even though they don’t have a gall bladder. But, when it comes to animal acupuncture, there’s apparently no absurdity sufficiently large to cause practitioners any embarrassment.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=519

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