Lincoln Video

Here's the link for Looking for Lincoln, the video that we started watching today, the 200th anniversary of the 16th president's birth.



In numismatic news, be on the lookout for the four new pennies being put into circulation today.

It's a Dog's Life

A Miss Tori Simmons of Tolland, Connecticut, alerts us to this next story -- her upcoming AMS report. It comes with a viewer discretion warning, so if you're a real animal lover, please be advised.

Here's an article explaining a little bit about the attitude of Islam toward dogs. You may find the whole website interesting. What's the Islamic view on Valentine's Day, for instance, or Halloween?

Here's another look at Mohammad and dogs, from a decidedly different website.

What's new? 'S not much.

It's that time of year again: cold and flu season! Here are two articles from the New York Times on the subject of colds, and, especially mucous!

Don't let your parents read this first one. It's about whether or not to send kids with colds to school.

I do remember getting several calls from day-care directors or school nurses to inform me that although my child seemed happy and active, there was in fact a lurking fever — and I remember biting back the question, what kind of zealot takes the temperature of a happy, active child?

But of course, they were worrying about the other children. And that is a fair question with any child who is borderline sick: who is infectious, what’s the risk, and is there anything we can do to reduce it?

Doctors, as a group, are big believers in sending children to school. Every doctor I’ve talked to is more concerned about children unnecessarily missing school than about their posing an infection risk to their classmates.

But what about having to sit in a class next to Typhoid Mary? Shouldn't we make them stay home?

Children with viral infections can be infectious before they show symptoms, as well as after their symptoms clear up. On the other hand, some children with R.S.V. can cough for weeks, not because there are still viral particles but because the virus has affected the lining of their lungs.

So you can have an asymptomatic child who is shedding virus, a coughing child who is no longer shedding virus, and infection by viral particles that lurk on surfaces and objects. “It’s not practical to keep everybody out who’s shedding virus — that’s everybody all winter long,” said Dr. Robert Tolan, chief of the division of allergy, immunology and infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital at St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J.

So what can we do to keep from getting sick. What my wife, an infection control practioner, has for years been telling everyone who will listen:

“The only thing we can really show well in infection control is hand washing,” Dr. Hall said. “Even for those viruses that are spread by aerosol” — through the air.

Second article -- shocking news! You shouldn't be blowing your nose, but if feel you must, do it one nostril at a time!

[Warning: do not click on this link. I'm warning you. (It just about made me sick. I couldn't watch the whole thing.)]

Helen Thomas (and Friends)

Helen Thomas has been covering United States presidents since the Kennedy administration (1961). She always sits in the front row, and has an honored position among the White House press corps. During the latter days of the Bush administration she was usually passed over at press conferences (maybe because she called Bush "the worst President ever. He is the worst President in all of American history").

Maybe that's why Bill O'Reilly compared her to "the Wicked Witch of the East", and speculated that she would melt away if Obama had poured water on her.

Obama did call on her at his first "presser", and she threw him a trick question: Was he aware of any countries in the Middle East that have nuclear weapons? Well, of course, we all know the answer to that -- Israel. But Israel won't officially admit to this, nor will any sitting presidents. Obama is no babe-in-the-woods, so he dodged the question.

Which led to a couple of other posts I found on the Huffington Post website. (Huffpo comes at things generally from the left -- the liberal side of things.) We may take a closer look at some point at the site's founder, Arianna Huffington.

MJ Rosenberg, Director of Policy for the Israel Policy Forum, published a post title "Why Did Obama Diss Helen Thomas?" He finished his piece with the following:

So why did Obama refuse to answer? Simple. Because if he did, the media would have reported it as a gaffe. Reporters either know nothing about the Middle East or, for the most part, have adopted Israel's perspective.

Had Obama spoken the truth, the media would have made his "blunder" the story of the night.
He cannot afford that because, frankly, we have more important things to worry about, like rescuing the economy.

So I don't fault Obama. But I salute Helen Thomas. Next time she should ask how he felt about those pictures that came out of Gaza. As the father of those two precious girls, we all know how he felt. But it would help America in the eyes of the world if he'd just say it.

That struck me as peculiar, to say the least. If any of you were following the recent conflict in the Gaza strip, you'd know that the Israelis, ostensibly to protect themselves from rockets being fired into their territory by the terrorist organizastion Hamas, killed over a thousand Gazans (approximately half of them civilians. Hamas uses the tactic of firing from civilain areas: if you want to strike back at them, you risk killing innocent people. Hamas is counting on their enemies being more humane than they are -- or the publicity backlash that will come along with the pictures of dead children that will inevitably result).

Rosenberg (the name is certainly Jewish) provides the criticism that Hamas wants. So who ishe, and who is this "Israel Policy Forum"? Well, go see for yourselves. They are a pro-Israel group that wants to make peace with their Arab neighbors, using what is called "the two-state solution".

Now also on the Huffington post is a piece by John V. Santore, who identifies himself as an "Obama campaign organizer and former congressional speechwriter". Santore is not too happy with Obama's tap dance routine.

Tonight, President Obama demonstrated avoidance, not leadership, regarding this pivotal issue. He is far to[o] worldly not to have done so intentionally, which, while frustrating, also provides concerned citizens with a concrete goal: the task of driving him to greater candor -- and with it, better policy -- in the future.

In this Obama is like me driving down the highway on a snowy day: half the people think he's driving too fast, and the other half think he's driving too slow.

Consider the (Anonymous) Source

Well, it's a sad day for baseball in general, and the Yankees in particular. Alex Rodriguez, (known as A-Fraud to his teammates), has been revealed by Sports Illustrated as having tested positive for the steroid Primobolan. (So did 103 other currrent and former big leaguers, but A-Rod's was the only named leaked to the press.

Now, Sports Illustrated is a venerable and reputable magazine, and they doubtless wouldn't print this allegation without what they felt was proof positive.

One of the articles appearing in the New York Times today about the A-Rod case made use of an anonymous source. Let's take a look.

But in 2004, the 104 positive tests from a year earlier were seized by federal authorities in conjunction with their investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, the California company known as Balco that has long been accused of supplying performance enhancers to Bonds, the career home run leader.

The two people who confirmed Rodriguez’s result spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to jeopardize their access to sensitive material.

Selena Roberts and/or David Epstein talked to two different people who both verified the fact that A-Rod was on the list. However, according to the agreement between Major League Baseball and the Players Union, all results of the testing were supposed to remain confidential (as they did for the rest of the players testing positive). Basically, these two sources said "I'll give you some really juicy information, but you can't use my name, because I'll lose my job. So if you want this information, you have to call me 'anonymous'."

Also in the Times was an article pondering the strange case of Manny Ramirez who can't get anyone to offer him more than $25,000,000 to play leftfield -- and that's only for one year! Ideally, he'd like a four-year contract ($100,000,000). And of course Manny's not about the play for a measly $25,000,ooo. I mean, would you?

Tyler Kepner, the Times reporter, is checking with his contacts in the game to see what they think of this:

One major league official, who was granted anonymity so he could speak candidly about another team, said he was baffled that the Giants’ new owner, William H. Neukom, had not pursued Ramírez more aggressively. “Neukom wants to make a statement,” the official said. “They must have money because they were talking about C. C. Sabathia, and they know the effect of a great hitter from having Barry Bonds. Plus, they could hurt L.A. and win the West. You can’t rule them out.”

Now, this source wouldn't have lost his or her job, but it would be considered bad form to talk publicly about how others are doing business. "Well, look, Tyler, I'll tell you what I think, but you can't mention my name. Neukom would be extremely p.o.ed, and my boss wouldn't like it either." Now Kepner pushes back. "Okay, I won't say your name, but I need something that will validate you as a reputable source. How about your job title?" That won't work, because then everybody will know who it is, so they settle on "one major league official".

[Full disclosure: I am a lifelong Red Sox fan -- but that has not caused me to slant my coverage of this issue in any way. For instance, I didn't mention A-Rod's affair with Madonna, or either of the strippers he was connected to.]

Sarah Palin Watch

This could probably merit an AMS all on its own. We'll be hearing and seeing a lot of Governor Palin over the next four years. Personally, I think she should get out of politics and get a talk show -- she definitely has a certain flair and charisma. Love or or hate her, people will watch her.

Here's the latest, of special interest to us in Connecticut: Bristol Palin, the governor's 18 year-old daughter (the one who just had the baby by the boy she's not yet married to whose mother was busted for selling methamphetamines), was named after Bristol, Connecticut!

You might also want to check out the "75 Books Every Man Should Read" link there at the bottom of the page. (At least you guys should.)

Here's three important videos to watch:

1. Tina Fey skewers Gov. Palin on Saturday Night Live;
2. Katie Couric skewers Gov. Palin on the CBS Evening News;
3. Gov. Palin slaying them at the Republican National Convention.

New Supreme Court Justice?

First of all, let's all wish for the best for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and a full and speedy recovery. But the prognosis for pancreatic cancer is not good.

So it's inevitable that people will start speculating (they already have) on who might replace Justice Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.

My pick: Sonia Sotomayor.

You can leave your predictions in the Comments section, and we'll see who's the most far-seeeing ComMediac.

Frontline: Growing Up Online

If you'd like to watch again (or show your parents).

The Michael Phelps Story

The story broke in the British tabloid, News of the World.  Apparently they broke all their previous records for page views.  (If you are going to click on this link, be careful.  The News of the World puts the oy! in tabloid.)

The story was then picked up by the MsM (the main stream media); for instance, the Washington Post.  Readers posting comments to the story generally believed that what Phelps did was not so awful, although many did feel that Phelps was failing to live up to his role-model status.

Forbes, a reputable business magazine, believed that the incident would not do a great deal of harm to Phelps's marketing possibilities (while noting that he had not been too successful in that arena, anyway.

Phelps will, no doubt, be subject of many jokes and much ridicule, such as this column in the San Jose (California) Mercury-News.

This is Disturbing

From the MoJo Blog: Army Suicides Reach Historic High

They are citing an AP article:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stressed by war and long overseas tours, U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year at the highest rate on record, the toll rising for a fourth straight year and even surpassing the suicide rate among comparable civilians. Army leaders said they were doing everything they could think of to curb the deaths and appealed for more mental health professionals to join and help out.

At least 128 soldiers committed suicide in 2008, the Army said Thursday. And the final count is likely to be even higher because 15 more suspicious deaths are still being investigated.

Now, MoJo stands for Mother Jones, which is a left-of-center magazine.  (The original Mother Jones was a labor organizer.)  So ask yourself, what is the point of this article.  Is it pro-soldier?  Or anti-war?  Or both?

Here's an Idea

Okay, so newspapers are in trouble. Circulations are falling because nobody reads any more. So why don't we try what they're doing in France? Free newspaper subscriptions to kids on their 18th birthdays.

Here's an article from the Associated Press.  Strictly reporting; "Just the facts, m'am."

One of Sarkozy's solutions to help the industry is a pilot program that will give teenagers celebrating their 18th birthday a free, yearlong subscription to any general news daily of their choice. The publisher is to give the newspapers away, while the state pays for the deliveries.

That initiative appeared designed to assuage industry fears that young readers don't share the same appetite for print media that their parents and grandparents have, denting current and future revenues.

"The habit of reading the press is learned very young," Sarkozy said.

Sounds like a good idea to me.  I never read a newspaper seriously (outside Sports and Funnies) until I was in college, when the Red Chinese leader Mao zeDong died.  At the same time there was social unrest in Mexico, so I thought "I should pick up a newspaper."  I got myself a copy of The New York Times, and I've been reading it ever since.

But Cory Doctorow, writing for a blog called Boing-Boing, is a lot more skeptical.

The latest weird-ass move from French President Sarkozy is to bail out newspapers by giving kids free daily newspaper subscriptions on their 18th birthdays, which is supposed to instill "the habit of reading the press." I wonder if he'll also give out free bridle and tackle to instill "the habit of dressage." How about stimulating the French press by giving all the kids free, uncensored broadband?

He thinks that nothing will make you young people read, and that newspapers are on their way out!

30 Years Too Late

I like Bruce Springsteen. I'm sorry to say I've never bought a single one of his "albums", but I respect himn as a musician, and I like a lot of his music, but I have to say I was disappointed with his performance at the Super Bowl tonight. (Here's a short clip.)



Why, he could barely hoist him himself up on that piano. He seemed to be trying to hard to be the mega-rockstar, instead of just the hardworking musician that he really is.

Now, try Bruce back in his heyday. You'll like this one: "Rosalita".



That's why they call him "the Boss".

And finally, for you John Steinbeck fans, "The Ghost of Tom Joad".



Don't get me wrong, I think he's still a great performer. I just don't think this particular venue showed him at his best.

And where the heck were the cheerleaders and dancers and marching bands? Did I miss them?

Where It All Began

With this ad from Apple, a-way back in '84. . .