News and notes, pink edition
Note from Buck: Mandasaurous and J.B. West will be posting here Fridays in a feature I like to call (and they don't) Friday Chick Blogging.
1.) So, I have a bike. It's pretty awesome. These gentlemen in Penn Quarter yesterday called it an "antique" and a "British roadster," but they surely meant it as a compliment. I love riding my bike. It's speedy (but creaky) and has a lovely basket to hold my belongings. I hope you have a bike because it's so fun. Also, you are helping the environment because:
2.) I'm going to tell you a secret. I'm not cool. I'm just learning this now, actually, quite to my surprise. I teach preschool. Kids often celebrate birthdays with parties. It just came to my attention that many teachers are being invited to these shindigs. But not me.
It occurs to me that perhaps, along with being people with children, parents can also be assholes.
3.) Wow! It only took three Food and Drug Administration Commissioners to approve Plan B, the morning after pill. This news is tops. Women and men over 18 years old can purchase these at pharmacies and clinics.
Certainly it'd be nice if the FDA would approve this backup method of birth control to young women too. We ought not back down about what's right and it's right to let women make their own family planning decisions. Especially when we're talking about emergency contraception — anyone can have an emergency.
To me, though, the FDA's approval of Plan B is still worth yahooing about.
4.) Instead of doing stem cell research and actually curing Alzheimer's, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's, smart researchers are spending time finding ways to obtain stem cells without destroying the unused embryos. Since the embryos used for stem cell research are being tossed anyway this seems to be an un-great use of research time.
"There is no rational reason left to oppose this research," said Dr. Robert Lanza, vice president of Advanced Cell Technology and leader of the research team.
But wait! Who can find a "rational reason" to oppose this and further impede research that can cure epidemics like diabetes? Who?!
Dr. Leon Kass, former chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, that's who: "I do not think that this is the sought-for, morally unproblematic and practically useful approach we need."
1.) So, I have a bike. It's pretty awesome. These gentlemen in Penn Quarter yesterday called it an "antique" and a "British roadster," but they surely meant it as a compliment. I love riding my bike. It's speedy (but creaky) and has a lovely basket to hold my belongings. I hope you have a bike because it's so fun. Also, you are helping the environment because:
- You are not driving a car. Cars are hot. Cars produce carbon monoxide. If you buy a car you are inadvertently supporting car commercials which are consistently stupid.
- You are not crowding on a bus. Crowded buses are not good for mankind because it's really hard to like people when you have to squish near them.
- You are not on the train, being angry it's late. "Delayed? That's preposterous! Hurry now you train!" Yelling on the train platform is unbecoming.
2.) I'm going to tell you a secret. I'm not cool. I'm just learning this now, actually, quite to my surprise. I teach preschool. Kids often celebrate birthdays with parties. It just came to my attention that many teachers are being invited to these shindigs. But not me.
It occurs to me that perhaps, along with being people with children, parents can also be assholes.
3.) Wow! It only took three Food and Drug Administration Commissioners to approve Plan B, the morning after pill. This news is tops. Women and men over 18 years old can purchase these at pharmacies and clinics.
Certainly it'd be nice if the FDA would approve this backup method of birth control to young women too. We ought not back down about what's right and it's right to let women make their own family planning decisions. Especially when we're talking about emergency contraception — anyone can have an emergency.
To me, though, the FDA's approval of Plan B is still worth yahooing about.
4.) Instead of doing stem cell research and actually curing Alzheimer's, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's, smart researchers are spending time finding ways to obtain stem cells without destroying the unused embryos. Since the embryos used for stem cell research are being tossed anyway this seems to be an un-great use of research time.
"There is no rational reason left to oppose this research," said Dr. Robert Lanza, vice president of Advanced Cell Technology and leader of the research team.
But wait! Who can find a "rational reason" to oppose this and further impede research that can cure epidemics like diabetes? Who?!
Dr. Leon Kass, former chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, that's who: "I do not think that this is the sought-for, morally unproblematic and practically useful approach we need."