Competitive cheerleading has a sinister side. Be sure to check out the video feature, too.

The Gutenberg Bible is a pretty amazing thing.

An article about the Horizon Travel scam…one of the things the article points out is that a quick bout of research can save you a lot of heartache.

Prosthetics can be fun as well as useful.

Shocking news: the income gap in the United States is widening.

In Norway, you can call a cop or a horse penis. I would not recommend trying this with the SFPD.

Peaches and I just returned from seeing Mickey Avalon at Mezzanine.

It was awesome.

I am so in love with that man. He is more amazing in performance than he is on records, if such a thing is possible, with this great charisma that pulls in the whole audience. In addition to performing “Waiting to Die,” one of my personal favourites, he also played a new song, “Dance,” which was excellent. And fully danceable. Oh, yes, the dancing. Mmm.

It’s hard to explain how music stoned I feel right now. Concerts are very stressful for me, because of the large and really intense crowd, and the noise. I had a rough time, but once Mickey came on I started to have a blast, partially because Peaches made herself into a giant shield to shelter me from the madding crowd. We were right up against the stage…and yes, he really does reach out and grab fans who are standing next to the stage. And yes, musicians get very, very sweaty when they are busting out a set.

I can see why he has sex maddened groupies. Oh, yes.

I have a feeling I’ll be up for hours working the buzz off. Hopefully he will be coming to San Francisco again soon…he’s a man I could see in concert again…and again…and again.

[Mickey Avalon]

I recently discovered that CBS has this nifty feature called Innertube, which provides full videos of a lot of their shows. I initially stumbled upon it in my search for episodes of CSI, a show which I find strangely captivating. They don’t have a complete archive; there are usually a couple of shows up at once, and there are short advertisements spliced in, but that seems like a reasonable trade off to me. I’m glad to see that CBS has recognized the value of posting their shows for free on the Internet. Thanks, CBS! You can also pay to watch some shows through Google Video, if you’re into that sort of thing.

So, the thing about television, as I was saying to Haddock the other day, is that I find it captivating. I think that this is a problem for a lot of us who are raised without television…we just find ourselves sucked in, mesmerized, unable to pull away. In the case of Innertube, it started with CSI. And then I figured I should watch the CSI: Miami and CSI: NY that they had up as well.

But I quickly ran out of episodes. Then, I noticed something called NCIS. I wondered what it was, and found myself watching Naval Criminal Investigation Service, which is like CSI, only with the Navy. I’m a little embarrassed to admit how into these kinds of shows I am, dear readers. I hope that you can forgive me. I just have a deep interest in forensic investigation. Maybe I should just go work in a lab for awhile or something, work it out. I’m not as interested in the drama as I am in the science, or pseudoscience, if you will. I know that you all have dark secrets. Forensics shows are mine.

Anyway. As you might predict, I quickly ran out of NCIS as well.

I was casting about for something to do and I noticed that they had a show called Jericho, and that the show had just started airing late last year. They have the entire season up to date on Innertube, so I thought I would check out the pilot, see if I liked it, and then maybe watch some more.

Two days later, I can see that Jericho is awesome and that yes, Puff, I am still alive.

The basic premise of the show is that the United States is attacked by several nuclear bombs. It’s set in a small town in Kansas, and opens with the day of the bomb attacks, and then unfolds into what happens when the world ends. I have to say, I find it rather magnetically compelling, as evidenced by the fact that I stayed up until 6:00 AM this morning watching it so that I would be up to date.

I love the premise, and I love the way that the show is playing out. It’s odd, because I actually had a similar concept for a book last year. I’m going to be charitable and assume that CBS did not read my mind and steal my ideas for the show, because there are some disturbing similarities. At any rate, I love the sense of uncertainty, which to me is highly realistic. The citizens of the town see a mushroom cloud, they wonder what is going on, and things proceed from there. They get information in bits and pieces. They struggle to survive. They send scouts out to see what might be left around them. They have tortured pasts. It’s sinister. Compelling. Frightening. You know. I dig it.

Watching the show makes me wonder about what life would be like if that actually happened. I suspect that if San Francisco was bombed, we would probably get taken out as well, given that we aren’t that far away. A small yield weapon might just kill us slowly with radiation poisoning. But assuming that we somehow magically survived, how strange it would be to have no idea what was going on, to get aid drops from China, to be cut off from the rest of the country in a single stroke. Life as I know it would be over. All I’m sayin’ is that I would totally eat those geese.

[Jericho]

Karl Rove Busts a Move was the original headline, and I thought it was much funnier, personally.

Turkey is riled because the United States plans to classify the massacre of ethnic Albanians in the early twentieth century as genocide. Which it was. However, I’m not sure that officially recognizing that in Congress is a good foreign relations move.

Hollywood and slavery….a match apparently well made.

Japan is deploying mobile missile defense systems…concerned about Korea much?

The Senate is pushing the President around on a withdrawal date for Iraq. Veto, anyone?

A great personal essay about living with STIs. There’s also a lot of great, useful, factual information in it to boot.

The Internet is an excellent source for all of the wide and varied forms of human emotion, but especially hatred.

There’s something about the anonymous medium that just makes it so easy to savage other people, whether through emails, bulletin boards, or public blog postings. This issue has been sort of loosely addressed over the years, with users suggesting guidelines for our global public community, but it has been highlighted for the world in general by the case of Kathy Sierra a high profile blogger who recently went public about hateful comments made about her. She also published excerpts from some of the emails which were sent to her…and I think her post was rather bold. I commend her for it. It’s also worth reading the comments below, because some of them are very, very interesting.

Cyberbullying is a big issue, and something that does not just impact children.

One of the things about existing on the Internet as a public presence is that you really do need a thick skin. People will say critical things about you or your work, and you need to be able to take it and roll with it. Sometimes criticism is helpful…and at other times, it’s just hurtful. I have certainly experienced hurtful and mean posts and comments, and dealt with them in my own way, but I haven’t gone through anything on the level of what Sierra has.

Vile commentary can become par for the course when you are well known, for a variety of reasons. Maybe you are vile yourself, like Ann Coulter, and people are responding to that. Maybe people are jealous of your popularity, or disagree violently with something you say. Either way it’s up there, out there, and hurtful.

It is often hard to know how hurtful it is, because many people remain silent rather than speaking out.

Where do we draw the line?

Certainly the Internet is a sort of fantasy land, and one could argue that as hurtful as vitriolic posts are emotionally, they do not pose a real threat. Obviously Sierra felt differently, indicating that some of the material she received suggested that she, personally, might be in danger. Clearly she feels badly enough that she is thinking about withdrawing altogether from online society, which is a great shame. Being pushed into abandoning something you love crosses a clear line, for me.

Turning such material over to the police is important in cases like this, especially ones where your personal safety is clearly being threatened. While law enforcement cannot play mommy and daddy and protect you from mean words, they can take action on decisive threats, especially if they include concrete information like your address and real name. When someone is pushing the line with you, most people instinctually want to push the offender away. Resist the temptation. Hang on to nasty things that people send you…because they could be evidence some day.

What can we do about it?

I suppose we can all start with ourselves. Readers may have noted that I am very careful about what I criticize, and that I generally try to keep personal opinions of people to myself, although I will not hesitate to speak out about wrong actions by public officials, or to criticize a business. Generally I speak from my own experience when I have something negative to say, and I ponder long and carefully before I post material which might be considered unfavorable to someone. I cannot imagine attacking someone directly, especially in such a hateful way. If I really did want someone to die, I certainly wouldn’t share that information with you, dear readers. And I see no reason to be mean and hateful, in a do as you would be done by kind of way. I don’t post anything about anyone if I feel like I would be uncomfortable if my name was substituted, if I thought my feelings would be hurt to read that about myself. The rules of common courtesy do, can, and should apply on the Internet.

I think that we can also act by speaking out when we see this kind of behaviour occurring. If we remain silent, we are part of the problem…and if you notice cyberbullying going on, talk about it. If you see hateful posts or photoshops about people, even people you don’t know, make it clear that you find that behaviour distasteful, and model a different mode of communicating about your issues. By not engaging in the behaviour yourself, and indicating that you will not tolerate it, you can help to eliminate it. Especially if you have a lot of public respect, or you run a forum…you owe it to everyone else. Or at least I think you do.

The Internet is never going to be a land of happy unicorns, but we can at least make it safer.

[Kathy Sierra]
[cyberbullying]

A drug free asthma treatment could be part of the arsenal of weapons used to fight growing asthma rates.

The Marines, a typically heavily inked service, have banned large tattoos below the elbows and knees.

Bringing up pagans in a family of mixed religions can be challenging.

Crazy hippies rage in San Francisco as well. Funny…I move out of Fort Bragg to avoid people like this, and find yet another useful social service being blocked by narrowminded idiots with no grasp of science.

Commercials targeted at children feature an overwhelming amount of junk food. Color me surprised.

Burger King has adopted more animal friendly guidelines for its food sources. This is a great step for animal rights!

I am off on a top secret adventure today. Hopefully details will be provided soon. Until then, enjoy this image from the Loki vault:

Loki is approximately nine months old in this photograph, but as you can see, he is laying the groundwork for fatness.

Ecopod. Have your coffin and biodegrade it too.

At a Catholic university, balancing church doctrine with student individuality can be challenging.

The Baptist church is also dealing with personal differences among the flock…should pastors preach tolerance and risk losing parishioners? (I say yes.)

A program to help military families in Louisiana has yet to get off the ground.

San Francisco has banned plastic bags. I suppose every little bit counts…

So, more thoughts on this John Edwards/cancer thing. Last Thursday, it was publicly announced that Elizabeth Edwards had breast cancer which had returned and that it was essentially incurable, although treatable. The political world waited to see what the couple would do, and John announced that he would continue his presidential campaign, with her support. Was this the right decision? I’m sort of struggling with it, but my gut instinct is no.

Now, let it be understood that my discussion of the issue is made without any knowledge, whatsoever, of her medical condition beyond official campaign statements. I don’t know how bad her cancer really is and what the prognosis is, although it is clear that the cancer has spread to her bones. This type of cancer can be treated, but it cannot be cured, and it can also sometimes proceed very rapidly and very aggressively. If she is treating it, and I assume she is, Elizabeth Edwards is in for a rough few months here.

I also have not personally had cancer, so I don’t know what it is like to live with on a daily basis. People I have known with cancer have not had an easy time of it, though. Most of the treatments are toxic, and are accompanied by nausea and lethargy. Cancer is uncomfortable, unpleasant, and emotionally stressful.

I think that Elizabeth Edwards is not being fair to herself or her husband. It is probable that she will be separated from her husband for much of the campaign because treatment would make it difficult for her to travel. When she does appear, these appearances may be accompanied by intense physical discomfort and pain. It is conventional for candidates to be accompanied by their wives at least some of the time, and for wives to actively campaign for their spouses. I’m not sure that she will be capable of this…and she should not have to focus on her husband’s campaign when her health should be more important. Will she compromise her treatment by campaigning with him?

I understand the “life must go on” attitude, and the idea that the cancer should not be allowed to win. However, Edwards could run again in 2012, if that’s what he wants to do. I think that as a family and as people, they would probably be better served by suspending the campaign. Burying reality in the flurry of an emotionally grueling political campaign does not seem terribly healthy, to me.

If Edwards won the nomination, which I don’t think he will, I also do not think that he would be a great candidate for the Democrats right now. I would not feel comfortable voting for a President with a seriously ill/dying/dead wife, because his focus would rightly be on his wife, not on the country as a whole. I know how losing someone close to you alters your job performance, daily life, and ability to function. I do not think that a grieving President would be good for America.

I also think that pushing on with the campaign may actually put Edwards in a negative light, because it makes him look rather callous and greedy. While these emotions may not be motivating him, I think it would be understandable for voters to think that, especially voters who have dealt personally with cancers and terminal illness. Is he willing to take that risk, and potentially destroy his entire political career?

Ultimately, I’m sure that the Edwards are consulting political professionals, Elizabeth’s doctors, and people close to them, rather than random people who don’t know them. But I hope they have looked deep into their hearts while thinking about this issue as well.

[Edwards]

Portrait of a marriage torn apart by Homeland Security.

Additives in food have led to an increasing number of strange food allergies…which will probably only get worse.

John Edwards campaigns in San Francisco…and briefly addresses his wife’s cancer diagnosis. I have mixed feelings about this issue…perhaps I will go more in depth later.

Insurers are denying care to elderly patients. With a growing number of elderly Americans, this could turn into a serious issue.

Informative articles in the school paper about teen pregnancy and STIs: ok. Column encouraging tolerance of different sexual orientations: not ok. Ah, Indiana.

Trade As One connects people in developing countries who produce neat and beautiful things with people who want them.

The Ethicurean has a great graphical representation of spinachgate, which also outlines some troubling issues with the American food distribution system, like how bags of spinach from a single shift at a packing plant can have an impact on an entire nation.