Synova

Afghan infant mortality is going down . That represents a drop of 18 percent, and means that 40,000 to 50,000 fewer infants are dying now than in the Taliban era, Dr. Fatimi said. With the Taliban gone it only makes sense, doesn't it? The Taliban refused to allow girls to go to school at all. If women weren't supposed to go to school, weren't supposed to be nurses, much less doctors, weren't supposed to get an education at all... who took care of them when they were sick? They couldn't go to male doctors. I don't know if we can actually understand just how completely evil the Taliban was (and now they are increasing in Somalia?) even when we hear the stories. Even when we hear about women throwing themselves from apartment high rises from depression and despair at being locked in all day, every day, without end. Now women can go to school and learn to be nurses and midwives so that women who still aren't going to go to male doctors at least have the...

I followed a link to The Anchoress. I've no idea where or when she studied knife fighting but I'm less surprised that she has than I might have been before I started to train in martial arts. To an extent she seemed to be talking about past knowledge that she'd prefer forgotten. She says: Buster’s initial reaction was that Mom was kind of a scary broad, but a few minutes later he said, “teach me that stuff…” No, I don’t intend to train my son to the blade, nor do I recommend anyone else do it. But, this all has me thinking…in a perfect world, we should not need weapons, nor fighting science…and yet as we see, daily, the world is an imperfect place, and all of our best impulses toward peace may be thwarted at any time by someone with another idea. My son is not exactly a kid who wanders around wondering how he can kill people with the tools at hand, and I’d certainly prefer that he bring his mind around to “restraining and detaining” a bad guy rather than taking his o...

I added Dadmanly a while ago. He graciously added me to his blog roll, probably the first and only person to do so. (I've not quite figured out how to *request* blog rolling!) And today I added Reason with Passion . A new blog I think. Check it out.

Any idea when a good day for that would be? I don't have a lot of room for trees. I'd probably have to go for fruit trees, but they provide shade suitable for dogs, so that's good.

I understand talking about allowing concealed carry on college campuses in response to the Virginia Tech horror but... it's more about the attitude it represents than than the slim chance (which is better than none) that someone would have been present who had a gun with them and would also have had the opportunity to use it. Instapundit linked to an older post from Dr. Helen. Read it! Have you noticed that most of the tips you get in recent years for how to survive a violent crime involve an accompanying psychological maneuver of first trying to make you feel impotent? The assumption, the practice of self-defense, is what makes the difference. You are not impotent. You are not powerless. Without this reality firmly in your head you are *not* going to be able to fight back when under stress. We are safer when people assume that we each are the first line of defense for our own safety. The assumption is more important than the weapon. The weapon is merely a symbol of...

I plan to arm my children. Fighting back is always safer, over all. And it doesn't necessarily have to involve having a gun to shoot back with. What it requires is a MINDSET of self-defense and action. It's bad form to point out what people who are now dead or wounded should have done because invariably someone is going to charge that they are being blamed for what happened to them. Let's be clear. This is one person's fault and one person's fault only. But no one is helpless. My family has been studying martial arts for the last two years and I'm well aware of just how little that means *physically*. Mentally is something else. No one with sense would bring a karate chop to a gun fight. The mindset of self-defense, on the other hand, (and the first principle is "run away") is vital. Take action. If you can't run, Fight back. As we're hearing about this, it seems that any time someone *did* something, they saved live...

Here's a wonderful read about conspiracy , h/t to Michelle Malkin who titles her link "It's all Leonard Nimoy's fault." I recommend everyone read the post at Eject, Eject, Eject. I'm looking forward to the promised post about Global Warming. Bill Whittle talks about the emotional need people have to believe. I've said similar things. He rags on conspiracy in entertainment quite a bit, and I suppose he's got a point. And a good point about Leonard Nimoy (or the show he hosted, at any rate). Didn't Commander Riker do a similar show? All the ghost and paranormal and whatnot shows really do teach us not to think critically. In fact, they are the one sure fire "content censorship" in this house. Sex or violence don't come close. On the other hand, stuff like the X-files is fun. Still, I have to admit that the *reason* I believe shows like the X-files are so popular is because they tickle the exact same parts of our brain...

The lack of plane parts is a common enough Truther contention... Watch this. h/t to Eject, Eject, Eject. via Michelle Malkin. Seriously, watch the video. It's amazing. And consider that the aircraft used is probably the densest brick-like object ever to be regularly gotten airborne.

h/t to Tim Blair. Gore is speaking in Saskatchewan to raise awareness of global warming. But he doesn't want reporters to record his speech. During question period, the Saskatchewan Party asked how residents who can't attend the speech in Regina later this month will hear Gore's message when there are media restrictions on the event. Gore's contract bans reporters from recording audio or shooting video. Maybe it’s about him wanting to control the distribution so he can profit from it or maybe it’s about him wanting to control the message. I would scoff and joke about it but I’m suddenly not the least bit amused. Pelosi refuses to meet with president Bush. The Dem presidential candidates are refusing to debate on FOX. Gore doesn’t want his speeches recorded by potential unfriendlies. And I’m reminded of our last local election cycle where people had to sneak personal recording devices into speeches or debates because the Dem candidates refused to allow themselves t...

I want to add my two cents in the name of public service. The way not to get scammed is to have information. Bob Krumm says this : BTW, never, under any circumstances*, ever pay a headhunter or a job placement firm to find you a job. He adds a disclaimer: (*Okay, not “any circumstances” but those circumstances apply to so few people that you know if you’re at a level and in a field where you need an agent.) I think that leaves a bit too much wiggle room. Better just to say that it applies to so few people that it is *NOT* you. Publishing is known for this kind of scam. The thing to remember is that a reputable literary agent or publisher makes money by selling your work. If they want money up front for representing you it means that they don't have to sell anything at all. It's a huge HUGE red light. This is not an acceptable practice in the industry. The problem is that most people don't know anything about what standard practices are in publishing or with agents...

h/t to Instapundit who links this interview with Freeman Dyson. Dr. Dyson is promoting his book, _The Scientist as Rebel_ . I didn't know that much about him other than that he's a well known name in Physics, has the same name as my husband, and has the "Dyson Sphere" named for him. Now I know that he is optimistic, believes that life spreading out into the galaxy is a good thing, and that he is a "global warming heretic." The interviewer quotes him: Benny Peiser: In the first chapter of your new book, "The Scientist as Rebel," you write that the common element of the scientific vision "is rebellion against the restrictions imposed by the locally prevailing culture," and that scientists "should be artists and rebels, obeying their own instincts rather than social demands or philosophical principles." This is compared to the present "consensus" trend in science. About global warming, Dyson says: I am always happy to b...

Everyone seems to be talking about it today. I made this comment on Ann Althouse's blog where commentators (Oh gross... the spell check wouldn't take "commentors",) seem to be coming down strongly on the side of "Code? I don't need no stinkin' code!" "There does seem to be blogging community standards, just not on language or insult. Sock puppetry is soundly denounced. Changing posts without making a note of it is soundly denounced. Interesting that those two things are trivially easy to do on blogs." Come to think of it... that should have been, "There *do* seem to be blogging..." Humph. Grammar? I don't need no stinking grammar! Anywho... the fact that sock-puppets and changing posts is easy to do may be *why* there is a general agreement that it's unacceptable. I'm reminded of reading Westerns where a person's reputation and word, the prohibition on lying or allowing someone to call you a liar unchallenged...

This is what I said in the comments at Ann Althouse's blog about conspiracy nuts: I think it's a disorder. I really do. I think that conspiracy theories work like a drug in the brain. I think they take our natural functions of pattern recognition and puzzle solving, the very things that make us *sentient* and pervert them to a significant pleasure response at being the one who sees the truth, who figured out the puzzle, who saw the patterns. This is what I said last week in a comment on Blackfive. I think conspiracy is like a drug. Or even *is* a drug. I think it does drug-like things to our brains. It tickles the puzzle solving spots and the pattern recognition spots with the added benny of giving people a distinct feeling of superiority to have special knowledge that other people don't. Both were in response to discussions about Rosie though I've also previously posted about 9-11 conspiracy theorists here.