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mousey musings
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
LifeSharers is a great idea. In a situation where organ shortages exist, organs should not go to non-donors. This will allow organs to go to people who would be willing to do the same if the situation was reversed. If people knew that they would be ineligible for donations themselves unless they agreed to donate organs on their death, perhaps they would be less attached to the idea of letting them rot in the ground instead of saving lives. I put non-donors even lower than parents who won't vaccinate their kids on the moral totem pole. The chance your kid will die of whooping cough or polio is lower than the chance that a person's failure to donate will let someone waiting for a transplant die before one can be found. Actually, the process should be mandatory. As far as I'm concerned, corpses have no rights that aren't outweighed by a living person's right to stay that way. So let's prioritize the lives of those who do so for others.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Dose of Tenacity Wears Down a Horrific Disease -- An interesting article on guinea worm disease. The third paragraph is a great summary of everything that made this terrible disease so fun to debate. The bit about acid secretion is something I didn't know.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Wayland student arraigned on child-pornography charges -- A 17-year-old took a picture of his two 17-year-old friends having sex. Now he's facing life in prison. At a minimu, he'll do some time and then have to register as a child sex offender for the rest of his life. This reminds me of the (Georgia?) case where two 16-year-olds were charged with rape for having sex with each other. After all, neither could legally consent, so they must have each been raped. As for how someone can involuntarily commit a rape? Well, "If you're old enough to do the crime, you're old enough to do the time." Perhaps the age-difference provisions of most states' age-of-consent laws should be extended to other underage sex offenses -- i.e. a 17-year-old who photographs another 17-year-old shouldn't get life in prison, but perhaps a 30-year-old who photographs a 17-year-old should. Age difference laws avoid the exploitation of minors by adults while also avoiding the criminalization of ordinary teenage behavior.
Kircher’s Cat Piano -- Now I know how they recorded that awful Jingle Cats diddy.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Ascaris lumbricoides -- An absolutely horrifying post on MetaFilter examines a species of intestinal worm that infests up to 1 in 6 humans. The post itself is pretty tame but it links to ghastly images. Have a strong stomach before clicking any of those links. It reminds me of the old guinea worm case I used to run as a debater. These worms look more disgusting, however, even if they don't bore their way out of your skin like good ole' guinea worms.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Daily Rotten Scorecard! -- One of my favorite sites for offbeat or disturbing sources is the Daily Rotten. This page compiles the locations of the odd and disturbing stories posted on that site. So which state has the most odd and disturbing stuff going on? Take a guess before clicking...
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Martinifest leaves art museum shaken and stirred -- If I learned one thing about socializing in grad school, it was this: Martini parties are disasters waiting to happen.
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