2011, 10 days in...

Hi everyone,

Well 2011 seemed to be taking off in a good way and then we got hit with the events of this past weekend in Tuscon, a city that I really love. A terrible shame. I lament the loss of all life at that mall but am heartbroken by the death of that young girl who only wanted to learn how politics work. I can't take particular sides on any aspect of the debate going on down in the states regarding this tragedy but I do have a couple of observations to make.

1. There is a big difference between guns that kill animals and guns that only are designed to kill people. We should think about that more often
2. In North America, we do a very poor job of identifying, managing and treating our mentally ill
3. Yes, the level of dialog between two ideological sides in the US has gotten so caustic as to drive people close to the edge over it. I would encourage our American cousins to take stock and reflect - they are so much better than this

Enough, this is enough to reduce me to tears. Let me switch to a couple of other stories of late.

Let's start with "Dr" Andrew Wakefield. This man, for those of you who may not remember, was primary author of a Lancet article connecting Childhood Autism with the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccination. That article has now been retracted, Wakefield has lost his license and now, it appears, he may have been guilty of actual fraud rather than bad science. For reference please take a look at the following:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2011/01/piltdown_medicine_andrew_wakefields_scie.php

A second more fun story I enjoyed, but one with a very serious message hidden in it, is related to Atheism, Tides and the American Right Wing Media. I will turn this over the the ever amusing Keith Olberman:

What is shocking about this is not only the fact that neither people discussing this knew what caused tides but that something which has literally been understood for over 300 years was attributed to God and given the requirement for miraculous intervention. Whatever happened to Scientific Literacy?

Anyway, my first current news blog of the year. I will follow up with something from Canada's North on the weekend.

Be Brave.

Paul