Hope for Walt Disney

Scientists have successfully developed a technique for freezing and then reviving clinically dead dogs. They hope to use the method on humans next.

Shaq Masters Business Administration

Yes, the diesel just got an MBA. Shaquille O'Neal always reveals more talent, charm, and intelligence than you ever thought the big fella had (minus Kazaam). Turns out the Big Aristotle spent the past year taking correspondence business courses from the great, venerable, for-profit University of Phoenix (whose application asks for First Name, Last Name, and Modem speed).
Let's be honest, Shaq didn't need Wharton to make money after basketball, and he doesn't have many other options for attending class. You have to give the big smiley intellectually self-motivated man some credit. So here's to you, Shaquille O'Neal. I'll go into business with ya anyday.

All Missing Persons Young (Cute) White Women?

Well, yes. If you mean the ones the media decide we should be eminently concerned about. Reality is a little different. And it's not that JonBenet Ramsey, Chandra Levy, Elizabeth Smart, Jennifer Wilbanks, and now Natalee Holloway weren't worthy of shock, heartbreak, and intense efforts to locate them. It's just that so many others (e.g. Tamika Huston) deserve the same attention, and for superficial reasons can't get it. According to a recent AP report:

"Most of the missing adults tracked by the FBI are men. More than one-in-five of those abducted or kidnapped are black. But you might not get that impression from the news media. . ."'To be blunt, blond white chicks who go missing get covered and poor, black, Hispanic or other people of color who go missing do not get covered,' said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Washington-based Project for Excellence in Journalism. 'You're more likely to get coverage if you're attractive than if you're not.' "

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post recently wrote an excellent piece on these very issues, describing what he termed a media "Damsels in Distress" preoccupation. His rules:

A damsel must be white. This requirement is nonnegotiable. It helps if her frame is of dimensions that breathless cable television reporters can credibly describe as "petite"... She must be attractive -- also nonnegotiable. Her economic status should be middle class or higher, but an exception can be made in the case of wartime (see: Jessica Lynch). Put all this together, and you get 24-7 coverage.

Some may find these criticisms callous or cynical, but they seem to have the evidence on their side.

CDs, Firewood Burning at McDonald's

Ever think that someday you might create a custom audio CD next to a crackling fire while you eat your Big Mac Extra Value Meal? Well someday is today at McDonald's flagship restaurant next to corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, where Happy Meals come with Wi-Fi internet and gourmet coffees.


A sure sign of the McPocalypse

The restuarant targets a new breed of "chicken nugget professionals," who cherish the flexibility of being able to work remotely from a giant playpen of vibrantly colored plastic balls. (last part fake; rest, disturbingly real)

Saddam: Just One of the Guys

"He'd eat a family size bag of Doritos in 10 minutes," National Guardsmen Jesse Dawson, 25, recalls of former pal Saddam Hussein.

Yes, Dawson, and four other guardsmen charged with holding Saddam Hussein have offered interviews describing their interactions with the humorously normal and playful former dictator of Iraq. As the AP story, begins: "Saddam Hussein loves Doritos, hates Froot Loops, admires President Reagan, thinks Clinton was "OK" and considers both Presidents Bush "no good." He talks a lot, worries about germs and insists he is still president of Iraq."


"One more bag right here. Cool Ranch."

The soldiers describe a proud man who still believed he was President of Iraq, but generally was quite sweet (though he did "get grumpy" when the cheetos ran out). Saddam reportedly invited his young captors to come back and hang out with him in Iraq after the trial when he was restored to power, and even had some locker room wisdom to impart. When 19 year-old Sean O'Shea told him he was not married,

Saddam "started telling me what to do," recalled the soldier. "He was like, 'You gotta find a good woman. Not too smart, not too dumb. Not too old, not too young. One that can cook and clean."' Then he smiled, made what O'Shea interpreted as a "spanking" gesture, laughed and went back to doing his laundry in the sink.

The Downing Street Memo

Reaction to it has snowballed to the point of Congressional forums and calls for impeachment. Some see proof of Presidential perjury in the cryptic meeting notes from a 2002 meeting of U.K. leadership. Others see nothing of note. Now that the Downing Street memo is becoming the cornerstone piece of evidence for accusing Bush of duplicity in pushing the war case, it's worth knowing what it does and doesn't say. Fred Kaplan has the most fair and lucid treatment you'll find.

Update** The hearing may not have been quite as serious as it appeared.

Picture of the Month - June

A Notre Dame tailgater celebrates his triumph over an eating disorder

A Tale of Two Comatose Women

USA Today has a fascinating and inspiring cover story today about a man keeping his brain dead wife alive in hopes that she can live long enough to deliver their unborn baby. Susan Torres, 26, fell in love with her husband Jason when they became study partners during a sophomore year in Rome. In 2002 she married him, and soon after became a researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Tragically, on May 7 she suffered a stroke caused by an undetected brain tumor that left her all but dead. Her husband Jason, convinced that his wife would have wished it, is keeping her on life support due to the miraculous continued growth of the baby in her womb.

“I hate seeing her on those darned machines,” Jason says, “and I hate using her as a husk, a carrying case, because she herself is worth so much more. But Susan really wanted this baby. And she's a very — how should I put this? — a willful lady. That's probably why she's made it this far.”

The article states that since 1977 at least nine comatose women have given birth. Amazing! Doctors think that Susan needs to stay alive another month to make her fetus viable. It really is an amazing story.

And it stands in stark contrast to the story of Terry Shiavo, a woman we now know had no hope of progressing toward life, whose autopsy reveals she was irreversibly brain dead, had suffered astounding brain atrophy, and was entirely blind. The 10 second video clip of her seemingly responding to family and a ballon was a coincidental mirage.

There is no joy in proving that Dr. Bill Frist and Tom Delay (and so many others) were wrong about Terry's condition; only a sobering lesson. That a culture that deeply values life is different than a culture that blindly fetishes it. And that a middle ground exists between euthanasia and an endless prolonging of grossly unnatural human life.

Those who cherish life because it is divinely created must surely believe that Terry was born to laugh, love, and bring joy to her Creator. I would say that she is finally now able to do these things in heaven, but the truth is she may already have been there 10 years. It's possible that she began living again shortly after her mind perished, enjoying a life so glorious she never stopped to look back and puzzle at the political forces being galvanized to win her body.

Her parents were wrong, but cannot be faulted--the way they knew how to love their daughter was to try and keep whatever was left of her alive. But hindsight grants us the ability to see that while life is an incredible miracle, and modern medicine a gift toward protecting and preserving that miracle (just read the story above!), it has limits, and is not the final end in itself.

Here's hoping that a new life is granted to the Torres family.

Religious Leaders Find Some Purple To Share

A very encouraging piece today in the Washington Post describes a growing trend of bipartisan cooperation among religious leaders. Beliefs are not being relented and positions on legislation are not shifting--but respect is being engendered and common goals pursued. Bravo!

FSU QB Loses Mind At Dave Matthews Concert

Preseason starting quarterback Wyatt Sexton is apparently taking the duty of being Florida State's football messiah a little too literally--and cracking under the pressure. After grooving to the smooth frathouse stylings of the Dave Mathews Band Sexton kind of lost his marbles.

According to the Tallahassee Police Department report, when a police officer responded to a call regarding unusual behavior on Monday evening, the officer found Sexton lying face down in the middle of the street...

Witnesses told police that Sexton had been making strange gestures, and at one point jumped onto a car. When asked to identify himself, Sexton "yelled that he was 'God,' " the report said, and acted in a manner irrational enough that the officer pepper-sprayed him.

Only when police put him in a patrol vehicle did Sexton identify himself by name. As police transported him to the hospital, and upon arrival, he reverted to identifying himself as "God" or the "son of God."

So far Sexton has declined to identify himself as the Holy Ghost, but he may want to reconsider. FSU may need the whole trinity taking snaps to win their season opener against Miami.

Terrorists Are Beautiful, No Matter What They Say

Calling Christina Aguilera's music 'torture' used to be hyperbole. Not anymore. Time Magazine's expose on the interrogation of suspected 9/11 accomplice Mohammed al Qahtani at Guantanamo Bay reveals the preferred methods of keeping Mr. Qahtani from sleeping--"dripping water on his head or playing Christina Aguilera music."


Christina on Grammy night before she, and detainees who listened to her, became insane

Qahtani, who never admitted collaborating with Osama Bin Laden, foiled his interrogators and showed remarkable strength of will by pretending to actually enjoy the tunes, even astonishing his captors by choreographing his own energetic dance routine to "Come On Over."

Okay okay, the last part's not true...

Perfectly Good Cockfight Spoiled in Tennessee

This CNN story is a gem. I'm just gonna paste it all, comments inserted.

NEWPORT, Tennessee (AP) -- Law enforcement agents raided an illegal cockfight and arrested 144 people attending what one official said may have been one of the nation's largest such gatherings.

Several SWAT teams, helicopters and dozens of state troopers participated in the raid Saturday on the sprawling Del Rio Cockfight Pit. They seized about $40,000 in cash and killed more than 300 roosters.

Now hang on a second--they killed more than 300 roosters? Isn't cockfighting illegal because it harms the roosters? Why else would it be prohibited. So how is the anti-cockfighting side served by coming in and killing all the animals? I mean, it's bad for the business, but isn't it also kind of bad for the roosters? Isn't this all about them? I don't get it...

And it took "several" SWAT teams? Were they firing on the roosters from the helicopters or just keeping track of the fleeing people?

"Reputedly, this was the largest cockfight in the United States," said District Attorney Al Schmutzer Jr. "It was becoming open and notorious, and you just can't stand back and let something operate like that in the community."

Has there ever been a better real-life lawyer name than Al Schmutzer Jr.?

The 144 were each charged with being a spectator to cockfighting, a misdemeanor in Tennessee. If convicted, they face up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and a $2,500 fine.

John Goodwin, of the Humane Society of the United States, who took part in the raid, said it served notice on those conducting such illegal operations. "I wouldn't want to be a cockfighter in East Tennessee right now," he said.

Oh, but at some other point in time he would like to be a cockfighter in East Tennessee? Second, someone from the Humane Society of the United States participated in a raid, presumably aimed at saving animals from cruelty, that killed over 300 animals? What's going on here??

David Webb, a gamecock owner from Rhea County, said he lost more than 20 chickens valued at $150 each during the raid. "I've been around this stuff all my life. Everything I've ever known is a chicken fight," he said.

Everything he's ever known is a chicken fight? I'm not going to cleverly extract humor from that quote, because 1) it doesn't need my help, and 2) it's kind of sad. In his life, this man's known nothing beyond chicken fights? Sounds like child abuse to me, but don't tell the Tennessee authorities. They probably prosecute child abuse complaints by arresting the parents and then killing all the kids.

Cocks Continued

Turns out the Humane Society killed the birds themselves. Now we learn that "After the raid, the roosters were euthanized under the direction of the Humane Society of the United States." Why?? According to John Goodwin of the Humane Society, "not only because most of [the roosters] are injured, but because the only people who would want to adopt these animals are typically other cock fighters."

To me that sounds like he killed a couple hundred uninjured animals because he assumed they wouldn't find a home. Maybe he's right. But I still can't believe the bizarre haste in killing the cocks. The local news reports that "Humane Society workers euthanized them at the scene."

I also enjoyed this nugget from the local report.

Among those caught in the raid were many older people and several small children, witnesses said. At least two of the older attendees required medical treatment after the agents burst in and held them at gunpoint.


This painting shows roosters in happier times; before they met the Humane Society

Not only did it take "several SWAT teams" to save/kill the cocks, but the agents held seniors at gunpoint, sending them into cardiac arrest. Nice;-)

The Humane Society, for their part, is absolutely tickled about their participation in the rooster rescue/slaughter, and put out their own extended press release. They also have a cute cockfighting fact sheet.

What Could Be Sexier Than a Middle-Aged Japanese Businessman?

Well a lot of things probably. Chocolate-covered strawberries, silk, and Swedish college students come to mind, and the list extends much longer than that (pretty much forever). But my sense of the sexy is out of touch with Japanese culture apparently, where designers are pushing aging executives down the runway to satisfy a booming taste for wrinkly men of power and influence, creating bizarre, frightening, and all too real scenarios like the following:

"Mr. Company President is sexy!" gushed an announcer as Toyota Motor's chairman of the board, Hiroshi Okuda, showed off a sharp black suit and pants at a fashion show this week at the 2005 World Fair.


Toyata Chair/Sex Kitten Hiroshi Okuda

Yes, the soup du jour on the Asian island is the well ripened male. [female readers, try not to growl].

Telling U.S. Dieters What They Don't Want to Hear

There's a problem with dieters here in America. They buy armfulls of books, join gyms, and purchase designer diet food at the supermarket. The funny thing is, even though Americans diet (and preach about their particular diet) the most, they... well they're still fat. Karl Lagerfield has just the antidote for the American dieter. His book, a hit in Europe and Asia, preaches low carbs,low calories, and high discipline. He'd like to insert a giant needle into the love-bubble of self-congratulation that encases America's (largely unsuccessful) diet culture and crush some sacred cows. You should feel hungry sometimes, he says. It can be good to dislike your body. Exercise isn't all that great, as far as weight loss is concerned. In a nutshell, it seems his message is 1) Love yourself a little less and 2) Eat a lot less. It's very snotty, very European, kind of funny, and maybe just the medicine we need.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's...a Senegalese Leg?

Yep. A flight from Senegal to New York's JFK Airport had a stowaway hiding in the wheel well and if his mother said "just get there in once piece" her request was not granted. You really need to just read the story, but let's just say that the next time you're complaining about rain, at least be glad you're not the person who had a human leg bounce off their garage and land in their back yard.

Kerry Narrowly Defeated By Bush: In Yale Classroom

My oh my. The Boston Globe finally got their hands on John Kerry's academic records from Yale, and they're every bit as joke-worthy as those of his famously un-bookfriendly former classmate and campaign opponent.

For all the punch lines about Bush's college grades, Kerry's were actually worse. His cumulative score over four years at Yale was a 76 (Bush had a 77). He got four D's his freshman year, and never once earned an A. To his credit, Kerry had a trajectory of improvement, performed better in his politically oriented courses, and impressed enough with his speaking abilities to be chosen as orator for his senior class. But no matter how you slice it he still was pretty darn lousy in the college classroom, especially considering his top-flight preparatory schooling.

Ironically, despite the relentless caricatures contrasting Bush the courageous simpleton leader with Kerry the blathering out-of-touch smarty pants, simple life history reveals that Kerry isn't all that smart (other numbers suggest Bush also has a slightly higher IQ), but has natural leadership qualities and serious cajones in battle.

Who woulda thought? The John Kerry we never knew...

Are Jews Smarter?

One lesson I learned at Brown: if a classmate was out for a Jewish holiday, they were probably a good person to study with for the final. Yes, in my own anecdotal experience Jews are, on average, a decent bit smarter than us golfing, NASCAR watching, easter-egg hunting goys. And that's cool. What's not cool is saying this explicitly in academia, and pointing to nature as well as nurture in explaining it. But a team of scientists from the University of Utah has done just that.

In a paper just accepted by the Journal of Biosocial Science (published by Cambridge University Press), they offer an evolutionary explanation--arguing that medieval Central and Northern European Jews, in order to thrive amidst centuries of oppressive circumstances, self-selected smart mates who could help them survive and thrive. Their data suggests that this self-selection produced a group that is on the whole both more intelligent and more vulnerable to certain diseases.

I'm no scientist, but their argument, which carries wildly un-PC implications (the idea of inheritied biological differences in intelligence sort of makes people uncomfortable), is being taken seriously by an academic community that really doesn't want to deal with it being true.


Einstein discovered the theory of relativity and was down with the lunar calendar

Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker admits that though it's "hard to overstate how politically incorrect this paper is...it's certainly a thorough and well-argued paper, not one that can easily be dismissed." Not only do I lack the expertise to assess the science, I lack the expertise to assess the assessments of the science. But I'm interested to follow this discussion...

If you have the time and the gusto, read the actual paper here.

Nike to Runners: Go Barefoot (for $85)

Is it the next big thing in running shoes? Nike's new Free shoe goes for ultra-minimalism, attempting to use a thin, flexible design to recreate the feeling of running barefoot. See some pictures and user comments here.

The Free 5.0 is a departure from the proliferation of frills and features in the running shoe arms race, but the concept has caught on fairly well in the running community. It does have its share of critics, who point out that running barefoot is not a good idea unless you have normal, healthy foot structure, and work up slowly. Nike, acknowledging the rigor the shoe puts on the babied foot, recommends spending the first week or two just wearing them around the house! When you get used to using all those tiny foot muscles that have become deadened by the sneaker assistance, you work your way up to running, and then running long distances.

After spending the last several months distributing the shoes to top global athletes (Freddy Adu, Lance Armmstrong, Maria Sharapova, etc.), and then attacking the niche market, Nike is now taking aim at the general public. The company is currently pushing the shoe hard in advertisements, both here and in Europe, where the au naturale concept is always a winner.

The official Nike Free site has some pretty slick propoganda.

Deep Throat Revisited

I completely retract my initial statement that the unveiling of Mark Felt as Deep Throat is a ho-hum story. The more I read the more I'm fascinated. Probably the most exciting and intriguing aspect of this revelation is that it suddenly snaps some reality and specificity into the fabled relationship "Deep Throat" had with Bob Woodward. Having Felt out in the open has allowed Woodward to speak in detail about Deep Throat for the first time, and his account of their relationship is a must-read (full book due in July).

Decades before Nixon, Felt takes aim at the camera

Also of interest:
*Q&A with then-editor Ben Bradlee
*Deep Throat excerpts from All the President's Men
*Sally Quinn (wife of Bradlee) shares memories and insights (great piece)

On the side of those who aren't thrilled with Felt:
*Read a realist's take (from Jack Shafer)
*A doubt-inspiring take (from the man who chose NOT to reveal Felt)
*or the downright nasty take from... Ben Stein?

Yes, Yale Law Valedictorian, Game Show Host, and former Nixon speechwriter Stein defends his boss's legacy...then lashes out at Felt. (Maybe he finally called out 'Bueller' one too many times.)

Indians Get Smoke Out of Bollywood, Outspell Everyone (Again)

Can you smoke at a theatre in India? I'm guessing no, because as of August 1 smoking is banned on-screen! Actors will have to find new ways to look contemplative and draw attention to their mouths. Everyone freaking out about the increasingly tight FCC should be glad they're not dealing with India's Central Board of Film Certification. For a great look at what is and isn't allowed on the Bollywood screen, read this informative short essay at Slate.

And speaking of India, have you noticed that Indian kids are WAY better at spelling in English than everybody else? An Indian-American student, Anurag Kashyap (far left below), just won the 78th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, continuing a recent trend of dominance by Indian-American students, who have won five of the last seven championships.
In fact, as the Times of India notes, "All three runners-up hail[ed] from South Asia." Top 3 this year, 5 of the last 7 champs... what can you say--

they're good.

Get Ready for Sudoku

Apparently something called Sudoku is quickly taking over all land masses east of the Atlantic and is quickly headed for the U.S. Billed as "more addictive than tetris" it is a numerical cousin to the crossword puzzle. The Japenese grid game has England in fits and the New York Times is supposedly mulling a weekly puzzle right next to its holy-grail-of-newspaper-puzzle-games Sunday crossword. Refined readers may appreciate the Economist's snapshot, but the best reading on this subject is Seth Stevenson's synopsis of Sudoku mania at Slate.

Maverick and Joey, Part III

This really isn't the story that should be taking over the blog (hey Sullivan has prison torture, I have Cruise/Holmes), but the New York Times today has a must-see pictoral montage of Tom Cruise's Oprah meltdown.
Oh, yeah, and an article...Meanwhile, Katie Holmes is "SO happy," cooing childishly about Cruise, "He's the most amazing man in the whole world." If she'd said "whole wide world" and been clutching a giant multi-color lollipop I think she would have officially nailed the part of 6 year-old talking about her dad...