MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'anti-war'. Tue, 04 May 2010 18:46:29 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3374103&cid=t_101177_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1WbAUKSdayw%2F By Malou InnocentTomorrow, the Cato Institute will be holding a half-day conference titled, “Escalate or Withdraw? Conservatives and the War in Afghanistan.” One of the many speakers at tomorrow’s conference will be Rep. John Duncan (R-TN). On the House floor this week, he explained why “there is nothing conservative about the war in Afghanistan.” Watch: In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a conservative, and neither are many of my Cato colleagues. This event is intended to highlight that leaving Afghanistan is far beyond Left vs. Right, and that anti-war sentiment is not “owned by peaceniks and pacifists.” You can come to the event, or watch it live online. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3374103 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:50:18 +0100 3374103 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3223303&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2Fsy2CXsrzvd4%2Fadvice_from_howard_zinn.php Howard Zinn is gone, now, but he left us plenty. Here is a short piece he wrote a little over ten years ago in Z Magazine (hat tip, SR). It's typical of his style: inspiring, humble, practical, especially in these times: On Getting Along Howard Zinn, March, 07 1999 You ask how I manage to stay involved and remain seemingly happy and adjusted to this awful world where the efforts of caring people pale in comparison to those who have power? It's easy. First, don't let "those who have power" intimidate you. No matter how much power they have they cannot prevent you from living your life, speaking your mind, thinking independently, having relationships with people as you like. (Read Emma Goldman's autobiography LIVING MY LIFE. Harassed, even imprisoned by authority, she insisted on living h... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3223303 Sat, 30 Jan 2010 11:01:51 +0100 3223303 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3220536&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FsMyIVDq8ZYY%2Fhoward_zinn_1922_-2010.php Howard Zinn died on Wednesday. He was a colleague and more than an acquaintance but a friend, although not a close friend. I knew him for 40 years, although hadn't seen him recently, the last time was a few years ago when we shared a platform together. The auditorium was packed, not to see me but to see him and he was his usual feisty self. But it was a feistiness that was full of kindness and compassion. Just to be in his presence conveyed a strange kind of empowerment. He made you believe you could make a difference, even when it was crystal clear the one who was really making a difference was Howard Zinn. Howard's colleague at Boston University, the writer Caryl Rivers, said it best: "He was such a righteous man." Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3220536 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:52:27 +0100 3220536 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3185373&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FISfHFWcnp5c%2Fus_hungary_2010_1989_1956.php Martin Luther King's birthday is an official holiday in the US, but King's example of non-violent resistance is not a US idea. So once again we have decided this non-traditional version of We Shall Overcome is appropriate. I've heard and sung this in churches, union halls, in the streets and in concerts for four decades and it inspires wherever and whenever it is sung. This 1996 version features Diana Ross in full concert hall regalia, backed by a symphony orchestra. The venue is Budapest, Hungary and more than one member of the orchestra and the audience were undoubtedly thinking of their own history. A bloody uprising in 1956 was savagely put down by Soviet troops. It was the simple act of opening their border with Austria in 1989 that started the unraveling of the Soviet Union. One da... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3185373 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:08:18 +0100 3185373 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3157497&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F1fi7qunVfSc%2Fafghanistaniraqisraelpalestine_3.php My little ones now have little ones of their own, just barely out of their cradles. When this song was written, the prospect of global nuclear annihilation wasn't far fetched. Each side had massive overkill. There are still nuclear weapons so the threat isn't gone. But it's not a threat of nuclear winter. There are several reasons for this, including a world wide anti-nuclear movement. What would have happened had there been no opposition to nuclear weapons? I'm glad to say we'll never know. Unfortunately even without nuclear weapons the words of this song are still applicable to cradles rocking in Iraq or Afghanistan or Israel-Palestine. So there's still lots of work to do (hat tip reader C. Corax): Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3157497 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:51:16 +0100 3157497 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3153392&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F31C2CYle4u4%2Fafghanistaniraqisraelpalestine_2.php When I was growing up "world music" didn't exist as a genre and didn't exist for me in any form. Now it's just a keystroke away. This is a different world for the younger generation, not just musically. Despite all the wars and the problems in the headlines, I think it's a better one. Chanda Mama is a folk tune from Chennai, India. Like a lot of music, it's also from Argentina and Lisbon and Toulouse and South Africa and on and on. Here it is from Playing for Change via musicians from four continents: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3153392 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:36:45 +0100 3153392 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3149077&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FCsdPDrWJ_fM%2Fafghanistaniraqisraelpalestine.php If you don't share the sentiments, just enjoy the music. But why wouldn't you share the sentiments? Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3149077 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:02:50 +0100 3149077 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3145998&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FBp3GWYmrGP4%2Fafghanistaniraqwest_bank_twelf.php Conscientious refusal to participate in acts which are immoral although legal is a world wide phenomenon. It isn't new. We don't hear about the brave souls in highly repressive countries that risk death or imprisonment, but they exist. We celebrate them when they resist regimes we don't like, as in Iran. But we have our own prisoners of conscience. We know more about the ones in freer societies and their voices also deserve to be heard. There are thousands in Israel. One group are the Shministim, "twelth graders": On April 28, 1970, a group of high school seniors about to be drafted sent a letter to Prime Minister Golda Meir expressing their reservation about the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the War of Attrition and the government's failure to take steps to avoid conflict. In 1... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3145998 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:14:58 +0100 3145998 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3142585&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FDAmp8dyuBpo%2Fafghanistaniraq_looking_for_an.php I was also a conscientious objector, in another war. I couldn't in conscience claim the kind of religious grounds that young Joshua Casteel did, but I have to hand it to the kid. This is an amazing story: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3142585 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:54:04 +0100 3142585 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3139054&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2Fzcsm_KNAf_0%2Fafghanistan_be_a_sport.php Here's some forgotten history. Not ancient history, but nonetheless forgotten. Just a week over 30 years ago, the end of 1979, Afghanistan had a functioning government, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA). The fact that it functioned, which now sounds remarkable, was not a good thing as far as the US was concerned because this was also a communist government allied to the Soviet Union (just over its border to the north). In the flight from reality known as The Cold War, the US wished the functioning government in Afghanistan would be toppled. Does the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for" come to mind? Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3139054 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:29:23 +0100 3139054 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3137508&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FTMiYKnJtP-c%2Fafghanistan_war_is_kind.php We've had other wars besides Iraq and Afghanstan djinned up or whipped on by our "free press." Sometimes it's good to remember that "the power of the press" also meant the power of the person who owned the printing press. People like William Randoph Hearst, who had the power to make "the splendid little war" known as the Spanish American War. The same power also gave us The Philippines via Commodore Dewey's Battle of Manila Bay (referred to by a British historian as "more a military execution than a real contest"). The power that gave us domination over Cuba in the name of Cuban independence from Spain. The power that gave us our first war on soil not contiguous to our borders. That kind of "power of the press." The 5 month Spanish-American War took the lives of 345 American soldiers -- a... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3137508 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:33:49 +0100 3137508 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3136570&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FdWtt7_9YSKo%2Fafghanistan_in_times_like_thes.php First day of a new year. First day of a new decade. It's dark out. So it's important to keep even a small light on in Times Like These: Lyrics for In Times Like These by Arlo Guthrie In times like these, when night surrounds me and I am weary, my heart is worn And the songs they're singing don't mean nothing, cheap refrains play on and on The storm is here, the lightning flashes, between commercials, they're taking names singers run to where the cash is, it's just another link in slavery's chain I see the storm clouds rise above me, the sky is dark and the night has come I walk alone along this highway, where strangers gather one by one When leaders profit from deep divisions; when the tears of friends remain unsung In times like these, it's good to remember, these times will go, in... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3136570 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:43:43 +0100 3136570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3135530&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FfvPQeA3Jl70%2Fafghanistan_perspective.php Last day of 2009, another year of war. A good time to step back and try for perspective. We'll let a young Nanci Griffith do it for us with this wonderful song by Julie Gold: Happy New Year to all our readers, whether near or from a distance. The Reveres, New Year's Eve, 2009 Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3135530 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:09:35 +0100 3135530 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3133612&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F3cXb0KhjP_0%2Fafghanistan_conscientious_obje.php When the US still had "mandatory" conscription for males it was still possible to claim exemption on the basis of a conscientious objection to war. While this usually required a religious basis and was almost impossible for doctors because of a supposed non-combattant role, we were still given full C.O. status as a doctor without a religious basis. The explanation for this legal certification is not relevant and it didn't happen without a protracted struggle which we had no reason to believe would turn out as it did. Its lack of relevance is because the end of the draft or the war did not end our status as a conscientious objector. We have objected -- publicly, conscientiously and strenuously -- to every US war and military misadventure since Vietnam and there have been quite a few: Grenad... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3133612 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:00:51 +0100 3133612 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3129514&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F4PMbaTVRqyk%2Fafghanistan_thumb_on_the_scale.php Some needs to edit this to add faces from the Obama administration to those from the Bush administration. Because lives are still in the balance and Obama has his thumb on the scale. Jackson Browne: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3129514 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:50:37 +0100 3129514 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3126625&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FUIQgal49jKQ%2Fafghanistan_one_bullet.php War can take and spoil lives in many ways. The killing doesn't stop when the war is over or a combat role is ended. This year again has seen record suicide rates for the US military, but one can assume the same is true for those fighting on the other side and for the millions of civilians caught up in it. This song by Canadian singer-songwriter Garnet Rogers is not about Afghanistan or Iraq or Vietnam. It could be about any war. And one bullet: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3126625 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:28:38 +0100 3126625 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3124552&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FB1xDAUqfFXE%2Fafghanistan_a_war_lost_before.php Nina Serbedzija is the actress daughter of Croatian Serb actor-musician Rade Serbedzija. She wrote and sings this poignant song. If any part of the world knows about cruel and pointless wars, it's the Balkans: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3124552 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:22:48 +0100 3124552 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3123376&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FZDq4QIE1hp8%2Fafghanistan_red_poppies_and_gr.php Poppies grow in France, too. In fields that are now green but were once red with blood. And no one seems to know why. Two million died in vain. The Fureys and another moving Eric Bogle song: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3123376 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 23:24:11 +0100 3123376 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3122089&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F1V-c6xY4QUM%2Fafghanistan_from_no_mans_land.php Here's another wonderful song about the Christmas truce of 1914, this one by Mike Harding. What happened 95 years ago today shines down through the years. Let's transform Afghanistan from No Man's Land to Everyone's Land. Because but for some accident of birth any of us could be an Afghan or a soldier, fighting for who knows what. Just like No Man's Land, 1914: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3122089 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:06:10 +0100 3122089 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3118890&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FCbB6t74HUHA%2Fafghanistan_both_ends_of_the_r.php A Christmas tradition in the Revere household is that I make Mrs. R. cry by playing this beautiful song by John McCutcheon about the Christmas truce of 1914. It's 2009 and bitter cold in the trenches of Afghanistan. The Reveres, Christmas Eve, 2009 Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3118890 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:13:33 +0100 3118890 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3118892&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FzSasq9mbhZY%2Fafghanistan_we_shall_have_peac.php Afghanistan is out of the headlines but we have continued to signal the existence of this unnecessary war every day since Obama announced his attention to escalate and thus make the Afghan War Obama's War. Given the projections of how long it will take to satisfy whatever vague and ill-defined criteria of "success" needed to conclude our occupation, we would have to keep finding new YouTube clips for years. I'm not sure even YouTube has enough appropriate clips for that. The real truth is The Reveres are having a hard time -- a very, very hard time -- letting go of the topic of the War in Afghanistan. We continue posting daily to remind everyone it exists, headlines or no headlines, and we plan to keep at it at least through the end of the year and periodically thereafter. Maybe our tone ... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3118892 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:22:39 +0100 3118892 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3115107&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FSwr1StKPxTM%2Fafghanistan_not_too_late.php As of yesterday it's winter, astronomically speaking. At the moment, it doesn't look like it's ushering in a Season of Peace. But it's not too late. A young Judy Collins on Pete Seeger's 1960s TV show with Pete's musical setting of Ecclesiastes with his added verse: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3115107 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:28:17 +0100 3115107 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3111437&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FlCQ2oQi1x9c%2Fafghanistan_hollow_log_edition.php The public doesn't want this war. We who don't outnumber the ones that are going along with a bad decision. Whose land is it, anyway? Arlo Guthrie's dad, Woody, had the answer and penned a song you all know. But what's great about this performance is that when Arlo looked around him he realized his grand daughters had joined him on the stage with daughter Sarah Lee and her spouse Johnny and son Abe was on keyboard. Which prompted him to stop halfway through and tell a story he attributed to his dad: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3111437 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:44:01 +0100 3111437 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3108366&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FAKiD7NrNWWM%2Fafghanistan_there_is_a_road_to.php It's Christmas week and we are struggling not to let our despair and anger overcome us. For a while, anyway, the mood will be up beat. Not to make you forget but to make you remember that there's work to be done, the work of making this a better world for our families, friends and neighbors, for people we don't know but who aren't fundamentally different from us and for our children and grandchildren and their children and grandchildren and on and on. Pete Seeger: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3108366 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:54:18 +0100 3108366 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3106734&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FPP-98_absqU%2Fafghanistan_hunger_strike.php This is not the first time we've done this poem by ee cummings. Alas. I guess it has to be done periodically. Because the steaming pile we are being asked to eat keeps mounting: i sing of Olaf glad and big i sing of Olaf glad and big whose warmest heart recoiled at war: a conscientious object-or his wellbelovéd colonel(trig westpointer most succinctly bred) took erring Olaf soon in hand; but--though an host of overjoyed noncoms(first knocking on the head him)do through icy waters roll that helplessness which others stroke with brushes recently employed anent this muddy toiletbowl, while kindred intellects evoke allegiance per blunt instruments-- Olaf(being to all intents a corpse and wanting any rag upon what God unto him gave) responds,without getting annoyed "I will not kis... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3106734 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:19:13 +0100 3106734 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105037&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FucnfUTkVTeg%2Fafghanistan_a_soldier_keeps_on.php Tomas Young is a veteran in a wheel chair. He was shot in the spine by a sniper in Iraq. His story was featured in Phil Donahue's film, "Body of War," the story of Young's conversion from soldier to anti-Iraq war activist. You can see Young and others in the slides taken back stage at the Lollapalooza concert in Chicago, 2007. This is a tribute to Tomas Young by Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105037 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:08:04 +0100 3105037 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3100820&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FfL0_dX2NrLE%2Fafghanistan_asking_for_more_tr.php While the Obama administration makes its choices, ordinary people in the rest of the world don't want more trouble: (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3100820 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:05:16 +0100 3100820 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096876&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FenbH35OR6Zc%2Fafghanistan_obamas_legacy.php The truth of this is disheartening. But truth often is: Hat tip reader Erin. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096876 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:37:04 +0100 3096876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3092711&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FegQKRJMGQ1g%2Fafghanistan_falklands_edition.php A reminder that many nations fight stupid wars. Remember the Falklands? Mark Knopfler's version of the Dire Straits song, Brothers in Arms. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3092711 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:00:52 +0100 3092711 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3089307&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FPsnQr8WsAg0%2Fafghanistan_john_browns_body_i.php Bob Dylan recorded this in 1962 but it wasn't released until decades later. By then there were many more John Browns. And we are producing them in quantity in Afghanistan. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3089307 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:45:40 +0100 3089307 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3084796&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F9uJD854eZZ0%2Fafghanistan_hope_and_necessity.php Obama's election opened Pandora's Box and one of the things that flew out was Hope. No good change comes without Hope as one of its wellsprings. There is much justified anger at Obama's War on Afghanistan. You've seen it here and you'll see more of it as the Afghanistan debacle continues to take and spoil lives and sap our strength as a people. But Hope remains a necessary ingredient for those of us who oppose this war. We know it will draw cynical comments from those who see it as pie-in-the-sky utopianism (although pie-in-the-sky pushed by religion or politicians is OK?). Cynicism for them is just "realism," not the product of a successful manipulation by those who want us to think nothing can be done. The older I get the less cynical I am. Looking around me I see not just suicide bomb... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3084796 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:20:41 +0100 3084796 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3083050&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FmgCX5kaOfkk%2Fafghanistan_spoiled_lives.php I usually choose music clips featuring the performer and the song. I prefer live performances. I don't like videos with graphic or powerful images because they often distract from the music and I am powerfully affected by the music itself. But this is an exception in two ways. First, this is contemporary music, a 2009 Dash Berlin remix video of the still extant 1980s alternative band, Depeche Mode; and this time it is the powerful video that takes center stage, not the music. Long after there is peace on the battlefield the war will go on in the lives of its victims, on both sides. This hit single is called Peace but it is about anything but: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3083050 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:07:39 +0100 3083050 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3079357&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2Fj9mY9ARiCx8%2Fafghanistan_novel_peace_prize.php President Obama made his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech yesterday. Full of irony, thoughtful, analytic, nuanced, humble. So much more elegant than George Bush could ever hope to do. Other than that, same bottom line, only now it's the Obama Doctrine, dressed up. I'm not buying it. I'm as angry as ever. I'm not ready to make nice: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3079357 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:39:08 +0100 3079357 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3079359&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F1qO2pohQyKo%2Fafghanistan_making_it_back_is.php We're saving lives on the battlefield. Lives that would have been lost in previous wars. That's good. War takes too many lives. But there are ways to take lives that don't involve killing someone. And we're taking a lot of lives that way, many more than before. Here's Liam Clancy with the great song by Australian singer-song writer Eric Bogle: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3079359 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:10:27 +0100 3079359 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075519&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FKxWSapkbiSU%2Fafghanistan_when_a_soldier_mak.php We're talking about sending 30,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan. We're not talking about the ones that are coming home. I used to work for the VA. There's lots to talk about. Let's start now: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075519 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:34:28 +0100 3075519 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3071178&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FI9YEcGhO9TM%2Fafghanistan_something_for_the.php Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, testified in Congress yesterday. Not surprisingly he said what Generals always say: "we" can win. Back in 1963 Pete Seeger gave a concert in Melbourne, Australia. If you never saw him in concert, this is what he was always like. The Australians are hesitant at first, unlike typical American audiences, so the pay-off doesn't come until near the end (around 7:07), where Pete asks, wouldn't it be great if all the Generals around the world could be there to hear them sing this song. The response is immediate and spontaneous. That's what most people around the world think. Generals aren't most people and neither are the ones who listen to them. But if you aren't a General or a politician, you can be there to listen to Pete. Most ... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3071178 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:08:18 +0100 3071178 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3067058&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FhqisMMeXa1I%2Fafghanistan_wann_wird_man_je_v.php The only flowers growing in Afghanistan seem to be poppies. When will we ever learn? Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3067058 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:41:58 +0100 3067058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3063270&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FHRtuAKHoJTk%2Fafghanistan_im_marching_any_mo.php Yesterday we were all Universal Soldiers. Today this one's not marching any more. Phil Ochs: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3063270 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:10:09 +0100 3063270 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3061413&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FzPT7Ir_5rzw%2Fobamas_afghanistan_policy_not.php . . . we put an end to war: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3061413 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:00:28 +0100 3061413 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3059736&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FvWwJTVXysjE%2Fdreams_i_wish_my_president_had.php Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3059736 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:10:17 +0100 3059736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3056655&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FhjbeE4JtGks%2Fwhat_obamas_afghanistan_policy.php Not the first time for this one. But some things have to be done again: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3056655 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:39:26 +0100 3056655 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3052155&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FzBuXdnvII8Q%2F10_reasons_to_oppose_the_escal.php From a reader in Western Massachusetts: 10 Reasons to Oppose the Escalation of War in Afghanistan Human cost of war: Soldier and civilian deaths and injuries have been escalating each year since 2001. Nearly 1000 U.S. soldiers have been killed while 32,000 Afghan civilians have died as a result of the war. Economic cost of war: Each soldier in Afghanistan costs U.S. taxpayers $1 million per year. Private military contractors, known to de-fraud the Pentagon, exceed the number of soldiers in the war. No matter the war’s outcome, the defense industry wins with windfall profits. U.S. economy in recession: We have reached 10.2 % unemployment, with many more who are underemployed or given up job hunting, accompanied by large cuts in human and social services. Put to peacetime uses, th... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3052155 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:51:13 +0100 3052155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3048124&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FMdcpfmkGx50%2Fand_the_big_fool_says_to_push.php What else is there to say? Lyndon Johnson may have done a powerful amount of good for civil rights but his legacy went down the Vietnam toilet. He was a big fool who listened to the wrong people, people who told him to push on. Barack Obama seems to be another Big Fool: Pete Seeger, singing on CBS television, 1968. Afghanistan, 41 years later. Stuck in Afghani quicksand: But every time I read the papers, that old feeling comes on, We're waist deep in the Big Muddy And the big fool says to push on. Waist deep in the Big Muddy, The big fool says to push on. Waist deep in the Big Muddy, The big fool says to push on. Waist deep, neck deep, Soon even a tall man will be over his head. We're waist deep in the Big Muddy, And the big fool says to push on. Read the comments on this post... (So... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3048124 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:34:06 +0100 3048124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2981097&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FN21Jljv2IYg%2Farmistice_day_2009_bring_em_ho.php This is an exact repeat of a post one year ago today. Except for this preamble about how disgusted we are that we have to repeat it: The Reveres, November 11, 2009, year six of the War in Iraq and year eight of the War in Afghanistan Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2981097 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:55:48 +0100 2981097 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2772529&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F6q6kIMeaSHI%2Fafghanistan_out_now.php If the UK invaded and occupied Massachusetts because the IRA raised money and housed some of its members in South Boston I think most people would say that was not just a mistake but wrong. Assuming for the moment that the GOP was in charge and had no interest in defending the state, I can predict with some confidence that Massachusetts's citizens would fight back (as they did once before) and make it very costly for the British to stay. Logistically how could the British leave without losing face and suffering a crushing geopolitical defeat? The answer is simple: use boats (and now) planes. That's it. And we can do the same in Afghanistan and for the same reasons. It's that simple. Put our soldiers on planes and get out. Because invading and occupying that benighted land was wrong at the ... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2772529 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:30:11 +0100 2772529 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441466&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F1JTb7BbkVmA%2Fmemorial_day_2009.php We are now in the seventh Memorial Day of the Iraq War and the eighth of the Afghanistan War. This Priscilla Herdman version of Eric Bogle's "And the Band Played Waltzing Mathilda" appeared here last Memorial Day. Then, we were deeply dismayed by our government's actions. We remain so today. So here it is again, and for the same reasons: On behalf of all the Reveres, Memorial Day 2009 Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441466 Mon, 25 May 2009 17:19:16 +0100 2441466 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2078698&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F502775194%2Fgaza_shock_awe_and_brutality.php This is about the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Because it cannot be ignored. Let me be clear at the outset: I think the assault on Gaza is brutal, vicious and cruel, the act of a notorious regional bully. Israeli leaders (Olmert, Barak, Livni and probably others) are war criminals in a class with Bushes Jr. and Sr., Kissinger, Nixon, Pinochet, Putin, Saddam, Milošević, Karadzic, Charles Taylor and a number of others. I wanted to get that out of the way because I don't want this to be misunderstood as a defense of Israeli actions. Far from it. It is a condemnation of the kind of action that has become distressingly familiar. George Bush approves of it. Because he's done it. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2078698 Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:09:42 +0100 2078698 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2017484&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F476622695%2Fcluster_bombs_refusing_to_refu.php 44 more days until these murdering bastards are out of OUR government. Meanwhile how much damage will they do? Damage, as in broken bodies, maimed children, dead people: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2017484 Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:31:22 +0100 2017484 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1955171&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F449786413%2Farmistice_day_2008_bring_em_ho.php The Reveres, November 11, 2008, year five of the War in Iraq and year seven of the War in Afghanistan Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1955171 Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:44:32 +0100 1955171 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1618011&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F334467028%2Fthe_shame_of_clusterbombs.php Cluster bombs are designed to do just one thing: kill people. It doesn't matter if the people are soldiers or not. In fact cluster bombs kill more civilians than they kill combatants. These diabolical weapons (I can't think of a better word) are not just one bomb but hundreds of little bomblets, each a small grenade, that scatter over a wide area and then explode. Or not. And that's the problem. Unexploded ordinance that later explode when disturbed by a farmer's plow, a child playing in the field or a family's valuable livestock. The civilized world wants to ban cluster bombs. The United States is not a part of the civilized world and opposes any ban on cluster bombs, as does Israel who used them two years ago in their invasion of Lebanon and reaped the justifiable condemnation of the civ... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1618011 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:30:41 +0100 1618011 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1521959&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F312550341%2Fthey_have_a_pill_for_that.php Of the many tag lines I've seen as part of people's electronic signatures, the most apt for this post is this one: "I used to care about stuff. Now I have a pill for that." Sergeant Christopher LeJeune was anxious and depressed after long duty on Baghdad's dangerous streets. He often had to collect enemy dead from houses he had attacked. Sometimes there were tiny shoes and toys scattered around. The whole package was starting to get to him. So the Army took care of his problem: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1521959 Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:51:00 +0100 1521959 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1467801&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F298316243%2Fmemorial_day_2008.php The fifth Memorial Day of the Iraq War. I have no words. I'll give you this instead: Priscilla Herdman is singing this 1971 song by Eric Bogle. I feel like weeping. For the Reveres. Memorial Day, 2008. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1467801 Mon, 26 May 2008 11:34:27 +0100 1467801 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1467802&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F297935764%2Fmasters_of_war.php Until the middle of the last century the main victims of war were combatants. Since World War II the main victims of war are innocent civilians. Not just "collateral damage" (the euphemism to hide war crimes). Now there are "weapon systems" designed to be indiscriminate in their effect. The most notorious are cluster bombs, explosive canisters that spew their own small bomblets. Like landmines, they hurt mainly civilians. Like landmines, civilized nations are trying to ban them in modern warfare, just as poison gases have been banned. But the US is not participating. In fact it is actively impeding any agreement: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1467802 Sun, 25 May 2008 21:27:15 +0100 1467802 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1327443&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F257874982%2F4000.php Of course the 4000th US combat death in Iraq is an artificial milestone. It's not different than the 10th or the 3999th or what will for certain be the 4010th, a human being in the prime of life who is alive now but won't be by the end of next week. But the number 4000 is a symbol that stands for the shredded lives, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, from a war started on purpose by a handful of American government officials. We choose not to celebrate the lives of the 4000 soldier victims, or the lives of their enemies, or the lives of the uncounted innocent civilians. There is no cause for celebration. The only appropriate response is to mourn the waste and the pain and the suffering. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1327443 Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:05:44 +0100 1327443 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1290964&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F248823411%2Fwater_and_reckless_irresponsib.php I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you occupy a country you also assume responsibility for its public health. That's both international law and it's the right thing to do. In Iraq we haven't done that. So while I am about to say it once more, after I've said it I have something else to say, too, something that underscores my point in triplicate. But first the main point:. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1290964 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:01:52 +0100 1290964 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1219433&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F231849215%2Fan_expensive_day_in_iraq_and_a.php The President's budget was announced on Monday (see our post here), and as many people know (including us), it is Dead on Arrival. But it is still a significant for its symbolism. This is what the Bush administration wants. They know they won't get it but they are making a statement. Some statement: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1219433 Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:03:27 +0100 1219433 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1115046&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F205790412%2Fexplosives_on_a_chip.php There are computers on a chip and labs on a chip and now explosives on a chip. Explosives on a chip? WTF? This wonderful tech breakthrough is brought to us by Georgia Tech Research Institute and reported, straight-faced, by the Press Release service, Science Daily: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1115046 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:16:55 +0100 1115046 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1067685&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F194582269%2Fcarnegiemellons_dr_strangelove.php Carnegie-Mellon is a great university and when it comes to robotics and computer science is always on the cutting edge. But does that cutting edge have to be so sharply lethal? Unmanned aircraft are showing up in the skies more often and today the US Army awarded $14.4 million to Carnegie Mellon to build a remote-controlled unmanned tank. A certain amount of the award will go toward significantly improving the Crusher, a 6.5-ton unmanned support vehicle Carnegie engineers developed in 2006 in conjunction with DARPA. Since its introduction, the Crusher has demonstrated unparalleled toughness and mobility during extensive field trials in extremely rugged terrain, according to Carnegie Mellon. (Network World) I'm sure these researchers and their students and postdocs have rationalized thi... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1067685 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:12:29 +0100 1067685 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1051192&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F190900607%2Fso_whats_the_big_deal_about_to.php What's the big deal about putting a few bad guys into "stressful" positions (assuming you know for sure they really are bad guys)? You call that torture? Waterboarding maybe is torture (we aren't sure about that yet; requires some study), but stressful positions and a love tap or two? Give me a break: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1051192 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:01:38 +0100 1051192 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1021217&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F183798773%2Fthe_hollowness_of_veterans_day.php Here's a thought for "Veterans" Day: one out of nine people in the US is a veteran but one out of four homeless persons is a veteran. That's something for Americans to be proud of for sure. Support Our Troops is either just a slogan or they stop being worthy of support when they stop being cannon fodder: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1021217 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:19:21 +0100 1021217 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1019982&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F183539837%2Fforgetting_remembrance_day.php A year ago we posted this on November 11. We can't think of another way to say the same thing, so we'll just say it again the same way we did last year. Alas: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1019982 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:18:30 +0100 1019982 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1000938&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F178902286%2Fmedical_education_and_the_mili.php Medical education in the US is four grueling years on top of four years of undergraduate college education. The spectrum of topics is hugely wide and the depth of coverage hugely uneven. Some things are covered in ridiculous detail and others with breathtaking superficiality. And some things hardly at all: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1000938 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:56:44 +0100 1000938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=982506&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F175540010%2Famerica_up_close_and_from_a_di.php On Monday President Bush asked for another $46 billion dollars to send down the rat hole of his Iraq and Afghanistan debacles. That makes just about $200 billion dollars for this fiscal year. Two hundred billion dollars. Congress has already ponied up almost half a trillion dollars. Half a trillion. Trillion. A dollar bill is a bit more than 0.1 mm thick. This year's 200 billion is 2 times 107 meters, or a stack of dollar bills about 200,000 football fields in height, or about a 120 mile stack. That's just this fiscal year. The estimated total is two and half times this. For what. Oil. If that much money had been put into alternative energy sources we'd be a good way of the there by now. Instead it is going into bombs and bullets. Bombs and bullets don't produce anything except destructio... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=982506 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:30:26 +0100 982506 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=872111&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F156575442%2Fi_hear_america_singing.php I just watched Dear Leader tell his fellow citizens why we will have to wait until the next President before there is any hope for extricating the country from the quicksand of the Iraq Debacle. It was not a surprise, but no less dismaying for being expected. But I've been dismayed before. Vietnam. In 1969 our leaders were the same kind of lying bastards who did whatever they wanted. That year Pete Seeger appeared on the David Steinberg TV show and sang this song. The country was divided on the war, much more divided than today, something he acknowledges when he says no one need sing with him if they didn't want to. But he hoped many would. Today most Americans are singing from the same songbook, Pete's songbook. They're singing, "Bring Them Home": Read the comments on this post... (So... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=872111 Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:49:58 +0100 872111 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=816596&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F08%2Famerican_psychological_associa.php One of my colleagues (a clinical psychologist) was once asked the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist. "You have to understand," he said, "that a psychiatrist doesn't have a PhD." It turns out there is at least one more difference. The professional association of psychiatrists have rejected the idea it is ethical for a medical doctor to be complicit in interrogation abuse or abusive conditions under which interrogations are conducted. The professional association of psychologists have twice declined to take that step. I think that's a more telling difference than the nature of their degrees. Here are some of the details: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=816596 Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:43:59 +0100 816596 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=790509&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F08%2Firaqis_claim_their_second_amen.php For all you Second Amendment-is-the-most-precious-freedom-we-have folks out there, take heart. We are spreading freedom in Iraq: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=790509 Thu, 09 Aug 2007 21:10:09 +0100 790509 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=778567&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F08%2Fbioweapons_proliferation_polic.php While you busy being scared by the Bush administration about phantom weapons of mass destruction, there are real WMDs and have been for many decades. We even know where they are (no, not north, west and south of Tikrit, as claimed by the cowardly Donald Rumsfeld). They are in the former Soviet Union. They made bioweapons. They had stockpiles. They even had a well-studied accident with anthrax from a weapons research facility that killed dozens of community residents when a fairly small amount was inadvertently vented in Sverdlovsk. But Putin's Russia is not a target in George Bush's "Global" War on Terror. Global doesn't mean everywhere, it turns out. It means only the places on Bush's foreign policy radar screen: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: E... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=778567 Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:53:49 +0100 778567 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=765670&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F07%2Fslave_labor_building_us_embass.php I don't know what to say about this, except it appears at this point to implicate theuse of slave labor in the construction of the US Embassy in Baghdad, aided, abetted and with the knowledge of the US State Department (hat tip Boingboing) . You decide: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=765670 Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:09:56 +0100 765670 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=755564&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F07%2Funcle_sam_wants_you.php Here is Max Blumenthal's Unofficial Tour of the College Republican Convention. It's both funny and appalling. Take your pick. Or just laugh through your tears. On the other hand, if you are offended and under the age of 42, you can sign up and take your anger out on the Iraqis: Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=755564 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:14:30 +0100 755564 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=700652&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F06%2Fafghanistan_was_wrong_ii.php I hope the Democrats are successful in stopping the Iraq atrocity. Out of Iraq. Now. But I must once again disagree -- strongly disagree -- with the notion that Iraq has distracted us from the "real" war against terrorism, the one in Afghanistan. This is a talking point of virtually all the Democratic presidential hopefuls and a distressingly large proportion of the progressive blogosphere. I must say again: Afghanistan was wrong, too. That was the title of a post I put up in December 2005 at a time when Iraq looked less like the colossal screw up many of us knew it was. It was also a time when Afghanistan was relatively quiet, a success story. Unless you were an Afghan. We were going to post here an updated version and went back to look at the old one. Unfortunately we don't need to cha... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=700652 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:06:23 +0100 700652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=693205&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F06%2Fbush_comes_out_against_war.php I just learned via Ben Cohen at World's Fair that George Bush has joined the anti-war movement. Of course I'll believe it when I see it, but he is saying the right things: "Destroying human life to save human life is just not ethical." (President George Bush on his Saturday radio broadcast) I don't think of Bush as the anti war type, but really -- the words are quite plain here and he has always emphasized he is a man of his word -- what else could this mean? What else could this mean? George Bush is opposed to war. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=693205 Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:39:41 +0100 693205 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=644599&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F05%2F6000_miles_of_dollar_bills_for.php Congress passed the supplemental spending bill last week and Bush signed it immediately. It was a terrible bill, both for what it contained and what it didn't. You all know what it contained: more money for this rotten war in Iraq. What it didn't contain was the paltry $650 million for pandemic preparedness that had been in an earlier version. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=644599 Tue, 29 May 2007 12:25:40 +0100 644599 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=623530&cid=t_101177_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fron-paul-wins-s-carolina-debate-pat.html I doubt there's anyone who'd seriously question Pat's Conservative credentials. Indeed, he's a proud paleoconservative - and he's pointing out that he's right more often than neocons based on his version of "Right."But what's interesting is that fox vewiers got there first, giving Sen. Ron Paul (Libertarian-republican and anti-war from the beginning) a clear win. Granted, this was probably not Fox's usual demographic, but still...PJB: But Who Was Right – Rudy or Ron? ::: Patrick J. Buchanan - Official Website: "Ron Paul says Osama bin Laden is delighted we invaded Iraq.Does the man not have a point? The United States is now tied down in a bloody guerrilla war in the Middle East and increasingly hated in Arab and Islamic countries where we were once hugely admired as the first and greates... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=623530 Sat, 19 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 623530 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=482793&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2F2007%2F03%2Fboth_ends_of_the_rifle.php Anniversaries may be artificial milestones marking a distance on a road from the past, but they also remind us of where we are now: enmired in the fifth year of a hideous and vicious war, a war whose disastrous consequences were foreseen by many but disregarded by a compliant press and credulous public. No one -- no politician or citizen -- should be able to say they were deceived. They allowed themselves to be deceived. Almost a quarter of the US Senate voted against the use of force resolution, without benefit of hindsight. Many of you understood, too. We started it, anyway. We should end it. Now. But what about those Muslims? The ones bent on destroying our freedoms, our liberties, our whole way of life? We've met them before. Except they were called Germans or Japanese or the Viet Con... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=482793 Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:29:55 +0100 482793 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=473735&cid=t_101177_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Feffectmeasure%2Fupload%2F2007%2F03%2FWarDeaths.jpg It took four years, but the majority of Americans now realize the Iraq War is not winable. By roughly the same margins they want troops out of Iraq in a year or less and believe they were misled into the war. The only thing I wonder about is what took them so long. It didn't take the Prophet Daniel to see the handwriting on the wall. But this is an aggressive and war-making country, so it's not so surprising its citizens didn't mind the Grand Adventure at the outset. Now we and the Iraqis are reaping the whirlwind. And we don't like paying even a fraction of the price we've made others pay. Here are some cartograms to illustrate the point. Cartograms are a special kind of map we use in epidemiology to account for the fact that different geographic areas have vastly different population de... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=473735 Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:37:25 +0100 473735