…from far away

I’m taking off for Asia tomorrow, traveling with a little Eee PC. This will be an interesting test of a new computer (with a tiny keyboard). While I’ll be meeting some sex education comrades in Taipei, and doing some research and writing unrelated to sex, it’s primarily a vacation – and a much-needed one, at that. While I hope the computer holds up, lack of connectivity wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to happen for a few weeks.

So, since the next time of communication is unknown and might not happen until 2009, now’s the time to say happy holidays and best wishes for the new year!

A black and blue mark on our country

Here’s a fascinating read from The New Yorker last month. Margaret Talbot explores why so many evangelical teenagers get pregnant.

“Religion is more of a choice than homosexuality”

Still in the aftermath of Prop 8, a rational conversation between Mike Huckabee (who’s respectful even if wrong) and Jon Stewart. Enjoy.

“Program and policy decisions should not distort science to advance political agendas”

Quick but important news (well, this really isn’t news to those in the know): Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have reviewed 21 studies and found “no significant differences in long-term mental health between women in the United States who choose to terminate a pregnancy and those who do not.”

Highlighting the political nature of the hot-topic abortion debate, they assert “…studies with the most flawed methodology consistently found negative mental health consequences of abortion,” adding that ”scientists are still conducting research to answer politically motivated questions.”

More here. Science. Imagine! It will be nice to see an emphasis on science again in the new administration.

A laugh about something serious

Last month ended with a posting about the biggest disappointment of the political season: passage of Proposition 8 in California.

Since I’ve been posting so many videos lately, thought I’d add another to the collection. Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and a cast of stars have put together a fun response to the vote in the online video “Prop 8 – The Musical.” This embed is busting my right margin, but I wanted to take the link directly from Will Ferrell and company’s Funny or Die site, which made this video possible. For an interview with Black, Reilly, and Marc Shaiman (who wrote the piece and composed the play Hairspray), check out their appearance on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

I present to you: “Prop 8 – The Musical”…

Mameshiba…

Happy December! Time for something a little lighter, and since I’ll be heading to Japan (and Taiwan) later this month, I wanted to share a cute (and yet strangely disturbing) bean-promoting ad from Japan. There are many of these (check YouTube); in each, a dog (shiba) bean (mame) magically appears, giving some factual trivia that’s not so pleasing to the person who’s eating.

Here’s one of my favorites, in which a man eating peanuts gets repulsed to learn that kissing exchanges two million bacteria: