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UPGRADE! (with picturey goodness)

Scientists have discovered that we’re in a much more prominent spot in the Milky Way than was originally though.  Astronomers have, until this point, thought that our Sun sat in a not so prominent arm of our spiral galaxy.  With the new model, it was discovered that our arm (the Local Arm) is not really much different from our neighboring arms, the Perseus Arm and the Sagittarius Arm.  So, yay?

Given that we’re not even sure how many hundreds of billions (200 – 400) of stars there are in the Milky Way, it’s very difficult to get a clear picture of what our galaxy actually looks like.  We know what other galaxies look like because we can see them in their entirety.  The Milky Way, not so much.  It’s like trying to get the shape of a forest by standing right in the middle of it.

Michael Douglas Is A Cunning Linguist

It’s not often that important news comes from celebrity, but this certainly qualifies.  In a recent interview, Michael Douglas talked about his recent fight with throat cancer.  He reveals that the likely cause of his throat cancer was HPV caused by cunnilingus.

Now, people will snicker, but this is actually really important as far as education goes.  Studies show that 80% of women will contract HPV by the time they are 50.  HPV can cause many, many health problems for women.  As we see from Michael Douglas, it can also cause problems for men.

All of these problems should be immaterial within a generation or two because we have a vaccine for HPV.  The CDC recommends girls get vaccinated around their teenage years, but I’d like it to be taken a step further.  Making this vaccine mandatory for both boys and girls would prevent countless pointless health problems and save many lives.

Unfortunately, America still thinks sex is icky and if people don’t want to get HPV they simply shouldn’t have sex.  They also think that giving kids the vaccine will make teenagers sex crazed lunatics who will hump anything that moves.  Newsflash, they already are.  The only thing the vaccine will do is prevent them from spreading disease.

Men only think of health problems when it affects them.  Maybe Michael Douglas’ bout with cancer will make politicians stop giving women a tongue lashing (ha!) and get on board with vaccinating this easily preventable disease.

Dan Savage And Andrew Sullivan Talk

Here is a beautiful discussion between two married gay men (not to each other) about marriage and sex.  This is Dan Savage so obviously it’s pretty NSFW.  Also, it’s Dan Savage so it’s pretty funny as well.  It is both honest and refreshing and it’s worth watching or at least listening to in full.

Why, Supreme Court, Do You Make Me Agree With Antonin Scalia?

Another Fourth Amendment loss for citizens handed down by the Supreme Court.  The case is Maryland v. King (pdf).

The gist of the case is Alonzo King was arrested for an offense.  During the arrest, they took a cheek swab without consent to get DNA evidence from him.  He was never convicted of the offense for which he was arrested.  The DNA evidence they collected, though, brought to light that he was a suspect in a rape case.  The court, in a 5-4 vote, concluded that it’s perfectly fine for police to collect DNA evidence via cheek swab because it’s a trivial violation of a person’s privacy.

Kennedy wrote the opinion and was joined by Roberts, Alito, Breyer, and Thomas.  Scalia wrote the dissent joined by Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan.  And what a forceful dissent it is.  A peek:

The Fourth Amendment forbids searching a person for evidence of a crime when there is no basis for believing the person is guilty of the crime or is in possession of incriminating evidence. That prohibition is categorical and without exception; it lies at the very heart of the Fourth Amendment. Whenever this Court has allowed a suspicionless search, it has insisted upon a justifying motive apart from the investigation of crime.

It is obvious that no such noninvestigative motive exists in this case. The Court’s assertion that DNA is being taken, not to solve crimes, but to identify those in the State’s custody, taxes the credulity of the credulous. And the Court’s comparison of Maryland’s DNA searches to other techniques, such as fingerprinting, can seem apt only to those who know no more than today’s opinion has chosen to tell them about how those DNA searches actually work.

This case makes it ok for the police to collect DNA from anyone they arrest no matter the offense.  Protest against the government, DNA swab.  Talk back to a police officer, DNA swab.  You get a DNA swab!  YOU get a DNA swab!  YOU ALL GET DNA SWABS!

Blargh.  With all the talk about Obama disobeying the Constitution and taking away our rights, no one’s paying attention to the Supreme Court which actually IS taking away our rights.

Prince Rupert’s Drop

What happens when you drip molten glass into water and then shatter the resulting glass drop?  Your awesome science video of the day happens, that’s what:

Dude.  That’s some serious science.  I’m going to have to watch the other ones as well.

Game Of Thrones Schadenfreude

(Warning: Kind of Spoilery)

Yesterday was the Red Wedding episode on Game of Thrones.  It’s the episode that every person who has read the book has been looking forward to.  Well, at least it’s the episode that every person who has read the book has been looking forward to since Ned Stark got his head lopped off:

The Red Wedding is producing similar angst.  Check out twitter.  I love how everyone is saying that they’re going to quit watching the show. They’ll be back.  They always come back.

I remember reading the Red Wedding scene the first time and having a similar reaction.  Not that I wanted to quit reading after that but just the whole thing was really a punch in the gut.  It really is one of the best scenes in all of fantasy.  I knew it was coming in the show and it was still a punch in the gut.  Especially the multiple stabbing in the gut which was not in the book that I recall.

Oh, the callus evil of Roose Bolton.  I love how he actually teases Catelyn with what is about to come.  And Walder Frey.  It wasn’t really clear in the show, but the taking of food and salt upon entrance to a man’s home is sacred.  It means no harm will come of you as long as you are under their roof.  Your mortal enemy will not harm you if you partake of this ceremony at his gate.  Walder Frey betrayed that.  And he did it beautifully.

And the bloodshed has just begun…

Movie Review: The Hangover 3

Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.

Jean-Paul’s rating: 2/5 stars

No hangovers where had in the making of this movie.

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Bye Bye Bachmann

(Sung to the tune of “Bye Bye Birdie”)

Bye-bye Bachmann. No one's gonna miss you, go.
Bye-bye Bachmann. Your mind is awful slow.
Still more crazies. I hope they'll follow you away.
I'll cry Bachmann, if you decide to stay.
I hate the way you rile,
inflicting religious misery.
Gay marriage gave you a fright,
While the rest of us scream, "Whoopie!"
Bye-bye Bachmann. It's awful nice to hear.
Bye-bye Bachmann. Don't let the door hit your rear!
Don't let it hit your reeeaaaar!
Don't let it hit your rear!


For you uncultured fools who do not get the reference:

Book Review: Stonemouth By Iain Banks

Jean-Paul’s rating: 3/5 stars

A glossary of Scottish slang is necessary to read this book.   I highly recommend reading the e-book version of this book if you decide to read it.  Those, like me, who are not familiar with Scottish slang will be very thankful for the dictionary included with most e-readers.

This is my first exposure to Iain Banks.  I think I heard of him through reading Paul Krugman’s blog and decided to give one of his books a shot.  The only one available via e-book from the library was “Stonemouth” so I read it.

Stuart Gilmore is returning to his hometown of Stonemouth to attend a funeral after being run out of town by a mob family for an unnamed indiscretion five years ago.  The book follow his journey back and introduces us to the strange workings of a two-mob harbor town.  The Murstons, whom Stuart had pissed off, have given him permission to come back for the funeral.  Barely.  Some of the Murstons are more forgiving than others and there is a bit of a power struggle going on in their organization.  Poor Stuart.

The meat of the book is the reveal of the unnamed indiscretion and the continued fallout from said indiscretion.  It is revealed through flashbacks and reunions with friends.  The book flows really well from scene to scene.  There is a real sense that this is exactly how a reunion/funeral visit would look like for someone who had been gone for five year.  Well, without the whole mob family being pissed at you part.  But every book needs a bit of conflict, right?

This is a very solid book.  The characters are interesting and real.  The flashbacks do a good job of fleshing out the motives of the characters.  The slow reveal of the unnamed indiscretion committed by Stuart works really well.  The only real flaw is with the plot.  It’s just a little too simple and it leads to a conclusion that, while satisfying, isn’t really something you’d normally write a book about.  If you think of “Stonemouth” as a character study, you will likely enjoy it.

Movie Review: Star Trek: Into Darkness

Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.

Jean-Paul’s rating: 4/5 stars

J.J. ABRAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMSSSSSSSSSSSS!

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