Don’t criticize corporations or YOU’RE OFF THE AIR!

Check out this piece on Huffpo, "Air America's ABC Blacklist," co-written by Josh Silver (Executive Director of Free Press) and Robert McChesney (co-founder of Free Press) This week 90 major corporations demanded that their ads be pulled from radio stations that run Air America programming, "demonstrating the fundamental challenge facing everyone…

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Abstain from abstinence for your own good. Having sex keeps you healthy.

Trying to have a baby is one important reason to have sex. There are other important reasons to have sex regularly, according to this article in Forbes: "Is Sex Necessary?" Refer to this article whenever someone preaches to you that the only proper reason to have sex is to have babies. The article is based on a study that correlated overall health with sexual frequency:

Queens University in Belfast tracked the mortality of about 1,000 middle-aged men over the course of a decade. The study was designed to compare persons of comparable circumstances, age and health. Its findings, published in 1997 in the British Medical Journal, were that men who reported the highest frequency of orgasm enjoyed a death rate half that of the laggards.
Here are some of the health benefits to having sex on a regular basis:
  • Reduced risk of heart disease
  • Weight loss, overall fitness
  • Reduced depression
  • Pain relief
  • Less frequent colds and flu
  • Better bladder control
  • Better Teeth (go read the article)
  • Keeps prostate healthy (I've heard this from my own doctor)
Humans also use sex to bond with each other, shown by the fact that humans are "unusual in our continuous practice of sex, which is a direct consequence of our concealed ovulations." Whenever someone preaches that using sex to maintain social bonds is "unnatural," feel free to remind them that humans aren't the only primate to use sex to bond. Check out the behavior of our cousins, the bonobos.

Continue ReadingAbstain from abstinence for your own good. Having sex keeps you healthy.

Bush has urgent secret mission for progressive Democrats

The Onion is at it again.   "This mission is absolutely vital, for the next week to 10 days will determine the future of our country," said Bush, who would not reveal what the operation entailed, only to say that it was "highly classified." Worth a look and a laugh.

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Bush criticizes Kerry for not talking good

Hey, I know the headline isn't grammatical!  It was to get your attention regarding this post by Bob Cesca on Huffpo.   Cesca makes the point that "Bring em on!" cost who-knows-how-many deaths, while Kerry's recent gaffe was but a gaffe.  It must be surreal to be criticized by a speaker…

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What do you say to someone who prefers that real children die so that stem cells can live? Notes on Proposed Missouri Amendment 2

An evangelical acquaintance recently wrote me a letter arguing that the pro-stem cell research proposal (Missouri Amendment 2) A) is geared to financially enrich its sponsors, B) that it will invite reproductive cloning and C) that poor women will result in poor women selling their eggs.  She urged me to oppose the Amendment and oppose various promising forms of stem cell research. 

For information on the proposed amendment, see here. 

Even before receiving this letter, I knew that my acquaintance believed that a one-minute old fertilized human egg in a Petri dish is a baby that deserved full legal protection and priority over the children with horrible illnesses who occupy hospital beds. My acquaintance indicated that she was part of an organized effort to defeat Missouri Amendment 2. 

I am not thrilled with my response (see below), but I couldn’t think of anything better.  If anyone has any ideas as to a more effective way to deal with those who oppose stem cell research on religious grounds, I’m all ears.

Dear [Acquaintance]

I realize that you feel hurt and attacked by my previous email.  In this e-mail, I will attempt to put our recent exchange of e-mail in perspective.

The technology for making insulin is currently based on recombinant DNA techniques; the human gene which codes for the insulin protein is cloned and then inserted in bacteria.  I want you to assume for a moment, though, that my religion holds that both the cloning of genes and recombinant DNA …

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