Mailing List Articles
These articles were sent out on my mailing list and usually relate to science or politics. Most are not written by me, although there are a few forum threads that are original. Not all of the text has been properly formatted yet either...- Mike
2/6/2001 - Profiting
Off of Environmentalism
Around the world, increasingly popular ecotourism is tying a profit incentive
to the preservation of fragile ecosystems.
1/11/2001 - Alternative
Medicine vs. Science commentary
Here are some interesting and thoughtful commentaries on Michael Shermer's Op-Ed
piece in the Toronto Globe
1/11/2001 - Return
to charity; rediscover community
The authors applaud Americans' commitment to charity but argue
that in order for charity to really work, we must remove
government from the equation.
1/11/2001 - Genetically
Modified Food 'Scare'
Misinformation about genetically modified foods has plagued the press and contaminated
public opinion, but informed scientists aren't flinching. Consumption of GM
foods like Starlink corn is not risky
1/11/2001 - Riding a Bike in Miami with no bell, you may go to jail
1/4/2001 - Michael
Shermer Appears on Politically Incorrect
with Victoria Jackson, Julia Sweeney, and Aaron Neville. Here is the Transcript
1/3/2001 - Your Buttocks
can tell the future
Clairvoyant claims she can tell your future with your buttocks.
1/3/2001 - America's most dangerous politician ---------- by Michael W. Lynch New Mexico's feisty Gov. Gary Johnson details his opposition to the war on drugs, battle for school vouchers and belief that the government only "needs to ensure that no one is harmful to anyone else."
1/3/2001 - Review:
'Traffic': Teeming mural of a war fought and lost
"'Traffic' is a tragic cinematic mural of a war being fought and lost.
... [T]he ultimate culprit, the movie implies, is human nature. Waging a war
against drugs isn't just a matter of combating corruption but of eradicating
the basic human desire to 'take the edge off.'"
1/3/2001 - Snowmen:
symbols of patriarchal gender bias?
According to new research conducted by Birmingham University academic Tricia
Cusack, snowmen reinforce traditional gender stereotypes and patriarchy by reflecting
men in prominent, public roles and women in private, domestic situations
1/3/2001 - Cop fired for
searching bikini-clad 16-year-old
Patrolman Van Nelson was fired for allegedly searching a bikini-clad 16-year-old
girl in the back of his vehicle
12/22/2000 - History of the Universe in 200 words
12/18/2000 - Youthful
Metro snackers get a break
In the wake of an uproar over the arrest of a 12-year-old girl for eating french
fries on the subway, Washington, D.C.'s police are backing off their policy
of handcuffs and detention for such transgressions.
12/15/2000 - Conversations
on God part 2
Continuation on the Forum Discussion of God and Life and Science
12/15/2000 - The Truth
About Erin Brockovich
It's a titillating story about toxic torts, no question. But the movie and the
real-life drama behind it contain about as much scientific credibility as Leo
DiCaprio's global warming crib notes.
12/15/2000 - Questions Arise from Scientific Claims in Film Erin Brockovich
12/15/2000 - Brokovich
film spreads fear of 'toxin' to leary California Valley residents
No one tastes it, smells it or even knows how much to fear it, but a toxic chemical
just featured in a popular movie has the San Fernando Valley racked with worry
that its tap water has become the latest victim of Southern California's endless
battle with pollution.
12/15/2000 - All
About Erin Brokovich
Heroine of screen and courtroom Erin Brockovich deserves a prize, all right.
But not for what you think.
12/15/2000 - Arizona's
Alternative Fuel Incentives Backfire
After $200 Million Mistake, State Reneges on Promise of Tax Credits to Buyers
of Altered Vehicles
12/14/2000 - Nature Good,
Humans Bad
Too many people today abide by a simple-minded equation: nature is good, humans
are bad. But there's nothing unnatural about manipulating the environment --
animals do it all the time.
12/14/2000 - Albright
College seizes copies of student newspaper
Albright College officials cited spurious copyright concerns in seizing 1,000
copies of the campus newspaper to suppress an inconvenient front-page article.
They were later returned.
12/13/2000 - Playboy
interview: Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico
The controversial governor of New Mexico discusses his drug-legalization proposals,
term limits, gun rights and his pride in being called a libertarian.
12/11/2000 - Man may have
been killed by alternative medicine treatment.
Death tied to cancer compound Questions raised on alternative therapy sold over
the Internet
12/11/2000 - Golden Rice
held hostage by Anti-science activists
Where's the golden rice? A lifesaving grain is being held hostage by anti-science
activists
12/8/2000 - Conversations
of God (part 1)
Lengthy forum Discussion of God and life and science.
12/8/2000 - Magnetic
Therapy: Fact or Fiction
Is it the magnets or wishful thinking that is helping? Although magnets have
been used for thousands of years for pain relief, neither I nor medical science
can as yet be certain that the magnets are actually responsible for alleviating
my symptoms or anyone else's symptoms.
12/8/2000 - We need biotech
to feed the world
Feeding the projected 8.3 billion people in 2025 "cannot be attained without
permitting the use of technologies now available, or without research to further
improve and utilize new technologies, including biotechnology and recombinant
DNA"
12/7/2000 - Michael Shermer to appear on Politically Incorrect
12/7/2000 - Superconducting
Tape by the Kilometer
Researches at Los Alamos National Labratories are working to perfect a method
that will allow cheap massive scale manufacturing of YBCO tape.
12/6/2000 - The World Bank working to end global poverty
12/5/2000 - Water Rockets
are Go
Utilizing deep sea water pressure to make access to space cheaper.
12/5/2000 - The word
'naughty' is banned from the nursery
In Britain, nursery staff are being banned from calling children
'naughty' or 'bad'
8/14/2000 - The rich are getting richer, but so are the poor