maynard's Diaries
Print Story On the Lancet Iraqi Civillian Casualty Report
Diary
By maynard (Wed Nov 08, 2006 at 03:42:46 PM EST) (all tags)
I am astonished by last weeks report on This American Life. What is usually a glib and somewhat humorous take on everyday life in America was, last week, one of the best takes on the Lancet study on Iraqi casualties available. Please listen, it might just break your heart:

http://audio.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/320.mp3


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Print Story Surprise!
Diary
By maynard (Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 02:25:35 PM EST) (all tags)
This morning I walked into work at the usual time, grabbed a coffee, and sat down to log in and check email. Then my boss entered my office and closed the door...

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Print Story four year old girl begins puberty
Diary
By maynard (Fri Oct 27, 2006 at 12:07:24 PM EST) (all tags)
ABC News has an article about a four year old girl who began puberty due to an undiagnosed thyroid condition. Upon being treated, her symptoms disappeared and she is (fortunately) growing up to be a normal little girl.

The ever accurate wikipedia has a link on the subject: Precocious puberty. And in news of the really weird, there is a link in that article to the youngest girl ever to give birth: Lina Medina, who gave birth by caesarean section in 1939 at the age of five.

Blech.


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Print Story Partial transcript of the ACLU Strossen / Scalia debate
Diary
By maynard (Thu Oct 26, 2006 at 10:24:19 AM EST) (all tags)
About two weeks back, the ACLU hosted a one hour long televised debate between ACLU president Nadine Strossen and Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. C-SPAN has posted a podcast of the debate, however, unfortunately, no written transcript is available. I've hand transcribed about fifteen minutes of the program for my own project, and thought there might be some members who would appreciate the posting of it here. Transcript is below the fold:

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Print Story Fiasco
Diary
By maynard (Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 04:45:52 PM EST) (all tags)
Here in USian land there's a one hour public radio program called This American Life. It's a humorous look at everyday occurrences stitched together into several related fifteen or twenty segments per week.

Last week the program was about Fiascoes. There were four stories, the most notable being one about a 1970s local playhouse rendition of Peter Pan that went terribly, horribly, wrong. Listen here and enjoy the wonder of American public radio.

Well, I had my own fiasco today.... 


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Print Story 'Nuclear Renaissance': 29 New US Nuclear Power Plant License Permits Sought
Dale Klein, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), was interviewed on C-SPAN's Newsmakers this last Sunday on October 22nd, 2006. Regarding twenty nine recent pending license requests for the construction of new nuclear power plants in the US, he stated that there will be a nuclear renaissance in the United States:

"I do believe that we will see license applications in 2007 and we are looking - we have expressions of intent from a lot of the utilities indicating up - as I said, up to about 29 new nuclear plants.  So I believe that there will be a [nuclear] renaissance in the United States."

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Print Story Is anyone stupid enough to let in a trojan horse?
Diary
By maynard (Sun Oct 22, 2006 at 11:32:27 AM EST) (all tags)
I'm sure everyone's already seen this, but it made me laugh so here goes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChBKqcRpmDs


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Print Story Nicaragua announces plan to build new Altantic-Pacific canal route
Diary
By maynard (Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 07:58:02 AM EST) (all tags)
The BBC reports that Nicaragua has announced plans to dig a new canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, in competition with the nearly one hundred year old Panama Canal. According to the report, if built, the new canal would cost roughly $18B, take 12 years to construct, and would carry so-called "super-ships," or ships "...up to 250,000 tonnes."

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Print Story Nurse With Wound, live, San Fran
Diary
By maynard (Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 05:53:12 PM EST) (all tags)

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Print Story Supergrass, MacBook, Ambien
Diary
By maynard (Wed Sep 20, 2006 at 06:49:57 AM EST) (all tags)
Wherein I discuss in no rational order the topics: my enjoyment of Road to Ruen by Supergrass, My new MacBook, and taking Ambien for insomnia.

(15 comments, 390 words in story) Full Story

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