Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 6.5
- Adults cause teen sex problems – Interesting article on teen sex education in Canada. From SicPreFix.
- Gingi Edmonds on Dr Tiller’s murder – Worth it for the description of America’s anti-abortion lunatics alone. Lots of other great stuff at the Merseyside Skeptics site, too.Â
- Boy chosen by Dalai Lama turns back on Buddhist order – “Instead of leading a monastic life, Osel Hita Torres now sports baggy trousers and long hair, and is more likely to quote Jimi Hendrix than Buddha.” From biblioquetress.
- My brief life as a woman - In which a man experiences menopause. Guess what? Hot flashes suck no matter what your gender is. From Emory.
- “Lake Monster” caught on film at Lake Champlain
- Too cute to not be a part of Cute Animal Friday: Scientists tickle apes to find origins of human laughter. Thanks to everyone who sent that in. Take a look at these sweet little wildkittens. And then there’s this baby pygmy marmoset who’s only as big as a finger.
Not “Champie” again. Jeez. :-D
You have to love the “scientific” term “cryptozoology,” though.
Yay! Thanks very much Skepchicks, the Merseyside Skeptics Society appreciates the shout-out!
@Marsh: We’re easily bought with promises of “Liverpudlian love and affection.” :)
@Amanda: What can I say, a little alliteration goes a long way!
Hey… never posted before, but I love this blog!
I just wanted to point out that the boy was chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a spiritual leader. The next Dalai Lama won’t be chosen until after the current Dalai Lama dies.
Still feel bad for him though…
Not sure what it is either, but “a swimming mammal of some kind” seems likely. It’s hardly a monster though. If you want to see a real monster come down to the Potomac River sometime! We’ve got snakehead fish! According to the Sci-Fi channel movie “Snakehead Terror“, snakeheads can punch a hole through the bottom of a speed boat! Also, they growl before they eat you… sigh.
I also have to say that I feel bad for the guy who played Babylon 5’s Captain John Sheridan. He must really be slumming these days if he’s starring in Sci-Fi original movies.
I could have sworn the Dali Lama thing was a Mr. Show sketch.
@baiskeptic: Well that makes a lot more sense. I screwed up the preposition and completely confused myself.
The wild kitties are so cute!!! :)
And I always thought our prudish attitude towards sex was messing up our kids.
When I first started the video, my first thought was “Otter.” An earlier SGU mentioned that lake monsters are most frequently cited in lakes that have otters in them.
Also note that the video is right at sunset, so the length of the animal may be exaggerated by its shadow.
Dammit. Sighted, not cited. Although it would be awesome if lake monsters were frequently cited.
@baiskeptic: Feel bad for the boy, or the Dalai Lama?
I feel bad for the boy.
If I ever write a scientific paper, I’ll write it in a lake with otters, and cite a lake monster.
Here’s something on Operation Rescue’s involvement with Dr. Tiller’s murder and what the FBI didn’t do (via PZ):
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/06/dereliction_of_duty.php
The lake monster looks like an elk or a caribou swimming – the short face and really small ears (unlike a deer or moose). Though, I guess there aren’t any caribou around Lake Champlain, so maybe elk? Are there elk there?
Also, that article about the man experiencing menopause really squicked me out. I think he means well – hey, when they have these hormonal swings they really do suck, they’re not just whining! – but on balance, I just kinda felt like, oh great, another article about women and their craaaaaazzy hormones that make them crrraaaazy! And gluttonous fatsos! This was like an homage to the fucked up horror of being a woman, so hey, go easy on them guys.
I mean, I have yet to hear a man actually doubt the reality of the hormonal symptoms (at least, no man who has actually lived with pregnant or PMSing woman). The problem has always been convincing them that, while yes, most women do experience these extreme hormonal swings at some point, whether nearly every month with PMS, or at some point during pregnancy or menopause, we’re not like that the rest of the time . Whenever I express a thought a man doesn’t like and he rolls his eyes and says “Rrraarr, PMS”, it’s not because he thinks I’m lying about having PMS (I actually don’t experience it – yay for the Pill!), it’s because he thinks I’m obviously too chock-full of disgusting female irrationality and overblown emotion to be capable of a valid thought (yes, I’m bitter, my dad and step-dad are big fans of explaining that their opinions are true because they’re based on logic, and mine are untrue because they’re based on emotion. The definition of emotion being, of course, “woman thought” and definition of logic being “man thought”.)
@SaraDee: After being married for 30 years and raising two daughters, I’m certain about the hormonal swings. I also understand the timing and that much of the time, that’s not a problem.
I hate the “women’s thought” crap. One thing most people need to learn to do is listen. Most people can hear, but fewer can listen. Listening is hard work – so hard that I took a three credit course in college on how to do it effectively.
And by the way, as a man hitting midlife, I can assure you that I’m getting a close, personal look at hormonal shifts and personality/mood swings. If I didn’t sympathize before, I certainly do now…
@SaraDee: Looking at the range maps on wikipedia its almost more likely to have Caribous in the Lake Camplain area, Northern New York / Western Vermont / Southern Quebec. Thought the lake isn’t in their range either, just much more close.
@marilove: Yeah, I meant I feel sorry for the boy. After all, I’m not positive of this, but I bet all of the reincarnated souls he hung out with were men… That must have really sucked.