“Twenty percent of the Netherlands annual deaths are due to doctor intervention.”¹

As an introductory side-node, it is interesting that I found this article not via any of the intelligent-design sites I read, but via slashdot.

Anyway, the article says that a group of scientists have found that we need to “[rethink] how geologists interpret varations in the ¹³C/¹²C ratio throughout Earth’s History.”¹ Or in other words, we really do not know how old anything that has been carbon-dated is.

As of the 28th, I will be working with CACI, the 25th is my last day with Accelerated. Let the countdown begin! I submitted my two weeks notice yesterday. While I felt some for Dan, as Eric submitted his the day before, the overwhelming emotion is excitement (about the new job) and relief (no more Danish days).

Thank you for taking the Creativity Test. The results show your brain dominance as being:<br/> <br/> Left Brain Right Brain<br/> 48% 52%<br/> <br/> You are more right-brained than left-brained. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. In addition to being known as right-brained, you are also known as a creative thinker who uses feeling and intuition to gather information. You retain this information through the use of images and patterns. You are able to visualize the “whole” picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the “whole” picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. You probably find it easy to express yourself using art, dance, or music. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist.<br/>

Your complete evaluation follows below: Your left brain/right brain percentage was calculated by combining the individual scores of each half’s sub-categories. They are as follows:<br/> <br/> Your Left Brain Percentages<br/> 34% Symbolic (Your most dominant characteristic)<br/> 27% Reality-based<br/> 22% Sequential<br/> 21% Logical<br/> 16% Linear<br/> 7% Verbal (Your least dominant characteristic)<br/> <br/> Your Right Brain Percentages<br/> 38% Nonverbal (Your most dominant characteristic)<br/> 32% Fantasy-oriented<br/> 20% Intuitive<br/> 18% Holistic<br/> 10% Concrete<br/> 6% Random (Your least dominant characteristic)<br/> ¹

Even though this quiz has been deemed entirely unscientific,^[1] it still managed to peg the fact that much of my family, and thus presumably my speech, comes from the north. I am not sure where it got the 5%Upper Midwestern from. I myself noted flaws in 3 questions, notably #10 where there was no correct answer for me, I had never heard of any of the three phrases. On a side note, I was visiting an aunt of mine on the eastern shore this weekend. She and my uncle retired there, but grew up and worked in the DC area. Her “Warshington” is much more pronounced than mine is.

It is ironic in a way that after seemingly winning the cold war, we should be watching Europe follow Russia down the drains, and be looking at following that path ourselves. Several times now I have posted about the declining population in Europe, which is able to remain afloat only by virtue of immigration. Today, reading TheFactIs, I learn that in Russia the problem is much the same, except, if possible, even more urgent.^[1]

There are more babies dieing from abortion in Russia than are being born, 1.7 killed for each live birth. As a result, for every 10 live births, 16 Russians die. Imagine, even if 0.7 of those 1.7 babies killed were still to die, then Russia would yet have a growing population.

Certainly a climate of fear and uncertainty likely has something to do with the number of abortions, and thus the mainstream press (as reported by the TheFactIs article) is accidentally right in pointing to this as the cause of declining population. Yet still, I must protest that a return to socialism, as is apparently advocated by the mainstream press, cannot be the answer.

It certainly is not the case that socialism would solve the employment problem. While it might create job security for the few who find employment, the example of France and other countries that remain highly socialist show us that there would remain a great deal of unemployment, and thus the fear that the press blames would continue unabated. The problem here is not truly a problem of security, it is a problem of oportunity. With the security of private property, a right to the produce of their work, then only security from crime would stand between the Russian people and the solution to their problems. The small shop, the family farm, the man who happens to have a gift for this or that, these would provide the basis for the economy, these would provide the assurance that tomorrow’s needs would be met.

1. Mr. Douglas Sylva. “To Russia, With Love” TheFactIs. viewed 2006-05-16. http://www.thefactis.org/default.aspx?control=ArticleMaster&aid=1537&authid=9

I am quite frankly amazed at how much Realm Systems, Inc. claims to have fit in their BlackDog&tm; usb stick computer.[1] If it works as advertised, this is the sort of thing Vincas might well be interested in.

[1] BlackDog&tm; product description page, © 2005 Realm Systems, Inc. http://www.projectblackdog.com/site/product.html

Mrs. Michelle Malkin has posted her take on the autopsy report that was just released concerning Mrs. Schiavo.[1] Unlike most of the media accounts, this coverage provides an unpolemical synopsis. I recommend reading it if you have heard any of the main stream media stories.

[1] http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002756.htm

New Jersey has stepped back from the disaster of judicial activism for now, as its Appellate Court chose not to invent a “right” to homosexual “marriage.”[1] I notice this is not in any of the main stream news services. ☺

[1] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=4148

Mr. Chuck Colson is aware of some of the research behind something I have been saying for some time: homosexuality is a disease.[1] In the face of John Hopkins University’s decision to offer sex change operations in the 1970s, Mr. Paul McHugh, a psychiatrist, attempted to redeem his profession by questioning the wisdom of this operation. He found that the operation, while not regretted, did nothing to help with the varied mental problems that led to the request. He concluded “that Hopkins was fundamentally cooperating with a mental illness.”[1] He also studied the cases of baby boys who had been made to appear physically as girls when born with “ambiguous genitals.”[1] Such children did not grow up as happy well adjusted girls, but “endured ‘prolonged distress and misery.’ When they discovered their true genetic heritage, most of them began to live as males.”[1]

This does not directly counter the beetle research I posted about a while back, but it does demonstrate that there are fundamental differences between boys and girls, and that homosexuality can, in at least some cases, be cured.

[1] http://www.townhall.com/columnists/chuckcolson/cc20050615.shtml