Those interested in the recent media hubbub about the Catholic Church’s stance regarding condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS should give the following a read:
American Papist:
Where the condom controversy currently stands
Cardinal Martini roundup
Michael Liccione (Sacramentum Vitae):
Why the condom debate is big for the Church
The Catholic condom debate II
Jimmy Akin:
Condoms & HIV/AIDS
Contraception & Extra-Marital Sex
Here’s an interesting exchange between Peter (aka Theomorph) and a commenter about the efficacy of intercessory prayer.
“I still think that so long as anyone believes in the same God who made an appearance in the book of Job, the idea of prayer getting a person what he or she wants is theologically unsound. If I may paraphrase in the vernacular, God basically told Job, ‘Don’t f*** with me; I do what I want and you can’t stop me.'”
Prayer might not aid healing, but apparently regular church attendance increases life expectancy. I’m sure tomorrow there’ll be new studies with opposite findings to both. *rolls eyes*
Hot off the presses: a stem cell paper connected to the disgraced Hwang laboratory in South Korea has been just retracted for misleading use of photos that were claimed to be of different stem cells, but were actually the same (doctored) photograph.
The NY Times had a good article a few months ago on spotting doctored photos; Adobe Photoshop is a very useful tool in laboratory work so you can zoom in on areas of interest or clear up some noise. Astronomers also alter the color scales so X-Ray photographs, for instance, correspond to our visible spectrum (you’ll see how some beautiful photos of astronomical objects are called "false color"–this is an example).
Alas, these powerful programs can also be used for cheating.
![[obesity.jpg]](http://alesrarus.funkydung.com/images/obesity.jpg "Americans are too fat!")
I’m with Peter. Americans need to wake up and stop telling people being fat is OK. We’re not talking about making everyone Calista Flockhart or Laura Flynn Boyle (I can’t think of any famous men with eating disorders at the moment.), so you can relax, Ms. Wann. There’s a difference between being fatter or larger than average and being obese. Obesity is unhealthy. People need to learn that and start exercising and eating healthier foods. Not only are you hurting yourselves and your families, you’re burdening the whole country by raising our insurance rates.
In case you’re wondering, I too battle obesity. I’m 5’8″ and a couple of years ago I peaked at 205 lbs. That’s not morbidly obese, but when you factor in my body fat percentage, you could certainly say I was headed down a dangerous road. Today, I am about 180 lbs. I still have some fat to lose and muscle to gain, but I’m heading in the right direction. My diet is not perfect but it’s much better than it was in college. I’m also running 4 times a week. Obesity runs through my genes (from my mom’s family), so I have to stay vigilant and determined. Anyhow, I just wanted you folks to know that I’m not some perpetually skinny person judging people in situations I’m not familiar with.
Now, put down those potato chips, get up from your computer, and move your bovine behind! 😉