Justice and foolishness

From a Yahoo! News story: “GENEVA – When launched to great fanfare nearly a year ago, some feared the Large Hadron Collider would create a black hole that would suck in the world. It turns out the Hadron may be the black hole. The world's largest scientific machine has cost $10 billion, has worked only nine days and has yet to smash an atom. The unique equipment in a 17-mile (27-kilometer) circular tunnel with cathedral-sized detectors deep beneath the Swiss-French border has been assembled by specialists in many countries, with 8,970 physicists eagerly awaiting the startup. But despite the expense, thousands of physicists around the world, many of whom hope to conduct experiments here, insist that it will work and that it is crucial to mankind's understanding of the universe.” Thomas Huxley said: "You have no notion of the intrigue that goes on in this blessed world of science. Science is, I fear, no purer than any other region of human activity; though it should be." I say, who needs to understand the universe when we so critically need to understand why the world is so unevenly just and unevenly comfortable – too few rich, too many poor, too few healthy, too many sick, too few free, too many oppressed, too few secure, too many afraid. Please. Study that.

Bias in Science???

From a Yahoo! News story: “A new review of studies finds 29 percent of cancer research published in high-profile journals had disclosed a conflict of interest. While it's a good thing that the conflicts were disclosed, the review also found conflicts affect the research outcomes. The results, announced today, will be published June 15 in the journal Cancer. The findings add to a mountain of evidence suggesting you should be skeptical of health and medical advice.” Really??? This comes as no surprise – there is so much self-serving stuff out there one cannot keep up with all the posturing and pretense and hypocrisy. Good luck.

Scandalous

From a Yahoo! News story: “PRETORIA, South Africa – Jacob Zuma became president of Africa's economic powerhouse Saturday, vowing to work to fulfill the dreams of all South Africans after he overcame corruption and sex scandals to reach the nation's highest office. Zuma, 67, is a former guerrilla fighter and intelligence chief of the African National Congress who has since survived corruption and sex scandals and an internal power struggle within his party. Tens of thousands had broken into spontaneous song when Zuma arrived, beaming, accompanied by his senior wife, Sizakele Khumalo. Zuma's unabashed polygamy has raised questions about which of his three current wives may act as first lady. On Saturday, all three were reported present but only Khumalo accompanied him to the stage.”

There is nothing new here. It just seems like high political office and scandal go together, whether in Russia, France, Pakistan, Japan, the U.S., Mexico, Italy, Afghanistan, China, Germany, Guatemala, Brazil, and even tiny, little Switzerland. The scandals either have to do with money or sex. Always. So, what else is new? Please.