Heath Ledger was an adequate actor. Not great, not bad, about average for an industry that churns out boatloads of pretty new faces every year, all looking for a shot at fame and immortality.Ledger won* the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2006 for his performance in Brokeback Mountain, an ... Continue reading
Who’s in charge?
December 14, 2007 By
I suppose if you asked any of the candidates for president why he (or she) is running for office, they'd all say they want to change things.It may be the universal first cause for public service. Men and women at every level of government will tell you that they got into politics because they ... Continue reading
Depressed by jazz
November 23, 2007 By 3 Comments
I don't grok jazz.My local PBS station plays jazz at night, and I listen from time to time, hoping that my mother's asparagus theory will win out.(Certain disgusting vegetables, like asparagus, are an acquired taste, according to my mother. She claimed that if I kept choking them down, I'd ... Continue reading
The world has changed
November 21, 2007 By 2 Comments
The world has changed. It is the beginning of the end of the controversy that has surrounded this field. Over time, these [induced] cells will be used in more and more labs. And human embryo stem cell research will be abandoned by more and more labs. — James Thomson, University of Wisconsin ... Continue reading
Lost in a moral fog, Part 2
November 16, 2007 By Leave a Comment
Back in the early Pleistocene era when I was a lad, road crews would mark out construction zones with bowling-ball sized canisters filled with kerosene and topped by a large wick. When lit with a match, they would burn all night long, warning motorists away from broken pavement.I grew up with ... Continue reading
Lost in a moral fog, Part 1
November 14, 2007 By Leave a Comment
Capt. John Cota is a veteran pilot with years of experience guiding giant ships in and out of San Francisco Bay. On the morning of November 7 in dense fog, he was on the bridge of the 65,000 ton container ship Cosco Busan instructing the ship's captain and helmsman so they could safely navigate ... Continue reading
IVF and the ethical dilemmas of infertility
November 10, 2007 By 48 Comments
Justin and Heidi Dierking started trying to have children within months after they were married in 2004. At 32, Heidi married late (typical of many modern women) and knew that her body was in the late stages of its reproductive capabilities.Still childless two years later, the Dierkings began ... Continue reading
Discovering character in the Amazon
October 27, 2007 By 3 Comments
In 1912, former president Theodore Roosevelt — having lost a third-party run at a third presidential term, thus making himself a pariah for throwing the election to the Democrats — felt cast aside by history at a time when he still felt destined to accomplish more.An invitation to give a series ... Continue reading
