Don’t Assume the Worst

Skepticism has an honored place in science. But when it becomes cynicism it threatens to do damage to science and, hence, to all of us. Jonathan Adler blogs on the Volokh Conspiracy about why private funding of research doesn’t have to mean a conflict of interest.

There is no question that some researchers may be influenced by their sources of funding. Research protocols may be altered to increase the likelihood that test results please private benefactors or generate government grants. But a given study or scientist’s source of funding does not inherently taint research results. Over time, the scientific process weeds out those results that result from sloppiness or greed. Those who attack private funding of scientific and medical research have sought to don the public interest mantle, but if they are successful, we will all be worse off.

The Courts Get One Right

As reported on arstechnica, a Colorado court has ruled that third parties may not bowdlerize movies, even if they call it “sanitizing”, without the permission of the copyright holders. When I first heard radio ads for Cleanflicks I got dizzy from the simultaneous eye roll and jaw drop. I’m glad they lost this suit.

This a victory for intellectual property rights, and should have been a slam dunk on those merits alone.

I have no patience for people who alter someone else’s work. I think pan-and-scan transfers are an abomination, but re-editing someone’s film is just vandalism.

But I also have a question for the customers of these services: What are you thinking?

Are you so knee-jerk, dim-wittedly prudish as to think that just removing the nudity or swearing from “objectionable” movies automatically makes them OK? So much so that you’ll relegate your responsibility to choose your entertainment carefully to some drone in Utah? And do you really think that all movies with no nudity or swearing are fit for the whole family?

What would Cleanflicks do with a movie chock-a-block full of profanity and vulgarity, but whose plot could have been written by Focus on the Family? And what about one with no nudity or naughty words, but truly ugly ideas?

This is worse, and (ubelievably) even more stupid than letting the MPAA decide what you should see. You have a brain. Use it. And, if you can’t, how about just not watching the movie at all if you fear it’s objectionable? Surely you have better things to do.

Don’t support vandals just because you’re too lazy to make intelligent entertainment choices.

Robots at War

Blackfive posts images of EOD using a robot to destroy an IED. The robot gives his all, thus making EOD people thankful for robots.

Democrats Admit “Gun Control” is a Losing Issue

USA Today reports that someone wised up.

“When we as Democrats are trying to reach out and speak to voters in the center of the country, I don’t think that we can support gun control,” he explains. After seeing Democrats hammered at the polls for voting to regulate guns, many of his colleagues seem to agree. As a result, a number of pro-gun measures moving through Congress will most likely face little opposition, as advocates of gun control increasingly find themselves marginalized and ignored.

Well, a little. Some people are slow learners.

Gun-control proponents should avoid efforts like the assault weapons ban that were more effective at agitating gun owners than at preventing gun violence, says Daniel Webster of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. He recommends targeting unscrupulous dealers, and points to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who leads a coalition of over 50 mayors backing a crackdown on illegal gun sales. For backers of gun control, perhaps that’s a start.

Anything Nurse Bloomberg suggests is sure to be a bad idea.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

It’s that time of year again. This year’s Bulwer-Lytton winner has been announced:

Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you’ve had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean.