Scott Adams: Sick, Not Nuts

Scott Adams has a great mini-essay on his recent medical adventure, involving his inability to speak in some situations; it's an interesting mix of humor and horror; perhaps it could be transmogrified into an episode of House. Once he'd done the research to determine his likely (but very rare) ailment:

Now all I had to do was convince my doctor(s) that I wasn't nuts and that I had a very rare condition. As you might imagine, when you tell a doctor that you think you have a very rare condition, that doctor will tell you that it's very unlikely. Your first impulse might be to point out that "very rare" is a lot like "very unlikely," but you don't do that, because doctors have wide latitude in deciding which of your orifices they will use for various medical apparati. So you go with the protocol which involves systematically eliminating all the things that are more likely.
I have some medical woes common to guys of a Certain Age: a minor melanoma; cholesterol, weight, and blood pressure all higher than they should be. Reading Scott's essay made me grateful that they are relatively common; at least I don't have to convince the doctors that I have them.

Last Modified 2006-03-13 9:47 AM EDT

UNH Relatively Safe from Dangerous Profs

David Horowitz has recently written a book entitled The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Acadmics in America. There's an associated website (non-functional as I type, but you may have better luck.)

Now (sorry, David), I'm mainly interested in one thing about the book: did anyone from UNH make the list? And I hadn't been able to find the list until today: graciously, WitNit has done the compilation.

And the answer is… no, apparently nobody from UNH is there. Rats. I thought Marc Herold would have had a shot.

And … nobody from Harvard. Nobody from Harvard? I think this is rigged.

Good Movies You'll Never See

Eric Raymond proposes eight movies that Hollywood would make "if it were really brave". (Hence the title of this post.)

I'd probably be in line for the first-night premiere of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, one of Eric's ideas. Eric suggests Nicolas Cage for Manny, Mira Sorvino for Wyoming Knott. I'll chime in with Robin Williams for the voice of Mike. (Sorry if that would drive you crazy.)

Crystal Wosik Should Run For (Even) Higher Office

A recent American Spectator article by Max Schulz discusses Crystal Wosik, the current Miss Nevada. This position put her in the running for Miss America; that competition was held in Ms. Wosik's home of Las Vegas.

The competition involves an interview with judges; Ms. Wosik's interview was not televised, but she was asked her opinion about the plan to store radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles from Las Vegas.

She said, reportedly, "It has to go someplace, and that was the best-built facility in the country."

Apparently the judges then asked, well, what if people die as a result?

Now, she could have retreated into simple-minded responses: hem and haw, and say, well that would be bad for children, butterflies, and flowers, sure hope that doesn't happen. You know: Miss America stuff.

She could have also pointed out that the probability of that happening is roughly comparable to that of an alien attack against Area 51. She could have pointed out that it's far more hazardous to not have a facility for radioactive waste storage.

She could have also asked whether the judges were asking what-if-people-die followups to all the contestants' views on public policy issues. ("So, Miss Minnesota, you're in favor of mandatory aluminum recycling? What if people die?")

But instead she granted the premise, didn't complain, didn't retreat into happy-talk, and (reportedly) said: "We just have to take one for the team."

Crystal didn't win anything at the pageant, except a place in the heart of all admirers of courage and straight talk. (And apparently, she's now getting threats from the usual group of knuckle-draggers.) She should forego the beauty pageant stuff and go into politics.