Science Daily: All Blue-Eyed Humans (i.e. me) have a common ancestor

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130170343.htm

W00t! I’m a genetic mutant! Now I need a good costume and some superpowers. I could try out for Who Wants to be a Superhero now.

In response to my being a mutant, my wife replied “(shrug) I knew that already.”  Heh.

Seriously though, the concept that a mutation (neither positive nor negative) links me and other blue-eyers back to a common ancestor thousands of years ago is pretty darned neat.

Wait, I’m related to Frank Sinatra! W00t again!

And if you choose to pose the understandable claim that while I AM blue-eyed, I may not be human, I expect your comment to have proper AMA references.

Father accused of using stun-gun on 18-month old. Ranty Part deux

http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2008/01/26/news/top_story/2aaa01_tourture.txt

Synopsis: In February 2007, Wittman was arrested by Albany police after using a high-voltage stun gun to shock his 18-month-old son.

WHA-WHA-WHAT?!?!? The icing is that the father is accusing the wife of using the stun gun on the child as well – so who knows, maybe both parents did this. This is absolutely rediculous, and proof that while you need a test to get a driver’s license, only working reproductive organs are required to have a child. Working BRAIN optional. This has apparently been happening for quite some time, and if the mother isn’t culpable, the child should have been removed at first sign. Hopefully he’ll end up with a new home with people that didn’t get their child-rearing advice from Nazi/Lab exploitation films.

However, this is a nice slightly-mad science tie-in.

CNN: Woman blames bullies for her 12 year old’s death (I’m getting ranty)

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/01/29/bullying.ap/index.html

Highlights (source: CNN)
# Kim Myers said bullying and ridicule drove her 12-year-old to kill himself
# Myers said teachers, students and administrators ignored warning signs
# The Myers family plans to sue the school system alleging wrongful death

While I truly empathize with the mother of this child (anyone dying that young is tragic), I feel that her wrongful death suit is an irrational response. While bullying and other negative behavior should be discouraged by schools, schools cannot completely prevent bullying, short of not permitting students any contact whatsoever. A wrongful death suit will not solve anything. If the school tries to change in response (if they don’t have to cut educational funding due to legal losses), it’ll likely be some general blanket solution that fails to fix anything, like banning dodge-ball. Considering the amount of counseling and meds, and her mother’s attitude, I might be so bold as to presume that Brandon was raised to believe he’s a victim of the bullies.

I have a problem with that mindset. I speak from personal experience that when you spend a lot of time feeling like a victim, you’re most likely a victim of your own making.

I seriously know what I’m saying. I went through quite a lot of bullying and harassment in grade school. From 2nd through 5th grade, harassing me was the “class pasttime.” I had ulcers by the time I was 13. I was in counseling, yadda yadda yadda. I didn’t figure out how to deal with it until I STOPPED taking everyone else’s advice.

Volunteer Stuff!

I know most people contribute monitarily to charities through work, church, or whatever. While that’s worthwhile (and tax deductible), I’d have to say it’s far more rewarding to contribute time in addition to – or rather than – money. It’s far more personal, and you get to see your contributions’ impact as well. The company I work for actually has a “community involvement” department, which is a very savvy move on their part. Great local PR, and it makes it easier for their workforce to get involved. It’s definitely opened up more opportunities for me, as some of the programs have busing from my building and can be done during your lunch hour. Super convenient.

Me? I have always enjoyed working with kids. When I was in 5th grade, I volunteered some of my lunch periods to help out with the kindergarten classes.  From middle school through college I’d tutor my peers and younger students in various subjects (mostly math, science, and latin). When I get the chance, I like doing science demonstrations in front of school science classes (BIG surprise). I’m trying something new this year by being a part of Project Mentor (from Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Columbus and Columbus City schools). You meet one-on-one once a week with an 8th grader. No specific agenda, just talking, playing a game, whatever. Really nothing more than giving a kid someone to chat with who will listen to them. But it’s a lot of fun. I found out that my mentee (Sean) and I ended up with a picture on the middle school website, so I thought I’d put it up in my blog.

MySpace and Child-Protection Policies. A security blanket minus the security.

Advertising Age: MySpace Dodges Age-Verification Bullet — for Now
Synopsis: MySpace isn’t required to implement age verification, and has made politicians happy with new policies, such as increasing the default age for automatically making profiles “private.”
(There are other articles online that go through the same information, this was just the most recent.)

As I read more into what these measures do, I see that they’d likely be easily circumvented. I realize MySpace is in between a rock and a hard place. I don’t blame them for trying to come up with some sort of solution to get panicky parents off their backs. My issue lies with the parents, and their expectation that “someone else” be responsible for protecting their kids. They want to keep their kids safe? Good intention. Suck it up and address it yourself.
This is politics in place of parenting. MySpace is mollifying panicked parents while politicians are trying to get re-elected. Little is actually being achieved. It’s a security blanket. It makes you feel warm, but provides no actual security.
Parents who have limited knowledge of the Internet/cyberspace feel this procedure will protect their children and keep them safe. Unfortunately, most of the proposed measures can easily be circumvented by even a moderately tech-savvy kid, or by even a greater threat – a computer-savy predator.
Most parents wouldn’t think to write/rally their senators to enact a state law that would require neighborhood children be escorted by police (on a daily basis) to prevent them from contact with criminals, right? Well, this seems to be what parents are proposing with the Internet. It’s simply impractical, illogical, ineffective, and silly. If parents want to ensure their children’s safety online there are a number of tools on the market that can monitor and/or restrict usage. Being equipped with the necessary research and knowledge you can specify the level of security to apply based on the maturity and technical skills of your child. Such ideas include positioning the computer in a well-trafficked room with the monitor facing outwards, adding a router or proxy server with a “white list” (a list of permitted websites), and/or setting up a keylogger to monitor their activity. (some keyloggers even takes screenshots.) Personally, I’d advise to go with the least invasive, but effective solution. A computer “geek” friend can be the most resourceful in this case.
It may not be a lot of fun to have to poke around in what your kids do online, but your other practical choice is to unplug the network cable. The internet is frequently thought of as an analog of the real world. Issues in the real world are frequently reproduced online. You expect to know where you kids go and what they do in the real world, how is this different? Your children need to understand that this isn’t about trusting them. It’s an issue that there are real hazards online. There is no “silver bullet” solution that MySpace (or any other social site/chatroom/Instant message network) can implement that will protect kids from being solicited online. NONE. Just like there isn’t a way for government to completely protect your children in real life. There is no replacement for parental responsibility and involvement. I’d much rather suck it up and deal with it myself, than rely on someone else to do it for me.

I’d hope the educational information MySpace proposes to present to parents drives a similar point home, but advocating “personal accountibility” can be bad PR.

Yes, this topic makes me cranky.