Month: April 2012

The US military is developing virtual therapy for its veterans:

Wired reports on the new project:

SIM Sensei won’t replace human clinicians. Instead, it’ll supplement them, and help military clinics prioritize which patients need care most acutely, and which can wait to see a flesh-and-blood doctor. If a soldier talking to the SIM exhibits minor symptoms, the Sensei might help him or her schedule an appointment to see a human therapist in two weeks’ time. But if the Sensei detects "red flags" in an individual’s behavior — vocal patterns that signal depression, for example — the SIM could schedule that patient to see a doctor immediately.

Jesse Walker is creeped out:

I suspect this will have all the therapeutic, stress-reducing effects of encountering an automated operator on the phone.

Yep:

"There’s a condescending attitude that gay entertainment has to involve drag shows or men being effeminate," says Brent Sullivan, a New York-based comedian. "I did a show in Chelsea the other day where there was this screaming queen who did a lot better than I did. Even homophobes could enjoy that because you are putting yourself into this box that they’ve created for you. But I think we haven’t challenged the gay-friendly straight men of this world to actually enjoy a gay character or enjoy gay entertainment because we haven’t given them anything to enjoy."

Ryan Grim is your guide:

The origin of 420 had nothing to do with a police code, though the San Rafael part was dead-on. A group of five San Rafael High School friends known as the Waldos — by virtue of their chosen hangout spot, a wall outside the school — coined the term in 1971. The Waldos never envisioned that pot smokers the world over would celebrate each April 20 as a result of their foray into the Point Reyes forest. The day has managed to become something of a national holiday in the face of official condemnation. 

(Image from a gif posted by Tumblr user teniel)

Sam Biddle tests out a fake online girlfriend service:

You're about to pay a stranger on the internet in exchange for virtual love services. She's not going to touch you, hang out with you, or really know much of anything about you. "She" may not be a she, or a real person at all. There's nothing wrong or immoral or dangerous about this, but…just be straight with yourself about what you're buying here. On paper, it ain't pretty.

Maria Popova posts details:

Stunning, astonishingly choreographed trailer for TEDxSummit in Qatar from WE ARE Pi, the folks who brought us the incredible Human Brain trailer for TEDxAmsterdam last fall. The kaleidoscope was done entirely in-camera, no editing, just pure choreography.

Keith Humphreys makes a distinction:

[W]hat we do with scientific evidence is always a political and moral judgment. We don’t provide health care to the sick because the evidence forces us to. We provide health care to the sick because such activity is in keeping with our values. Likewise, we might choose to morally oppose certain policies (e.g., capital punishment) even if there is solid scientific evidence of benefit (e.g., if it is ever shown conclusively that capital punishment reduces crime). It would be dishonest to hide behind the evidence and say, for example, that science made us put a helpless human being to death; that moral judgment falls on all of our heads.

The effect of the death penalty on crime may, for example, be unknowable. But I'm against it anyway, on moral grounds.

Allahpundit is somewhat worried about the prospect of a libertarian spoiler but concludes:

[I]t’s not Gary Johnson and the libertarians who are killing Romney here (especially since there are “very liberal” voters in Johnson’s base), it’s centrist Republicans and moderate Democrats, a pattern we also saw in that Pew poll on Tuesday about strong support for Romney among tea partiers and weaker support among neutrals. He needs to close the gap with the middle, badly. But then, that’s what the general election “Etch-a-Sketch” strategy is all about. 

Caldwell isn't fazed by the polling: 

Has Ron Paul been right all along in predicting a rising tide of libertarian voters? Mark me down as a skeptic. In general, polls this far out from the election should be taken with a grain of salt. Most voters haven’t really tuned in and won’t for months to come. Beyond a handful of legitimate Johnson fans, I imagine the bulk of that 6 percent consists of voters who have paid scant attention to date, but have uneasy feelings about both Obama and Romney.

Doha, Qatar, 9.30 am

Room for Debate tackles the question. Max Waltman proposes legalizing the selling but not the buying of sex:

Not to be bought and sold for sex should be a human right. Sweden effectively recognized this in 1999, criminalizing buying sex and decriminalizing being in prostitution. This law has been adopted in full by Norway and Iceland, partly in Korea, Finland, Israel and the United Kingdom. France may enact it.

Read Rubin’s blog, Right Turn, here. Recent Dish links featuring Rubin here, here and here. Video archive here.