What's New Friday March 27,. 2009

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 27 Mar 09   Washington, DC

1. ABSTINENCE: POPE BENEDICT XVI SAYS IT WORKS FOR HIM.
An editorial in today’s Lancet points out that, "When any influential 
person, be it a religious or political figure, makes a statement that could 
devastate the health of millions of people they should retract it," It was, 
of course, a reference to the Pope’s claim, made during his trip to Africa, 
that condoms may exacerbate the spread of AIDS.  It was an egregious 
example of what Paul Tillich labeled "sacred dishonesty," in which the 
facts are revised to support a supposedly worthy conclusion.  In fact, this 
was "sacred-dishonesty squared" the Pope’s real concern was not the spread 
of ATDS, but the spread off birth control.  As terrible as AIDS is, the 
population explosion in Africa causes far more suffering, and it will only 
grow worse.  The Pope preaches abstinence to prevent the spread of AIDS.  
But our sex drive was shaped by Darwinian evolution to ensure procreation.  
It works extraordinarily well, and manifests itself even within the 
Church.  Against it, the gods themselves contend in vain.  

2. PLAN B:  A FEDERAL JUDGE GIVES THE FDA A PUSH.
Before the new FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, had a chance to change 
the 18-or-older policy on over-the-counter access to the rnorning-after 
contraceptive, a federal judge in NY laid out the overwhelming evidence 
that the policy dictated by FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, a Bush 
family friend, was not based on science.  Time is of the essence in taking 
Plan B, and the last thing we need is young women becoming mothers at an 
age when they should be getting an education and exploring their 
potential.  We should also recognize the contribution of former Assistant 
FDA Commissioner Susan Wood who resigned to call attention to the case 
www.umd.edu/WN05/wn090205.html .

3. CTBT: THE CORPSE OF THE TEST BAN TREATY JUST TWITCHED.
It was exactly 8 years ago that Sen. Jesse Helms gloated that he had driven 
a stake through the heart of the world's most important treaty. Can it be 
revived? During his campaign president Obama promised to deal with the 
thousands of nuclear weapons that could be used in a war nobody wants. What 
do you do with all that bomb-grade material? Use it to generate clean 
electrical power by blending it with the tons of depleted U-238 still 
stored. Enriched with Pu-239 it can supply the world with clean electrical 
power.  It's nothing new; by the end of their lifetime, or most of the 
energy from the fuel rods in a conventional nuclear power plant is coming 
from the fission of plutonium.

4. COLD FUSION: TWENTY YEARS LATER, IT’S STILL COLD.
Monday was the 20th anniversary of the infamous press conference called by 
the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to announce the discovery of Cold 
Fusion.  The sun warmed the Earth that day as it had for 5 billion years, 
by the high temperature fusion of hydrogen nuclei. Incredibly, the American 
chemical Society was meeting in Salt Lake City this week and there were 
many papers on cold fusion, or as their authors prefer LENR (low-energy 
nuclear reactions). These people, at least some of them, look in ever 
greater detail where others have not bothered to look. They say they find 
great mysteries, and perhaps they do. Is it important?  I doubt it.  But I 
think it's science.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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