Will the Real Y2K Stand Up? I’ve been amazed that there has been no resurrection of the concept that the new millenium begins this coming Jan. 1, not the previous one, as the end of the year approaches. It apppeared that all those sticklers for the idea had totally acquiesced to being outvoted by the unwashed masses. Now I know that at least they’re out there. Wired

I’d been wondering what R. U. Sirius has been up to recently. “Combining left and libertarian
politics with a kind of post-political futurism and the love of a good
laugh, Chairman Sirius intends to bring all the subcultural tribes
together to wrest control of the world from the drug warriors, the
cultural ayatollahs, and the various corporate mega-destructo gangs.
This is common sense for the forgotten ones who comprise most of
the population.”

Lifestyle “Creating artificial
intelligent life has long
been the stuff of science
fiction but Steve Grand
may be on the verge of
turning it into science
fact.”

Given that he is a
self-taught computer
programmer with three
mediocre A-levels, who
works out of a converted
garage at his home in
Somerset, and that Lucy
is being knocked together
on a shoestring budget
with no part costing more
than £50, you might
reckon this to be a
laughable claim. But no
one in the know is
laughing.

Grand is the acknowledged world leader in
artificial intelligence; he has been cited as one
of the 18 scientists most likely to revolutionise
our lives in the 21st century…

Seeing how the spirit moves us. University of Virginia psychologist Jonathan Haidt is on a quest to establish that elevation — the feeling of awe and inspiration in the presence of righteousness or altruism — deserves recognition as a distinct emotion with its own physiological defining features, joining the established list of anger, sadness, disgust, fear, happiness and surprise. “For a response to qualify as an emotion, researchers will need
to show that it is an immediate reaction to a change in the
environment – not a broader ‘sentiment,’ like love – and that,
while activated, it causes a person to think differently.” [Other candidates for emotion status include amusement, relief and — although the article does not discuss it — boredom, as well as that elusive thing called love.] Boston Globe

The battle for the future of jazz is joined. Wynton Marsalis has become the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Marsalis’s are in essence the first family of American jazz. Saxophonist David Murray, in this month’s Jazzwise magazine, issues what the Independent describes as a “declaration of war” against Marsalis, for stifling “the creativity of a music which is inherently about change and improvisation”, by focusing largely on the loving recreation of the classics, especially Ellington, and wielding the power to exclude those not sharing such a conservative agenda. The counterargument is that jazz is “America’s classical music”, finally beginning to be afforded the respect it deserves, and that a reverent approach is appropriate.

“We have great jazz musicians out of work because of this stuff,”
continues Murray. “It’s awful, a whole bunch of musicians who don’t
play the styles he likes are now totally intimidated. It has got so bad
that a real jazz giant like Freddie Hubbard came up to me and said
‘Well, I’m sure glad Wynton likes me!'” Of course Marsalis likes
Hubbard, who is acknowledged to have been the biggest influence on
the early part of his career. But for Hubbard to be grateful for kindly
words from the younger player is like David Bowie having to be
thankful for approbation from Kylie Minogue – absurd.

Wittgenstein, Einstein and Bill Gates may have this in common: Asperger’s Syndrome. “What would happen if you
eliminated the autism gene from the gene pool? You would have
a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and
socialising and not getting anything done.” — Temple Grandin Guardian

Judge Transfer Will Delay SLA Trial. “The quarter-century-old case of former Symbionese Liberation Army
fugitive Sara Jane Olson hit yet another delay with the announcement that the judge has
been transferred to another court.” AP

Napster’s ‘No’ to Rage Fans: “Rage Against the Machine fans — some of whom just days prior had read guitarist Tom Morello’s
pro-Napster stance in a variety of interviews promoting Renegades — were surprised Wednesday to find
they were blocked from the file-sharing service after downloading tracks from the band’s latest album.

The Rage fans were redirected to a Web page that alleged copyright infringement necessitated the
action, as requested by the copyright holder, in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA). Rage were equally surprised, since they had not requested this action, nor were they consulted
by their label or management that this would be done…

Napster, in compliance with the DMCA, is required to block users when identified by copyrights holders, as they did in May with over
300,000 Metallica fans when the band submitted a list of alleged copyright infringers. Since October, when singer Zack de la Rocha left
the band, Rage has shared the same management team as Metallica…”

Feds: Doctors Must Check Warnings. Several recent high-profile instances in which the FDA has pulled drugs off the market because of serious, even lethal complications point to declining standards of practice in modern medicine. Although critics contend that medications are rushed to market before adequately tested, this is not the problem in my opinion. Certain drugs are “fast-tracked”, but the usual criticism is that it takes too long for significant new therapeutic breakthrough drugs to wend their way through the approval process; new drugs are introduced with considerably more alacrity in Europe, for example.

The more crucial factor appears to be that doctors don’t heed the warnings about interactions and adverse reactions on the drugs they prescribe. Many MDs report they don’t have the time to read “pages and pages of fine print” on a new drug and wouldn’t remember what they read anyway. Worse yet, the source of prescribing information on many a new medication is the pharmaceutical company representative or “detail man”, whose job is really glossing over concerning details to get the product prescribed. Many — indeed, most — drugs we prescribe have adverse effects, and even dangerous drugs can be prescribed safely in the hands of a scrupulous practitioner. Increased regulation is only a very imperfect substitute, but will be increasingly necessary if the slide in practice standards continues. (“The beatings will continue until morale improves”??) Even though there has been an explosion in the numbers of drugs in the pharmacopoeia, the ready availability of information processing capabilities on the doctor’s desktop (or pocket) means there’s little excuse for prescribing with inadequate data.

While in no sense of the term is it the consumer’s responsibility to avoid falling victim to unsafe prescribing practices, there are things you can do in the caveat emptor spirit. The take-home message is that you should require your doctors to inform you to your satisfaction about the reasoning behind their choices of medications, explaining fully the risks and benefits, with particular attention to interactions with any other medications you might be taking. The burden of proof for the doctor choosing a new(!) improved(!) medication instead of a more established drug ought to be higher, to prevent you from being the victim of a pharmaceutical company hyping the latest thing. (Always ask your doctor how long s/he has been prescribing a given drug when it is offered to you; and how long it has been on the market.) Wonder about your doctor’s prescribing practices if s/he is constantly prescribing the newly-introduced medications and offers you only vague explanations of the advantages and the risks. If your doctor appears irked by your inquiries, it’s probably time to find a new doctor. And find a doctor who still reads. Even as a busy, overworked MD, I wouldn’t have it any other way…

Here is a list of the eleven drugs recalled from the market, either by FDA regulation or voluntarily by their manufacturers, since 1997.