Study Casts Doubt on the Placebo Effect: “[I] n a new report that is being met with a mixture of astonishment and

sometimes disbelief, two Danish researchers say the placebo effect is a

myth… The report found no support for

the common notion that, in general, about a third of patients will

improve if they are given a dummy pill and told it is real.

Instead, the researchers theorize, patients seem to improve after taking

placebos because most diseases have uneven courses in which their

severity waxes and wanes. In studies in which treatments are compared

not just with placebos but also with no treatment at all, they said,

participants given no treatment improve at about the same rate as

participants given placebos.” New York Times

David Brake’s blog is back but it’s here, at blog.org.

NASA Captures New Images of the Face on Mars: “New high-resolution images and 3D altimetry from NASA’s

Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft reveal the Face on Mars

for what it really is.”

Scientists switch memory recall on and off in fruit flies. “Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have used a genetic strategy in

fruit flies to switch electrical activity in the insect brain on and off at will. In doing so, they have made the

surprising discovery that switching off electrical activity in the brain blocks memory recall, but not initial

formation of memory.”

Happy birthday, Bob!

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them,” said Twain. More and more Americans who can read are choosing not to. The ‘aliterates’ have less and less time, are too impatient, champion the superficial, live in a more multicultural society that is shifting from words to logos and symbols, and “base their future decisions on what they used to know,” according to one critic. Washington Post So, yes, don’t settle for reading the weblogger’s synopsis, click on the link and go to the source, indeed. But, as an inveterate reader who’s become increasingly impatient with much of what I read, it appears that the essay leaves out any consideration of the declining quality of writing as well as reading. I often find, and I hope I’m not merely sounding arrogant or deluded here, that there’s only one good idea in a written piece and, once you’ve grasped it, you’ve got it.

Annals of Ignorant Litigation: Paxil Follows Prozac into the Courtroom: “The maker of Paxil will be in a Wyoming courtroom next week to defend

its antidepressant against charges that the drug caused a user to shoot

three family members and himself to death.

GlaxoSmithKline faces the same charges that Eli Lilly and Co. has beaten

twice in court over the alleged ability of its drug Prozac to induce

suicide and violence.” PsycPort

How to Defeat GI Joe “A retired Army sergeant offers 30 handy military tips to Cobra Commander.” Daily Radar

Shrek

is not Shrek! “William Steig’s subversive misanthropy is jettisoned for winking

innuendo in the movie version of his children’s book.” Salon

The Atlantic has this opinion piece on the increasing trend toward retrospective medical diagnosis of literary and historical figures. Longtime readers of FmH have heard me notice and cavil about this trend before. This piece is not so rueful.

Why’d he do it? “Sen. Jim Jeffords has had problems with his party for a long time, but President Bush appears to have pushed him over the edge.” The April 23rd snub by wrathful Li’l George was the last straw. Also: Will Trent Lott pay for losing the Senate?

“Angry GOP moderates say the White House and party right-wingers drove Jim Jeffords out of his own party… Over the last generation, zealous conservatives have systematically purged their

party of dissidents — representatives of a moderate strain of reform Republicanism running from Abraham Lincoln to Nelson Rockefeller.” [If playing the margin is where the action is in the Senate, will we see Democratic defectors too?] Salon

Is this the face of Shakespeare? New York Times

“I just wish there had been something more to hold her here.” More on the tragic life and suicide of jazz singer Susannah McCorkle, who yielded to the hopelessness of her chronic depression. Are there some for whom it’s destined unalterably to be a terminal disease, no matter how much they might struggle? New York Times

The SurLaLune Fairy Tales Site: an attractive site containing the texts of classic fairy tales — suitable for download or printout to read aloud to your children — and annotations, histories of the tales, similar tales from other cultures, bibliographies etc. for the oral tradition scholars among us.

Juan Gonzalez on Pacifica Radio’s strong-arm tactics. “Dear Friend,

We have reached a critical point in our campaign to save the Pacifica network. Our movement is

winning, but to achieve the quickest victory possible we need your help…” NoLogo