Yearly Archives: 2004

Just received a press release from FIRE:

Occidental College Ruthlessly Suppresses Free Speech
Censors Student Radio Host, Dissolves Student Government

LOS ANGELES, July 15, 2004—Showing profound contempt for free speech, Occidental College in Los Angeles has fired the student host of a popular student radio program and found him guilty of sexual harassment due to satirical jokes made on the air. Occidental also used this controversy as a pretext for the unprecedented decision to dissolve its entire student government and assume control of nearly half a million dollars in funds from student fees. Occidental then began a campaign of false accusations and distortions to justify, after the fact, its illiberal actions. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which has spearheaded the defense of student radio host Jason Antebi since he was removed from his show last March, has formed a national coalition of organizations and is launching a public campaign to oppose Occidental’s outrageous actions.
(more…)

From New Scientist:

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

Ex-‘Blue’s Clues’ host reinvented as rocker
By Steve Penhollow

From CNN:

Two ingredients commonly used in cough syrup are no better than sugar water in suppressing night-time coughing in children, according to a study published Tuesday.

The two ingredients are dextromethorphan — often listed on labels as “DM” — and diphenhydramine, an antihistamine. The former is the most common nonprescription cough suppressant on the U.S. market, and commonly abused by adolescents who try to get high on cough medicine.

“Our study showed that the two ingredients used in most over-the-counter medications were no better than a placebo … in providing night time relief for children with cough and sleep difficulty as a result of upper respiratory infection,” he added.

Asked what parents should do, Paul said “my advice has been to do things that are harmless but could help — saline nose drops, good hydration and humidified air.”

Yesterday was a hot and humid day here on the South Shore. My chore for the day was to clean out the garage, and I even talked Tommy and Pete into helping me sweep. As we were cleaning, the sky began to turn dark and it began to hail. The kids had never seen hail before, and they ran around trying to collect the 1/4 inch chunks of ice before they melted.

Having seen in the past what hail storms can do to car bodies, I quickly drove my car into the garage. Just as I turned off the ignition the hail began to fall in larger amounts. What started as a minor rain/hail storm now turned into a real hailstorm. The kids ran into the garage just in time. The hail was now an inch in diameter.

Then 1 1/2 inches.

Then 2 inches or even bigger.

It was something out of “The Day After Tomorrow”. There was larger than golfball-sized hail, smashing into everything – cars, tree branches. One chunk of ice precisely hit our outdoor light, smashing the glass globe into a hundred pieces. After sending the kids into the basement, I grabbed the video camera and started filming. I also snapped a few pics with my camera phone (excuse the lack of quality):

Heather was unlucky enough to be out driving during the worst of it, and her car is covered in dents and dings. Still, she was one of the lucky ones, as she had pulled over under some cover just in time. Others who had not found cover had their windshields cracked or even smashed.

My neighbor called to tell me that there had been a report of a tornado forming over Marshfield, the town just to the south. Luckily the funnel never fully formed over land and the storm went out to sea. As someone that had a funnel cloud touch down on top of them (in Cheektowaga, NY back in 1987), I definitely would not want to go through that experience again.