More random links
- Mini-humans navigating life among normal-sized foodstuff [19 pictures]
- An interesting set of art.
- Rise of the Annexers
- "In Israel's heated electoral politics, peace is becoming a fringe position." Overall I'd say that the direction Israel seems to be headed in of late isn't a good one. One of the reasons given to explain some of this: "the rockets from Gaza that followed the 2005 'disengagement' from the strip killed their belief in unilateral withdrawal." If anything the Gaza experiment seems to have made a half-decent case against the viability of a two (or three) state solution. That said, the Palestinian Authority seems a lot more willing to negotiate with Israel than the Gaza strip as well as to maintain security.
- The Cruelest of All Factory Farm Products: Eggs From Caged Hens
- "Battery cages are small wire cages where about 95 percent of laying hens spend their entire lives; each hen is given about 67-76 square inches of space (a standard sheet of paper measures 94 square inches)." As others note, such cages are a little hard to avoid buying eggs from. There's no requirement that more space be given to hens for eggs to be labelled "free run" or "free range" and organic isn't necessarily regulated in this way in all jurisdictions either.
- When Pills Fail, This, er, Option Provides a Cure
- "A new study finds that [fecal] transplants cured 15 of 16 people who had recurring infections with Clostridium difficile bacteria, whereas antibiotics cured only 3 of 13 and 4 of 13 patients in two comparison groups." Thankfully (and contrary to the article) there now seems to the possibility of using artificial poo instead of donor poo.