It was shocking (although, given my trade, refreshing) to hear this morning that Bill Frist is thinking things through:

"[...]While human embryonic stem cell research is still at a very, very early stage, the limitations that were put in place in 2001 will over time slow our ability to bring potential new treatments for certain diseases.

Therefore, I believe the president's policy should be modified. We should expand federal funding and the accompanying N.I.H. oversight and current guidelines governing stem cell research, carefully and thoughtfully staying within ethical bounds. [...]"

I have a new piece up at the Conglomerate: The Trouble With the Welfare State.

In response to my post on the new Scrabble words (QI, ZA, and other monstrosities) Heidi Bond points out that V is still stuck with no 2-letter words, and is thus, as she called it, "the letter of doom". She was wrong at the time she wrote her original post in 2003 because "q" was even more doomful, but not she may be right.

On the other hand, C and V both have their uses, especially at the cutthroat Ellickson level of play. Precisely because they have no 2-letter words, you can start a word with them and force it into an open region of the board, seriously cramping the space. This is especially useful when you're sufficiently ahead that the highest priority is stopping either player from playing 7-letter words. This is quite consistent with "v" being the "letter of doom", it's just that sometimes doom can be an extremely useful tool.

Next time I shall remember-- that lady shouting at you as you descend the escalator is not a crazy person, but rather the station manager, pointing out that the last train to Branch Avenue left at 11:43.