Quick Midday Comments (5 July 2011)

Science People who live in certain areas of the south are more prone to stroke and memory loss:

People in a large area of the American South have long been known to have more strokes and to be more likely to die from them than people living elsewhere in the country.

Now, a large national study suggests the so-called stroke belt may have another troubling health distinction. Researchers have found that Southerners there also are more likely to experience a decline in cognitive ability over several years — specifically, problems with memory and orientation.

The differences to date in the continuing study are not large: Of nearly 24,000 participants, 1,090 in eight stroke-belt states showed signs of cognitive decline after four years, compared with 847 people in 40 other states.

But the geographic difference persisted even after the researchers adjusted for factors — like age, sex, race and education — that might influence the result. The most recent data from the study were published in Annals of Neurology.

None of the people with cognitive decline in the study had had detectable strokes.[...]

Hmmm, what is going on: food? weather? (is freezing your butt of for several months of the year actually good for you?) I’d be interested in finding out.

Atheist Conferences
I’ve never been to one. Evidently, there has been a flap over someone complaining that being asked out for coffee in an elevator made them uncomfortable; see here.

Ok, things happen; any group of passionate human beings will generate some dissent from time to time.
But one of the blogs I regularly read pointed us to this post. At the latter post, one can read such gems as:

In sum, men who corner women know what they’re doing. And yes, they are relying on the fear of rape to grease the wheels towards getting laid. Rebecca may not have put it that way, but being a mean ol’ feminist bitch, I’m happy to say it.

and

And I also know, being a feminist for many years now, that whenever a bunch of dudes start freaking out on a woman who called out some egregious sexism, there are a bunch of women willing to back those dudes up in order to get that coveted male approval and attention. I call this move Pulling An Althouse.

In short, this person purports to “know” a great deal including how other people think . Moral: being an atheist doesn’t make you rational.

This demonstrates why such conferences do not interest me. I like math and science conferences because people gather there for a common interest, and there is a bit of self selection going on there. Most people there have met some sort of intellectual standard and, not surprisingly, the participants happen to me more atheistic than the population at large.