Sid:

It's possible that peanut allergies were less common 30 years ago, and something in our diet or environment today is making people react to things like that. I worked for several years in a print shop, in close contact with some pretty harsh chemicals; that's what likely started the snowball rolling for me. The only assurance my doc can offer on that is to nod and say "maybe".

But it's also possible that these allergies are nothing new, and it's only the PC, sue-at-the-drop-of-a-hat culture that we live in that makes their presence more prominent. I know that the school districts who have banned peanut products do so more for protection from lawsuits -- someone tells administrators that their kid has a peanut allergy; if the school district does nothing, and the kid takes a bite from another kid's peanut butter sandwich & dies, who are the parents going to blame? The kid? Nope. The school district? You betcha. It's far easier for those administrators to take the heat from parents for banning peanut butter than to suffer a lawsuit like that.

Part of me also bristles at the subjects of allergies and ADHD being lumped together, but I think there probably is something to that. I've read a lot of stories from parents of ADHD kids who have some success in reducing those symptoms by changing what those kids eat, and some studies have shown that diet plays a huge role in that. My hunch is that the prevalence of ADHD and food allergies is somehow tied to the same root causes. I think you're absolutely right in saying that a lot of cases of ADHD are misdiagnosed, but that's not to say ADHD isn't a real disorder. Some kids truly do have it, but I don't think dumping more chemicals into their bodies is the answer either.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Sid: You are so on the money on many topics, but way off base on this one. Peanut allergies are very real, very common, and can be very deadly. A good friend of mine has a daughter who reacted violently to a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, and they nearly lost her on the way to the hospital (a 5 minute drive). She is not alone.

I get so sick of people pooh-poohing the allergic reaction thing; you may not have the problem yourself, and that limits your understanding of it, but that doesn't change the reality of the effect allergies have on some people. For those of us who have allergies, they can be very debilitating.

I grew up without any allergy problems, but my allergies have become worse as I've aged. 20 years ago I had cats as pets; now I can't be in the same room with one. There was a day I could eat anything (and did); now I have to watch ingredient listings on product labels very closely; anything with sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil, or any of a dozen other food additives can set off symptoms ranging from a stuffy nose to sinus headaches or hives. Thankfully my allergies aren't deadly, but they make me miserable if they get away from me. Avoidance is my best insurance, but it's difficult as some of those things are so prevalent. When I do get something, Benadryl (diphenhydramine hydrochloride) and Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) are my best friends. Caffeine also helps.

Allergies are real. They really suck, but they are really real. Don't mock something you don't understand.

--- cringe! ---

I don't know about anybody else, but if had had this problem as a kid and someone grabbed a pair of pliers to try & fix it, I'd be outta there so fast...

"That's not flying; it's falling with style!"

"Now here's something we hope you'll really like!"

That looks like a blast. Next step; true airfoils on the arms for lift, winglets for better control, and a microjet, just for good measure.

I may be missing some details on this, but it sure sounds like it's a far cry from "creating life"; more like hacking, or a three year old's crude imitation of a master's work.

Either way, it doesn't sound like a very good idea.

saehn: Fairy tales like evolutionary theory? If anything, this shows that life is complex enough that it can't just happen by chance; it requires some intelligence to kick it off.

Of course, I didn't notice that that link was included in the post until after I hit submit. Oops.

That is some truly neat stuff. I remember reading about Mr. Wellington a while back; I think BoingBoing had a post about him, and I kept a link to his website. http://www.theforgottentechnology.com/

My desk is usually cluttered, but not as bad as those pictured. It's cluttered, but I know what's there and where to find it. Last week one of the bean counters at work came to my office & made mention of my desk; she said she sometimes starts to hyperventilate when she sees my desk. Of course hers is neat as a pin. Makes me hyperventilate sometimes.

All I know is that he deserves it a lot more than Bush does.

Brilliant. Actually, Rush Limbaugh is far more deserving of the prize than Gore.

Two words; hell no.

I wonder what Alfred would say about this.

I believe the word is spelled "license".

Am I the only one who thought this ad a bit strange? Even more so with the Paint & Bouncy Balls ads; none of them made me want to go out & buy a Bravia LCD anyway.

What happened to the good old days when you could count on an ad to tell you what was distinctive about a product, or what makes it worth buying? "Colour like no other" could be a positive or a negative thing.

Five Legs, the ostracized white tail fawn! Everybody sing along!

All of the other white tails,
Used to laugh and call him names,
They never let poor Five Legs,
Join in any white tail games...

Yup. Had to be a Canook who said that. Probably more accurate to say that Canadians are malevolently mis-informed about the US.

You don't even want to know how many people get packed into a bus like that. And painted on the inside of each one is a sign that says "NO VOMITING". After a short ride, you'll know why it's there, and that it might be difficult for some to comply.