Mystery Hunters

While browsing through the cable guide last month looking for something educational to record for my son and I came across a show called Mystery Hunters. It comes on Discovery Kids at the wonderful time of 1am but I have a Comcast DVR so that wasn't a big deal (we rarely watch things live anyway). It's a show that investigates claims of the paranormal, UFO's, and such.

The Wikipedia entry for the show gives a good description so I won't go into too much detail here.

I just wanted to get the word out that there is a good science based show out there for kids that is fun to watch and gives lessons in how to deal with strange things rationally. I like the fact that it isn't just dry facts. I like that they keep some of the mystery in each story while giving facts and science the final word.

My son really enjoys watching this show (so do I!) and I wish DK would put it at a more convenient hour for people who don't have DVR's (do people still use VCR's?).

Anyway...Mystery Hunters...good TV for kids...pass it on!

Update: You can watch some of the episodes online here.

The Abortion Jihad

I was in college when it seemed like a small war was breaking out between anti-abortion activists and abortion rights activists, with doctors and clinics caught in the middle.

I thought at the time that it seemed like an "Abortion Jihad." A holy war against abortion.

CNN: Man charged in slaying of Kansas abortion doctor

No motive for the killing was immediately known. If Tiller's killing stemmed from his work, he would be the fourth U.S. physician killed over abortion since 1993. Leading anti-abortion groups condemned his shooting, emphasizing that they wanted to shut down Tiller's practice by legal means.

During the 1990s, three doctors who performed abortions were slain in high-profile cases.

In 1998, a sniper killed Dr. Barnett Slepian in his Amherst, New York, home. Anti-abortion activist James Kopp was later arrested in France and is serving life in prison.

In 1994, Dr. John Bayard Britton and a volunteer escort were shot and killed outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Paul Hill, a former minister, was convicted in the killings and executed in 2003.

And in 1993, another doctor, David Gunn, was shot to death outside another Pensacola clinic. His killer, Michael Griffin, is serving a life sentence.

In addition, a nurse at a Birmingham, Alabama, clinic was maimed and an off-duty police officer was killed in a 1998 bombing by Eric Rudolph, who included abortion among his list of anti-government grievances.

With only 3 doctors in the entire country...now 2...who perform this type of abortion, it makes one wonder just how many are actually performed each year. And do people really think that a woman past the first trimester would really go through all the trouble of seeing one of these doctors just to get rid of an unwanted baby? Or would they only do it if their life were in danger?

A co-worker's wife just had her second miscarriage in 6 months. Who should be blamed for that? At least half of all pregnancies end this way. So what is responsible for most aborted babies? Us? Nature? God?

EDIT:

I just saw this related article on LiveScience:

New Surprising Results on Abortion and Religiosity

Unwed pregnant teens and 20-somethings who attend or have graduated from private religious schools are more likely to obtain abortions than their peers from public schools, according to research in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.