Archive for November 27th, 2009

HOWARD MEGDAL: At first glance, it’s astounding to consider how hard it is to convince people that annual mammograms should start at 50, not 40. Of course, putting it in personal terms makes people fearful, and want to reach for the nearest medical response to the frightening prospect of cancer involving a wife or mother.

However, the evidence is clear. For every 1,904 women screened in their 40s, we see one life saved. We also see 935 false positives. In other words, you are 935 times likelier to face all the awful aspects of stress, dangerous procedures and potential risk than save your life.

HOWARD MEGDAL: It seems odd to say it, given his 47-37 percent edge in the latest poll, but Charlie Crist is a decided underdog in an effort to capture the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Florida next year against Marco Rubio.

CHRIS PUMMER: Considering the national fervor over a conservative insurgent candidate for a House seat in NY-23, and Rubio’s year spent as a darling of right-wing talk radio and blogs, it’s probably fair to start asking why Rubio hasn’t pulled ahead in the polls.

HOWARD MEGDAL: I’ll never forget the time my father and I came home from the video store with a VHS showing some of the best episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

JILLIAN LOVEJOY LOWERY: As a child, I wasn’t so into cartoons. Bugs Bunny bored me, Woody Woodpecker grated on my nerves, Smurfs were insipid and creepy, and contentious duos like Tom and Jerry or Heckle and Jeckle were just too cruel. Cartoons were never really my bag — until my mother introduced me to the wonderful world of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

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Previewing this winter’s free agents, list courtesy of MLBTraderumors.com:

CATCHERS

Eliezer Alfonzo (31)

Brad Ausmus (41)

Paul Bako (38)

Rod Barajas (34) – Type B
HOWARD MEGDAL: Barajas seems particularly suited to this market. His drawbacks- low BA, relatively old- are echoed by the other primary…

HOWARD MEGDAL: While I applaud Merriam-Webster for correctly identifying the sound and fury signifying nothing from the far right as the dominant characteristic of 2009, I believe they picked the wrong word to truly embody the movement.

DAVE TOMARDithering is the Word of 2009, a reflection both of a Republican party that remains firmly entrenched in the strategies that have defined it for the last decade and of a media outlet for this party that is a lampoon of its own party. Really, they could not have picked a sillier word, presuming that Sarah Palin couldn’t possible pronounce vacillate without saying something dirty. She can’t even pronounce ass-backwards. I guess we’ll see though.