One of my favorite songs has always been Merle Haggard's "The Fighting Side of Me," in which the country legend sings about the hippie protestors whose politics got on his "fighting side." Recently, my "fighting side" was riled up when I heard of the controversy over the new Ben Stiller comedy, "Tropic Thunder," in which the word "retard" is repeatedly used so as to further ridicule the developmentally disabled. For many, this was the last straw in a history of hurtful insults. ...more

August 22, 2008

Most deaths in the 1918 influenza pandemic were caused not by the virus alone but by common bacterial infections that overwhelmed victims' weakened immune systems, according to two new studies that could change the strategy for the next pandemic. ...more

August 18, 2008

On Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "So we had Cheneys on both sides of the family - and we don't even live in West Virginia." His gratuitous insult raises again the question: What's the most scorned minority in America? ...more

June 6, 2008