'Boris' should get more respect. Brad DeLOng had a good day blogging. As I thought the other day 'Some element of surprise may be lost or ambiguity in what the military's action will be if there is a resolution (regarding US military action in Syria). On the other hand some general resolution affirmatively stating one of the purposes the president or Secretary of State has given for military action and authorizing it in Congress would desirably remove the penumbra of Obama as being imperator in the Roman sense.' So I am pleased at the president's request for congressional approval. I understand that 100 members of Congress had written a letter saying, Constitutionally, it was necessary.

Mohammed Athari, commenting in Megan's blog, provided a good Pb and behavior reference.

From an EPA reference ... Final volume, p. 6-45, "Cord blood Pb levels were not associated with the prevalence or nature of behavior problems reported by teachers." Though apparently a regression analysis did show a correlation between tooth Pb and the ACBP Total Problem Behavior Scores which assess both both "under- and overcontrol of behaviors. Only weak associations were seen between tooth Pb concentrations and the tendency to score in the clinically significant range on these scales." Earlier in the very extensive discussion, the reports suggests it is 'problematic' to make an association with behavior and what Pb levels we have had. OTOH, Pb seems to have affected visual-motor cortex preferentially in low doses and mildly impairs intelligence, may have been a mildly significant toxin during the early years of feminist, in pregnancy, smoking rebellion.

I'm a little distant from my first Calculus class with Dr. Wall (at UT Austin). It started, as I recall, with going through the obvious in a slow walk of how one might calculate the area under the line 1/x. Taking the walk from where physics was before the paper of Oppenheimer and his student demonstrating the necessity for black holes would also seem to promise a transforming exercise in understanding physics. Freeman Dyson would seem to recommend Reappraising Oppenheimer: Centennial Studies and Reflections, edited by Cathryn Carson and David Hollinger which has a chapter on the paper.

DSM-V

Ron Rosenbaum said that in lieu of graduate school in English just subscribe to the London Review of Books. I enjoy their review of DSM-V which includes a nice review of the recent history of psychiatric diagnosis and the DSM iterations.

Uruguay and Marijuana

Uruguay to legalize marijuana. I like the statement of the first legislator quoted.