Author Archives: Jeff Porten

“@dmoren: So, can I put my passport in Passbook?” THIS. Can’t believe in 2012 I need to keep a piece of paper for 10 years.

Kirk McElhearn @mcelhearn:
@jeffporten @dmoren Sure, and imagine if your iPhone crashes or your battery is dead when you want to cross a border…

@mcelhearn @dmoren I’ve already had to make two emergency runs to an embassy when my paper passport died mid-trip. I can recharge an iPhone.

Jeff Carlson @jeffcarlson:
Okay brain, here’s the deal: we finish this article, and then we get to have sushi for lunch. Deal?

@jeffcarlson You might be misunderstanding: brain food is not actually applied directly to the brain.

Jeff Carlson @jeffcarlson:
@jeffporten That would explain my recurring case of Wasabi-ear.

@jeffcarlson Would also explain random strangers approaching you on Shinkansen to lick you.

“@LabSpaces: HPV vaccination doesn’t lead to an increase in sex – is.gd/4dVlNd” // Vaccinations in middle-aged men expected to drop

rik panganiban @rikomatic:
Wasn’t interested in “Seven Psychopaths” until found out Harry Dean Stanton plays a “vengeful Quaker.” Hmmm. #fb

@rikomatic AFAIK, there are at least *two* marching bands called the Oxymoronic Fighting Quakers.

Kelly Guimont @verso:
I wonder if people still say “I’ll buy THAT for a dollar!” Or if it changed to “I’ll buy that for 99 cents!” #hmm

@verso Meme was discarded after people realized it could lead to RoboCop shooting their balls off.

“@GlennF: When my kids ask, “Where were you when SpaceX launched its first commercial flight?” // “Stuck at the bottom of a gravity well.”

Glenn Fleishman @GlennF:
@jeffcarlson Did I ever tell you about how I never met Penn Jilette, but almost did several times?

@GlennF @jeffcarlson Just go to his Vegas show. Met him afterwards, he sticks around as long as it takes to meet anyone who wants to.

Glenn Fleishman @GlennF:
@jeffporten @jeffcarlson That would require attending his show, though.

@GlennF @jeffcarlson One of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. Been twice, will go again.

Glenn Fleishman @GlennF:
@jeffporten @jeffcarlson Really! I find him so profoundly insufferable.

@GlennF @jeffcarlson Really? I’m a fan of his on-stage persona and podcasts. But he’s quite different on-stage, show is apolitical.

Jeff Carlson @jeffcarlson:
@jeffporten @GlennF I saw P&T here once, and it was great. Respect P, but don’t pay much attention to his non-show views.

Glenn Fleishman @GlennF:
My name is not on the list of things people are disappointed with about BoingBoing. Disappointing. #peoplewhoaredisappointedinBoingBoing

@GlennF It’s not you, it’s that Lenn Leishman guy who isn’t allowed into the Economist.

Ted Landau @tedlandau:
Flash! Republicans on House Science, Space and Technology Committee cite themselves as proof that humans have not evolved.

@tedlandau Making up for the lack of opposable thumbs by opposing everything else.

Melody Kramer @mkramer:
What is the most serendipitous thing that’s happened to you in your life?

@mkramer Met @DanielEllsberg at a conference in Hiroshima. Discovered we were neighbors in DC. (McGovern lives two blocks away.)

Jeff’s opinions on secondhand smoke

Posted on

Slate clocked in with a post about how smokers do not believe that secondhand smoke is dangerous. I’m one of them, for certain values of “dangerous.” This puts me at odds with publicized scientific research, so I conducted an imaginary dialog with myself explaining my position.

Self: So you don’t think secondhand smoke is harmful?

Jeff: Compared with ordinary air? Sure, it’s probably more dangerous. But you can be “more dangerous” without rising to the level of “actually harmful.”

Self: That’s an awfully qualified position.

Jeff: That’s because I’m awfully qualified.

Self: I think you misunderstood me….

Jeff: No, seriously. The average human lung can exhale around a liter of air, on a two-second cycle. Compare that with the average exhaust tail on an automobile.

Self: They’re hardly comparable.

Jeff: Exactly. An exhaust tail is spitting out massive amounts of carbon monoxide every second that a car is in use. I’m writing this while sitting next to a road that handles thousands of cars an hour. I find it literally incredible that air quality near me is reduced more by three cigarettes than it is by those thousands of cars.

Self: So would you say that secondhand smoke is “not too harmful,” then?

Jeff: It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference what I think. Science isn’t a poll, dammit. But based on the mechanisms behind creating secondhand smoke and creating secondhand vehicle exhaust, I have trouble understanding why the former is a big media issue, but the latter is almost never mentioned.

Self: What do you think of all of those studies, then?

Jeff: I try to keep up on them, but I think we’re all subjected to selection bias. That is, research about secondhand smoke is likely to be picked up by the news and cross our radars. The idea that “cars make smog” isn’t newsworthy, so we’re not going to hear about that. This also affects the studies of secondhand smoke, unless the universal impact of that pollutant is controlled for in those studies.

Self: And is it?

Jeff: I don’t know. I’m talking out of my ass. But I suspect not.

Just accidentally tuned in for 180 seconds of @DonLemonCNN. …and that will be the last CNN of the year if I can help it.

Melody Kramer @mkramer:
What is the most serendipitous thing that’s happened to you in your life?

@mkramer Shared a DC cab with George McGovern when he was coming back from West Chester U. lecture. I was the next scheduled speaker.