53-inch penises, other self-destruction, & viruses bad & good

I regret I can't treat at more, um, length, the following weighty matters:

Size Matters; So Do Lies   Nate Silver finds that Matt Kibbe, the president of FreedomWorks, speaking of the 9/12 tea party rally in DC, " did the equivalent of telling people that his penis is 53 inches long."

Dr. Nobody Again Questions JAMA Disclosure Policies in which Philip Dawdy and Jonathan Leo, a dangerous combination, butt heads with JAMA

Self-Destruct Button, Activiated! Baucus and Conrad decide maybe Joe Wilson had a point after all. Swine Flu Mystery in Healthy Young Puts Focus on Genetics, Deep Inhaling (See also Study: Half Of ICU H1N1 Patients Without Underlying Conditions)

which is as good a lead-in as any to Public Hygiene and Vaccination: They're Not For You, They're For..., from Mike the Mad Biologist

"Remember when the Iraq War protests stopped the Iraq War? Yeah, me neither." Ezra Klein on  tea parties.

Jonah Lehrer, briefly, and Clive Thompson, at length, on how obesity, happiness, and other things good and bad spread like viruses through social networks.