[Via John Sealy] 

CNN reports that "the numbing effect of TV" may finally pay off:  "Researchers
confirmed the distracting power of television--something parents have long
known--when they found that children watching cartoons suffered less pain from a
hypodermic needle than kids not watching TV."  Apparently children prefer the
mind-mush of Spongebob even to the comforts of their own mothers.  If this
research is accurate, that the distraction of television helps humans ignore
real-world pain and suffering, who knows what implications could be.