In yet another attempt to derail American science, James “Crichton” Inhofe has introduced amendments that would remove the requirement for taxpayer funded research to be made available freely to the public after one year, instead of having to pay thousands to publishers. This pretty much goes against everything I believe in.
I told you there would no longer be interesting posts.
First, two of my friends have rejoined the self-hosted blogging world. VintageConcepts and Aerith just launched today! Welcome back to the wordpress gang, and I hope to see great content from you guys. I know you will deliver. You guys are two of the most interesting people I know!
Secondly, I peed for the first time in a waterless urinal. Yes. Waterless. As in: I empty my bladder all over it, and after I’m done I can simply walk away without having to exert any arm energy. Zipping up optional.
If I ever get a house, a waterless urinal is the very first thing I would want to put in it. It’s such a great water saver in such a water-scarce world, and trust me it feels pretty g-darn awesome. If you are a female, I would recommend getting a funnel for the sake of sharing this wonderful experience. I feel like Leonardo Da Vinci is finally able to rest peacefully in his grave.
First of all, thanks blog readers for not totally deserting my blog. I promise it won’t get any more interesting though, at least for a while. I have this feeling like I’m not an expert at anything, so I feel unqualified to post about anything. I doubt anyone wants to hear about my day to day life, which is pretty routine at this point.
More importantly, today is World Food Day. The idea is to recognize food shortage, insecurity, and deprivation in the world. I’m sure every reader of this blog has been inundated all their life with stories about starving African babies, so I’m not going to risk boring. What I am going to do is instead present a few links I would really like everyone to read about the relationship between Vegetarianism and World Hunger.
http://www.earthsave.ca/articles/enviro/act_with_your_fork.html
http://www.animalrights.net/archives/related_topics/topics/diet/vegetarianism_world_hunger.html
and for fairness sake
http://www.beeffrompasturetoplate.org/mythmeatproductioniswasteful.aspx
If you do take the time to read (which I promise I will appreciate), take a little time to chew over the thoughts presented. Keep in mind that these aren’t exactly from peer-review journals. I would definately like some comments on this, whether you think I will agree with you or not!
Thanks, and happy World Food Day!
So as to not break the tradition of inundating you with news and other happenings I find interesting, I am going to list a few articles and sites that I found interesting today. Yes, I am doing this in lieu of putting in the effort to write a real article. No, you will not be wasting time by chewing over some of the ideas presented.
Due to a dearth of independent journalism from Burma, I’ll provide you with the next best thing: news from the junta!
Tens of thousands attend mass rallies against recent protests General public in Katha, Myinmu believe recent protests undermined peace, stability
NAY PYI TAW, 10 Oct ” People in Katha and Myinmu townships of Sagaing Division held mass rallies on 7 and 9 October with the concept that the recent protests staged by some monks and NLD members had undermined the community peace and stability.
They organized the procession after seeking the permission from the authorities concerned in accord with law.
On 7 October in Katha, over 15,800 people holding 14 State Flags and the placards that read “We favour peace”, “We oppose violence”, “Ward off the danger of internal and external destructive elements”, “We support National Convention”, “We hail the State constitution”, and “Seven-step Road Map must meet with success”, and chanting “Our Three Main National Causes”, “We don’t want terrorists”, and “We don’t want internal and external destructive elements”, marched starting from Township Sports Ground to Lanmadaw road, Merchant street, and finally to Aungthapyae Street in the town.
On 9 October in Myinmu, over 14,500 people marched from Township Sports Grouns to Monywa-Mandalay Highway, Myoma Market chanting “Our Three Main National Causes”, “We don’t want terrorists”, and “We don’t want internal and external destructive elements” and holding the placards that say “We favour peace”, “We oppose violence”, “Ward off the danger of internal and external destructive elements”, “We support National Convention”, “We hail the State constitution”, and “Seven-step Road Map must meet with success”.3
Blasts kill one, wound two in Kyaukkyi Township
NAY PYI TAW, 10 Oct ? Insurgent destructionists are undermining stability of the State, community peace and tranquillity and prevalence of law and order. They are also committing destructive acts with intention of killing and injuring innocent people using various ways and means.
On 7 October, U Tun Myint, 37, son of U Tin Maung, U Peter, 35, son of U Tin Myint, Aung Min Oo, 28, son of U Kyi Than, U Tint Lwin, 40, son of U Soe Tint, Naing Win, 27, son of U Tin Aye and U Thet Naing, 28, son of U Myint Soe of Htanbo Village were on their way home from the forest. A mine exploded when they came to Tontada Village, Kyaukkyi Township. Aung Min Oo was killed on the spot. U Tint Lwin and U Thet Naing were wounded in arms and back and neck due to the blast.
The wounded were taken to the People’s Hospital in Kyaukkyi Township.
Officials and local people are in hot pursuit of the insurgents. <p
Dear Professors, Educators, and Presenters,
I’ve come to realize what I do like and don’t like about lectures. You may have heard this before, but as someone with an extremely short attention span, I would like to once again add my thoughts into the pool in the case that you decide to cater your lectures to me. It takes a very good presenter to have me not fall asleep; and when I say good I mean about 5% of the presenting populace. Here are some pointers for you to join their elite ranks:
I realize that this doesn’t really apply to things like science and math too well, but I think that every teacher, no matter what subject, could benefit from at least 1 of the aforementioned items. Do you love science? Tell us more stories about science. I guarantee more students want to know about the time you accidentally snuffed liquid nitrogen than about the by-product of C-3-P-O.
No thats not a real chemical.
I love you Dennis Kucinich. If I had a uterus I would probably get your gametes implanted. I’ll be vegan for the day for you.
So I’ve been a pretty good student this weekend. I’ve been doing a lot of productive stuff. And more stuff! I also finally made it to the Yolo Landfill to drop off electronics.
But - as always - I was antisocial and ditched the Aphio picnic.
Well, I regret it now, but as penance I’m blogrolling Kim. Cheers new wordpresser~
I want to thank the UCDavis Muslim Student Association for their open invitation to the Fast for a Day event. Events like this make me extremely glad to be living in Davis, and I’m suprised how many politicos came out tonight. Yes, I did make it through the day without food or water, and no it wasn’t nearly as bad as one might think. Especially when considering that they provided all of us with a delicious dinner.
The idea of fasting, as communicated to me, was to learn to take control over the physical wants, and to use the opportunity to feed your spiritual side. Self-sacrifice is something most religions engage in; yet it seems pretty uncommon in our world of easily acquired pleasures. I think that self-sacrifice is an essential aspect of discovering your own capabilities and needs, as well as willingly sharing resources; something we all learn as children but seem to forget as adults.
However, I truly believe that self-sacrifice must come voluntarily. My view is that each person should find a reason for their sacrifice: not out of fear, or from shame, but instead from a desire to change yourself and the world around you. Fear and shame only cultivate the negative aspects of ourselves, regardless of the immediate outcomes.
Ann Coulter might just be right.
At first I was hesitant about taking Health Economics, given my non-existent formal microeconomics background, but I’ve been feeling a little brash lately, so I think I’m going to put Ms Coulter’s challenge to the test. Let’s see how a bleeding-heart rainbow-chasing no-brained liberal like myself does in the realpolitik efficiency calculating world of economics. If I demolish the curve and get an A, I’m going to rub it in your freemarket-loving gun-toting creationist-believing conservative faces forever.
Forever ever.
