cultural observation
grrlscientist | January 1, 2007How was your New Year's celebration last night? Are you feeling the after effects today? This is because the body converts alcohol into acetaldehyde, a toxic chemical that causes headaches and other side effects of drinking to excess. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, the way to lessen the effects of a hangover is to have some toast and honey, not raw eggs or more alcohol or other remedies;
Feeling delicate this morning? Headache? Upset stomach? Sense of guilt over last night's alcohol-lubricated festivities? Time for some toast and honey. According to the Royal Society of…
grrlscientist | December 29, 2006
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This study, carried out by Cancer Research UK, showed that women who did 16-17 hours of housework per week cut their risk of breast cancer by 20% for postmenopausal women and 30% for premenopausal women. Further, it was housework specifically that has this beneficial effect, not other forms of physical activity;
Women who exercise by doing the housework can reduce their risk of breast cancer, a study suggests.
The research on more than 200,000 women from nine European countries found doing household chores was far more cancer protective than playing sport.
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Out of all of the…
grrlscientist | December 26, 2006Do you believe in curses? Do you believe that a diamond can be cursed? Well, regardless of your opinion, you will be interested in this book, The Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem by Richard Kurin, which reads like part mystery, part historical narrative. This book details the journey of a large blue diamond from a mine in India to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
The Hope Diamond's story begins when the French adventurer and gem dealer, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, purchased a crudely-cut 112-carat blue diamond in India. Or was this celebrated diamond actually…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2006It's been a rough week. I stopped taking Zyprexa a few days ago due to its expense, and went through some sort of withdrawal yesterday which nearly caused me to faint on several occasions. I also was unable to carry things in my hands. Additionally, I was wide awake all last night, wired, no doubt at the beginning of a manic or hypomanic episode, or perhaps another one of my mixed states.
Since I couldn't sleep anyway, I watched all the Harry Potter films in sequence. I've always wanted to do this, although not under these circumstances.
Not that this is particularly interesting to anyone…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2006This interesting report details how Americans live, although it also gives us information about more fearsome things that BushCo can add to their list of Things for Americans to Fear (forgive me my slight digression);
For example, more Americans are injured by wheelchairs than by lawnmowers. Bicycles are involved in more accidents than any other consumer product, but beds rank a close second. Hrm .. if assembling those dangerous beds are like trying to assemble my futon frame, then I can understand why there are so many bed-related injuries.
Most of the statistical tables, which come from…
grrlscientist | December 14, 2006I thought I'd make a (humble) contribution to this administration's never ending quest to find new things for God-fearing Americans to fear, now we must be afraid to sleep on the beach.
A man was found dead at the south end of Ocean Beach this morning, after he apparently was smothered by sand while he slept on the shore, officials said.
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Feinstein said it is not unusual to find homeless people, sometimes in pairs, sleeping on that portion of Ocean Beach, which is lined by sand dunes. Surfers frequent the water there as well.
Hrm, I wonder what those pairs of people were doing…
grrlscientist | December 14, 2006"...Michael Crichton, not content with making up science to debunk global warming, is now taking literary swipes at journalists who write stuff about him that he doesn't like. In his new book, Next, he introduces a character called "Mick Crowley" -- a Washington political columnist who rapes a two-year old boy. Funnily enough, Crichton was the target of a highly critical New Republic cover story earlier this year....by Washington political writer Michael Crowley, who often goes by "Mike." Which sounds an awful lot like "Mick."
A quote from the book;
Alex Burnet was in the middle of the most…
grrlscientist | December 14, 2006
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The world's tallest man (pictured) -- who also has the longest arms -- saved the lives of two captive dolphins by reaching into their stomachs and extracting pieces of plastic they had eaten.
Mongolian herdsman Bao Xishun was called in after the dolphins swallowed plastic used around their pool at an aquarium in Fushun, north-east China.
Attempts to use instruments failed as the dolphins contracted their stomachs.
Cited story.
grrlscientist | December 9, 2006Like, DUH!
Paul Taylor at the Pew Research Center writes that in the six years since President Bush was first elected, two unprecedented things have happened to America's optimists. They've become much more Republican. And there are fewer of them.
These trends are revealed by Election Day exit polls taken in 2000 and 2006 as well as longer-term patterns found by the "ladder of life" battery of questions that is administered by the Pew Research Center and the Gallup Poll every few years since 1964.
The nationwide Election Day exit poll question asks voters: "Do you expect life for the next…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2006I don't know if this is true but it makes a for a clever story nonetheless ...
Soldiers in Iraq are using Silly String to detect bombs. The string is sprayed into the air, and if it falls to the ground, all is well. If it hangs in the air, it's caught on a trip wire, that is otherwise mostly invisible to the naked eye.
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Order your own silly string bomb detection kit today. [no, I don't get anything for saying these things, but I am happy to receive any extra unused silly string bomb-detection kits that you might have laying around so I too, can help out with the war effort at home and…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2006Scientists in Germany say they are developing a spray-on condom. They are developing a spray can into which the man inserts his penis. Then, with the push of a button, the penis is coated with a rubber condom.
"It works by spraying on latex from nozzles on all sides," he said. "We call it the '360 degree procedure' - once round and from top to bottom. It's a bit like a car wash."
A spray-on condom that is like a car wash for your favorite penis!
Jan Vinzenz Krause, from the Institute for Condom Consultancy, said it would be perfect for men of all sizes.
"We're trying to develop the perfect…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2006
The importance of learning how to spell correctly.
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tags: ten commandments, misspellers' anonymous
grrlscientist | November 30, 2006
Everyone feels badly when their kid doesn't "make the cut" for a sports team. But in Castro Valley High School, in Castro Valley, California, angry parents decided to take the matter into their own hands. They appointed a six-person panel to choose who would play on the basketball team. Unfortunately, none of the protesting parents' daughters were chosen for the team by the committee, either.
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If you think that's poetic justice and the end of things, you clearly haven't been following the situation. The parents are not going to let this go.
"The panel was a joke,'' Patty Goodman, the…
grrlscientist | November 30, 2006
Benjamin Franklin.
Image: source.
I admire Benjamin Franklin for many reasons. But I never knew that in 1726, at the age of 20, while on an 80-day ocean voyage from London back to Philadelphia, Franklin developed a "Plan" for regulating his future conduct. He was partially motivated by Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." He followed his Plan he "pretty faithfully" even to the age of 79 when he finally…
grrlscientist | November 25, 2006
In an outrageous and arrogant move, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has banished the use of the word "hunger" from its documents that describe, umm, you know, hungry people. Instead, the USDA prefers to camoflage reality with a new government double-speak phrase, "very low food security".
Just a week before most of America sits down for that excessive meal we call the Thanksgiving feast (second- and third-day snacking while watching football is optional) came a new definition for the millions among us who are more likely to turn up at a food pantry than at a well-set dining table.…
grrlscientist | November 22, 2006One thing that bothers me about the holidays is that our politicians o mind their own business instead of causing all sorts of trouble that us bloggers love to attack them for. So as a result, us bloggers have a temporary dearth of snarky comments to share with you. For some bloggers, this is a crisis, but not so for me, amigos bonitos. As you know, I am more versatile than that. If the last story did not prove my versatility, then this story certainly will.
After being fired -- twice -- the day before Christmas, a man who came to be known as the Secret Santa was nursing his own wounds by…
grrlscientist | November 19, 2006Recycling has not been especially successful, even in Seattle, which seems to be the city that is most friendly to recycling in the country from my experience (although I might be wrong about this). So, in an effort to encourage recycling throughout the nation, what would you say about imposing extra taxes on disposable items, such as cameras, razors, and nonrechargable batteries? Below the fold is a story about how well this very program has been working in Europe, but I think they missed some very important items in their campaign; cell phones, ipods and computers, many of which are simply…
grrlscientist | November 14, 2006
It takes a woman to clean house properly.
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tags: politics, Nancy Pelosi, house
grrlscientist | November 13, 2006Does this sound like the handiwork of a right-wing nutjob to you?
A California man suspected of mailing threatening letters containing a suspicious white powder to celebrities and U.S. politicians has been arrested and could face federal charges on Monday, the FBI said.
Chad Castagana, 39, of Woodland Hills, California, is suspected of sending more than a dozen threatening letters to media outlets and the homes of public figures in various cities, the FBI said.
According to a federal search warrant, among those who received threatening letters were Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "The Daily…