terrasig | July 10, 2006Turns out that I was not the only one offended by the content of Ken Lay's biography and obituary:
From the Letters to the Editor of this morning's Aspen Daily News:
Editor:
I just finished reading your paper's obituary of Kenneth Lay and was somewhat puzzled by the dichotomy between Kenneth Lay, convicted felon in one of the two biggest corporate scandals in American history, and your article.
I understand not dwelling on the negative but this man was not a good Christian in any sense of the word. He destroyed many, many more lives than he ever enriched outside of his family.
Kenneth Lay…
terrasig | July 9, 2006I wasn't going to disclose my location while on working vacation, but since half the world already has my dang cell phone number, I might as well share with you the latest from Aspen, a magnificent mountain town whose winter opulence gives way to slightly less opulence in the summer, together with some great art, music, science, and discussions of great ideas. Apologies to my SciBlings Karmen and Kevin for having such a short jaunt through the Front Range and being unable to catch up in person this time. Sounded like Kevin was checking out for awhile himself.
Got in late last night and had…
terrasig | July 7, 2006This link provides a truly lengthy diatribe on "11 Effective, Natural Strategies To Kill Your Cancer" that I found the other day while reading on ABCNews about Sheryl Crow's battle with breast cancer. It literally takes about 15 min to read and then ends with a list of links to purchase products mentioned in the "report," with nearly all being mail order supplements from one Robert Harrison of Homer, Alaska.
Before even getting into the inaccuracies and misrepresentations in the diatribe, I started to tally the cost of all the immune boosting supplements I should purchase, but grew weary…
terrasig | July 5, 2006I've gotten a bit sidetracked so we'll have to wait on my follow-up on pharmacist's refusal and some posts I've been working on about curcumin in cancer and the concerns about lay persons making treatment recommendations about lymphoma treatment.
I just learned over the weekend that the brother of one of my best former student lab interns died during a battle with osteosarcoma. He was a 23-year-old athlete who, after a bike wreck and several surgeries, still decided to run a midwestern marathon last fall. After the race, he felt unusual femoral pain that turned out osteosarcoma. He had…
terrasig | July 4, 2006As noted in my last post on the end of our ScienceBlogs.com DonorsChoose campaign to raise funds for public schoolteacher projects around the country, we have all been amazed at the outpuoring of generosity from readers who share our passion for educating the next generation of scientists. At the very least, you have all played a part in improving the scientific literacy of kids who go on to do other things, but can still apply critical thinking skills to everything from making sense of politician/sciencespeak to protect themselves from unscrupulous marketers of dietary supplements.
But as…
terrasig | July 4, 2006Sometimes, it's just best to leave the truth and sentimentality to the most idealistic among us...
Here's a nice Independence Day message from a local boy, one Mr. Greg Randolph, to his grandchildren in 2076.
terrasig | July 2, 2006The DonorsChoose campaign here at ScienceBlogs has come to a close and our challenge has been the beneficiary of support from about 10 donors. As a result of the generosity of readers, including poor graduate students and thoughtful family members, we've met all three of our challenge goals to fund projects in underserved areas of North Carolina. Thank you!
However, one donor stands out and I'm sending this shout-out for permission to use her name here to acknowledge her incredible philanthropy. The DonorsChoose page that we sponsors see doesn't list exact dollar amounts, but given the…
terrasig | June 29, 2006You really didn't want to work today, especially in the States where we're heading into the 4th of July holiday weekend. So, thanks to Julie Meloni at No Fancy Name, I'm blowing off stuff today to re-live memories of grad school through 1980s music videos. I still remember the mad rush to finish experiments to get home by 11 pm on Sunday nights to catch MTV's 120 Minutes.
Here are a few of my favorites:
1. For old rocker farts like me and Rob Helpy-Chalk who struggle to find kiddie music that we can listen to a hundred times and have been rescued by Dan Zanes, here's The Del Fuegos, Dan's…
terrasig | June 29, 2006As someone who has been associated with colleges of pharmacy as student or professor for 25 years, I feel compelled to weigh in on the debate raging in the US between a pharmacist's right of conscientious objection to filling certain prescriptions and their responsibilities as a licensed health professional of the state. I originally intended this discussion to target the emergency contraceptive, Plan B. However, today's post by Tara about a pharmacist refusing to fill a Vicodin prescription for a relative after breast surgery reminds me of the slippery slope we face in permitting health…
terrasig | June 28, 2006Yesterday, Matt over at Pooflingers Anonymous celebrated his one-year blogiversary. (Question: should it really be "anniblogary" to reflect the Latin, annum?). To understand the nature and concept of poo-flinging, I direct you to his mission statement.
When I first began reading blogs, I was truly astonished, but not surprised, at the amount of uncritical and unscientific blather being espoused by deniers of evolution and medicine, as just two examples. It was through people like Matt, Skeptico, Prometheus, and my current SiBling, Orac, that I first learned how the battle against irrational…
terrasig | June 26, 2006Last week's local independent rag had a number of articles on the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) individuals and the revived religious war against our fellow citizens. Featured therein is a brief from Pam Spaulding, who bloggers will recognize from Pandagon and Pam's House Blend.
But what really caught my eye in the Indy was a new ad campaign from Faith In America:
Powerful, isn't it?
Faith In American is led by Executive Director, Rev. Jimmy Creech, a former United Methodist minister with biblical and divinity degrees from Duke University and the University of…
terrasig | June 26, 2006Not exactly a natural products question, although naturally-occurring dyes have been used for millennia for body decoration.
My elder SiBling, Prof Tara Smith at Aetiology, wrote a post last week on a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report article about cases of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphlococcus aureus infection in clients of tattoo "establishments" with poor regard for sterile technique. (BTW, "aureus" refers to the golden color of the bacterial colonies that form when cultured on solid media.).
A quick glance past the purulent picture reveals such gems as "guitar-string…
terrasig | June 26, 2006Well, you know my answer when you see that I am more than a week late with this post on the 15 June question.
How is it that all the PIs (Tara, PZ, Orac et al.), various grad students, post-docs, etc. find time to fulfill their primary objectives (day jobs) and blog so prolifically?
Priorities shuffle in relation to time demands, so the last two weeks of grant review have taken priority over substantive blogging, including answering the last two AASB questions.
However, this question really gets to the reason that one blogs, given that there are so many interests competing for the time of all…
terrasig | June 25, 2006Blogging has been very light over the last two weeks as I was serving my national health agency and fellow scientists and physicians by critically evaluating research proposals. By the end of last week, the sight of my computer screen began to induce migraines and I'm still not feeling 100%.
However, my cross-town blog bud and SiBling, Coturnix, has tagged me with the 4 Meme to get me warmed back up for writing of a different sort. After I finish this, I'll see about answering the last two questions from 'Ask a ScienceBlogger.'
4 jobs you've had:
1. Dishwasher at an Italian restaurant
2.…
terrasig | June 22, 2006A brand-spanking-new blog carnival, Change of Shift, is up at Emergiblog. Focusing on nursing issues, as Kim does so beautifully, the carnival's aim is to provide broad insights on nursing as a profession, akin to Grand Rounds.
(Note to Mom: Kim and I have corresponded about your nursing career and she is very envious that you are enjoying the rewards of retirement - since you now know what a blog is, go and treat yourself to her carnival and enjoy what you've been missing!).
As Grand Rounds has grown exponentially, it seems wise that specialty carnivals should spin out. I was very…
terrasig | June 21, 2006...not to mention you are discriminating, generous, good-looking and intelligent!
What am I talking about? First, recognize that our move to Sb has increased our daily visits steadily into the triple digits but we are still only floating around positions 32 to 40 among our 44 SiBlings.
But, be still, dear readers - we are kicking butt in two measures of DonorsChoose contributions. Pledge coordinator (and Sb 2.0 pledgemistress) Dr Janet Stemwedel was procrastinating on real work yesterday to calcuate that Terra Sig is #1 among ScienceBloggers for DonorsChoose contributions per 1000 unique…
terrasig | June 19, 2006The US FDA has filed a seizure and forfeiture complaint for unapproved medical devices called, "Dr Ho's Double Massage" and "Dr Ho's Muscle Massage."
But, in all seriousness, this is serious:
The devices, components, and accessories, are adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act because they are unapproved class III medical devices and they do not meet mandatory performance standards. In addition, the devices are labeled for use to treat serious medical conditions, including diabetic neuropathy, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and migraine headaches. Since these devices have not…
terrasig | June 18, 2006On this Father's Day, it is only right to promote Pediatric Grand Rounds vol. 1, no. 5, from my pediatrics colleague, PGR founder, and fellow proud papa, Dr Clark Bartram at Unintelligent Design.
As ol' Doc Bartram sez:
I am very proud of this edition of the PGR. It is a perfect example of the beautiful and often frustrating complexity of children and highlights the many different ways that an ill child can effect the people who raise, care for or simply live next door to them. I would love for there to be a user manual, containing easy to understand instructions in the language of your…
terrasig | June 18, 2006Much to my amazement, over $500 has been donated to fully fund the first of my three pet projects in North Carolina. What is even more amazing is that these donations came from a total of two individuals: one is a blogger and the other is unknown to me, I think, but DonorsChoose does not list the amount for each donor. So thank you to you both and a very special BIG thank you if one of you donated the bulk or if both of you donated in the ballpark of $250 each.
Why I am even more touched by your generosity is that the funded project, Big Books for Little Readers in Science and Social…
terrasig | June 16, 2006(This is a repost from 4 June that was supposed to have been here for our launch on Sb - Ewen Callaway's interview with Michael Pollan is definitely worthy of a wider audience)
Here a belated plug to my Colorado compatriot, hard-working microbiologist, and real-life journalist, Ewen, at his microbiology/infectious diseases blog, Complex Medium.
If you're a fan of Michael Pollan from reading The Botany of Desire or have been thinking about buying his new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, take 28 minutes and listen to Ewen's interview with Pollan on one of nation's best public radio stations, KGNU…