14 July 2010 posts

Injury update The swelling is way down, though the pain is up slightly. The right shoulder is slightly sore from using the crutch/cane with the right arm; I now have a way of using the left arm. Mostly I can walk without it…for brief periods of time.

Posts of the day

Mathematics and education This is an inspiring article about teaching calculus in earthquake ravaged Haiti.

Politics Sarah Palin talks about the politics of divisiveness on her facebook page! Pots and Kettles anyone?

Society

This video about “hard jobs” makes some good points, but I think that it is too hard on things like OSHA. Yes, there is nothing wrong with hard, blue collar work, but we ought to be a bit humane too, right? Do we really want our blue collar friends and neighbors developing black lung or avoidable repetitive stress injuries, or working in fire traps? Still, the 19 minute video is worth watching.

Realism: Barbara Ehrenreich advocates realism, rather than false optimism. Via PZ Myers.

Microbes: Jerry Coyne points us to this Carl Zimmer article about microbes and how they are essential to the operation of our bodies. In fact, sometimes, people can benefit from…the transfer of FECAL MATTER from one body to another!
Evidently, part of evolution is evolving to take advantage of microbes; the first are passed from the mothers birth canal to the baby. This is also a good case against over sterilization:

Some scientists argue that these studies all point to the same conclusion: when children are deprived of their normal supply of microbes, their immune systems get a poor education. In some people, untutored immune cells become too eager to unleash a storm of inflammation. Instead of killing off invaders, they only damage the host’s own body.

The whole article is interesting; we are learning a great deal.

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