Big Shoulders 5K Swim 2010

My rotator cuff made me a DNS as of a month or so ago. But we were in Chicago anyway so I decided to walk to the site and snap some photos.
My photos are here; down load whatever you like.

Update: there are better photos with a link to a pdf file with results here.

It was brutal; windy, rainy and the water was choppy. It was so brutal that the elite wave took 35 minutes to finish it’s first loop (28-29 is more the norm for these swimmers). Many (including some from the elite wave) dropped at the end of the first loop; several took lifeboats back and a few swam to the seawall and walked/ran it in. I’d never seen so many drops in a swim.

So, if you finished, you did well!

I didn’t catch the results and they aren’t up yet.

Note on my DNS: I have finished this swim 3 times: 2001 (1:43), 2006 (2:03) and 2008 (1:36) and had swam 1:34 for 5500 yards early this year; my last 5K plus swim was on April 28. But by mid May my rotator cuff had flared up and it was gone by May 19. Since then I had tried to rehab it with weights on my own; no avail. So I saw a doctor about a month ago and am doing supervised PT.

Why my rotator cuff went: in April I switched to pull buoy swimming because a knee ache, which had plagued me since September of 2009, was getting worse even when I quit running and walking and was only swimming.

It turns out that I had a torn meniscus in the right knee (surgery in July).
So torn meniscus (knee) —> swim with a pull buoy but didn’t decrease yardage —-> biffed rotator cuff. Let that be a lesson to you.
Symptoms of the rotator cuff injury: night pain; I’ve frequently lost 1-2 hours of sleep due to shoulder pain, even when i didn’t lay on it.

So, I had PB’s in the 5K and 4 mile swim but only in the pool (no flip turns). That will have to do for 2010.

From the Past:

This Scientific American article is about how events in early childhood can affect one’s sexuality; they aren’t so much talking about “gay/straight” but rather “what turns you on”. Controlled experiments with mice are discussed; in particular mice that had fed from mothers who had lemon scent added to their teats ended up being aroused by the same scent.

It also talks about a human history; basically this guy who has a “rubber fetish” remembers seeing his mother’s white rubber swim suit hanging up (when put out to dry).

I don’t remember that far back in life, but I do remember a couple of things from my young adulthood.

One was a case where I was at Barton Springs pool; it was just after my freshman year in college. Some young women were wearing very small bikini swim suits and doing deep bending stretches like this or this. What I also remember is that their hair was pinned up; you could see their neck. Also the song by Exile called “Kiss You all Over” was on in the background.

So, every time I hear this song or when I see a woman with her hair pinned up in that manner…I “feel” it.
One time my wife was in the garden, bending over…and yes, had her hair pinned up in that manner. She didn’t seem to understand why I reacted the way that I did.

I saw something similar when the Led Zeppelin song Kashmir came on and I still have that association.

10 September 2010 rehabilitation

Sleep: I really did NOT sleep well though my shoulder didn’t bother me; the shoulder is improving. Was my evening meal too heavy?

Shoulder: doing better; the stretch band exercises and the arm bike appear to be helping.

Knee: better…and stronger.

Workout: one legged squats: 10 x 45, 10 x 95, 10 x 95
leg press: 15 x 180, 15 x 270, 15 x 360
extensions: 3 sets of 10
curls: 3 sets of 10
toe raises: 3 sets of 30

sit ups: 8 sets of 10 at different inclines
leg lifts: one set of 40
twist crunches: one set of 40

arm bike: 6 minutes

then:
treadmill: 10 minute run increasing the speed every minute. One mile in 9:35 (elevation 1)
AMT: 11 minutes (1 mile)
18 minute walk home

Then rotator cuff, ice, etc.

9 September 2010 rehabilitation

Shoulder: improved; then again I went back to the naproxen. Last night, it was my wife waking me up.

Knee: right knee (the operated one) is fine, the left one is improved but slightly sore.

Workout: 2 mile walk, 1 mile treadmill run (9:48), 100 sit ups (4 sets of 25 on the incline), 2 miles AMT (23 minutes; kept increasing the resistance), 1 mile treadmill walk (12:45, moved up to 3 on the incline), rotator cuff with the bands.

Here is an African’s view on the Koran Burning.

I think that this post is very thought provoking. Read the whole thing. Here is a teaser:

But various bleeding heart christian liberals in the United States are crying out for all of us to respect people’s religious beliefs. They are nuts! ALL religions promote violence. I’m sorry, as long as I have any remnant of sanity left in me, I will never respect any religion and the human division, hatred and violence that all of them promote. I am an atheist, I am a humanist.

People in East Africa are sick and tired of Christian fanatics like Joseph Kony, the white American fundamentalists who come to East Africa to teach Africans to hate and kill one another, and here in Uganda and Kenya, we still haven’t recovered from the Islamic-led bombings of people watching TV football. More than 80 people have died here in Kampala because of the 11th July 2010 bombings. And we’re suppose to respect the moslem religion?

Note: this is much more than “a pox on both their houses” post.

Update: check out Jerry Coyne’s post: he captures much of the ambivalence that I feel.

On one hand, I really don’t like the Koran burning. On the other hand, I am not going to tolerate some idiot telling me that my burning their Holy book or insulting their prophet “violates their rights”.

9 September 2010 posts

Strangely enough, a CONSERVATIVE sent me this article. I suppose that I don’t disagree with all conservatives on everything. Here is a snippet:

[...]If I may sally briefly into unloved seriousness: What puzzles me, as one who has lived extensively abroad, is how little Americans are able to see things through the eyes of others, how little empathy they have (this latter defect being characteristic of both psychopaths and narcissists).

Consider a headline from Anti-War.com of a sort appearing almost daily: “US Drone Strike Destroys House Full of Children in Pakistan.”

Apparently no one in the Great Rubber Room north of Mexico has an inkling why this might arouse hatred in Pakistanis. Can you imagine the fury that would ensue if a Moslem blew up a house full of American kids in, say, Queens? But when we kill their kids, no one cares. “Yeah, well. Tough. Giv’em a few dollars.” Buncha dirty raghead larvae. No better than cock roaches, right?.

Now, we’re going to have a pop quiz. Take out a sheet of paper. Question: Can you think of any reason why Moslems might be unhappy with America?

Right! They hate our freedoms.

In which case they daily have less to hate us for. [...]

I find it strange that a conservative would approve of the above sentiment but I am glad that a few do.

John Boehner: judge for yourself; here are some of his false statements.

Economy: Republican policies are geared toward helping the wealthiest. Of course, Republicans are ok with that.

Barack Obama: most respected leader in the world. Of course, Republicans see this as a negative.

Economy Republicans argue for more tax cuts for the rich. Democrats want more stimulus. But the long term: we need to get people ready for jobs that will be there and that means being more competitive with the world’s economic powers. That is one reason I favor the equipment and R and D tax cuts. But it will be harder than we think.

Republicans: are even turning on Andy Griffith. Why? He supported Obama and health care reform.

Muslims in America and Koran Burning and my Ambivalence

Needless to say, many of my friends are up in arms over a Church in Florida saying that it will burn Korans on 9-11. This came on the heels of a politically driven campaign to discourage Muslims from building a community center (with a prayer area) in New York City, a couple of blocks from ground zero. Needless to say, many Muslims are feeling unwelcome in the USA and are wondering if they will ever be accepted.

So, before I go any further, let me make my own opinions clear:

1. The Muslim community center is being built legally and to serve New Yorkers. They have every right to do that, and the fact that Al Qeada consisted of Muslims really should have no bearing at all; after all Muslims fight each other all the time and Christians fought each other. The attack was by Al Qeada, not by Islam. I hope that they build it and that it thrives.

2. I denounce the burning of the Korans. It is a hateful, immature act. I’ve joined a couple of facebook groups which denounce it.

But…there is the other side: the United States of America is a free speech country. Burning the Koran is a part of free speech. Unfortunately, free speech is something many public Muslims have a problem with:

Burning the Quran is not freedom of expression. It is a violation of the rights of one billion and 570 million Muslims

Dr. Diaa Rashwan

This is a profoundly stupid statement. Burning a book that you own doesn’t violate the rights of anyone else, period.

Yes, I understood some of the rioting over the Muhammad cartoons in Europe. Why? Many countries in Europe do NOT have free speech; they have laws which forbid the expression of certain ideas including certain anti-Semitic ideas. So the Muslims might think “they are protected, so why aren’t we?”

But this burning would be taking place in the United States of America. We. Have. Free. Speech. A book might be sacred to YOU but that doesn’t make it sacred to me. The rules of your religion don’t apply to me and you have no “rights” over my expression.

And of course, we see scenes like this: evidently these Muslims thought that they had a right to censor what others can see:

They don’t.

People who cannot accept that the US has free speech really don’t belong here.
Those who do accept that we have free speech can worship or not worship any way they please and should be able to do so without fear of being harassed.
Of course, their IDEAS are always open to being questioned and critiqued.

Facebook: a place for insecure, narcissistic people?

This Daily Mail article will surely spark some debate.

I’ll answer the question: why do I like “facebook and blogs”?

Several reasons:

1. I meet new friends. Many a time, I’ve met people through this medium, especially those who racewalk and those who either run or walk very long distances. I’ve also met political/social friends that I went on to meet in person.

2. I’ve reconnected with people I haven’t seen in 30-35 years (junior high and high school classmates).

3. It gives my long suffering wife/family/friends a respite from my political/science/religion rantings.

4. Diversity. On facebook, I have friends that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. These include medical doctors, lawyers, other professors, chronically homeless, truck drivers, social workers. These also include people of different religious views and, yes, different races. I even have Republican friends! I don’t have any African American friends in real life, but due to my Obama support activities, I have several on facebook.

I get a sample of what life is like for others; for example some only have internet access through libraries. Libraries have obscenity blocking software…hence some big time websites (e. g. Daily Kos) have rules against profanity in diary titles.

Another instance: a truck driver took a photo of the fuel bill….it was something like 475 dollars for ONE fill up!!! He also talks about his travels and how happy he is on pay-day…for him that is steak day.

So am I insecure and narcissistic? Probably a bit of each, though I bend over backwards to NOT pretend to be something I am not.

An Answer to PZ Myers’ question: why do some link Nazism with Darwinism?

PZ Myers is frustrated with the false linkage of Darwinism with Nazism. Myers talks about a debate that Christopher Hitchens had with some idiot who tried to link the two things. Myers went on to write:

Good grief, please. Hitler was a nominal Catholic with an extremist pseudo-scientific philosophy that excluded Darwin and evolution, and found justification in religious dogma. It’s absolutely nuts that people still play this game of blaming Darwin for the Nazis; there’s just no historical reason to do so. Why not settle on that mass murdering tyrant, Stalin, instead? He was no friend of Darwin, either, but at least he was openly atheist, so they’d at least have a tiny pinch of logic (but not much of one) in correlating atheism and tyranny. At least, pointing at one godless anti-Darwinian and blaming all his crimes on godless evolution is marginally more sensible than pointing at a god-walloping anti-Darwinian and blaming all of his sins on godless evolution.

Emphasis mine.

Now I agree, there is no valid historical reason for doing so. But here is what I think is going on.

1. Remember the Scopes Monkey Trial? Well, the text in question was Hunter’s Civic Biology; this was the text that Scopes used. It had evolution in it. But check out what was in the text:

Yes, it contained racist, pseudo-scientific nonsense. And yes, that text, for historical reasons, got associated with scientific Darwinism, albeit unfairly so.

2. Darwin got his idea of species competing for limited resources, in part, from Rev. Malthus. Now Malthus argued that charity was bad as it lead to those who had lesser abilities to compete in society to continue to reproduce, thus hastening the exhaustion of resources.

Of course, Darwin never went along with “social” Darwinism; Darwin’s idea was a scientific one to describe how nature worked. It was never intended as a suggestion of how society should structure itself.

Anyway, that is where the associations of Darwinism with Nazism came from, I think.

Of course, this association is nonsense. Anyway, if social Darwinism was valid, then there would be no need for a state to kill off the “lessers”, would there? That would happen all on its own.

8 September 2010 posts

Science

I found a couple of good resources: physorg.com (articles) and plato.stanford.edu (a refereed science/math wikipedia).

Science and Religion
Last night I went with Barbara to the UU church to hear Michael Dowd speak on “Thank God For Evolution”. His basic premise: religions must conform to scientific facts; he then attempted to lay out a religious philosophy based on evolutionary principles. My take was roughly the same as Jeffrey Shallit’s here. It was the old “turn nature into something it isn’t” canard. I said this at Shallit’s (fine) blog recursivity:

Nice topic; Dowd spoke at the local UU church (where I used to belong) and said more or less the same stuff.

I didn’t ask a question but the questions in my mind were more or less the same as yours; the point is that nature, while awesome to comprehend, IS uncaring.

Bottom line: many people want a deity that cares about them and they aren’t going to get it from the universe as it really is.

But, the talk was at least entertaining and not as dreadful as I had feared.

I am starting to read the book and so far it IS dreadful. Perhaps it will get better as I go through it.

One note: Dowd is married to Connie Barlow and I’d much rather listened to her speak. Based on Larry Moran’s recommendation, I might order her books and read them.

Social: here is an interesting Daily Kos article written by someone who stutters. Frankly, while I understand stuttering might have a stigma attached to it and be frustrating, I never was bothered by those who stuttered. I suppose that one reason for that is that I had a couple of excellent college professors who stuttered; hence I never associated stuttering with low intelligence.

Politics

Of course the Republicans want one thing: win the elections. Hence they won’t compromise or even vote for stuff that they actually favor.
At least one Democrat is urging other Democrats to be aggressive.