In a Freudian slip of sorts, New York Times editorial columnist Paul Krugman says:
"But Mr. Edwards, far more than is usual in modern politics, ran a campaign based on ideas. And even as his personal quest for the White House faltered, his ideas triumphed: both candidates left standing are, to a large extent, running on the platform Mr. Edwards built."
Of course, there really are more than two other candidates standing. The remaining four serious contenders happen to be Republicans, but are of no serious consideration other than a glimpse into how The Other Side thinks and operates. Possibly a simple inattention to detail on Mr. Krugman's part, but an interesting commentary of the universe as seen by the Times nevertheless.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Two posts in one day!
I bet you never knew that the guy who developed the lobotomy (also known as the leucotomy), was given a Nobel prize in medicine.
Also, I find that the descriptors of the Nobel Prizes over the years have become significantly less colorful:
1901: "for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of medical science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths"
2007: "for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells"
Also, I find that the descriptors of the Nobel Prizes over the years have become significantly less colorful:
1901: "for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of medical science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths"
2007: "for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells"
What does one do when given huge amounts of free-time doing a rotation at a psychiatric institute?
Blogging of course!
Here is a jem from the New York Times as Maureen Dowd laments that President Bush ("W." to her--a rather unprofessional expression of contempt, if you ask me) had to go to Saudi Arabia basically to beg for lower oil prices:
"Maybe if the president had spent the trillion he squandered on his Iraq odyssey on energy research, we might have broken the oil addiction."
Correction: if we didn't have the war in Iraq, I'm sure we would still be addicted to foreign oil. The idea that with a diversion of war spending from Iraq to the area of energy research could make us less dependent on foreign capital is ridiculous. Without trying to drill for all our oil on our own soil, the transformation of the U.S. economy into one that is not dependent on foreign sources would not only cost a cosmic amount of money, but most likely would take longer than the duration of any administration. And the solution is not as simple as hybrids, ethanol, wind energy, and more-efficient light bulbs. Unfortunately, I just heard that drought in the South threatens to shut down many of their nuclear power plants that rely on massive amounts of water for their cooling systems.
Other great stuff from today:
In the hospital library, this aptly-titled book. I don't think you can find a more authoritative-sounding name than "Lord Brain".
Here is a jem from the New York Times as Maureen Dowd laments that President Bush ("W." to her--a rather unprofessional expression of contempt, if you ask me) had to go to Saudi Arabia basically to beg for lower oil prices:
"Maybe if the president had spent the trillion he squandered on his Iraq odyssey on energy research, we might have broken the oil addiction."
Correction: if we didn't have the war in Iraq, I'm sure we would still be addicted to foreign oil. The idea that with a diversion of war spending from Iraq to the area of energy research could make us less dependent on foreign capital is ridiculous. Without trying to drill for all our oil on our own soil, the transformation of the U.S. economy into one that is not dependent on foreign sources would not only cost a cosmic amount of money, but most likely would take longer than the duration of any administration. And the solution is not as simple as hybrids, ethanol, wind energy, and more-efficient light bulbs. Unfortunately, I just heard that drought in the South threatens to shut down many of their nuclear power plants that rely on massive amounts of water for their cooling systems.
Other great stuff from today:
In the hospital library, this aptly-titled book. I don't think you can find a more authoritative-sounding name than "Lord Brain".
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Fashion has a seizure...
Every once in a while, one of those chain e-mails your friend sends you is just too priceless to let fade into your e-mail archive without being shared in some way. So I feel that by reading my blog, you've already indicated you are willing to kill some time. The following are from a JC Penney catalog circa 1977. That was only two years before I was born! Thank goodness my family was too poor at the time to become ensnared at what could only be an evil communist plot to subvert America's sense of fashion and long-term fertility rates:
How to get beat up on the golf course:
How to get beat up at the Annual Karate and Pajama Fest:
How to get beat up on St. Patrick's Day:
How to get beat up by Clint Eastwood:
How to get beat up by your posterity 1:
How to get beat up by your posterity 2:
How to get beat up on Evil Dr. Nod's Island of Brainwashed Beauties (I'm referring to the red head kerchief--the rest is standard issue after you've been cloned):
I really don't mean to degrade the jump suit--in fact, I think it's the most sensible and comfortable piece of clothing ever designed. Any others agree?
Sunday, December 9, 2007
On the road again
The franchise hotel is one of the things that makes America so grand. I'm currently in a Holiday Inn Express in Milwaukee, WI, in a nicely furnished lobby using a computer with high-speed Internet access free of charge. On the desk beside me is a fake Poinsettia and to the right someone draped some Christmas stockings next to the fireplace (burning real wood?), possibly with the intention of hanging them later. There's a very clean but empty dining area off to the left where I suppose the continental breakfast will be held in the morning, but there really aren't any signs that there are many people around besides myself to help pay for all of this. Besides the very pleasant check-in lady, I've only seen three other people here, but for all I know, the rooms could be full of well-behaved, reliably-paying Midwesterners minding their own business, watching TV, and enjoying the broad spectrum of amenities that such an establishment is bound to offer. And somewhere is a proud manager in his late 60s who makes rounds every day, offering friendly Hellos to his guests and asking them if they had a good time. Before he leaves, he takes the time to straighten a chair in the dining room.
I'm currently on the interview trail again, and am entering the holiday season feeling that I been prematurely extracted out of the New York scene just as I was settling back in after being gone for a while. But, to every thing there is a season, and this is my season to spend a lot of time sitting in airports reading books and wondering what my life will be like in a year or two.
I have told it to others before, but I'm a big fan of the Midwest. It's a place of honest living where work is a means to an end, old people are nice, and their grandkids are likely to live there, too. On the way from the airport, I was the sole customer of a small gentleman in his 60s who supplements his retirement driving people from the airport to their hotels. His accent seemed more Minnesotan, but he hails originally from upper Michigan. We just chatted for almost a half hour about his grandkids, the upcoming holidays, and how all the beer manufacturers are leaving Milwaukee. Fortunately, Harley Davidson is still around as well as some company that manufactures lawn mower engines. And of course Miller doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime so soon. He also was very perplexed about the traffic patterns this evening which were somehow out of the norm.
Well, I'm hungry now. The Denny's next door sure looks good. Either that or the vending machine.
I'm currently on the interview trail again, and am entering the holiday season feeling that I been prematurely extracted out of the New York scene just as I was settling back in after being gone for a while. But, to every thing there is a season, and this is my season to spend a lot of time sitting in airports reading books and wondering what my life will be like in a year or two.
I have told it to others before, but I'm a big fan of the Midwest. It's a place of honest living where work is a means to an end, old people are nice, and their grandkids are likely to live there, too. On the way from the airport, I was the sole customer of a small gentleman in his 60s who supplements his retirement driving people from the airport to their hotels. His accent seemed more Minnesotan, but he hails originally from upper Michigan. We just chatted for almost a half hour about his grandkids, the upcoming holidays, and how all the beer manufacturers are leaving Milwaukee. Fortunately, Harley Davidson is still around as well as some company that manufactures lawn mower engines. And of course Miller doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime so soon. He also was very perplexed about the traffic patterns this evening which were somehow out of the norm.
Well, I'm hungry now. The Denny's next door sure looks good. Either that or the vending machine.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
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