dynamic life

2009-09-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

Recycled Fixes

I love to tinker and fix things around the house especially when I can reuse and recycle materials in the fix. We recently moved into a new place and I have been fixing things around the house (still a rental, our landlords are lucky). The yard is totally thrashed and I have been slowly cleaning it up. In addition to not caring for the yard, the previous renters had a dog, which did not help matters. I decided to start small, and reworked the dirt patch on the side of the drive way. Using bricks I found wedged under the fence in various place (I assume to keep the dog from digging out), I build the brick pad you see below to keep the garbage cans on. I planted some greens and a tomato next to the pad.

2009-09-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

Protect Marriage!

Marriage is under attack...from divorce. Did you know that over 50% end in divorce? We need to protect marriage and end divorce!

http://rescuemarriage.org/

here's a gem: "When my child read that Ronald Reagan had gotten a divorce in his history textbook, he cried for a week. Shame on you, public school system!"

2009-09-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

Opt Out.

Tired of credit card solicitations? I found this website where you can opt of those annoying credit card solicitations: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre17.shtm if you would like to do the whole process again, you can opt-out for five years; otherwise you can opt-opt permanently, but that requires mailing in a form you print out .

2009-09-08T07:49:00.000-07:00

Collect them all!

I was going through my old baseball cards this weekend and I found a few desert storm cards from the first gulf war, All I can say is WTF?! "Hey kids, laying a land-mine is fun!" "We call indiscriminately killing people with bombs dropped from planes 'Carpet Bombing.'" I can't believe these were ever made, let alone that I have some in my possession!

2009-02-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

Republicans Still Floundering

Really?! Comon' Republicans can't you do better? You have Kenneth from 30 Rock or Mr. Rogers (depending who you ask) giving your rebuttal. He could not have been more patronizing if he had tried. Mr. Jindal it is not persuasive when you say you are not taking stimulus money but are actually taking 3.7 of the 3.8 billion dollars offered. I think you should take it, just don't act like your not.

So, for those of you counting at home, the list of new Republican leader are:

Sarah Palin- VP nominee (ignorant Alaskan pit-bull)
Michael Steele- RNC Chairman (wants to "apply [Republican ideas] to urban-suburban hip-hop
settings)
Bobby Jindal- Louisiana Governor (see above).

Republicans, you can do better.

2009-02-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

As Advertised
(Obama a presidential review)

Thus far, I am quite pleased with how true to the campaign the Obama Presidency has been. Everyone is watching and critiquing the presidency thus far, so I add my voice. First of the tone and tenor of the administration is completely different than the Bush administration. While the bi-partisan efforts have been largely snubbed by the republican, his efforts seem genuine and he is engaging them, so there is promise in the future. Despite the current economic collapse, which has taken a good measure of attention, he is addressing the problem and incorporating policy measures that reflect his the campaign platform: universal access to health care, energy investment with environmental reform and investment in education. There have been other policy changes, the closing of Gitmo, the end of torture, acknowledgement of Afganistan as a regional problem in the context of Pakistan and India and the plan for draw-down in Iraq. There have been specific legislative measures as well, SCHIP for child health care, the Leadbeater act for fair pay. Obama has done more than most presidents do in their first hundred days and has looked good doing it. It is great who has mastery of the English language.

2009-02-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

Pretty much dead on...

Demetri Martin has a new show on comedy central (you may recognize him from the daily show). I love this sketch! you should check out his other stuff too.

Important Things with Demetri MartinWed 10:30pm / 9:30c

Power - Creedocide

Joke of the Day
Stand-Up Comedy

Get Funny Ringtones
More Funny Videos

2009-02-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Darwin

I intended to post this morning, but I have been working in the lab. Anyway, today is Darwin's Birthday- 200 years old. Too bad your dead. On second thought... Personally, I rank Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection (props to Alfred Russel Wallace) up there with Copernicus's observation of heliocentricity. These two really provided perspective to humanity i.e. put humans in their place. Copernicus took earth out of the center of the universe and Darwin broke down the great chain of being. If you haven't read The Origin of Species, it is quite a slog. At times it is stunning, Darwin's ability as a naturalist is amazing. However, at time he has to resort to hand waving, due to the lack of information, i.e. genetics, the concept of the gene etc. which were just being discovered by Mendel and would not really be incorporated until The Modern Synthesis. Nonetheless a truly brillant man worthy of celebration.

2009-02-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

Bacon Done Right.

I just learned of the Bacon explosion yesterday. Needless to say, I am impressed. At 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat, I know what I am going to do with the 10lbs of bacon I purchased at cost-co ;). The New York Times has an article on the Bacon Explosion phenomenon.

2009-02-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

Drought

As many of you may know, California is experiencing a drought. Although it is important to always use resources wisely, it is critical during times of scarcity. The East Bay Municipal Utility District is offering free water saving devices. You can check them out here.

2009-01-31T14:10:00.000-08:00

2009-01-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

The Funniest Interview Ever!

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Sport Report - Chicken Wing Spokesman Richard Lobb

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Paul McCartney Appearance

Funny Political Videos
More Funny Videos

2009-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

I ain't as good as I once was...

I'm not even as good once as I ever was, but I can still get my ass over the barrier. The Former Aggie Horsecow Team (FAHT) had a strong showing a few weeks ago at the Diablo Valley college all-comers meet. I hadn't run in a week, but I manged to not kill myself and looked respectable over the barriers. I forgot how fun and easy the steeplechase is!

2009-01-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

PETA

Oh, man! PETA is so awesome. Too bad bacon is delicious. You can see more.

'Veggie Love': PETA's Banned Super Bowl Ad

2009-01-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

Inauguration Day

So, I am back in california now. Below are some more pictures from Inauguration day. This first one is where I watched the inauguration from. Although I wasn't pressed against the fence, I could touch it.

Looking back down the mall was amazing, just a see of humanity. It was so cold you could see heat rising off the people like the street on a hot day.

Here is Rick Warren praying, when they introduced him some people booed. I yelled, "Separate church and state!" I said the same when people said, "Amen."

Here he is the man of the hour...

Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible for me. I love you all.

2009-01-21T06:44:00.000-08:00

Picking-up the Ticket

Monday morning I headed down to the Cannon House Office Building to pick-up my ticket, turns out a couple of thousand other people had to do that as well. I was on the early side, but as I left people were streaming out of the metro.

I started in line by the bench near the person in the red coat. The line stretched down around the corner as far as I could see. Everyone had to pass through airport style security (metal detector, x-ray, shoes off). Once the building opened it took about an hour for me to make in to the building. When I left I heard the line was over two and a half hours long!

The temperature was fairly low, I am guessing high twenties or low thirties. We had a brief scare when it started snowing, but it only lasted for a few minutes.

Right before I got in the building, a group of high school students came out and I recognized a letterman jacket. There was a contingent from Davis High. Go Blue Devils!

Here I am with the congressman before I picked up my ticket. He had a nice food spread in his office and was chatting with people as they came by to pick up their tickets.

Once I had my ticket packet, I jumped onto the metro and headed back out to my Aunt and Uncle's in Alexandria, VA and we went to see the farm.

2009-01-20T22:57:00.001-08:00

Inauguration

Tired. More tomorrow.

2009-01-18T16:54:00.000-08:00

Mr. Fairclough Goes to Washington

Here I am leaving this morning. I don't know where I will be relative to TV cameras but look for the red hat and the Proterospongia flag.

2009-01-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

Off like a prom dress!

Alright, I am off to catch my flight to the Presidential Inauguration! I will try to post pictures, video and commentary during the trip, so check back. I'll say, "hi" to Obama for everyone.

2009-01-16T08:10:00.001-08:00

The Problem Articulated

Making fun of Republicans, it's fun AND easy.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Reagraham Lincool

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

2009-01-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

Not What She Intended

Last night I started reading Frances Moore Lappe's classic Diet for a Small Planet. The seminal work in socially responsible eating, Lappe catalogues the impact of our food choice on the planet and our fellow inhabitants. Written nearly a decade before I was born, I had to laugh as I read the introduction where she describes how she began writing the book by repeatedly using the phrase, "I followed my nose..." Having growing up in the next generation, this phrase immediately evokes images of Toucan Sam from the fruit loops commericals. Not the imagery she intended...

2009-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Too True.

2009-01-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

WTF?

Remember Joe the Plumber? This guy in case you forgot:

Well, now this flaming moron is going to Gaza to be a reporter for pjtv.com. Holy Shit! Jesus Christ! I think my head is about to explode. This is too funny. Protected by God. HAHAHHAHAHAAHA!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Burger at 1600

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

2009-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Clean Coal?

Shortly before the end of the year the Tenesse Valley Athority had a little accident. The picture above is from the TVA (Via Bay & Environment Blog). This house was deluged when a retention pond for coal ash burst, spilling an estimated 1 billion gallons of sludge, a years’ worth of waste from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s adjacent coal-burning power plant, over an area of 300 acres. Coal ash contains fun stuff like, arsenic, cadmium and mercury. This is stuff we don't want in the air (hence the sludge pool) but it is less regulated that house hold trash. I have been surprised by how little coverage this has gotten since it the biggest toxic spill our country has so far experienced. Clean coal anyone?

2009-01-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

The Growth of Wal-Mart

My friend, who is a cartographer of sorts, sent me a link to this website that plots the growth of Wal-Mart by store location over time across America. Talk about two Americas.

2009-01-07T08:43:00.000-08:00

The Dangers of Skiing

Well, this seemed like a good first post for 2009. A skier in Vail, Co, fell out of the chair lift. Fortunately, his pants got caught and prevented him from falling to the ground. Unfortunately, he was suspended half-naked from the chair for fifteen minutes before he was rescued. Talk about shrinkage. There are more pictures here.

2009-01-01T13:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone. I'll be posting regularly again next week.

2008-12-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, Religion.

Yesterday, Morning Edition had a piece on sexual abuse victims making progress in using the Vatican. The duality of the Religion and Nation State of the catholic church has provided cover for the Pontiff and his lackeys, but its seems there may be an opening. Recently, an Oregon federal court and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Ohio said they are open to hearing arguments, based on the exception to the sovereign state immunity, called the "tortious act" exception. If the plaintiffs can show that U.S. bishops are officials of the Vatican, and that they harmed children by failing to report sex abuse, then there is a chance of getting to trial. Seems open and shut to me.

Meanwhile back at the Vatican...Gay people are going to bring the world to an end. Jesus.

2008-12-21T21:44:00.001-08:00

NEWTS!

Newts (baby ones I think, man I am a terrible biologist) appeared at our home to this evening. As I was pulling into the garage, I noticed the first one on the downspout, then noticed the second one in the driveway. I am still trying to figure out what type of newt they are (terrible biologist). After snapping a couple of pictures, I herded the one in the driveway into the planter so he wouldn't get run over. Guess with all the rain be have been having, I'll need to be on newt patrol when moving the cars.

*************************************UPDATE*************************************

So, I did some research and I think it our visitors are Arboreal Salamanders (Aneides lugubris). I used this web page for the identification. This picture, along with the range, habitat description led me to my conclusion. If anyone thinks otherwise, I am interested in your opinion!

2008-12-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

Foot in baby's brain

This post is graphic, but interesting. Doctors in Colorado removed a developing leg, hand, and intestine from a baby's brain. The news story is here and a big graphic picture here. The good news is the baby seems to be recovering well from the surgery. Although I don't agree with him completely, PZ Meyers had thoughts similar to mine on the matter:

Something struck me when I saw the photograph of this particular surgery. Here it is, a photo of a fetal foot flopping out of a bloody baby's brain (don't click if you're squeamish). As I'm sure you've noticed, anti-choice people love to parade about with gory photos of aborted fetuses, and they love to dwell on little details like a recognizable hand or face. This picture is exactly like those, yet realize this: there was no human being behind those little baby toes. The existence of these fragments of non-sentient tissue endangered the life of a child, and there was no question that they needed to be extracted.

This is also how we should view abortion. It's ugly and messy, and there's something disquietingly resonant of humanity in the pieces of the embryo or fetus, but we shouldn't be fooled. Those are beautifully patterned collections of differentiated cells, but there is no person there.

Now it is unknown if these organs were a growth from the baby that was born born or another fetus developing inside the baby that was born, but it provides interesting grist for really interesting scientific and ethical thought. I would ask PZ, "when is there a 'person' there?" I don't have the answer, but I definitely think it is interesting to think what makes us human (not that I think that makes us as a species 'special', just different). I am confident there will not be a definitive answer in my life time, if ever.

2008-12-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

Depoliticize Prayer

Steven Waldman, co-founder of Beliefnet, was on Talk of the Nation yesterday and on Forum today. Both days Waldman suggested that the choice of Warren to deliver the invocation was an attempt to depoliticize prayer (because Obama, a liberal, was reaching out Warren, a conservative) Well, bullshit. There is one way to depoliticize prayer, keep it separate from politics. There should be no invocation at the inauguration. Separate church and state. That said, Warren has said bigoted things about the LGBT community. While I find his comments repugnant, I don't think that should disqualify him out right, I just think it is completely ironic in light of the Reverend Wright kerfuffle (Obama should have him give the invocation). I think this is strictly a political move and a savvy one at that, but time will tell.

2008-12-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

Roy Zimmerman

Danny sent this video from Roy Zimmerman, I have seen other stuff from Roy, but I hadn't seen this particular one. If you aren't familiar with Roy Zimmerman, you should check him out. He is pretty funny and has a pleasing left perspective. He has songs gay marriage, evolution and other politcal issues.

2008-12-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

As I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, the Bush administration is sprinting to the finish, trying institute their policies in the final days. Stay vigilant, write to your senators and congressional representatives!

2008-12-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

Master and Slave

I am constantly impressed with nature's ability to put humans in their place (that is, we are not as special as we think we are). The source of this amazement is frequently ants. Anyone not impressed by ants, just hasn't done enough research. One feature of ant society that is completely fascinating is ant slavery. That's right, ants enslave other ants. The nature of the enslavement varies, but in general it involves either killing the queen and hijacking the nest or kidnapping pupae. In the genus Polyergus, commonly called Legionnaire ants, workers are incapable of carrying out even rudimentary brood care, care for their queen, or even acquiring food. Polyergus species subsist solely as a ruling caste, maintaining a worker force by capturing ants of the closely related species in massive colony-to-colony raids and have evolved to efficiently capture slaves.

Photo Credit: Alex Wild

As the stolen brood matures, the captured ants imprint on their captors' colony and perform the usual labor of foraging, brood care, and nest maintenance as they would for their own colonies. Polyergus ants are obligate parasites that cannot survive without the labor of the ants they enslave. Below the red slave-raiding Polyergus species is shown living with black/silvery slave ants, Formica argentea.

Photo Credit: Alex Wild

So, do slaves ever fight back? Commonly, the queen and workers of the raided Formica colony evacuate to nearby vegetation to wait out the raid, but there is documentation of some species trying to fight off raiders. There is also evidence that post-enslavement resistance has also evolved. In studies conducted by Susanne Foitzik of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, slave nursemaids killed some 80 percent of their captors' young queens and some 60 percent of the young workers. Nature loves an arms race.

2008-12-14T18:02:00.000-08:00

I guess this means no more shoes on airplanes.

First of all, I am impressed with W's reactions time. Second, it's too bad the guy missed.

2008-12-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

MCB Follies

Every year the graduate students in the MCB department put together funny videos and skits and have a big party to watch them. The video below, made by my labmate, is my favorite. There others here.

2008-12-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

What would Faux News say about this?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Moment of Zen - Santa Fist Bump

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

2008-12-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

Prop 8

The other night Jon Stewart held Mike Huckabee's feet to the fire on gay marriage. I like Mike Huckabee, I think he is a good guy, but I disagree with him on most topics ranging from science to gay marriage. The interview is good and worth watching. the second part is about gay marriage. They came back the other night and looked at alleged conflict between the black and gay communities.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Proposition 8

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

2008-12-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

Steven Chu to head Department of Energy

Berkeley MCB professor, LBNL Director and Nobel Laureate, was named by Obama to head the Department of Energy. I think this is great. Although it was not intended to be, I see this appointment as repudiation of the know-nothing, anti-intellectual, cronism of the Bush administration. During his tenure at LBNL, Chu has changed the direction of LBNL initiating the Helios project and bringing the labs focus of funneling sunlight into our gas tanks. He was also instrumental in founding the Energy Bioscience Institute, a "collaboration" between Berkeley and BP (personally not a big fan of public private collaborations, but that is another post). Chu's tenure has not been without controversy (he came up during the UC salary controversy), but as a visionary with scientific experience, I think he is top notch.

2008-12-10T08:00:00.001-08:00

Biodiesel fo' Shizzel

For those of you who don't know, Liz and I have a 2000 Volkswagen Golf TDI that we run on Biodiesel. We purchased the car in 2006 with approximately 70,000 miles. We (mainly liz) has run the mileage you to 113,000 miles. We purchase our biodiesel at the biofuels oasis, a worker owned co-operative in Berkeley. So far, Liz and I love the golf and are happy with the biodiesel. I hope to make regular comments and analysis on biofuels and biodiesel in particular. Sustainable carbon neutral renewable liquid fuels are needed to displace petroleum-derived transport fuels that contribute to global warming. Biodiesel and bioethanol are being produced in increasing amounts as renewable biofuels, but their production in large quantities is currently not sustainable. One alternative is the production of biodiesel from microalgae. Algal biomass can be grown in photobioreactors, but a rigorous assessment of the economics of production is necessary to establish competitiveness with petroleum-derived fuels. Currently there needs to be approximately a ten fold reduction in cost to be competitive with petroleum fuels, but achieving the capacity to inexpensively produce biodiesel from microalgae is of strategic significance to an environmentally sustainable society. Public and private efforts are already underway to achieve commercial-scale production of microalgal oil, but for the moment barely any biodiesel is being made from microalgae.

2008-12-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Ants!
(kinda)

Technically, speaking these are not ants, but spiders (count the legs and eyes) that have evolved to look like Ants. Nature is amazing!

Although many of these spiders hunt ants, it is not this visual deception that facilitates their hunting. It appears that the visual mimicry protects them from predation by other predators that generally avoid ants because they produce formic acid. The spider's mimicry of ants is not just visual, but chemical as well. The integrity of social insect colonies is maintained by members utilizing chemical cues present on the cuticle of nest mates and any intruder. Some of these mimicking spiders use chemical mimicry to gain access to these nests, which can be acquired through biosynthesis or through contact with the hosts or their nest material. For example, This paper shows that the chemical resemblance of the spider does not arise through physical contact with the adult ants, but instead the spider acquires the cuticular hydrocarbons by eating the ant larvae. You are what you eat.

2008-12-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Obama and The Internet

In light of the 533,000 jobs lost in November, we are going to need a lot of jobs. On Saturday Obama outlined his vision for the reviving the American economy. He plans to create jobs with WPA style projects upgrading roads, schools and energy efficiency in a public-works program whose scale has been unseen since construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. One of the programs that excites me is the expansion of broadband access across the country.

“It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption,” Mr. Obama said. “Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online.”

Now, I don't think the internet will solve educations problems per say, but this sort of investment is what we need. These sorts of programs will create jobs now and increase the efficiency and robustness of our economy in the future. Science funding works the same way, it is an investment in our future as a nation and a global community.

2008-12-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Good Recipe

Liz has recipe for cranberry cake on her blog. Let me say it is delicious. If anyone is looking for a good dessert dish this holiday season, I highly recommend it.

2008-12-05T23:58:00.000-08:00

Robert Reich Gets It Right
(again)

Robert Reich had a great post on December 3rd, discussing how our society has lost sight of what makes America great, the people and the people that we educate here.

"Our preoccupation with the immediate crisis of financial capital is causing us to overlook the bigger crisis in America's human capital. While we commit hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to Wall Street, we're slashing our outlays for public education."

I couldn't agree more. It is short sighted to slash funding for education in these times of economic difficulty. The education of student makes our economy more efficient, robust, and productive in the future. Reducing already anemic educational budgets may be penny wise, but it is pound foolish.

2008-12-05T23:26:00.000-08:00

Reading List

I have added a reading list to the right hand side of my blog called "primary literature". I hope record my thoughts on interesting papers as I read them here on my blog periodically. I plan on posting a new paper each day (but not comment everyday) with a link to the paper. I think it will be a mix of old literature relevant to my interests and new stuff that comes across my screen (desk just doesn't seem like the correct phrase anymore). If anyone comes across interesting stuff, send it on over. Today I came across

Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study

In this article, the authors James Fowler and Nicholas Christakis suggest that happiness is contagious in social groups over three degrees of separation. If you are happy or be come happy it increases the likelyhood that your friends are happy or will be come happy and that effect is detectable on friends of a friends as well. I have not yet read it in detail, but I want to see how they control for the association of happy people. Anyway, I hope everyone is happy.

2008-12-04T15:22:00.000-08:00

Why study choanoflagellates?

An Evolutionary Perspective.

Multicellularity has arisen several times in the course of evolutionary history each with unique features and attributes. As Leo Buss noted animal multicellularity is unique, compared to plant and fungal multicellularity, because animals have the capacity to move relative to one another, that is they lack a rigid, confining, cell wall. To understand the evolution of animal multicellularity, the reconstruction of the correct evolutionary antecedents is essential. Specifically, understanding of the character evolution prior to the evolution of animals it is critical to understand the biology animals close living relatives. The closest known living relative of animals is a group of collared flagellates called the choanoflagellates. Choanoflagellates are aquatic heterotrophic eukaryotes characterized morphologically by a single apical flagellum that is surrounded by a collar of actin filled microvilli. Many species of choanosflagellates live a solitary life style; however, some species have the capacity to form colonies. This is particularly interesting because it raises the possibility that the last common ancestor of choanoflagellates and animals may have shared this characteristic, thus understanding choanoflagellate colony formation will be inform our understanding about the evolution of animal multicellularity.

2008-12-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's Forum

Yesterday KQED's Forum had a good program on the end of the Bush Presidency (many of the things discussed were not unique to the Bush Administration) but should serve as a reminder for us to remain vigilant in the final days of the presidency.

Bush Presidency Winds Down
The Bush presidency is winding to a close, but his term is not over yet. This 'lame duck' period of the presidency is often a time for last minute executive orders and pardons. We look at the waning days of the Bush administration and consider his legacy.

2008-12-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

The War On Christmas

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

A Colbert Christmas: Toby Keith Sings

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Only thing is, I think Toby is serious...

2008-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

That Conservative Whine

The classic claim of fiscal conservatives is that private corporations are more efficient than government. So setting aside the fact that I think several aspects of society should not be run for profit i.e. education, health care, insurance, I still take exception to the claim. A recent two part story from NPR touches on topic. Surprise (if you have had your head up your ass for the last 8 years), there has been a sharp increase in no-bid contracts. How the hell are no-bid contracts market based? this exposes these people for what they really are, greedy. Interestingly, the story also discovers that

"industry shouldn't collect the nation's taxes; public servants should do that crucial job. And the IRS's own calculations even show that government employees are more efficient: for every dollar spent trying to collect taxes, government workers collect three times as much as the collection companies do."

Surprise, government beats industry three to one! And they do a more professional job. Don't get me wrong, I don't think government should do everything. The claim that companies are better just sticks in my craw. Looking at the corporations I see them suffering from many of the same ailments (bureaucracy, corruption, etc...) as those alleged against the government. Finally, there is limited to no accountability with private contractors. Think Halliburton and Blackwater...

2008-12-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

A Couple of Daily Show Clips

Excellent (if gratuitous) use of the F-word:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Mumbai Tragedy

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Any doubts about the Daily Show? John takes Chris Matthews, Keith Oberman and MSNBC to task:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

MSNBC Replaces Fox News

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

2008-12-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Ants!

This is a cast of of an ant nest. Pretty cool!

In an effort to explore scientific issues in my blog I am going to try and blog about social insects on Tuesday and choanoflagellates on Thursdays. I will intersperse other science if it catches my attention, but as an exercise I am going to give this a try. I think ants are truly amazing. With a diversity of social structures they really cast human societies in a new light. Darwin, in the Origin of Species, described several ant societies that contain slaves. Slaves! How crazy is that but more about that in the future. There is also evidence for teaching and learning in ant communities. To start things off I point in the direction of an interview of E.O. Wilson, the father of sociobiology, by Andrea Seabrook (who I find kind of annoying, but Wilson is great.)

2008-12-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of "New Rules" from Bill Maher

New Rule: Stop saying that we've overcome racism just because we've found a qualified black man and elected him president. Everybody knows we won't have true equality until we elect a dumb, unqualified black man. [slide of Bush doing African dance]...

...And, finally, New Rule: The rest of the world can go back to being completely jealous of America. Yes...our majority white country just freely elected a black president; something no other democracy has ever done. Take that, Canada! Where's your Nubian warrior president? Your head of state is a boring white dude named Stephen Harper. And mine is a kick-ass black ninja named Barack Hussein Obama!

That's right, everybody. I take back every bad thing I ever said about the good old U.S.A. I've gone from "God damn America" to "God damn, America!"

I feel like a hockey mom at the state fair getting felt up by Hank Williams Jr. While fireworks go off and Jesus appears in my cotton candy. It would be stupid not to be stupid about it.

So, I'd like to take this moment when we've finally got one right, to bask in a little unwarranted, unapologetic, irrational, faux patriotism. Or, as Fox News calls it, "regular programming."

Now, I might regret this. It's kind of like going grocery shopping when you're high. But, here goes, world...[with patriotic music under]

We're Americans. We built the Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam and Joan Rivers. We're the only country that can look at a sandwich made of ice cream and chocolate cookies covered in fudge and think, "Ah, you think we could fry that?"

And you know what? YES, WE CAN!

They may have 72 virgins, but we have 31 Flavors.

You know what our favorite burger topping is? Another burger!

We invented rock 'n' roll, jazz, funk, R&B, and hip-hop. Without our music, your iPods would be filled with ABBA, Menudo and Men At Work. And you wouldn't have iPods.

Not only did we create the Internet, we're the ones who filled it up with porn.

Jefferson lived here. And Miles Davis and Mark Twain and Frank Lloyd Wright and a lot of other people Sarah Palin never heard of.

In America, strippers and Disney stars have an equal right to be named "Hannah Montana."

And I was freely able to make a movie saying there's no afterlife, and you could watch it while eating crap that'll kill you. But, that's okay, because our corn-fed high school sophomores are bigger than your soldiers, and they're better armed.

I ask you, in what other nation would they tax young people to make sure old people can afford erections?

What you call "football," we call "soccer." And what you call "war crimes," we call "football."

So, let me just say it again: we elected a black guy, and it was because he was the best candidate. Not because it was some cheap gimmick. And we should know, because we are also the country that invented cheap gimmicks.

Yes, America is like Jessica Simpson. Sometimes it's so stupid it embarrasses you, but, on the other hand, how about them titties?!

2008-12-01T08:00:00.001-08:00

Godless Sodomites Unite!

On The Media, an NPR program, did a story on "new atheism" this week, you can listen to it here:

It is pithy and interesting, as are most stories from OTM. Now, I am not sure I like the idea of proselytizing, but I do see myself aligning with the "new atheists" and when asked (or not asked) advocate for a secular world view. That said, I am not sure the best way to advocate for secular world against a rolling religious juggernaut. As mentioned in the article it's self, organizing atheists can be like herding cats (no doubt a function of their embrace of evidenced based methodologies and aversion to dogma).

If you are interested in the out campaign you can find out more about it here.

2008-11-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

High School Reunion

Yesterday I attended my 10 year high school reunion and I was pleasantly surprised and had a good time. From a cynical perspective, not much as changed in that the same groups of friends seemed to coalesce to catch-up, but this seemed to derive from continued connection and shared interests. It was great to see everyone and hear about people's endeavors. Most people were young professionals or in graduate school and those that were married were married in the last couple years, overall similar stories to Liz and me. Although I saw many people who I have had casual contact with over the years and heard about through the grape vine, the most inspiring aspect of the reunion, was seeing two disabled students from our class Andre and Tapua, both have had stable jobs for several years. Tapua suffers from mild but permanent mental disabilities and physical disabilities. She was always affable and gregarious and during high school our class was very inclusive of her. Over the past 10 years, I had occasionally wondered how she was doing out in the world. I was moved to learn that Tapua seems to have been particularly successful, working for the state for the last 9 years (several of my friends not facing the same challenges and having more resources have not had the same success). Seeing how proud she was of this accomplishment really made me feel good. She has permanent challenges and clearly will never have an easy life, but seeing her being a happy contributing member of society made me proud of what can be (in an Obama hope sort of way). Go humanity!

2008-11-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

Liz is blogging

Hey Everyone, Liz is blogging, you should head over and check out her site "No Refunds" and she says it is decidedly less political than this place. Anyway, i think she will be blogger about recipes and stuff should be good.

2008-11-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Those Crazy Canadians

This is an old public safety message from Canada...

2008-11-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

Humanity's Genes and the Human Condition
the genetics of psychosis

Last weekend I was at a symposium on campus called "Humanity's Genes and the Human Condition" organized by Sydney Brenner. The speakers were excellent, and I plan to put up a few posts over the next couple of days. The pictures below are from a talk by David Porteous about the genetics of psychosis. Dr. Porteous started his talk with an anecdote about Bryan Charnely an artist with schizophrenia. The pictures below are from a series of painting as he took himself off his medication and resulted in his suicide about three months after the first painting. The Final painting shown here was found on his easel along with his body. The complete series of self portraits as well as information about the life and work of Bryan Charnely can be found at this website. This really brought home to me the idea of titrating the chemistry of life. How do we define "normal" and who should decide the level of medication etc. There are no clear answers, but the "project" is striking.

2008-11-23T10:32:00.000-08:00

Robert Reich has two interesting posts. You should check them out here.

2008-11-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

The Illuminate Thread

My friend Brett Tracy and his friend Joe Miller rode their bikes from Chicago, Il to Portland, OR and down to Davis, CA. They stayed with Liz and I the other night on their way from San Francisco to Davis. They have documented their travels on the their website The Illuminate Thread. The are also having an art show this weekend back in Chicago with work from their trip.

2008-11-22T14:11:00.000-08:00

Crazy!

For those of you who are not familiar with the Phineas Gage story it is crazy. Gage was a railroad construction foreman now remembered for his incredible survival of an accident which drove a large iron rod through his head, destroying one or both of his frontal lobes altering his personality. I had hear this story a couple of times and the rendering I saw of the spike was not that large. Below is the spike next to his skull (kept at Harvard).

2008-11-15T22:43:00.000-08:00

On The Marketplace Blog

My question made on to the question of the day (11/14) on the Marketplace blog.

2008-11-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

Protest Proposition 8

Help support equality for all, protest proposition 8 this Saturday, November, 15 at 10:30. You can find the nearest protest spot here.

2008-11-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

It's All Monopoly Money

This is a little old, but I really think people should read this interview with Margret Atwood on Marketplace, she hits the nail on the head.

Atwood: OK, here we go: 'I knew from fairy tales such as "Peter Pan" that if you ceased to believe in fairies, they would drop dead. If I stopped believing in banks, would they too expire? The adult view was that fairies were unreal and banks were real, but was that true?'

Vigeland: And did you find an answer?

Atwood: The answer is that money and banks and all of these kinds of institutions that we have built up, they're all human inventions. Money is really just a sort of Monopoly token. It's not good for anything: you can't wear it, you can't eat it, you can't smoke it. Similarly with banks. Part of our belief in banks is that they're safe. If we stop believing they're safe, the bank actually vanishes because nobody will do business with it or put money into it. Wouldn't you say that's true?

The economy is based on trust and once that trust is violated it begins to unwind. We're are still in the process of unwinding. There is also an interesting article from the motley fool describing the uncoupling of the Chinese economy from the US economy.

2008-11-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

A Day Late

I know this is a day late, but I just wanted to thank all our veterans for their service to our country. In particular, I personally want to thank my friends Marty Laye and Nate Coker and Nate's dad for their service to our country. I also want to remember my grandfather who served in world war two. I know there are many veterans out there, so thank you. If you see a veteran this week don't forget to thank them.

2008-11-12T07:08:00.001-08:00

I guess that's me...

sorry to everyone I bothered!

2008-11-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Palin, You're Done!

Just to pile on here for a bit. Palin, you are done politcally. I think this is the demise of the unholy union between the religious right and fiscal conservatives. The intellectuals of the republican party are like rats leaving a sinking ship. The Republican party is done and they wont be back to for a while. The party needs to do some soul searching. When they re-emerge, the likes of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell will no longer be driving the party. Most of all, Palin will not be a viable candidate. I don't think she will be re-elected governor Alaska.

2008-11-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

Yes We Can!

The crowd goes wild as Obama walks out to accept the presidency. What can I say, we did it! I spent the three days leading up the election walking precincts for the Obama campaign in Las Vegas. I have teared-up so many times over the last few days. To join to the choir, America, I am so proud of us. Thank you to all of you have worked on the campaign and supported us. On Monday evening after walking precincts I was challenged/accosted by a drunk guy in the casino/hotel elevator. Not that he wanted to hear my answer, but he asked me for one accomplishment of Obama that qualified him to be president. To answer, I think the most stunning accomplishment is the implementation of bottom-up and top-down organization. If he runs the country the way he ran the campaign we will live in a better place. It is funny, many fiscal conservatives think that the government should be run like a business (those parts that should be around at all). There is a Quest commercial bragging (in a non-political way) about how they built a communications network for the RNC in two months. The Obama campaign organization dwarfs that. I heard that the campaign had 8 million volunteers, that is 2% of the population working for the campaign. There were 24,000 volunteers canvassing in Ohio. The Republicans dissed community organizing, but it kicked their ass. I don't expect the Obama administration to fix everything, but I certainly have hope that we are headed in the right direction.

The most rewarding aspect of the trip, is that I feel I made a difference. Towards the end of election day, I was waiting by the car after canvassing my neighborhood for the third time and a group of teenagers drove up and asked for Obama buttons and a kid on bike came by a little while later. As I was waiting for the rest of my team to reassemble, a guy driving by saw me and pulled over to ask where his polling place was located. I told him the location and handed him a door hanger with directions. As he drove away he said Obama is going to win. A few seconds later, a woman driving by saw me and started cheering. It made me tear-up to see our nation taking the election so seriously. As we drove home we were listening to the local NPR station which was talking about incredible ground presence of the Obama campaign, just out walking their dogs or driving around people new we were there.

Finally, the morning after the election I shared a cab back to the airport with a couple of other volunteers, an undergrad from Berkeley and a middle-aged mother from Idaho. We were ebullient. When we got to the airport, the woman from Idaho said she was so proud of our generation and insisted on covering our cab-fare. On the plane, I was seated towards the back, so I had a view up the aisle and I could see many people were watching CNN. As CNN analyzed the results, they went to Nevada and showed a county-by-county view which showed a red state with two blue counties containing Reno and Las Vegas. The pundit explained that Las Vegas pulled the state blue. I clapped a little bit to myself and the next thing I new the plane erupted into applause. This is the America I want to live in.

Yes we can!

2008-11-03T21:52:00.000-08:00

Jody on TV

My friend Jody, has flown to Virgina to work for the campaign and was interviewed on TV.

http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/home/headlines/33699284.html

2008-11-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

Stevo In Nevada

For those of you who don't know, I am in Nevada volunteering for the Obama campaign. I signed up to "Drive-for Change" and travel to Reno to help canvass, but about week ago I received a call from the Nevada headquarters asking if I was willing to travel to Las Vegas because they had a lot of Bay Area volunteers in Reno and 70% of the population is in Las Vegas. If I could get myself there they would provide housing. So, i talked to my Dad and he agreed to finance the flight (Thanks Dad!) and I am putting in the sweat equity. Here is a picture of me "Fired-up" in a shirt I made for the trip.

I flew out from San Francisco on Saturday and after a two hour delay due to rain, I was off to help turn Nevada blue. For those of you who have not flown on Virgin America to Las Vegas before, let me simply say it is basically the "Party Bus" of planes. The interior of the plane is super modern with an uber trendy feel with neon lights and personal interactive entertainment system with video games, movies, you can even track your flight on google maps in flight!

Upon landing, I grabbed a cab to the Imperial Palace. The cabby (who I don't think could vote) was excited about a Obama presidency. As I stood in the check-in line, I noticed the people in front of me had a Berkeley Bowl bag, so I introduced myself. It turned out that they were a group of friends from Berkeley and San Francisco who made the trip to turn Nevada Blue. Later that night I was getting dinner alone, when some Stanford students came in, but there were no more tables available, so I shared my table with them. It seems like there are ton of volunteers here. I have heard that the obama campaign has 8 million volunteers, that is more than 2% of the country working for Obama!

On Sunday morning I met up with my carpool group. Waiting in the lobby it was immediately apparent who was there for the campaign, just from the dress and general appearance of the Obama supports, many of whom who have found the stairs in the hotel/casino (no easy feat.) Below is a picture of my co-canvassers a group of artist friends from SF. I have found people as concerned and fanatical about the election (think checking the polls incessantly). We covered our rental car with Obama schwag.

We are based out of the local Sheetmetal Workers Union Hall.

Here is what were are up against, but I have to say from my canvassing there is very strong support for Obama. We just need people to vote!

The day has gone very well. We have canvassed more territory than hoped for and 50% of the electorate has voted early. The campaign seems very please with the way things are going. After a hard day of canvassing we made our way to Whole Foods, which is an oasis in Las Vegas, to get food that fit our dietary needs (think vegetarian, wheat free, etc...) as we sat there enjoying ourselves we realized what an image we were with organic food checking the poll results on our wireless devices. All we needed was some arugula.

HaHa. I am just watching CNN right now and McCain is imploring his supporters to volunteer for him. I just have to laugh. To bad he wasn't a community organizer, he might have been more on top of things.

This just in!

WOW! Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, the first precinct to vote in the country went for Obama 15 to 6! Dixville Notch has not gone Democratic since 1968. Hopefully it keeps going!

Thanks for reading to the end. Don't forget to vote and remind your friends and family!

2008-10-30T15:51:00.001-07:00

This is too funny. The irony is killing me.

http://wonkette.com/403920/jesus-people-pray-that-false-idol-will-save-gods-economy

2008-10-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Really? Man these people suck.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct 30, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The NO on Prop 8 Web site was hit by a massive cyber invasion called a distributed denial of service attack (DoS) that took down the site for several hours last night, with the assault originating not just in-state, but from Texas, New Jersey and Georgia.

Full Story
When the Bush Campaign did this people went to jail. I hope these people also go to jail.

2008-10-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

So, I just got an e-mail with this in it:

this is SO FUCKING NUTS!

Proposition 8 is about writing discrimination into our constitution, which is bad enough. But its clear that proposition 8 has become a microcosm of the weird religious extremism in this country. It's frankly scary. For the first time ever, I feel like my civil rights are in peril and I am not even gay.

2008-10-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

This is so crazy. This Golden Orb Weaver caught a chestnut-breasted mannikin. An I thought Berkeley had big spiders! sheesh. Original Story and More Pictures

2008-10-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

6 days left until the election and it is time for the final push to the election. At the end of the week, I am going to Las Vegas for the election to help turn out the vote. Pollster.com has listed Nevada as a toss-up for the last several weeks, but yesterday switched to leaning Obama. I encourage everyone get active. Talk to your friends and family and volunteer for the campaign.

Help Obama turn out the vote

2008-10-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Alright this is a little old, but still relevant. The election is in one week. So inform yourself and vote. Not just about the presidential election, but the entire ballot from president to propositions to school board leadership. The Democracy you get is the one you work for.

2008-10-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

Vote McMoron and Ignoramus!

Too bad fruit fly research has no little or nothing to do with the public good– like help our understanding of Down Syndrome…

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10363125?ordinalpos=10&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

2008-10-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

2008-04-14T20:25:00.001-07:00

Expelled

2007-02-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

2005-10-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here is the view from the lab bench in the lab where I am rotating.

I run in the hills and then shower in my building. The only downside is that the lab is ~15 min from campus and ~25 min from home.

Here is my current lab dressed-up for the "tri-lab" Halloween party (we are the seven deadly dwarves and the Flying Spaghetti Monster (if you don't know FSM you should google it)).

2005-08-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

US!

2005-08-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

Some Of The Wildlife

Go Banana Slugs!

(wait that's Santa Cruz not Berkeley!)

Those darn white dogs!

(really a fallow deer)

California Quail

Another lesson in not smoking

2005-08-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

Here Comes The Fog!

~20 min

2005-08-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Rest Of The House

The Kitchen

The Kitchen Too

The Sun Room

The Living Room

The Garage!

2005-08-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

My Bed

West Wall

South Wall

East Wall

Projector

2005-08-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

My New Home

The Sideyard

The Deck

The Creek

The Backyard