And This is Why I love Science

A partially blind British man has experienced a massive improvement in sight thanks to an experimental surgery involving gene therapy.

It feels like many of the new breakthroughs in the biological sciences are occurring in the UK and other overseas locations. It seems as if the U.S. is falling behind not only in lower level science education, but also at the top, with the frontier researchers not being supported the way they were a few decades ago.

They Finally Did It

The media has managed to at least partially corrupt Miley Cyrus. She has begun the slow and painful road to becoming the next Britney Spears or Paris Hilton.

The Earth was Designed by Intelligent Aliens

Richard Dawkins refutes the most probable aspect of Intelligent Design in this LA Times article. While I disagree with him on a few things, I always love reading his work or listening to him speak. I believe that you can disagree with someone and yet still marvel at their amazing rhetorical and analytical skills. Dawkins is definitely one of the foremost thinkers of our time. His ability to take a position and defend it against all sorts of attacks is truly remarkable. And the entire time he is doing so, he never seems to get flustered or emotional or out of sorts. Please read this article for it's pure rhetorical splendor first and for the Intelligent Design/Evolution debate second.

Arms Blocked from Reaching Zimbabwe

The countries surrounding landlocked Zimbabwe have blocked the shipment of arms from a Chinese freighter that is at sea near southern Africa.

The instability in Zimbabwe continues and the violence is only getting worse. It floors me sometime to see the tumultuousness of Africa and all of the major human rights abuses going on there. I understand that the major powers of the world are busy with their own concerns, including the "War on Terror," but it seems as if they just turn their back to some of these fledging countries.

All of the news coming out of the Zimbabwean election makes me thankful for our stable system of electing the leaders of our country. People might be called names or mud might be slung, but at least we aren't physically attacked for our political beliefs and the transition of power does not require the intervention of the military or foreign powers.

You Don't See This Everyday

Priest goes missing while "floating off under party balloons." It is as bad as it sounds. He was tied to hundreds of helium party balloons, floated away, and lost contact with the port authority a few hours into the flight.

The 7 Greatest Home Shopping Screw Ups of All Time

Hilarious set of goofs on home shopping shows and networks. Nothing beats live television, especially when it goes wrong. Note: the first and last are nsfw.

Prediction

Clinton will take Pennsylvania by more than five points but less than 10. Also check out Pollster.com's page regarding McCain vs. Obama nationally. ABC and The Washington Post apparently have an insight that I haven't seen anywhere else.

A Sesame Street Post

I'm always pleasantly surprised to see the political and social acuity of Sesame Street. They seem to know how to address problems of the day in a very simple, unoffensive way that can be understood by the youngest and the oldest.

Here are a few videos from the vaults of Sesame Street (or YouTube).

First is Jesse Jackson teaching his famous "I Am - Somebody" poem to group of children that represent every color and creed in the United States. No matter what you think of Jesse Jackson now, you cannot deny that he had/has an inspiring presence and was/is a great force in the Civil Rights movement.

Second is Stevie Wonder performing his song "Superstition." No one can jam like this guy. Also, note the crazy little kid flipping his fro all over the place. Goal #283 for my life is to look exactly like the saxophone player, including his rad shirt. Yes I said "rad", deal with it, haha.

This Guy is Talented

Normally I hate American Idol purely because it represents some things that I do not like about our country, namely the fact that it seems more people vote for American Idol than in actual political elections. I have to admit though, this Jason Catro guy is pretty talented and this song symbolically represent some aspects of America that are absolutely wonderful. Quoting Andrew Sullivan:

But here is another reason I love America: it's a white dude in dreads playing a ukelele, a straight guy singing a song that could have been a national anthem for gay men for decades, in a version written by a Hawaiian in honor of a friend who died an early death because of obesity.

And it's also in a strange way completely sublime in its own right and on its own terms.

Enjoy and I hope you stop to see the trees of green and red roses in your life today.

470, 317, 143, 135, 42

The number of individuals killed via capital punishment in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the U.S.A. according to Amnesty International. The actual numbers in each country are assumed to be much larger with as many as 8,000 killed by the Chinese in secret.

I am against capital punishment in any country solely due to the fact that no human being is perfect and any "justice system" set up by a group of them is bound to be flawed also. Just the fact that one person has been wrongly put to death is enough for me to abolish the entire institution.

Now add on top of that the underhandedness and secrecy of these other countries and you have a massive infringement on basic human rights.

Another Reason Why I Have Hope for America

Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can.

Acid Induced Protein Synthesis

Hilarious video made at The University of California at Berkeley. This is exactly what we do all day in The Molecular Biology Building.

We Still Have a Long Way to Go

It's kind of ironic that I'm making this post on the 40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Junior's assassination. Apparently this University of Colorado journalist has a huge problem with Asian people, and advocates a race war against them. I truly did not believe that these feelings and people still existed in our country. Scratch that, deep down I knew they were still around but I wanted to hope that they actually were not.

Computer Being Stupid

A feeling I have on a daily basis.

Rush Limbaugh

Amazing quote to come out of Rush Limbaugh.

"You have to understand the mindset of a lot of these feminists and women. They think they're owed this — just like Obama supporters think they're owed this. These women have paid their dues. They've been married two or three times; they've had two or three abortions; they've done everything that feminism asked them to do. They have cut men out of their lives; they have devoted themselves to causes and careers. And this — the candidacy of Hillary Clinton — is the culmination of all of these women's efforts. And if it gets stolen from them [by] a rookie, radical black guy who can't tell the time of day, they are going to be so miffed."

I've begun typing many things in response to this, but I can't seem to find the right words to describe my dislike for this person. I'll leave it at that.

Hat Tip: The Daily Dish

Prime Minister of Ireland Steps Down

Taoiseach (or Prime Minister in English) Bertie Ahern announced today that he will be stepping down from his positions as Taoiseach and as leader of the Fianna Fail political party, currently the ruling party in the Irish Parliament or Dail. He has recently been embroiled in a controversy involving payments made to him and a former partner.

I've tried to keep on top of the controversy and investigations into the payments by reading some Irish newspapers on the internet, but I can't seem to make heads or tails of it and it seems as if that is the consensus. An Irish friend was in town a few weeks ago and when we talked about it he mentioned that the only people in Ireland who really knew exactly what was going on were the politicians themselves.

Irish politics fascinates me because it is so different than the system here in the states. Multiple parties, campaigns that can be called on a whim, campaigns that last only a few weeks or months, and multiple in depth scandals all give their process an extra bit of excitement.