Neutrophil Attack!

Check out this cool video of a neutrophil chasing down and phagocytosing a bacterium. This is another video we watched in class. It looks like an old computer game, or maybe a cellular-level COPS televison episode:

The Inner Life of a Cell

Really cool video. Wish I had my very excited professor narrating for you, but at least you've got an entertaining soundtrack:

The Great Schlep

A video on why you should tell your Jewish grandparents living in Florida to vote for Obama.

Good Morning America "Balances" UNC

The ABC show "Good Morning America" visited Chapel Hill on Saturday, September 20. Students supporting Obama showed up in big numbers, but ABC removed about 20 in the front and replaced them with McCain supporters.

Lipstick on a Pig

Stephen Colbert cuts through the truthiness:

Obesity Epidemic

Our carbohydrate metabolism professor presented us with this data from the CDC on the rise of obesity in the United States. Notice that in the mid-1980s, there aren't even data for obesity. My how things have changed. Staggering.

I recommend just using the CDC site to get a better view of the data. I tried fooling around to make Clipmarks do a decent slideshow for probably an hour, but basically the program is huge hassle and I need to stop wasting my time with it. And it stopped at 2004 instead of going all the way to 2007. 

Michael Dukakis Says Something Funny

"I owe the American people an apology. If I had beaten the old man, you'd have never heard of the kid."

- Michael Dukakis, 1988 Democratic Party presidential candidate

Republicans Storm Back in Polls

I remember checking this 2008 Election simulator a couple months ago, and Obama was winning 90+% of the simulations, and I believe as high as 98%. Wow, have times changed. VPs were chosen, conventions were had, and generally, the attacks have gotten more and more slimy. On the Republican side, it looks like something is working. Now Obama is now winning 61% of simulations. Many states that were considered toss ups, like NC, are now "leaning Republican." There are still nearly two months before the election, but Democrats are already panicking. Fundraising is coming up short, while Republicans are going strong.

Anyhow, here is an interesting youtube video looking at John McCain's recent ads:

Oh the Hypocrisy

Jon Stewart Lays Down Some Truth

The Real America

Here is a little excerpt from Paul Krugman's recent blog post during a visit to the Emergency Room:

But here’s the thing — what strikes me here (as it does whenever I spend some time in a workplace) is how much the real America resembles the idealized multiracial, multicultural casting you see on TV. The staff here includes whites, blacks, Asians, Hispancis, a young Muslim woman in a headscarf, all mingling and working together cheerfully.

I wanted to highlight this paragraph because I have often felt the same way. Our medical school class is pretty diverse, and even the faculty is as well. I'm sure there are still plenty of tensions and I think that there is still a lot of self-segregation when people are left to their own devices, but nonetheless, a lot of progress has been made.