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.

DNC Acceptance Speech

I just watched Obama's 2008 presidential nomination acceptance speech. I thought it was decent, but frankly, it paled in comparison to his 2004 convention speech. The 2004 speech was about the American dream; how people can be accepted and thrive in the US, and how that opportunity is unique, and how that opportunity is a source of pride for our nation. Basically, the speech focused on positives of America and it's potential. Barack talked about the unity of all Americans; we're all in this together. It's impressive to watch how the crowd grows more and more excited as they hear the speech. I remember reading an article about it a day later proclaiming "A Star Is Born," talking about how Obama made an incredible impression. I watched the speech and was impressed with how well he captured the moment. Re-watching the speech now, I found it fascinating to see that he talks about hope, a word which has become synonymous with his campaign this year.

The 2008 speech, however, didn't quite stir me. Sure, I liked the platform planks, his plans for energy independence, getting out of Iraq responsibly, offering college education to those who serve their communities, and many more. I liked that he did mention the American dream. But I suppose that what turned me off were all of the negative comments about McCain and Bush. I think that the hope and positive message in the 2004 speech were what made it so special. I found the shots at McCain to be unnecessary and out of place. A lot of them were from old information, like bring up his economic advisor's "nation of whiners" comment. That was from months ago. If people are undecided or voted for Bush or McCain at some point in the past, but are curious and happen to be tuning into the DNC, they're probably going to be turned off to hear the candidate bashing the other candidate. I think that there is plenty of room for criticizing other candidates, but doing it while the national spotlight is on you isn't really the best timing. I think it'd be fine if Obama created a youtube channel and posted videos of John McCain contradicting himself, saying stupid comments, and generally making himself look bad. Or if he put such ads on television for voters to see. I think that's a better place to criticize someone. But if the country is tuning in for a convention, and times are bad, I think they're going to want hope and encouragement more than seeing the blame game old cracks on Bush. Some people don't appreciate it when you say mean things, but I think appreciates inspiration. Anyway, I'm mostly rambling at this point and I only heard his speech live, so I should think a little more before I write anything else.

Here is the 2004 speech in case you haven't seen it in a while:

Part 1:


Part 2:

Live Explosive Removed From Soldier's Body

Here is an inspiring video they showed us in school about a soldier in Afghanistan who was impaled with a live RPG. He was airlifted out and operated on to remove the live explosive from his body. Wow.

How The Democrats Can Blow It....in Six Easy Steps

A nice little piece from Michael Moore:

For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights and pro-choice. They don't like war. They want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal health-care system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: They support the death penalty.

via Crooks and Liars and Rolling Stone

Holy Ghost

From xkcd

Energy Policy

Crooks and Liars had an interesting post about the Republican response to Obama's energy policy.

A Comparison of Bush and Obama

As Obama spoke to over 100,000 cheering people recently in Berlin, I couldn't help remember what happened when President Bush spoke in Germany. A couple days before I arrived in Germany in 2005, Bush had visited. Though I didn't hear much about it in the US, once I got to Germany, I heard that thousands of people showed up to protest his official visit. I have a feeling that these protests were only minimally covered in the American media as I spent some time searching and had a difficult time finding an article about it in English. As reported in the German magazine Spiegel, about 12,000 people protested to show their displeasure with the American president. Turns out that Germans have built a tradition of protesting Bush on every visit he made over the last six years (article in English), until his visit this past June, when the Germans gave up. American foreign relations has come a long way in the last few months.

Education in America

I just wanted to direct you to a good piece by David Brooks in the NY Times about the slide of education in America over the last 40 years. He terms it "The Biggest Issue." Let's hope he really considers it the biggest issue when he votes this November:

If you look at Barack Obama’s education proposals — especially his emphasis on early childhood — you see that they flow naturally and persuasively from this research [on the importance of early childhood education]... McCain’s policies seem largely oblivious to these findings. There’s some vague talk about school choice, but Republicans are inept when talking about human capital policies.

Nozzle Rage

A little video about gasoline:


via: Essays and Effluvia

New Yorker and Obama

Lost in all of the hoopla surrounding this week's controversial New Yorker cover is the fact that the article inside about Obama is quite interesting. The sprawling article discussing Obama's entrance into and ascension in Chicago politics, which is a topic I've heard little about. It hasn't always been easy for the golden boy, and he even lost a congressional race. But, as far as I can tell, he has seemed to be pretty ideologically consistent throughout. I'd recommend reading the physical magazine rather than the piece online just so that you don't have to stare into a computer screen for too long.

Picken' Green Energy

Looks like oilman and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens is doing something good and honest at age 80. His efforts to invest in green energy are impressive and I hope he has enough sway to pull some other oilmen and energy lobbyists in with him. I'm rather impressed that someone who funded the Swiftboating of John Kerry is going green; quite a turn around, and let's hope that he can keep it real.