Cell phones linked to male infertility

Heavy mobile use 'damages sperm'

First laptops, now cell phones...looks like the women are going to have to do all the work from now on while the men stay home and do our housework! ;-)

Iraqi lives matter: 30,000>3,000

I read this in a column on ESPN.com today (TMQ by Gregg Easterbrook) and thought it was worth thinking about:

"Of the many moral questions regarding the Iraq War, the one the American political and media systems are not dealing with in any way, shape or form is the number of Iraqi deaths. A few months ago President Bush said the estimate he has been given by military intelligence is 30,000 Iraqi deaths caused either directly by our military or set in motion by our invasion. American forces have been trying to avoid killing the innocent. But no matter how carefully our armed forces have behaved, why is the American conscience not shocked by so many innocent people killed owing to our unilateral decision to seize another nation? Why did the media shrug when Bush used this shocking figure?

Had some other country or group done something that caused 30,000 deaths here, we would claim an unlimited right of self-defense and retaliation. Yet the death the United States has brought to the innocent of Iraq isn't even being discussed here. Some of the Iraqis who have died because they have been hit by our bombs, or in the sectarian violence our destruction of the Iraqi government set loose, would have died by now regardless; perhaps some of them would have been killed by Saddam Hussein, had he remained in power. But by invading Iraq we made ourselves responsible for what happened next, and what has happened next is killing of the innocent. When 3,000 were villainously slain here, we called it a crime against humanity. Since then we have caused or played a role in the deaths of perhaps 10 times as many in Iraq, and this is spoken of here as if it were some mere unfortunate side effect of policy. History may judge America harshly for acting as though Iraqi lives have no value. "

"A typical liberal"

A friend just gave me the link to "Wikiality: the truthiness encyclopedia" and I just had to share the entry on "liberal":

"A liberal is any individual who hates America, our Troops, Freedom, and everything that it stands for. The typical liberal is a henna-tattooing, tofu-eating, bear-hugging, whale-saving, war-protesting, marijuana-smoking, pornography-watching, Godless hippy moonbat bent on destroying American values."

For more, go to http://www.wikiality.com/Liberal

Stevie Y!!!!

I just walked down a flight of stairs directly behind Steve Yzerman...wow! I needed to share that!

Dr. Lindsey

Recently I received a letter addressed to me as "Dr.". Please see this PhD comic for an exact representation of my feelings on the matter:
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=376

Happy Birthday Colbert Report!

This week marked the 1 year anniversary of the Colbert Report! I can't believe it has only been one year...Stephen, it seems like you have been in my life for so much longer than that! How did I get by without you???

To celebrate his 1 year anniversary, Stephen is auctioning off (for charity) a portrait of himself that was part of the set of the Report for year 1. I just checked it out on ebay and the bid is already up to $6,200.00!!! I guess you guys are going to have to all chip in to get it for me... ;-)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290040269306

New look

I got sick of the green. Otherwise everything is pretty much the same. Enjoy the blue!

I'm a Presbyterian!

Today I officially joined First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo! I love how progressive the Presbyterian USA denomination is. (The first ordained female pastor in the P-USA preached at my new church back in the 1950s! Any church that had female pastors long before I was born is definitely thinking about things in the right way!) Also, First Pres has a huge focus on outreach to the community, which I really think is important and many times overlooked by churches. For instance, they started a health clinic that serves hundreds of uninsured people in downtown Kalamazoo each year and are also very active with Habitat for Humanity, tutoring in the local inner city school, world peace and justice activism, etc. It feels good to belong to a chruch where I finally really feel like I belong!

Snow=evil

I almost cried when I woke up this morning. Snow!!! NOOOOO!!!!! It is only Oct 12!!! Sad sad sad...

10/14 edit: Phew it melted! That was close!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. Now, (American) Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because of the FOOD, so if I get a chance to celebrate it twice a year I'm going to take advantage of it! Travis (from the Lansing gang) made a spectacular Thanksgiving feast on Saturday (although it is unclear whether the group knew it was actually Canadian Thanksgiving or not) and we all gorged. We enjoyed turkey, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, apple and pumpkin pie, etc. Let me just say that Travis is a super cook anyway, and when you combine that with Thanksgiving food...heaven!

So, we can thank Canada for hockey and two Thanksgivings! I knew I liked our neighbors to the north (or east or south in some parts of Michigan).

Honk for the Christian Left

I just came across this site that sells "religous left merchandise" which turns out to be some really clever/cool bumper stickers, T-shirts, etc.

http://www.cafepress.com/turn_left

I'm not necessarily lobbying you to buy any of these things, but if you feel like procrastinating or something, surf around on the site for some interesting/funny/thought provoking ideas. Some of my favorites:

"GOD is not spelled GOP"
"Stewart Colbert 2008"
"Pro-life does not end at birth"
"Poverty is the worst form of violence"
"Who would Jesus torture?"
"The Christian Right is often neither"
"Why care about the poor when you can be a single issue voter?"
"You cannot be pro-life and pro-death penalty"
"War is a defeat for humanity -Pope John Paul II"

Now I just need to find an "Obama 08" sticker...I actually saw one on a car the other day!

The countdown continues...

Veronica Mars: 1 day
Red Wings' season starts: 3 days
Griffins' season starts: 4 days
Griffins' home opener: 12 days
Lindsey and Kath at the Wings: 71 days
Mexico: 75 days

4 years???

You know you have been in grad school for a long time when:
1. You have to make the font on your CV smaller to keep everything on two pages.
2. You are introduced to a 2nd year vet student and you say "Hi I'm Lindsey!" and he says "I know, you were my undergrad ecology TA."
3. You are so distressed about #2 that you forget how many years you have been a grad student until your labmate reminds you (thanks Katie).

Formulaic Fantasy

I recently have been reading a new-to-me fantasy series by David Eddings (The Belgariad, thanks to Carl and Todd) and I am enjoying it, although it contains the very familiar themes, characters, etc. that can be found in most fantasy series. What I found interesting was that Eddings admits to this, and actually emphasizes it in his new preface (from 2002, the books were written in the 80s.) This is how he describes it:

“The story itself is fairly elemental—Good vs. Evil, Nice Guys vs. Nasty Guys, (or Them vs. Us). It has the usual Quest, the Magic (or Holy) Thingamajig, the Mighty Sorcerer, the Innocent Hero, and the Not Quite So Innocent Heroine—along with a widely vaired group of Mighty Warriors with assorted character faults. It wanders around for five books until it finally climaxes with the traditional duel between “Our Hero” and the “Bad Guy.””

When you think about it, it is striking how many of the fantasy series that I enjoy (Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Robin Hobb, even Star Wars) all follow this formula quite closely. And yet I still can’t put the books down. I wonder what it is about this classic story that so grabs my attention.

Hail to the Victors!

The University of Michigan football team just crushed, smashed, and obliterated a HIGHLY overrated Notre Dame team in South Bend! 47-21! Woohoo! I scared my cat because I was cheering so much. Did I mention I hate Notre Dame? Go Blue!

Also, my hometown West Michgian Whitecaps just won the Midwest League (A baseball) title, so congrats to them too!

To celebrate I am using the new muffin pan I got for my birthday to make some yummy muffins.

Half way to fifty

“I’m excited to be 25! I’ve been waiting, like, 25 years to be 25!” –Giselle, supermodel

Fall Countdown

College Football: Already started!
NFL Football: TODAY!
My bday: 1 day
The Amazing Race: 7 days
Grey's Anatomy: 11 days
Red Wings' Season Starts: 25 days
Griffins' Season Starts: 26 days
Griffins' Home Opener: 34 days
Mexico: 96 days

Feel free to add your own...

God loves evolution!

I would like to recommend that everyone read The Language of God by Francis S. Collins. Dr. Collins is the director of the human genome project (one of the top scientists in the world) and also a Christian (who started out as an atheist). In the book he addresses the interaction between science and religion, explaining how science helped lead him to God and also how science (yes evolution!) is compatible with and even enhances religion! It is very readable, written so that those without a background in science will have no problem keeping up, but also very satisfying to me as a Christian scientist to find someone else who shares my views so completely.

Whether or not you are a Christian, and whether or not you accept evolution, if you care at all about issues of science and religion, this is a book you have to read. I would love to lend a copy to anyone who is interested in reading it.

Back in Black!

Well I'm baaaaack!!!!! Back to reality... I have lots of grand ideas for all of the work I am going to get done this fall, I am just worried about finding the motivation to do it. This is Isis doing an impression of my motivational state right now:

Post for the sake of posting?

Not much going on with me right now, but I am still alive. I have not had a very healthy month, with a nasty cold, a suspected case of mild food poisoning, and some mystery headaches/dizziness that might possibly be caused by my allergy medication. Or maybe I’m just getting migraines. Joy either way.

In happier news, my field season is almost wrapped up and I will be taking my annual summer vacation soon, which I am very excited about! I am thoroughly looking forward to turning my brain off for a little while and not thinking about science. ;-)