Monthly Archives: December 2012

Typhoon Bopha Update

The death toll for Typhoon Bopha is up to 540 souls with over 800 still missing and over 1,000 injured.

There has been very little coverage of this storm in the U.S., which is a little surprising.  The media usually loves stories where they can just quote rising death counts and report on human interest stories related to the typhoon.  I blame Kate Middleton.

It’s worth remembering, though, that this was an incredibly rare storm.  A category 5 typhoon really should not exist so close to the equator.  Typhoon Louise from the 1964 typhoon season was the only other category 5 to exist so close to the equator.

Climate change denialists will claim that you can’t say that global warming is occurring just because of a category 5 typhoon so close to the equator.  After all, it’s happened before.  And they’d be right.  No individual event can be held up to claim that global warming is happening.  But there have been so many unusual events and they just keep coming!

Talk about not being able to see the forest through the trees!  The evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of global warming occurring and all signs point to humanity as the root cause.  But I’m sure we’ll just continue fiddling along as the Earth burns.

What’s Pissing Me Off Now?

It’s time once again to play everyone’s favorite game: What’s pissing me off now?

This time, it’s the House of Representatives that is pissing me off.  Specifically and not surprisingly, the Republicans in the House of Representatives.  Even more specifically, Eric Cantor (R-VAginas don’t matter).

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) expires at the end of this year and the Senate passed an updated version of the act that also protects immigrants, LBGTs, and Native Americans.  Sounds completely uncontroversial, right?

Not to Eric Cantor!  You see, right now, if a Native American woman is raped by a non-Native on Native soil, the Natives have no jurisdiction to prosecute the non-Native.  The jurisdiction falls to the Federal Government.  The Federal Government has close to zero capacity to prosecute such crimes.  The result being that rapists can basically rape with impunity.  The VAWA was updated to give tribal courts the power to prosecute rapes that happen on tribal lands.

Eric Cantor seems to think that if we give tribal courts the ability to protect Native American women from being raped by white men it could open the flood gates of letting Native Americans prosecute white boys for other crimes that they commit on Native lands.  Because of that hypothetical problem, Eric Cantor is perfectly fine with Native American women being raped and their rapists getting away with it.

And that’s what’s pissing me off now.

The Child in Us All

Or as Ta-Nehisi Coates calls it, “The Seductive Dream Of Standing Your Ground“.  God, I love how he writes.  This is just beautiful:

The man in me knows how macho imaginings usually outstrip reality. He also knows that this may not have even been a threat. He further knows that kids, in general, do dumb shit. But that wasn’t the man in me talking. It wasn’t the father who knows he needs to be around for his child. It wasn’t the husband, who knows his wife is back in New York depending on him. It wasn’t the writer who hopes that his best words are still in front of him. It was some little boy who got jumped repeatedly more than two decades ago, back in West Baltimore, and his spent the rest of his days just “wishing a nigger would,” as my people say.
That boy is a damn fool. And part of any adults maturation must be keeping the idiot in them under wraps. But I can’t kill the boy. Nor should I. It’s that same boy who tells me not to punk out when I’m doing my miles, not to be a chump and take a day off from writing. The boy reinforces the man. But he needs guard-rails.

 

You don’t often see a man who made mistakes as a child and can both reflect on those mistakes and recognize how those mistakes still inform his adult life.  This requires a maturity that very few people possess.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, another man that I have a huge man-crush on.  That makes two.  Neil deGrasse Tyson being the other.  I guess the saying is true; once you go black, you never go back.

Word of the Day: Bacteriophage

Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Emilia Czysczcon, a Purdue University bioengineering student who collected some mud from a cave for a project and ended up discovering a new bacteriophage virus.

A bacteriophage (a.k.a. phage) is a virus that invades bacteria and replicates itself thereby killing the bacteria.  This may have huge implications for medicine.  Despite being a virus, it is completely harmless to humans.  It may, however, be used to attack bacteria that is harmful to humans, like tuberculosis.  It sounds really weird, but we should be able to inject ourselves with an engineered virus to attack a harmful bacteria in our system.

The science behind bacteriophages is either really advanced or in its infancy depending on who you ask.  Phage therapy was showing good promise in Russia before the advent of the antibiotic.  With the emergence of superbugs that are immune to antibiotics, though, you can expect phage therapy treatments to start becoming popular once again.  And we will have scientists like Emilia to lead the way!

This is Republican Leadership

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tried to force a vote yesterday on a bill that would give the President the ability to raise the debt limit.  He thought that Democrats would balk at this and they would look stupid, as they often do.  Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-NV), though, didn’t cooperate with McConnell’s plans and quickly agreed to a vote on the bill.  This put McConnell in the strange position of having to filibuster the vote on a bill that he recommended the Senate vote on.

This is how screwed up the Republicans have made the Senate in the last few years. Even when the Republican leader calls for a vote and everyone agrees to vote, the vote gets filibustered.  This is why the filibuster needs to be fixed and I hope the Democrats have the guts to follow through with fixing it at the beginning of the year.

This is also more proof that Republican threats of brinkmanship if the Democrats do pass filibuster reform are a joke.  Yes, please, threaten to do exactly what you have been doing for four years now.  We’re really scared.

A Momentous Occasion

It is looking likely that there will soon be a black man in the U.S. Senate once again!  And he’s a Republican!  *gasp*

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), one of the most obstructive senators in an incredibly obstructive body, announced that he is retiring as of the beginning of the year.  This allows Governor Nikki Haley (R) to replace him.  DeMint has suggested Representative Tim Scott to replace him and the South Carolina Republican party has indicated that they would approve of the choice.

If this comes true, Tim Scott will be only the seventh black man to attain the office of U.S Senator.  He will also be the first black Senator from the post-reconstruction South.  This is a pretty big deal.  I hope Govenor Haley picks him.

That’s really all the good news about DeMint retiring, though.  Tim Scott has all the traits that makes Republicans pretty darned unlikable.  He’s anti-immigrant, pro-business to the point that he’s actually anti-worker, opposes earmarks except if they are for his district, and wants to repeal Obamacare.  I haven’t seen any terribly anti-science stances from him, but I don’t hold out much hope on that front, given his party and his state.

But still, progress!

Shared Sacrifice

You hear a lot these days about the concept of shared sacrifice from Republicans.  Judging from the ideas they present, they have absolutely no idea what shared sacrifice actually means.  In order to sacrifice something, you actually have to feel the sacrifice.

Raising the eligibility age of Social Security or Medicare is not shared sacrifice.  It would affect me not at all.  It would affect almost everybody who makes more money than me not at all.  We all have jobs that we can work at until we die or go senile.  Working an extra year or two is not a sacrifice.  People who perform manual labor, for a living, though, are hugely impacted by raising the eligibility age.  Despite the fact that the average lifespan in America has slowly raised, most of the gains have been in lowered infant mortality rates and upper income individuals.  Blue collar workers’ lifespans have barely increased at all.  Adding a year or two is basically telling blue collar workers that they have to work until they die.

Same thing applies for taxes.  It would take increases of a few percentage points for people like me to even begin to feel the effects of higher taxes.  No sacrifice there.  Whereas the 20% of the population who live at or below the poverty line would significantly feel the sting of even a slight raise in taxes.  Huge sacrifice there.  People who are making millions of dollars a year would need their taxes raised enormously in order to feel any type of sacrifice.  And no one is asking to raise their taxes enormously.  They are not being asked to sacrifice anything and screaming about the need to share the sacrifice.

Look at it this way.  Poor families have an ice cream cone and have to split it among the whole family.  Middle class families have five ice cream cones, one for each person with a little left over to share.  Upper class families have thousands of ice cream cones.  Republicans are basically asking the country to give up just one ice cream cone.  Poor families will be devastated by this.  Middle class families will have to make adjustments, but they’ll pull through.  Upper class families won’t even know they lost an ice cream cone.  But that is the Republican idea of shared sacrifice.

 

Kiwi!

A line from last night’s “The Daily Show” reminded me of one of my favorite YouTube videos.  I present to you…Kiwi!

 

So much beauty in only three minutes.  Brings a tear to my eye every time.  Every time.

Being an Introvert

Hi, I’m Jean-Paul and I am an introvert.

It’s not easy being an introvert.  We are a misunderstood and maligned group.  Ok, maybe maligned is a little too strong.  We’re definitely misunderstood, though.

Society has determined the being introverted is decidedly uncool.  You don’t see any shows or movies about introverts.  Admittedly, a reality TV show about a house full of introverts would be exceptionally boring:

Introvert 1: *grabs book and goes to bedroom to read*

Introvert 2: *grabs computer and goes to living room to surf the Internet*

(hours pass)

Introvert 1: *wanting company, decides to read in living room*

Introvert 2: *wanting food* Pizza?

Introvert 1: Sounds good. *goes back to reading*

Introvert 2: OK.  *orders pizza*

Introvert 1: Drink?

Introvert 2: Beer.

Introvert 1: OK.  *brings back two beers*

Introvert 2: *grabs beer and smiles at Introvert 1* Thanks.

(doorbell rings)

Introvert 2: *answers door and brings pizza to living room*  You owe me $5.

Introvert 1: *pulls out wallet and pays Introvert 1*  Bam, $5.  Mmm, sausage and pepperoni…  *grabs piece of pizza and goes back to reading*

Introvert 2: *grabs piece of pizza and goes back to surfing*

That’s about how most people see introverts.  But there is so much subtext to the above conversation that you have to be an introvert to understand.  We live in the exact same world as you, but we process it completely differently.  Words are more a means of expressing ideas and meaning than they are a means of expressing feeling and filling awkward silences.  The actual conversation with subtext goes something like this:

Introvert 1: Finally home!  Am I exhausted!  It seems like everyone wanted to talk to me at work today.  Time to recharge and get some me time.  *grabs book and goes to bedroom to read*

Introvert 2: Finally home!  I’m going to a party later so I better recharge and fill my mind with fun facts so I have interesting things to talk about.  *grabs computer and goes to living room to surf the Internet*

(hours pass)

Introvert 1: *wanting company, decides to read in living room*  I wonder what Introvet 2 is up to…   Ah, that’s right, he’s going to that party later today; must be finding interesting topics to talk about.  I hope he doesn’t invite me to tag along, my recently ex-girlfriend is going to be there and I don’t think I could take that right now.

Introvert 2: Ah, there’s Introvert 1.  He’s actually looking happy today.  That’s good.  He’s been so broken up about his girlfriend breaking up with him.  It’s too bad she’s going to be at the party tonight otherwise I’d invite him to come along.  Speaking of which, I should probably eat something before I go.  *wanting food* Pizza?

Introvert 1: My favorite!  Introvert 2 has been such a good friend since my girlfriend left me and he knows I can’t go to the party tonight so he’s ordering my favorite food.  I hope he gets sausage and pepperoni.  Sounds good. *goes back to reading*

Introvert 2: OK.  *orders pizza*  I know he likes sausage and pepperoni so I’ll get that even though I’d prefer mushrooms and black olives.

Introvert 1: I should get him pre-gaming a little bit so maybe he’ll have to courage to talk to that girl he likes tonight instead of actively trying to avoid her like a idiot.  Drink?

Introvert 2: I should pre-game a little bit so maybe I’ll have to courage to talk to that girl I like tonight instead of actively trying to avoid her like an idiot.  Beer.

Introvert 1: OK.  Let’s see, which one has the highest alcohol content…  Ah, there we go.  *brings back two beers*

Introvert 2: Ah, the one with the highest alcohol content.  Smart move.  I see what you’re trying to do, Introvert 1, and I appreciate it greatly.  *grabs beer and smiles at Introvert 1* Thanks.

(doorbell rings)

Introvert 2: *answers door and brings pizza to living room*  You owe me $5.  (Occasionally, there is no subtext.)

Introvert 1: He got my favorite pizza.  I am so lucky to have a friend as conscientious as him.  I will repay him with an Emeril reference followed by a Simpsons reference since I know he likes them both.  *pulls out wallet and pays Introvert 1*  Bam, $5.  Mmm, sausage and pepperoni…  *grabs piece of pizza and goes back to reading*

Introvert 2: Wow, he quoted two of my favorite TV characters and used two TV references in seven words.  I’ll have to see if I can beat that.  *grabs piece of pizza and goes back to surfing*

Extroverts speak with words.  Introverts speak with actions.  This is, of course, oversimplifying it a little bit, but it holds true quite often. Whoever first coined the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words’ was almost assuredly an introvert.

Introverts are also perfectly comfortable with silence.  Our brains are much happier entertaining themselves than engaging in a “crazy weather we’re having” conversation.  And if you do decide to get into a “crazy weather we’re having” conversation with an introvert, don’t be surprised if you get a “Well, actually, this weather is quite normal for this time of year.  The temperature today is perfectly average and even though it’s raining quite heavily right now, we’ve been in a bit of a rain deficit this month so, statistically, we’d expect an event such as this to occur to bring us up to the average monthly totals.”  It’s not that we’re trying to make you uncomfortable or prove that we’re smarter than you.  We really just don’t see the point of commenting on the weather unless you really wanted to have a conversation about the weather.

Even though many times we seem anti-social, we really need and crave social contact just as much as you extroverts.  As this comic very succinctly points out, though, social contact gives energy to extroverts and takes energy from extroverts.  This makes it very hard for us to seek out social contact when there are too many unknowns involved with said contact.  This also makes introverts good party throwers, though.  You can be assured that there will be plenty of interesting people even though it looks as if the introvert spends more time making sure everyone’s having a good time than enjoying himself.

Almost everyone needs to be alone sometimes and almost everyone enjoys being alone sometimes.  Introverts prefer being alone most of the time.  If you exclaim with excitement, “I’m going to go out drinking with my friends!” even once a year, you’re probably more extroverted than introverted.  This is not a bad thing, but you should remember those times when you need to be alone with your thoughts and how you feel when people interrupt those thoughts.  That’s how introverts feel most of the time.

Being an introvert means almost always taking the back stage to the extrovert.  We’re fine with that.  And don’t worry, extroverts, we are almost certainly not plotting to take over society.  And we definitely don’t have a manifesto.  And we are 100% guaranteed not subtly manipulating you to reveal more about yourself than you meant to reveal.  Now tell me all about how you are really an introvert.  Those are some good points.  Please continue.

This is Not Good

In a year already filled with extreme weather, get ready to add another one.  This one has all the makings of being severely devastating.

Typhoon Bopha is a category 5 storm and is striking the Philippine island of Mindanao.  Mindanao is not equipped to handle a storm of this strength.  A tropical storm that hit it last year caused 1,268 deaths.  A category 5 storm is orders of magnitude more powerful than that.

Mindanao is very close to the Equator and rarely gets hit by tropical storms as a result.  Thus the infrastructure isn’t there.  Now, two years in a row storms will have hit this poor island and at least 40 deaths are already confirmed.

When are we going to do something about the destruction we are causing?  It’s looking all too likely that the answer is when it’s too late.