I am popular with the ladies this week. First there was 17-year old Sammi who likes my photography but thinks I'm creepy. Then, late last night I got some email from a young lady: Hello! Yes, this is strange, I've never emailed a random blogger before. Let me just interrupt and say that I get a lot of messages (especially on my MySpace account) from young ladies that start … [Read more...] about Command Performance: Things That Make My Blood Boil
First they came for the exothermic chemists…
Here's something that will keep me awake tonight: The Consumer Product Safety Commission conducts SWAT raids. Their target? A seller of chemistry sets for kids. Between fear of terrorist bombings and fear of meth labs, you can get arrested these days for having Pyrex glassware. … [Read more...] about First they came for the exothermic chemists…
HIV/AIDS and the Avian Flu
In a previous post I linked to a short note about the early days of the AIDS epidemic. It's well-written, but I'd like to address a side issue that rubs me the wrong way. The author touches on it in her opening sentence: At a time when the mere threat of avian flu or SARS can set off a coast-to-coast panic—and prompt the federal government to draw up contingency plans … [Read more...] about HIV/AIDS and the Avian Flu
Gods, Powers, and Saints of Small Things
Yesterday we went to see the new X-Men movie. The movie was pretty good, but the really amazing part was that we got the closest possible parking space to the theater. The only closer space was handicapped parking. After the movie we went to dinner and this time we got the parking space right in front of the restaurant door. Normally when I get good parking, I quip that the … [Read more...] about Gods, Powers, and Saints of Small Things
25 Years of HIV
Alexandra Billings has a moving account of the early days of the AIDS pandemic here in America: At a time when the mere threat of avian flu or SARS can set off a coast-to-coast panic--and prompt the federal government to draw up contingency plans and stockpile medicines--it's hard to imagine that the national response to the emergence of AIDS ranged from indifference to … [Read more...] about 25 Years of HIV