Controlled Chaos

Most people don’t know that back in 1912, Hellmann’s mayonnaise was manufactured in England.
In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico,
which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.

This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico.
But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York.
The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise,
and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss.
Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.

The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course,
as
Sinko de Mayo.

WHAT!!!!  You expected something educational from me!

Dr. Kenneth Miller, who was the lead witness in the Dover case (which ruled against Intelligent Design), spoke on campus this evening.  The lecture was enlightening.  He shoed us intermediate forms for the water-to-land movement, he discussed the non-exclusivity of religion and science from the view of Sir Thomas Aquinas, and he explained the logical fallacies in the arguments of ID proponents.  His slides were great, the speech was well-attended, and the Q&A didn’t get interrupted by any fundamentalist with nothing better to do in an evening.  Props go to the MU science community for bringing in this big event and making it such a success.

Thanks for opening the doors to the continual evolution of good ideas, Dr. Miller!

“The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others.”
~Vincent Van Gogh

In the 1940’s when racism was strong and widespread, many newspapers omitted the titles “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” amd “Miss” in front of the last names of African-Americans – a not-so-subtle tactic to suggest that respect due our fellow sojourners did not accrue to people of color. Yet those same papers had to use first names to distinguish genders. Enoch Waters reports that some southern black parents began naming their children “Attorney,” “Doctor,” “General,” “President,” and, most mischievous of all, “Mister.”

I feel lonely. But not lonely in the sense that I am alone. Lonely, because I cannot be engaged or further informed by many of the people around me. And those who can, are all so unfailingly busy. To lean on the growth metpahor I often employ, I am a plant that is ready to be repotted.
I am confident that New York will be a change. I’ll be an intellectual inferior, able to shut up, listen and learn. I find myself longing for this, even as I consciously acknolwedge that I prefer to be a leader.

We cannot despair of the larger picture,
and should aim only to perfect our piece of the puzzle,
and perhaps those with which we interconnect!.

“The normal mammalian condition is for the young to lose the ability to digest effectively milk sugar (lactose) at the end of the weaning period (a species-specific length of time usually equal to roughly 3% of lifespan). In humans, lactase production usually drops about 90% during the first four years of life, though the exact drop and age varies widely. However, certain human populations have undergone a genetic mutation on chromosome 2 which results in a bypass of the normal shutdown in lactase production, allowing members of these groups to continue consumption of fresh milk and fresh milk products throughout their lives.

There is some debate on exactly where and when the mutation(s) occurred, some arguing for separate mutation events in Sweden (which has one of the lowest levels of lactose intolerance in the world) and the Arabian Peninsula near 4000 BC which converged as they spread, while others argue for a single event in the Middle East at about 4500 BC which radiated from there. Some sources suggest a third and more recent mutation in the East African Tutsi. Whatever the precise origin in time and place, most modern western Eurasians and people of western Eurasian ancestry show the effects of this mutation (that is, they are able to safely consume milk products all their lives) while most modern eastern Eurasians, sub-Saharan Africans and native peoples of the Americas and Pacific Islands do not (making them lactose intolerant as adults)[1].”

Lactose intolerance by group

NPR : A City Steps Up: Savannah Confronts Poverty

This is a great piece.  Savannah has a poverty rate near 20%, one of the highest in the nation.  Community organizers there have set up “poverty simulations,” in which business people and middle class Savannah-ians have to try to make ends meet under certain pretexts.  It is leading many of them to go back to their businesses and communities to work toward real and meaningful reform for their neighbors-in-need.

On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be:

01:02:03 04/05/06.

Spring break is coming to a close, and I’ve done well for myself. I got a new 20″ 250GB Intel Core Duo iMac, and got it set up (for the most part). I got little done on my thesis, but This computer will make my working life easier in so many regards…

Also, on Friday of this week, I headed to StL for a night out with Sean, Angad and Abhishek. I went to Sean’s first, and he hacked my firmware to make my phone’s bluetooth actually work (thanks Sean!). From there, we headed to a Vietnamese restaurant, where we met Angad, Abhishek, Nima, Neeta, and a few other of their friends. We had all vegan food – and it was all good! We also deduced that Angad is a salesmen for Soy milk, although he doesn’t get much by way of commission…

After dinner, we headed to a bubble tea vendor back down the street nearer to Sean’s. We hung out for a bit, and a semi-scary guy, apparently drugged up, hit on Nima a LOT. After bubble tea, most of the friends left, so Sean and I headed across the street to Blueberry Hill. Blue Moon pitchers are only $9! We thoroughly enjoyed ours, and talked politics, technology and the future. Always good times. After a little down time at Sean’s, I headed back home.

I got back to school soon after, and now I’m ready to get back in the mix. Spring Break is heavenly!