Madeline in the snow

Madeline was meowing and meowing to go outside, so I said okay and let her out. She stepped awkwardly through the crusty snow on the porch for a few minutes before deciding to come back inside.

Yay, gay marriage in D.C.!

I've been following this for a while, and I'm not surprised it passed a council vote. The D.C. Council is on the side of justice and equality for all! There is a 30 day window in which U.S. Congress reviews the legislation and has the option of blocking it, but most experts do not think it's likely that this bill will be shot down.

HOWEVER (there's always a "however" when in comes to gay marriage in the U.S.) the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has threatened to cut their social services programs - homeless shelters, soup kitchens, etc. - if this bill passes. Seriously. Can you believe it? The Archbishop is using poor people as political pawns. The WWJD fad has mostly passed, but I urge Archbishop Wuerl and all like-minded Catholics to ask what would Jesus do in this situation...would he really stop his ministry if the state passed a law condoning something he found unethical (not that I believe Jesus ever thought homosexuality is unethical)? Not my Jesus! This is ridiculous. Today Catholic charities - all charities - are needed more than ever. I admire and respect such charities and hope that the D.C. Catholics will not follow through on their threats.

Pomegranate

I've had pomegranate but I've never prepared one before. According to the December issue of Runners World pomegranates are in season Nov-Jan. They recommend slicing the pomegranate and rubbing the pieces in a bowl of water to remove the juicy, corn-kernel-like seeds. Don't they look festive and Christmasy?

An argument to stop "going green"

It makes a lot of sense, actually. But one important point that Mike Tidwell left out of his opinion article is that regulating land use change is nearly as significant as halting fossil fuel burning when it comes to reducing our carbon emissions and achieving that 350 ppm target.

Betting on Copenhagen

Olivia Judson is one of my favorite science writers. In addition to authoring "Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation", she is a regular contributor to the NY Times. You must check out her recent blog post called "Betting on Copenhagen". She really has a knack for digesting a complex issue like climate change into an entertaining, easy-to-understand, yet completely accurate (check her Notes section) format.

Blog Action Day: Climate Change

Better late than never. October 15 was Blog Action Day, a global effort to get the blogosphere to collectively highlight a single issue. This year's theme is "climate change", so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and blog about my trip to Austria with special emphasis on why I went there: to attend the International School on Alpine Ecology and Global Change. High latitude and high elevation regions are experiencing more rapid and extreme climate change compared to other regions, and these ecosystems are also among the most sensitive to such perturbations. I don't have my notes with me, but I think the numbers were something like 1.6 C/year warming rate in alpine regions compared to 0.6 C/year warming rate as a global average. I'm sure most people are familiar with before and after glacier photos such as these. I've seen plenty of such photos, too, but the experience of actually hiking over glacial-free moraines that were created only a few decades ago and still being kilometers away from what was left of the Rotmoos Glacier was quite unique. There is an absolutely excellent group of scientists at the University of Innsbruck who study this glacier and the ecosystems around it.

I am standing approximately where the glacier used to be only 30-40 years ago. The Rotmoos Glacier is retreating at a rate of about 30-40 meters per year, with a retreat of as much as 70 m/yr during especially warm years. 70 m !!! That's crazy. In fact, while we were there we watched as a huge chunk of the glacier edge broke off in front of our eyes.

Here's a picture of the 1920 terminal moraine (that small "bump" in the valley, about halfway down the photo):



and here's one of the 1853 moraine (again, the "bump" in the landscape):



The Rotmoos is only one of the countless glaciers all over the globe that are quickly disappearing. Most of us find it quite alarming, but some people may ask "so what?" I mean, yeah, how many of us actually ever visit a glacier? Only us geeky scientists and outdoor enthusiasts. But how many of us actually depend on glaciers? Billions of us. No shit. Glaciers provide water for much of the world, including populous countries like China and India. When the climate warms and glaciers melt, people turn to other water sources, like groundwater, an ultimately non-renewable source in most regions when compared to the rate it is extracted. So yeah, glaciers are pretty important, such that we've even figured out how to tell kids about this.

Here's yet another indication of climate change in alpine regions:



This fake lake was built at 2000 m elevation for snow-making. I can't believe that snow-making is needed at 2000 m elevation! Climate change is influencing (note present tense) a variety of alpine ecosystem services, including ski tourism, an economically important industry in many regions. Another alpine ecosystem service being anthropogenically affected directly by land use alteration and indirectly by climate change is the native, stabilizing vegetation community. What do I mean by "stabilizing"? Many of the herbaceous and shrub vegetation holds the soil in place and prevents or at least mitigates the impacts of mudslides/ landslides, which drastically affect communities who live in alpine valleys. This webpage seems to sum up nicely a lot of things that we learned in this course (though I can't verify the authors' credentials).

Anyway, it was a great course and a great trip, and I hope I gave you some food for thought! See the rest of my pictures from Austria here.

It's the orange crayons!

Oh, how I want to be 5 years old again, coloring with a new box of crayons!

Blah blah blog

I have been super busy and super lazy about certain things like blogging. Hopefully this all will pass...maybe by December or something. In the meantime, here is a picture of my foot w/ a cute little salamander:

Results of ELCA vote

The results from the ELCA conference this week make me proud to be a Lutheran (and being proud to be any sort of Christian is something I often hesitate to say, being that I am a scientist, academic, and social liberal in today's American society!):
"Monogamous" Gays Can Serve in ELCA
I think the lay delegate quoted in the article makes an excellent point when he says ""We live today with an understanding of homosexuality that did not exist in Jesus' time and culture...we are responding to something that the writers of Scripture could not have understood." The scripture writers did not understand that people are born with their sexuality. This is not something people choose, and thus we shouldn't discriminate against them. Being monogamous, however, IS indeed a choice, and so it makes sense if the church wants their single clergy of all sexualities to pledge celibacy. Of course personally, I don't understand what's so sinful about such a deep expression of mutual love and intimacy (I certainly don't consider my sex life sinful - it causes no one harm and makes our relationship stronger, and a marriage certificate wouldn't change that one bit), but I wouldn't expect a national church to espouse such views.

Habitat Bike Ride

I've been too lazy to blog lately, but I've mustered enough initiative to post some pictures from the Durham Habitat for Humanity 17 mile moonlight bike ride, which was two weeks ago. I was a little nervous because I've never done a bike race before. Actually, this wasn't a real "race", but still, biking in a big group of people in the dark (with very little moonlight despite the name) was new for me. However, when I saw that the participants were just as laidback as (and in some cases, more out-of-shape than) your typical neighborhood 5K fundraising crowd, I figured there would be nothing to worry about.

So here's my new bike with only 6 miles on it at this point, ready for its first real ride:



And here's the Durham Bull's mascot (Wool E. Bull) getting ready for the ride. I think he only did the first half mile or so:



I found some pictures on the website with me (in bright yellow) lurking in the background or foreground:









That last one is from the post-race party. What a spread of food! Mellow Mushroom pizza, locopops, beers, cookies, brownies, other desserts, fruit, crackers & cheese, other stuff from Whole Foods. I think I should have run 17 miles, not biked, to earn all that food! Plus, there was a midrace party, too! Which was good, because I needed to visit the "bike surgeon" to have my headlight taped on. It fell off the first mile, and I'm impressed it didn't get crushed in the pack. And I'm glad it still worked after getting knocked around, because I totally needed it on the second half of the ride - those streets and trails were DARK. Anyway, it was a fun time and raised money for a good cause, so I think I'll do their Halloween ride in the fall.

Prenatal Pollution Exposure

The results of a very important study are in. The IQs of children who were exposed to higher levels of harmful urban air pollution while in womb are significantly lower than those of children with low levels of exposure. Some may argue that it is too much speculation to say that these results may partially explain why poorer children do worse in school than richer children. It is convenient to brush aside these environmental justice issues, but we shouldn't. This is only one of many studies that suggests that the junk (pesticides, fertilizers, BPAs, pharmaceuticals, other endocrine disrupters, livestock waste, etc.) that we put into our environment has very real consequences, both direct and indirect, for our health and well-being.

During the catastrophic years (environmentally speaking) of the Bush Administration, W's euphemistically named "Clear-Skies Initiative" weakened the Clean Air Act by essentially allowing power plants and factories to spew even more harmful air pollution than they were previously spewing. Fortunately, in his first 100 days Obama undid this damaging "initiative" by reinstating the New Source Review. Of course I applaud this move, but I also worry that such critically important issues are not receiving enough attention what with the climate change bill and everything. Yes, it is crucial to immediately address CO2 emissions (and to better inform the American public that "global warming" is only one of many of harmful consequences of CO2 that are happening right now). But other "non-CO2" air and water pollution problems also deserve our immediate attention. After all, we're all drinking water and breathing air right now, and for some of us this water and air are making us sick. You would think these problems are something we can all relate to and for which there would be a lot less "controversy" than global climate change, at least when it comes to agreeing we need to do something about it. Hopefully this Pediatrics study will renew focus on some of the more local and immediate environmental concerns that affect all of us to some degree, but disproportionately harm the poor and minorities - those least equipped to deal with the health care, relocation, and other monetary costs.

On an only slightly related note can I just say that if you're gonna be "pro-life" as far as the law is concerned you damn well better be pro-QUALITY-of-life, too. Don't go around saying that women shouldn't be allowed to abort their fetuses while at the same time seeking to weaken environmental laws that would keep those fetuses healthy (or at least less sick).

Gay rights and immigration

The struggle for equality isn't just about marriage for the sake of marriage. It's also about keeping families together like the one featured in this article. The Catholic bishops' argument that allowing U.S. citizens to sponsor their partners would "erode the institution of marriage and family by according marriage-like immigration benefits to same sex relationships" is simply ridiculous. They really think that keeping families together instead of apart will "ERODE the institution of...family"? Don't get me wrong - Catholics, like anyone else, are free to believe and practice whatever they want. But it continually disgusts me that such religious groups try to use their beliefs as rationale for publicly opposing fair, civil, SECULAR national law. Hey U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I'm still waiting for you to lobby to Congress to enact a law banning divorce! Because you don't believe in divorce, do you? Oh, but you DO believe that OTHER citizens should be allowed to engage in civil, secular divorce, even though it is frowned upon by your members? How fair and rational of you! So when WHEN are you going to apply the same logic to gay marriage and similar issues? Jesus Christ!

Updates

First, I got a new grill! Just a basic 18 inch Weber charcoal grill - that's all I need. Andrew helped me pick it out. Our first meal with it was lamb burgers w/ mint salsa, which were okay but not as good as the first time we made them w/ meat from the U of I meat lab. Last weekend someone at the farmers market had ground goat meat. I think it was from this place, and I got a kick out the fact that they had a photo album of their farm animals. It's nice to know my goat got to frolic in a beautiful green meadow before it was slaughtered for my enjoyment! And it was indeed an enjoyment: these goat burgers were better than the lamb ones (which we bought from Whole Foods):





The eggplant, potatoes, arugula, and tomatoes are also from the farmers market.

Second, look what my sweetie gave me for our sort-of-two-year anniversary (July 4):



He's so romantic! Even if he doesn't own a vase! That was a fun weekend despite the rain all day on the 4th. We had sun on the 5th and went running and canoeing with the buffalo and ate lots of sushi.

And third, check out my new wheels:




It's a Trek 7.2 FX hybrid, and I love it! Little wonder when you compare it to the piece of shit that it replaced:



So I was riding to work on the stupid piece of shit and I was about a mile from home when it broke down in the weirdest way. The rear brake somehow got caught between the tire and the rim, and I could not budge it out! Also, some other part of the brake partially shredded the tire and pushed it partway off the rim. The rear wheel was completely stuck and wouldn't turn, so I ditched the bike, ran home to get my car, shoved the piece of crap in the trunk, and drove to work. Later as I was yanking it out the trunk the brake finally freed itself from the tire.



I'd been wanting a new bike for a while now, so I bought one the very next day. Test rode a couple at our local bike store, and they fit great, rode smoothly, and the price was right ($489), so I figured why wait any longer. I'm excited to try it out (so far I've only ridden it the 3 miles home) at a Habitat for Humanity 17 mile bike ride tomorrow and then a 3 hour ride in and around Umstead State Park on Sunday. Yay!

Boo-yah!

The Orioles just made my week. What a game! Go check out what happened at orioles.com. I'm going to bed!

Endocrine Disruptors

I was pleased to see this opinion article in yesterday's NY Times. The nasty chemicals we put into our environment and their potential effects on humans is a topic that warrants way more public attention and concern, in my opinion. This article discusses endocrine disruptors and their effects on human reproductive disorders and cancers. But some scientists think that the chemical problem may even go further - exposure to certain pesticides is significantly correlated to ADHD and other behavioral disorders in children. I think we need a complete overhaul in the way we regulate nasty chemicals here in the U.S.: it is not prudent to assume that a chemical is harmless until someone provides conclusive evidence to the contrary. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act.

Race for the Cure

Tomorrow I'm doing the Triangle Race for the Cure in Raleigh. The team I joined has already raised more than their goal of $10,000, but please feel free to support me! The race is tomorrow, but you can donate until the end of June. These donations go toward an excellent cause that includes funding mammograms and other cancer screenings for uninsured and underinsured women and funding scientific research. Visit this site to make a donation.

Last weekend I did the Global Race for the Cure in D.C. with my mom and other people from our church. It's a fun time, but reading everyone's signs and tee shirts always stirs emotions - both happy and sad:











Here is the sign my mom - a breast cancer survivor - wears every year:



The rest of my pictures are here.

Another eye-opening article

in the Washington Post. See here.

Dr. Tiller

Please read this excellent opinion piece by Judith Warner in the NY Times. Some important excerpts:

“Late abortion is not a failure of contraception. It’s for medical reasons,” Eleanor Smeal, the president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, who has worked to defend abortion providers like Tiller against harassment and violence since the mid-1980s, told me this week. “We’ve made pregnancy a fairy tale where there are no fetal complications, there’s no cancer, no terrible abuse of girls, no cases where to make a girl go all the way through a pregnancy is to destroy her. These are the realities of the story. That’s what Dr. Tiller worked with — the realities.”

...

We as a nation cannot continue to provide a hospitable environment for the likes of Roeder because the thought of what happens to fetuses in late abortions turns our stomachs. We have to accept that sometimes terrible things happen to young girls. We have to face the fact that sometimes desired pregnancies go tragically wrong. We have to weigh our repugnance for late abortion against the consequences for women and girls of being denied life-saving medical treatment.

...

Most Americans, I’m sure, do not believe that a 9-year-old should be forced to bear a child, or that a woman should have no choice but to risk her life to carry a pregnancy to term.

By averting our eyes from the ugliness and tragedy that accompany some pregnancies, we have allowed anti-abortion activists to define the dilemma of late abortion. We have allowed them to isolate and vilify doctors like Tiller.

We can no longer be complicit — through our muted disapproval or our complacency — in domestic terror.

LOL cats

You're probably familiar with "LOL cats", that is, the adorable kitties from ichc that can't speak good English? It's pretty silly, but it entertains me so much that I decided to use icanhascheezburger's "LOL Builder" to make Madeline into a LOL cat.

Spring Garden

Here are some pictures from around my yard this spring. The front, east side of the house (I have nothing on the west side - I need to get something to balance out the azaleas):





After the light pink and white azalea flowers fell off, I was surprised to see this orangey-red one bloom right next to them:



I missed this purple flower at its peak, but here it is before the petals completely fell off. This is alongside the west side of the house:


My herb and vegetable garden is looking pretty good, I think - a lot better than last year. I've got some basil, cilantro, rosemary, mint, parsley, red bell peppers, sungold tomatoes, early girl tomatoes, and marigolds around the edge:







I ate that orange sungold a few days ago, and by today the three yellow ones were nice and ripe and sweet. Here is my dinner from earlier this evening:

• leftover tomato-goat cheese quiche made with fresh herbs from the garden
• Swiss chard (from Durham's farmers market) sauteed in olive oil with red onion, garlic, and seasoning
• sungold tomatoes from the garden
• toasted oat wheat bread from Durham's farmers market
  

Yummy!

More photos from my little garden can be found here.

Walk-Off WIN!!

Omigosh, I would have LOVED to have been at the Orioles game yesterday afternoon. The Os scored 5 runs in the 8th to tie it and 4 runs in the 11th to win 12-10! Crazy! Is this their first series sweep of the season? Might be. I wish they'd do stuff like this more often! Watch the video of Reimold's walk-off 3-run homer to win it - so exciting!!

New Supreme Court Justice Nominee

Is Obama announcing his new nominee or marrying her?

















(just kidding of course!)