Moving to California

Good news!

I'll be moving out to the West Coast at the beginning of July. I've taken a position as a lab tech at UC Davis (in Davis, California..."the Auburn of UC schools" according to my advisor...too many cow pastures!) in the Shaffer Lab. The great thing about this job is that I already know Brad Shaffer and several of his students and postdocs from the Bodega Bay Applied Phylogenetics Workshop I attended there back in March.

UC Davis has an entire College of Biological Sciences (as opposed to just a department, like at UA), and the Evolution & Ecology graduate program is ranked #2 (Chronicle of Higher Education) and #4 (US News & World Report) nationally. While I won't be a student there, it will be great to be a part of such a prestigious community and a much-sought-after lab. Basically I will be doing a TON of genetic sequencing of various species of turtles (it's more complicated than that, but that's the gist).

Of course, all of this is assuming I pass comps and finish the thesis.....

It's Alabama - are you surprised?

To the Christians in charge of proselytizing Tuscaloosa: you should locate your anti-woman billboards a bit farther away from your LifeWay bookstores if you want to reach us pro-female-choice heathens. Otherwise you're just preaching to your own insular crowd. Just sayin'...

TIME | How to Survive a Plane Crash

Perhaps you think this is unnecessary, given all the easily accessible information on travel safety out there, but I don't think these things can ever be emphasized too much. I fly relatively frequently, and I am always a bit irked by all the people I see disregarding the safety video, tuning out the flight attendants, and reading books or newspapers instead of familiarizing themselves with the aircraft-specific safety information in that attractive, easy-to-read little pamphlet. Come to think of it, I don't know that I've ever seen any other person look at the safety guide (I'm sure some do, I've just never actually seen anyone reading it). And that kind of laziness puts all the rest of us in even more danger, should an emergency arise. Do yourself and others a favor; study the safety guide. That's just common sense.
TIME | Q&A: How to Survive a Plane Crash

The FAA has done research on safety briefings and they find that the least informed people, those that don't pay attention to the safety briefings, are frequent fliers. They think they know all about flying and all about planes, so they get on a flight, and pick up their Wall Street Journal and start emailing on their BlackBerries.

Colbert Report | The Last Bush Effigy

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Last Bush Effigy

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Why change isn't easy: rewiring our brains

This is why my New Year's resolutions were things like (a) go back to London, (b) travel to other cool places, and (c) find a job outside the South. And not "stop eating sugar" or "exercise 2 hours everyday" (I walk frequently, so it's okay).

Culture Dish: Why New Year's Resolutions Don't Work
How to Change Your Bad Habits

Right about now, many people are starting to fail at their New Year's resolutions. It happens every year: You were good for a couple weeks, but right about now you're starting to slip with a few cookies, some skipped days at the gym ... Why? Because humans aren't very good at changing, which involves nothing short of rewiring our brains.

Stephen Colbert | Yahweh or No Way

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Yahweh or No Way - Roland Burris

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Links With Your Tea - Tuesday

One of my favorite blogs is onegoodmove. Check it out. Anyway, there are daily "Links With Your Coffee" posts that list several links to very interesting sites....ones that are particulary thought-provoking, relevant, or just plain odd. I can't drink coffee, so I thought I'd post "Links With Your Tea" every now and then. Just some things to read and think about and/or laugh at. Will they be daily? Probably not. I just don't have that kind of time. But whenever I come across anything that pops out, I will be sure to share it.

* Israel's Right to the Land
This one is wacky. I've been reading Christian opinions on current events in Israel--just out of curiosity. It's clearly a purely religious war (and I'm wondering when the media will acknowledge that), and the unconditional, blind support given to Israel by the United States is flat-out sickening. Massacre--whether direct (ground forces, bombings) or indirect (blockades of food, water, electricity)--is never okay. This opinion piece illustrates why a peace settlement will be very difficult, if not impossible, to attain: you can't reason with those irrational people who believe they are "obeying a direct commandment from God". (Also note the wierd, but telling, quirks: the author seems to have a problem spelling out "God" and always puts "Palestinians" in quotes.)

In its simplest terms, the "conflict" in Israel is being waged by those who are fighting (whether intentionally or not) against the G-d of Israel, the Creator of the universe. It is a battle, for the most part, between those of faith who believe the promises G-d made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and those who, for whatever reasons, would prefer that Israel (i.e., the Jews) did not live on the land bordered by the Nile and Euphrates Rivers and the Mediterranean Sea and the wilderness of Jordan. The faithful in Israel are obeying a direct commandment from G-d ("inhabit the land").

* Bill Nye: On Science and the Obama Administration
* Terror Experts Warn Next 9/11 Could Fall on Different Date

WASHINGTON—In an alarming development with wide-reaching implications for America's safety, Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff and CIA Director Michael Hayden issued a joint report Monday warning that the next 9/11 could in fact occur on a different date.

* BBC NEWS | Americas | The 'misunderestimated' president?

There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again.

* YouTube - Instruction Manual for Life
Fantastic allegory of religion.

Shoes mysteriously appear on Miami highway

This reminds me of Louis Sachar's Holes:

Thousands of Shoes Mysteriously Appear on Highway