Archive for July, 2007
July 25, 2007 at 11:27 am · Filed under Skepticism
In many cases the old saying is true, mother probably does know best. There are times when that is not the case though, especially where medical expertise is involved.
Why do parents feel they are more qualified than doctors when determining health treatments for their child? Every time a parent does this, they are putting their child at risk; in cases like the one happening now in Quebec, it is a fatal risk.
Three year old Anael L’Espérance-Nascimento has cancer cells in his brain and bone marrow. His doctors say he needs chemotherapy but of course his parents know better. Instead they plan to feed him organic vegetables to make him better. I’m sure eating organic vegetables is a good thing, but it won’t kill cancer cells, he needs the chemo! Yes, it’ll make him sick, yes, it’ll be horrible for everyone involved, but in the long run it could save his life. Organic vegetables won’t.
This sad story has two saving graces; firstly, organic vegetables are better than some of the very dubious alternative therapies they could have considered, and secondly Anael’s mother has said that if he doesn’t improve they will consider chemotherapy. I hope they don’t wait too long.
July 23, 2007 at 10:12 am · Filed under F1
The 2007 European Grand Prix was certainly entertaining, but in a slightly farcical way. When the rain came down, despite all the pre-race predictions of it, the teams seemed completely un-prepared. I don’t understand why nobody took the gamble of starting on intermediate (or even full wet, but that’s a much bigger gamble) tyres given the big black clouds and the on-screen predictions of imminent rain.
It looked like Kimi would be first into the pits but then he changed his mind at the last second. What was he thinking? I suppose there was a chance that it was a quick shower but it was a very slim chance.
Jenson was the first casualty, sliding off at turn one, only to be followed by six, yes SIX, other cars. When Liuzzi came spinning off, almost taking out the safety car and hitting the tractor, it was time for the race to be stopped. Why did they wait another three minutes before waving the red flag? The situation at that corner was incredibly dangerous and getting worse as more cars piled in there; it was reckless to keep the race going as long as they did.
Spyker can now say they’ve led a Grand Prix, although Winkelhof’s car was soon swarmed all over after the restart. Hamilton put in a good effort to try to get his car into the points, including an incredible and brave overtaking move on Fisi, but it was never working for him this weekend and some bad or unlucky choices left him in the dreaded 9th place.
The race was capped off nicely by Alonso and Massa almost coming to blows in the weigh-in room. Alonso realised (or Ron Dennis told him) he was being an idiot though and apologised in the press conference.
The result of this silly race is that the driver’s championship is much closer now, although suddenly superstar Kimi is languishing in 4th place as his teammate overtakes him. The rest of the season is going to be a fun fight to watch.
July 18, 2007 at 10:58 am · Filed under Current events
Some wise words the current “leader of the free world” should pay heed to:
…it is apparently necessary for me to state once again — not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me — but what kind of America I believe in.
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the President — should he be Catholic — how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference, and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him, or the people who might elect him.
I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accept instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials, and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.
…
Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end, where all men and all churches are treated as equals, where every man has the same right to attend or not to attend the church of his choice, where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind, and where Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, at both the lay and the pastoral levels, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.
…if the time should ever come — and I do not concede any conflict to be remotely possible — when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office; and I hope any conscientious public servant would do likewise.”
– John F Kennedy, 1960
July 16, 2007 at 3:42 pm · Filed under Movies + TV
BBC Canada is a little behind BBC UK so last night we got to see the return of Richard Hammond on Top Gear after his very scary accident. Despite suffering brain damage, the Hamster seems to be just like his old self. The team weren’t pulling any punches with their gags, including referring to Hammond as Princess Diana, offering him tissues in case he started drooling and asking him if he’s “a mental”. I’m sure the BBC got some complaints about that but hey, when has Top Gear ever been politically correct? I applaud the BBC for letting the show continue unmodified and letting the team continue being bad boys.
As for the accident itself, it was caused by a tyre blowout at close to 300mph. The car flipped and continued upside down at around 250mph, digging the roll bar into the earth beside the runway along with Hammond’s head. He’s a very lucky guy.
Richard asked that the accident never be mentioned on the show again, and James and Jeremy promised that it never would. Time will tell if they keep that promise.
July 12, 2007 at 9:00 am · Filed under Conservation, Home
After my bike was stolen at the start of the biking season, I decided the best thing to do would be to buy a cheap and crappy looking bike that nobody would want to steal. It’s sad that I have to choose that option but I didn’t see any other way.
So, while on vacation I walked down to Recycle Bicycle and asked them to sell me a cheap bike. I came out with a Raleigh “Tarantula” which, although boasting a very cool name, looks like crap. Perfect. The brakes needed a little adjusting (the back one is still almost useless without some help from the front) and the seat was loose but other than that the ride is good.
I started riding to work again last week, and I’m loving it. I get to work faster than if I take public transport and the ride to work is about 80% downhill. Of course that means the ride home is mostly uphill which kills me but at least I can collapse in a sweaty heap on the sofa when I get home.
There are things I had forgotten about cycling though:
- Having long laces on your shoes is a bad thing.
- Having flappy trouser legs is too.
- Bike seats are never comfortable.
- Taxi drivers will do all they can to knock you off the road.
- I still don’t understand bike gears.
- Stopping at red lights is always optional (yes, I’m an evil lawbreaker and I just don’t care.)
- Did I mention it’s faster (and cheaper) than public transport?
July 9, 2007 at 10:30 am · Filed under Home
While I was on vacation we went shopping for a dining room table, as our dining room has been empty since we moved in four months ago. We came back with two display cabinets and a buffet, but no table.
This weekend we drove out to Cornwall to visit an antiques place, determined to find ourselves a table. I wasn’t too optimistic as our requirements are very specific but as it turned out they had almost exactly what we’ve been looking for. The tabletops were not as thick as I like but the finish was perfect. I decided on my favourite almost immediately but Jen spent a lot longer choosing between three possibilities before finally picking the one I picked (although she’s still not 100% certain).
So we finally have a dining room table. It’s a rustic harvest table made from reclaimed wood with shaker style legs and extensions which allow it to seat up to 14 people (although 14 would be squished).
Now all we need are some chairs…
July 5, 2007 at 9:30 am · Filed under F1
It really is a circus now. Despite a generally good race in France last weekend, with some amazing overtaking, it was marred by one spectacularly stupid incident. With a big lollipop in front of his face, Albers decided it was time to leave the pits anyway and dragged most of his fuel rig with him. He was very lucky he didn’t seriously injure or kill one of his mechanics.
Since then the circus has gone from one ring to three. First Ferrari announced that Nigel Stepney had been suspended and was being investigated by Italian police after apparently being accused of sabotage. Some white powder was found in the fuel tanks of the Ferrari after Monaca and Nigel was either to blame or being scapegoated. I was very dubious of the allegations when they first emerged as Stepney has been around for a long time and has always been highly regarded on the circuit.
With the latest news though I’m not so sure. Maclaren are now implicated and one of their engineers has been suspended after it emerged that he allegedly received technical information about the Ferrari cars from Stepney. Mike Coughlan, the Maclaren engineer, is now part of the criminal investigation, complete with a search warrant for his home. The FIA are doing their own investigation and are threatening to dock points from the Maclaren team (although strangely not from the Ferrari team). If all this is true it will be a sad end to Stepney’s so far impressive career.
Only in the crazy world of Formula One could a sporting championship be decided with cloak and dagger tactics, criminal prosecutions and governing body decisions. Thanfully Bernie has promised that driver standings will not be affected.
Hopefully the teams can put all this behind them and race as normal this coming weekend for the British Grand Prix. I have money on Lewis to win, a bet I placed at the start of the season before he amazed everyone with his performance. I doubt the odds are as good now.
Finally, I leave you with this fascinating video. It’s a CGI recreation of Robert Kubica’s crash in Montreal produced by the FIA and RTL. It shows which parts of the car saved Robert’s life as well as the fact that he actually hit three walls, not just two as I had thought.
July 3, 2007 at 10:13 am · Filed under Family+Friends
I’m back at work after 11 days off which only cost me 3 days vacation. I love long weekends. We didn’t do as much as we wanted and the time went way too quickly but it was still relaxing and very pleasant. Here are some highlights:
- We went to the country for a seven year old’s birthday party where we ate hotdogs and burgers and Aidan had his first paddle in a pond (which he called a bath (well actually “bar” but we knew what he meant))
- We bought some furniture for our new apartment but we still don’t have a dining room table or chairs.
- We got ourselves a new mattress after a very scientific day of testing.
- We ate way too much take-out food. And yes, Sushi Moushi do make exceedingly good sushi.
- We tidied the apartment then messed it up again then tidied it again then messed it up again.
- We went to another birthday party, this time for a five year old, where we ate hotdogs and burgers and Aidan had his first “swim” in a pool (which he called a bath). It’s a stretch to call it a swim as he clung to me the whole time.
- We planned to go to the Ecomuseum and to Body Worlds but we never made it to either. It is going to happen though!
It’s a little depressing to be back at work, but at least I have tonight’s pub quiz at Hurley’s to look forward to.
