Read a great article at the NY Times on the absurdity of antibacterial products. A choice excerpt:
The makers of antibacterial products are fond of the word "germs." It is purposefully vague. Do they mean bacteria? Viruses? Both? Neither? Because the idea is simply to connote contamination. These products are as much about cooties as they are about viruses or bacteria.Contamination is in many ways a psychological construct. It is the notion that our belongings or our loved ones can become unclean by the mere touch of a stranger. Nothing is actually transferred by the touch. The contamination is symbolic, magical, irrational. It makes sense that the extravagantly rich - Howard Hughes or Donald Trump, for instance - are our most notorious germphobics, people made uncomfortable by the thought of shaking a stranger's hand.
The higher you rise and the better sequestered you are from the "unwashed masses," the smaller and dirtier the average Joe must begin to seem. Other human beings become our germs.
A plea, then, for a little calm, a little rationality. Try to look upon bacteria as did their discoverer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, "For me, this was among all the marvels that I discovered in nature the most marvelous of all, and I must say, that for my part, no more pleasant sight has met my eye than this of so many thousand living creatures in one small drop of water."
Today I noticed a story which seemed interesting. It had to do with the recent archaeological finding of a vial of face cream from Roman times. Laboratory scientists analyized and were successful in recreating the compound.
Naturally, I assumed some interesting herbs might have been found, but then realized that scientists would be looking at the chemical fingerprint of the creme which might not provide much info about the species of plants used.
Reading the article, it turned out to be a moot point: the only interesting plant-based ingredient was starch, which could come from a variety of plant sources. The other two ingredients were refined animal fat and tin. Not very exciting from an herbal point of view, but as I was near the end I opted to finish reading the article.
As the researchers point out, tin has no medicinal value so they conclude that its function must have been as a pigment. The non-toxic properties of tin would have been a plus, because the health risks of lead were becoming recognized by the second century AD.Hold the fort and back up the friggin' truck. Are you telling me that we've known about the dangers of lead to organic systems FOR THE PAST 1800 YEARS? How can this not outrage everyone? Lead paint and water pipes were used not very long ago! Are we that collectively stupid as a species?
Oh wait, strike that question.
I figure that most of the folks who read this blog are sitting in some sort of stunned disbelief, with their worlds completely rocked at the realization that all their efforts were all for naught.
What a perfect time for me to post a political rant. :)
You see, I didn't vote for Kerry. I didn't think his policies on important issues were markedly different from those of Gee Dubbya. He was so concerned about getting the neo-ultra-conservative-fundamentalist vote that he said some amazingly stupid things. No, his morals are not my morals. His vision for the country is not my vision for the country. His idea of our place as members of the greater citizen community of earth looks significantly different than mine.
So no vote.
Did I vote for Bush? Please. You must be out of your frigging mind. See all the things I just said about Kerry, multiply them by Avagadro's Number. Not to mention he has an IQ of somewhere around room temperature.
Another no vote.
But I did vote. Just not for either of the (cough) candidates listed above.
Now I know what you're saying. "A vote for anybody other than Kerry is a vote for Bush." Sorry for the frank talk, but that's just bullshit. In my opinion, a vote for ANY Republican or Democrat is a vote for the broken establishment which keeps us locked in this crappy cycle. Those, to me, are wasted votes.
Things gotta change people. But first they need to get a whole lot worse. I heard that 60% of the eligible voters turned out yesterday. Great. That's up from 6% for years ago. But what about the other 40% of apathetic voters out there? They obviously aren't excited about what politics as usuall offers. Maybe someone will come along and speak to them. Maybe he (or she) is already here. Maybe if enough of you who call yourself Democrats bail on your crippled party and vote your principles and not your fears... maybe they'll come out and play.