Corpses at snacktime

August 2, 2013 • 12:15 pm

Yesterday afternoon I felt like a hamburger (funny, I didn’t look like one), and so walked over to the nearest place I could get one: the hospital cafeteria.  It’s in the basement of our large inpatient facility, and the basement is a gloomy and disordered place. But the cafeteria food is cheap and pretty good.

As I walked down the corridor, I noticed an open door right before the entrance to the cafeteria, and peeked in. There were a bunch of people lying around on gurneys, covered with sheets, with their bare feet sticking out.

“That’s funny,” I thought. “Why would they have a surgery recovery room in the basement?” It’s not very pleasant down there, and the gurneys were scattered in every direction.

I went into the cafeteria next door, nommed a creditable hamburger, and then walked back to my office. The door to the gurney room was still open, and I looked in more closely. Suddenly it hit me: those people were not recovering; they were dead.

It was the morgue, or some waiting room for the morgue.  The people were absolutely still, very, very white in color, and completely motionless. One had short red hair: was he a young man? And nobody was tending them. They reminded me of the line from Louis Armstrong’s “St. James Infirmary”:

“I went down to the St. James Infirmary
I saw my baby there,
She’s laid out on a cold white table,
So so cold, so white, so fair.”

I rarely see dead people—they’re whisked out of sight as fast as possible lest they remind us of our mortality—and this was distressing.  But it was distressing for two other reasons.  First, there’s the proximity of the morgue to the cafeteria: they are right next door to each other.  And they leave the morgue door open.  Who has an appetite after apprehending that scene?

More important, I feel for the loved ones and friends of those dead people. Who would want to know that their loves ones are on view to anyone who’s on their way to get a sandwich?  Or that they’re lying unattended while people gobble their meals next door? Yes, dead is dead, but I wouldn’t have wanted my parents on view that way.

Note to the U of C hospital: could you please at least close the door?

More press on the Hedin affair

August 2, 2013 • 9:22 am

UPDATE: The Christian Post piece is up, and appears pretty objective: “Ball State University denounced intelligent design, keeps professor accused of ID bias.”

____________

I am a bit surprised that the national press is paying attention to HedinGate, but I suppose it’s expected since a university president issued such a strong statement against the teaching of intelligent design—and at the college level, and invoking the First Amendment.  The more publicity the better, I think, as other universities will certainly pay attention to Ball State president Jo Ann M. Gora’s statement.

The coverage has mostly been positive, much to the chagrin of the Discovery Institute. Here’s a few links.

Huffington Post: “Ball State University bans teaching intelligent design in science classes.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: “Ball State U. bans teaching of intelligent design as science”

Inside Higher Ed: “Taking a stand for science”

SFGate (ironically, by writer Tom Coyne): “Ball State prez: Intelligent design not science.”

I was interviewed this morning by The Christian Post, which has always taken a pro-Hedin and pro-ID stand. We’ll see how they spin the issue; I’ve learned to record my conversations to make sure my views aren’t distorted.

If you want to LOL, read the Discovery Institute’s latest tantrum at Uncommon Descent: “An open letter to BSU President Jo-Ann Gora” (her name doesn’t have a hyphen).

And an Urban Planning professor at Ball State, one Eric Damian Kelly, beefs about improper procedure in a long letter at the Muncie Star-Press, “Ball State fumbles handling of Hedin case,” He manages to get in a zinger against science, too:

With the limited knowledge of a non-scientist, I believe that the Big Bang is much closer to reality than any theory of so-called intelligent design. I note, however, a couple of factoids: Stephen Hawking in “The University in a Nutshell” (2001) referred to the Big Bang as a “theory,” not a scientific fact; and there is a long history of persecution of astronomers and others in the field for pursuing unusual theories — perhaps beginning with the Catholic Church’s charging Galileo with heresy 500 years ago for asserting that Copernicus was right and that the planets revolve around the sun, not around the earth.One era’s heresy sometimes becomes another era’s theoretical anchor. Has the administration controlled a loose cannon or repressed a Galileo?

Beg your pardon, Dr. Kelly, but Eric Hedin, with his theories of intelligent design, is no Galileo.

The comments sections after Kelly’s letter is amusing, with Kelly weighing in himself.  But he’s schooled by a Ball State alum:

Picture 1

The dexterity of the osprey

August 2, 2013 • 7:42 am

There’s no catch-and-release with this bird, the osprey or “sea eagle” (Pandion haliaetus). This video shows its amazing fishing skills. I was surprised to see they can fly after they’ve been completely immersed, even toting a large fish.  And when the talons come down right before the strike, it reminds me of the wheels of an airplane swiveling down just before touchdown.

I suppose it makes me “spiritual” to contemplate that creatures this skilled, this magnificent, evolved from simple chemicals beginning about 3.5 billion years ago. Feathers, beak, behavior: the whole megillah. Where’s my atheist church?

h/t: Diane G.

Meet the new Pope: same as the old Pope

August 2, 2013 • 5:23 am

The media are falling all over each other to praise Pope Francis and his new “enlightened” stance on gays.  He seems to be a humble man, sleeps in  a small bed in an unprepossessing room, wears cheap shoes (unlike Ratzi), and rides in the Popemobile without being completely protected. He’s seen as a man of the people.  And, on his flight back from Brazil, Pope Francis said this, as reported by EuroNews:

In some impromptu comments on the plane journey home from Brazil, Pope Francis has said homosexuals should not be marginalised but integrated into society.

There was no problem with homosexual orientation, he added. But he reaffirmed Catholic Church teaching that homosexual acts are a sin, and condemned what he described as lobbying by gay people.

“All the lobbies are not good,” he told reporters, before adding: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?”

When I first saw this on television, I thought, “Wow, now this is a forward-looking Pope!” But then I pondered the words.  First, Francis says that there is “no problem” with homosexual orientation, but adds later that that is not a judge-able offense— “if the gay person seeks God.” But that’s already Catholic doctrine. As I wrote about previously, the official policy of the Catholic church is this (my bold):

From the Catholic Catechism:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

In other words, homosexual inclinations (not acts) are considered a “disorder”, and acting on those inclinations is a “grave depravity.” The latter is a Catholic euphemism for “if you don’t confess this, you’ll burn in hell.” And I see “seeking God” as a euphemism for “confession.”  So if you confess that you’ve sinned by being gay, you’re all right. What’s new about that?

As for condemning the lobbying of Catholics, that’s just a sign that Francis is not going to bend to those who see the Church’s policy as backwards and discriminatory.

One could also be cynical and construe Francis’s words as meaning, “I won’t judge gays, but God will.”  Nevertheless, so long as he fails to repudiate or overturn Catholic policy, his “conciliatory” words mean absolutely nothing.

I swear, I don’t know how gays—of which Andrew Sullivan is a prominent example—can practice Catholicism.  “Working to change the church from inside” isn’t going to be effective—at least not in our lifetime.

Beauty in your backyard

August 1, 2013 • 10:37 am

If only we had high-resolution eyes that could see in slow motion! Fortunately, we have cameras, and so we can feast our peepers on “The beauty of pollination”. Take four minutes and appreciate your world a little more.

The three highlights for me were the hummingbird aerobatics at aobut 0:35, the bat pollinators starting about two minutes in, and, of course, the monarch swarm at the end.

The YouTube notes:

This video was shown at the TED conference in 2011, with scenes from “Wings of Life”, a film about the threat to essential pollinators that produce over a third of the food we eat. The seductive love dance between flowers and pollinators sustains the fabric of life and is the mystical keystone event where the animal and plant worlds intersect that make the world go round.

It’s in high-def, so be sure to watch it on your biggest screen.

h/t: Chris

Canadian skunk gets head stuck in Tim Hortons cup; rescued by kindly cameraman

August 1, 2013 • 7:27 am

Pity the beast didn’t go for a regular coffee and a dutchie.  According to CBC news, which has a great video on its site (I can’t embed it), a coffee-loving skunk got his head caught in a plastic cup of iced cappuccino from Tim Horton’s in Toronto.  The story:

A Toronto skunk was found wandering in traffic with a Tim Hortons Iced Capp cup early Tuesday.

Tony Smyth, CBC Toronto’s overnight videographer, was on Don Mills Road at Highway 401 when he spotted the skunk wandering in and out of traffic with the empty ‘Iced Capp’ container on its head.

“He was trying to get it off with his little paws and bumping off the curbs,” Smyth said. “Obviously, he couldn’t see a thing.”

A City TV cameraman, Bert Dandy, walked up to the skunk and pulled the cup off. The animal ran into the bush.

“You see the strangest things on night shift,” Smyth said.

And a screencap (GO SEE THE RESCUE VIDEO):

Picture 1

I love it when people go out of their way to help distressed animals, and in this case Dandy was risking a good squirting!

I used to love Tim Horton’s, and would make my Canadian friends take me there when I visited up north, but it’s gone downhill, merging with Wendy’s and now cooking frozen donuts sent from a central facility (they used to be made fresh in each store).

Checking it out, I was surprised to find on Wikipedia that there are some Hortons branches outside Canada:

Tim Hortons’ international presence includes outlets in the United States (including one opened in Detroit and owned by former NBA player Derrick Coleman) and one that was on a military base outside Kandahar, Afghanistan. Two more outlets are located in military bases at Fort Knox, Kentucky,and Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Tim Hortons’ other international expansions include a small outlet at the Dublin Zoo. Tim Hortons also made a deal with the Spar convenience store chain in the UK and Ireland, resulting in Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts being sold at small self-service counters in 50 Spar stores as of 30 April 2007.

h/t: Diana