going continental

( knitting geekery behind cut )

watson redux

wow, that was quick. cold spring harbor's board of trustees has suspended james watson from his post because of the racist remarks i posted about yesterday. in the world of science, this is pretty huge. he's been there for 40 years.

i find it very disturbing, though, to hear comments like that from the guy who was in charge of a huge part of the human genome project (HGP).

lest cold spring harbor's trustees get too uppity on this matter--and don't get me wrong, they're doing the right thing, but their own station played a large role in the u.s.'s racist agenda: for decades during the first part of the 20th century, charles davenport worked at cold spring harbor. if you're not familiar with his name...he was a leader of the eugenics movement in the u.s., and he ran the central eugenics record keeping office at cold spring harbor along with a guy named harry laughlin. their agenda? to forcibly sterilize anyone deemed "feebleminded," which usually translated as "poor" or "of color." for them, this was an issue of national "racial hygiene." their agenda had a lot of popular support--theodore roosevelt wrote and spoke widely on the subject. it was also endorsed and enforced by the u.s. supreme court in buck v. bell.

lest we forget.

like the weather

it's thundering in seattle. that so seldom happens. we've had some pretty good wind and rain up here in fremont, too.

makes me nostalgic for michigan. my dad used to call really good thunderstorms "bedspring rattlers."

thunderstorms always make me feel small and contemplative.

now i'm off to campus for a teaching workshop i signed up for. it's on how to do effective group work in the classroom. should be interesting.

i also have to pick up my macbook from the UW computer store, where i dropped it off to be repaired yesterday after lunch. they replaced the keyboard cover under the warranty--it chipped and developed a weird little crack right where my right wrist rests while i'm typing. it's not a huge chip, but it does irritate my inner wrist. the guy said he's seen a lot of macbooks crack in that exact spot. anyway, mine is still under warranty, and i also purchased the applecare extended warranty, so it's 100% covered. the guy told me it would be a few days, but they ended up having the part in stock so it's already done. yay!

(no RWP this week. maybe next.)

jeeeez! (weather redux)

i guess i'm not going to the teaching workshop after all. it is POURING out right now, and i'd have to walk several blocks in this to get to the bus stop on time. i.e. i would have to leave right now to make it. then i'd have to walk another little piece to get from the bus stop to the workshop.

i just called them to let them know i'm not coming. they were very understanding.

i feel a little bit like a wimp, here, but it is seriously coming down in buckets. i would be drenched to the skin within a block. i don't think an umbrella or a rain coat would help much, either, because it's so windy, and my rain jacket only covers to the hip anyway.

this means i won't be getting my laptop back right away, too. wah! i'll either pick it up later this afternoon (the rain has to let up, right?) or tomorrow morning.

when the rain comes,
they run and hide their heads.
they might as well be dead.
when the rain comes.

morph-a-meme-o-matic

i think glaucon's morph of a meme that boutell posted was funny, so i'm going to do it.

here it is:

morphmeme
Meme: Reply to this post, and I will make up a ridiculous lie about you. Maybe more than one. Then repost to your own journal and spread some rumors.

(i feel kinda dumb now, because the rain has receded to a walkable rate. i'm willing to bet there's more on the way, though, and there's no way i could get to the workshop on time now. i have plenty of other work to do this afternoon anyway.)