Is it Summer Yet?!?!??

I have a very low tolerance for cold weather and chilly environments. I dislike being cold for many many reasons. I dislike having to wear hooded sweatshirts and sweatpants in my apartment, I dislike having to wear too much clothing on my runs, I dislike having a runny nose, I dislike the way my heat goes only up to 72 degrees ... I can go on and on and on. Sometimes, I wish I could take my school or my lab somewhere warm. But then again, I am not a fan of all warm places.

Take Miami, Florida, for instance. I can only visit such a place for short periods of time. I spent my college years' spring breaks in Coral Cables by University of Miami ... the only interesting thing I remember from that place is all the palm trees. Nothing pleased me as such and I have no desire too go there. I did not even like the famous South Beach ... it was the first place a woman over 50, that wasnt from the Maasai tribe or Turkana tribe topless.

I hear good things about California, though. Plenty of opportunities for people like me, warm weather, all the surfing etc etc. I would love to go to Mammoth Lakes ... or somewhere quiet. I am not a fan of all the action scenes. I just want a quiet place, a place that would feel like home. A place like the Adirondacks up in New York. A place with some authentic unadulterated, serene natural environment. I know there are better places than those, but those are the only places I have heard of or been to that I did like and wanted to camp out for a while.

I hope it gets warm soon, I cant take this 60-degree and below weathers anymore!

A seal rapes a penguin

No, not a Navy Seal but a 100kg (~220lbs) fur seal tried to have sex with a 15kg (~33lbs) king penguin. Absolutely bizarre. For 45 minutes, the seal "alternated between resting on the penguin, and thrusting its pelvis, trying to insert itself, unsuccessfully." Apparently, it seems the seal was young and inexperienced. There is a possibility it had been rejected elsewhere ... so the only option it had was ... a penguin!

Lesbians are fighting to keep their name!

People from the third largest Greek island, Lesbos, are suing to stop the homosexual community from using the word "lesbian" to describe their women. I agree with them. Imagine if Kenya metamorphosed and acquired a new definition, such that I wouldnt be able to go anywhere and say "Hey, I am Kenyan" without someone saying "Are you kenyan? or Are you Kenyan." How on earth would I respond to that? But why did it take the Lesbians more than 2, 000 years to respond? They cant say they didnt see it coming.

Memristors

Say your goodbyes to DRAMs (dynamic random access memory) as HP has reported on unveiling a new piece of technology that may soon replace it. The ability of memristors to hold much more information in a tinier space than DRAMs is good news to those trying to make even smaller computers. The memristor idea was invented in 1971 by Leon Chua, I hope he gets his dues from this.

$17, 000 a month job ... in Kenya!

Winning a seat in Kenyan parliament usually guarantees a rags-to-riches type of story. In a country where the general population survives on less than $1 a day, politicians are hiking up their salaries and approving everything without a say from the common mwananchi. They earn some $17, 000 per month!!! To make matters worse, they are tapping the money allocated for resettling the displaced people (after recent turmoil) to pay themselves! My goodness.

My new Hero

This girl falls in a race, gets spiked in the head (and is all bloody) ... gets up and runs a gutsy race. Very few can do this. Much props to her.

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/wp/?page_id=256

Japan to Build 1, 000 schools in Africa

Here is the link to the story. http://allafrica.com/stories/200804291203.html.

Interesting statistics:

- 1 in 3 kids will never see the inside of a classroom.
- UNESCO plans to have free primary education and gender equality by 2015! I wonder how many other African countries provide free primary education besides Kenya.


Thanks Japan. You rock.

Doping Loophole

Read this interesting article in NYTimes entitled "Some Athletes' Genes Help Outwit Doping Test". The title is self-explanatory, but I should point out that the research reported has shown that some people have the ability to pass the doping test despite having high levels of exogenous testosterone (implicated in 43% of doping cases).

Whats up with Africa and its leaders?

The world should know, by now, that there are different definitions of democracy in different continents. Sure, some countries may share the same definitions even though they might be seas and oceans apart. I also vividly remember in 1992 Kenyan elections when democracy meant "picking someone from your own tribe". I am sure you heard what went on with Kenyan elections which eventually spiraled to war between tribes? The same exact thing is happening in Zimbabwe, who knows what that is going to bring. The point is, African old men were given a different dictionary that allows them to rig elections and NEVER want to give up power, despite what the constitutions of their own countries dictate!

Are there some exceptions? Have there ever been peaceful elections in Africa? Yea, of course, but why would the media chose to write "peace" and "Africa" in the same sentence if it is not preceded by "lack of"?


Should anyone care about such stubborn leaders? What is the whole point of having an international elections observers anyway? The international observers reported that Kenyan elections were flawed (duh, 4 year old kids knew that). They have also reported that Zimbabwean elections were flawed (Isnt that obvious? Everyone knew it before the elections even started. And, since when does it take 2+ weeks to release presidential results when parliamentary results were finished within 2 days?). Despite all these "reportings" and "observations" ... NO ONE LISTENS!! Or is it that no one does anything about it?


Its 3am, thats all I got. Thanks to all the adrenaline I am getting from running too much.

Imbaya Festival - Striking Images

One of my favorite sections in the BBC News Website - Day in Pictures (Striking images from around the world) - carried an image from a celebration in a Filipino town or Banaue. An Igorot tribesman, Robert Duyugan (above), was photographed riding his wooden scooter in a race. Awesome!