Perspective is everything

Our mythology, expectations, and theories form such a thick blanket of perception that I don't know if it's possible to see the world in any way except through this subjective lens. It's not necessarily a bad thing, though I'd argue that it usually is, especially when concerns religion versus open-minded inquiry.

One example of perspective having a positive outcome was when a baby was born with two faces in India this week. The medical term is craniofacial duplication, which of course just means more than one head or face (aren't medical terms tricky?). But that's the western scientific perspective: abnormality, deformity.
To the villagers in India, she's the reincarnation of the Hindu goddess of valor, Durga. Rather than being feared and ostracized she is being worshiped as a blessing. Not too shabby.

A contrasting example of perspective's influence happened when the Spanish Conquistadors (which I think is the medical term for rapist) landed in S. America for the first time. The Inca's ancient history told them of a deity called Viracocha who wore shiny armour, had pale skin, and dark beards and would one day return to bring the gifts of civilization to the Incas. Well, apparently it wasn't Incan civilization that they were bringing. But these expectations are one of the big reasons why it was so easy for the Spanish to basically show up and conquer the continent. A few boats full of men on horses was able to take over a race of millions. Of course the Spanish believed they were chosen by the Christian God to rule the world and save it, so that was helping drive their end. Perspective.

What do you expect from the Gods?

Poisoned suppries from China

China executed the former head of their food and drug agency after busting him for accepting bribes in exchange for accepting at least six fake medicines.

Health Canada has been warning consumers since June about 21 Chinese toothpaste products shipped with toxic levels of diethylene glycol, a nasty little toxin.

And for some reason they bring up the Olympics:

Chinese officials also say the Western media is making too much of the scandal. They argue that exporting unsafe products is a worldwide problem and that some may be trying to embarrass Beijing before the Olympics.

Maybe so. But that doesn't mean they aren't shipping millions of children's toys around the world laced with toxic levels of lead. That's a problem. I don't think it has anything to do with embarrassment, it's more a matter of poisoning and death. Or wait, maybe we should wait until the Olympics are over before we do anything to embarrass anyone:

Don't worry kids, you can keep playing with Cripple Me Elmo. We don't want to embarrass the Chinese.

I might be a hypocrite but I think China should be embarrassed, nay, how about held liable. A little bit of social justice and environmental awareness wouldn't hurt them either.

As if fat people need another reason to be feared and taunted

This just in: obesity is socially contagious! Yes, sir, stay away from fat people. Don't be friends with them, and if one of your friends--or worse even your spouse--starts to put on the gain, ditch them before you too fall victim to this spreading scourge.

From the New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 357:370-379, July 26, 2007, No.4

A person's chances of becoming obese increased by 57% if he or she had a friend who became obese in a given interval. Among pairs of adult siblings, if one sibling became obese, the chance that the other would become obese increased by 40%. If one spouse became obese, the likelihood that the other spouse would become obese increased by 37%.

There are so many angles to take this story I don't even know where begin--"Now remember kids, don't talk to strangers or fat people." "I'm suin' my ex-wife fer chunkin' up and causin' my heart attacks." This might be the basis for discrimination against obesity in the work place. Hey, we can't smoke indoors, why would we let people of girth eat around us? That's just dangerous.

Maybe we'll see more studies showing that getting up early is contagious and jogging is addictive. Then it's just a matter of hanging out with the right crowd. Dark chocolate is officially health food now, so who knows.

On the other hand, if we could "cure" all obese people, maybe there would me no one left to catch fatness from...

Well-oiled Bird Killing Machine

Well, since every silver lining has a cloud, I thought we'd look on the dark side today. This post about how buildings in Toronto kill as many as 10 million birds each year could be looked at from another angle:

Just 10 more years of condo development along the waterfront and some more high rise towers spotted across the city and Toronto will be one of the most effective bird-flu and West Nile Disease filtration systems in North America. Just think how safe we'll be! Finally we can be rid of those pesky hawks and sparrows.

Now if we could just pave over the few remaining green spaces and fill in those dirty wetlands we'd be free of these mosquitoes, too! Maybe we can make a cell phone that fucks up all insects, not just honey bees.

Sexist Religious Freaks

I've been bothered all day by an article about a Muslim-Christian soccer match that was intended "to foster understanding between religions" but was canceled because the Muslims refused to play against a team that has female players. WFT?
I was going to write a huge rant about backwards religious customs, outdated rules, discrimination, prejudice, equality, and good old-fashioned ignorant stupidity.
But then I realized the real problem here: Soccer is not a way to foster understanding.
Exhibit A
I rest my case.