Life and Death in the War Zone

An awesome Nova documentary on mobile military hospitals and the Physician-Soldiers who staff them in Iraq. Very intense but extraordinarily interesting. It makes me very happy that PBS has gotten on the new media distribution bandwagon and is making their content available online.

Pantsuit vs. Frosty the Snowman

Probably only postable now that the primary is over, but hilarious always.

Boy that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast...

I guess I haven't said it on this blog before but: I am a Barack Obama supporter (for a whole mess of very important reasons). And I think this editorial from today's New York Times demonstrates that they are finally starting to get the story right over there. Here is the article for your own personal inspection:


The Low Road to Victory
April 23, 2008

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead.

On the eve of this crucial primary, Mrs. Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad — torn right from Karl Rove’s playbook — evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” the narrator intoned.

If that was supposed to bolster Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she is the better prepared to be president in a dangerous world, she sent the opposite message on Tuesday morning by declaring in an interview on ABC News that if Iran attacked Israel while she were president: “We would be able to totally obliterate them.”

By staying on the attack and not engaging Mr. Obama on the substance of issues like terrorism, the economy and how to organize an orderly exit from Iraq, Mrs. Clinton does more than just turn off voters who don’t like negative campaigning. She undercuts the rationale for her candidacy that led this page and others to support her: that she is more qualified, right now, to be president than Mr. Obama.

Mr. Obama is not blameless when it comes to the negative and vapid nature of this campaign. He is increasingly rising to Mrs. Clinton’s bait, undercutting his own claims that he is offering a higher more inclusive form of politics. When she criticized his comments about “bitter” voters, Mr. Obama mocked her as an Annie Oakley wannabe. All that does is remind Americans who are on the fence about his relative youth and inexperience.

No matter what the high-priced political operatives (from both camps) may think, it is not a disadvantage that Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton share many of the same essential values and sensible policy prescriptions. It is their strength, and they are doing their best to make voters forget it. And if they think that only Democrats are paying attention to this spectacle, they’re wrong.

After seven years of George W. Bush’s failed with-us-or-against-us presidency, all American voters deserve to hear a nuanced debate — right now and through the general campaign — about how each candidate will combat terrorism, protect civil liberties, address the housing crisis and end the war in Iraq.

It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind when they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box. Mrs. Clinton once had a big lead among the party elders, but has been steadily losing it, in large part because of her negative campaign. If she is ever to have a hope of persuading these most loyal of Democrats to come back to her side, let alone win over the larger body of voters, she has to call off the dogs.

Unhh! That's what I'm talkin 'bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, the first single off Al Green's soon-to-be released album, Lay It Down (5/27, Blue Note Records):



I hope the rest of the album lives up to this soulful duet with Corinne Bailey Rae. In March, Pitchfork reported that the Reverend Green collaborated with the Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson as producer/drummer on the album, in a particularly inspired move. We've also been promised some tracks featuring the Dap-Kings -- an old-school horn group, currently acting as the house band for Daptone Records based out of BK,NY. Ever hear the kicking horns on the Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones, Mark Ronson records? Yeah, that's them.

If you don't love those tight trumpet hits and spectacular honking baritone sax lines, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore. Also check out this article in Time Out NY for the Dap-Kings suggestions on where to check out some excellent vinyl in New York City. It was written by a friend, who got to spend a day with these guys. I was and continue to be outrageously jealous.

Of course I'd still love to hear any good (new or not-so-new) music recommendations you guys might have for me. Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

And just for old time's sake:

Yeah I'm on the run // See where I'm coming from

spring seems to have arrived(!), and all is well in my world. just a few quick things on this beautiful day:

1. Now that it's finally been decided that I'm going to school in NYC, I'm looking for some summer work here. Nothing beats summer in the ci-tay, and I was sorry to miss it last year (no offense Durbs). Some early leads are at the NYU affiliated Bellevue Hospital - one of the biggest and oldest public hospitals in country - and with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, to those not down with its original French nom). Let's hope one of these opportunities pans out, and perhaps provides some $$ for me to sublet a place somewhere sweet.

2. Springtime has traditionally coincided with renewed personal attempts at physical fitness. I went for a hike with Jess yesterday and a short-ish -- by my admittedly skewed standards -- run today. One of the things that keeps me going during these bouts of athletic undertaking is exciting new music to listen to. Anyone have some good recommendations for me?? I know I've already asked some of you personally for leads, but: GIMME MO BEATS!!!

That is all. Oh wait, no wait, RUN!!!

Gnarls Barkley - Run [Live @ SNL]

Science Rules

Science is important. Consequently, the funding and policy decisions that the United States government makes about science and technology are vital to the progression of global innovation and economic development. These exceedingly important aspects of governance are often overlooked, however, and have been particularly absent in the ongoing wrangling for position by the three remaining presidential candidates in the upcoming US presidential election.

A coalition of important medical, scientific, and technological academies, in concert with a large number of concerned citizens -- like myself -- think this is a real problem and have joined an initiative called Science Debate 2008. This is our statement of purpose:

"Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, the increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision making, and the vital role scientific innovation plays in spurring economic growth and competitiveness, we call for a public debate in which the U.S. presidential candidates share their views on the issues of The Environment, Health and Medicine, and Science and Technology Policy."

I recommend that everyone head over to their website and affiliated YouTube page (I've also posted these links up on my delicious page) and take a look. Hopefully the politicians vying for our country's top executive position will take notice.

More things that are awesome

Number 1: this essay by Haruki Murakami. It appeared in the New York Times a while back, but I never got around to posting it up here. If you don't understand why I dig him so much now, maybe you will after reading this piece.

Number 2: this concert, performed by Q-Tip at this week's CMJ festival in New York City. The review I've linked to claims that "Q-Tip worked the crowd with the charisma of a young James Brown." I bet now you wish you saw it too, right? In fact, did any of you catch this show?

Number 3: this previously unreleased demo of Ms. Aretha Franklin singing I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You). This version is very different from the final cut, but really highlights Aretha's outrageously powerful attitude and voice. What a woman. (From the unparalleled Rhino label's new collection of rare and unreleased recordings from The Queen of Soul.)

No, I'm sorry, you can't have these 30 seconds of your life back

Rad:
South Africa's National Braai Day. From the official website: "Our vision is to create a local day with the same festivities and impact as St Patrick’s Day in Ireland or the 4th July in America."

Not Rad:
Waking up with a terribly sore throat after manning the grill in the pouring rain for an entire afternoon.

Rad:
Getting confirmation that my final med school recommendation (of 8?! It's a little ridiculous, i know) is in the mail. I had almost given up on this final reference, but I'm pretty glad that I decided to wait it out.

Not Rad:
Announcement of the complete failure of Merck's HIV vaccine trial. One of the arms of this Phase II clinical trial was being conducted in SA. Hopefully this won't set off the same media firestorm that occurred when the recent microbicide trials were halted.

Sorry for the lame post. I think I'm just going to make myself some tea and call it a night. And thanks for all of the feedback about my post from a couple of days ago about my trip up to Zululand.

Smaller and smallest

This is the sort of article that makes this one hilarious. Pitchfork can be really ridiculous and pretentious sometimes.

I do actually have much more exciting things to write about up here, but I don't have the time to write about it now now. Here is a picture to pique your interest:

This is the biggest plane I rode in today!

(thanks to Kerry for the Onion link!)

Everything I'm not // made me everything I am

Never underestimate the therapeutic value of a little good news and some new tunes to bump. Ye's release couldn't have come at a better time. I listened to Graduation for the first time last night, and three or four of the most infectious beats have been looping through my head all day.

When it feels like livin's harder than dyin'/
for me givin' up's way harder than tryin'/
Lauryn Hill said her heart was in Zion/
I wish her heart still was in rhymin'/

and

Top 5 MCs you ain't gotta remind me/
Top 5 MCs you gotta rewind me/
I'm high up on the line you can get behind me/
but my head's so big, you can't sit behind me/


Word; maybe I'll get around to writing up something more substantive about the album at some point. But if that doesn't happen, you guys can check out what else I've been listening to using that cool last.fm widget over there on the right side of the page. I hope none of my more embarrassing listening habits come to light - but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

Also, I got one.

The Truth

This is the truth.

[If you click through, take a minute to look around the site. This David Ng character - the main editor and presumably founder - of the Science Creative Quarterly seems full of interesting ideas. The SCQ was also behind the Science Scout badges I blogged about once upon when.]

Prevent Defense

Big news from the HIV prevention community! The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) is very committed to this cause - as you might be able to guess from their name - but have yet to demonstrate any real success (they supported the failed microbicide trials in South Africa last year) . There are a few phase II clinical trials of HIV vaccines taking place in different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa; I imagine this money from Bill and Melinda will help to finance strategic scale-up and distribution of the drug if the studies prove to be successful. Unfortunately, the studies won't be completed until at least 2008 or 2009. Here's to hoping it all works out!

from The Lancet Blog:

US$14 million grant for HIV prevention campaign

Thursday August 23rd 2007

The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition is launching a new organization to promote the development of a wide variety of HIV prevention strategies, including microbicides and oral preventive drugs.

The launch of the new organization, called The HIV Prevention Research Advocacy Network, was announced by AVAC Tuesdsy, Aug 21 in Seattle at the AIDS Vaccine 2007 conference.

The initiative will be funded by five-year, US$14 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

According to the press release announcing the network’s launch, the organization will:

•Develop international advocacy partnerships that support both the needs of communities involved in research and a global advocacy movement for HIV prevention research.

• Translate complex scientific ideas to communities AND translate community needs and perceptions to the scientific community.

• Work to hold both research agencies and advocates accountable for accelerating ethical prevention research and development.

• Help ensure that communities, policymakers, and civil society have realistic expectations about HIV prevention research and specific clinical trials.

• Work closely with other groups conducting HIV prevention research advocacy, including microbicide advocacy groups.

AVAC also released it annual report, which provides an overview of the state of HIV vaccine research today. Of particular interest is a section that looks at the slow uptake of both male circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy and the vaccine for human papilloma Virus (HPV). These case studies, the report argues, holds lessons for those seeking to implement other prevention strategies.

To visit AVAC site and download the new report go to: http://www.avac.org/

To visit the AIDS Vaccine 2007 conference website go to: www.hivvaccineenterprise.org/conference/index.html

By Michael McCarthy

Progress

I’m finally done with the bulk of these secondary applications. It hasn't been easy been my way through all data entry required by each of the schools, and the quantity of essays I’ve crafted is fairly staggering (I lost count somewhere around 20). I’ve had to put the pieces of the “why-I-am-a-fantastic-fit-in-Your-medical-community” puzzle together in many different ways, each time with different word (or character; or page) limit. I'm more sure than ever that I want to go to Medical School, but this application process has really taken a lot out of me so far.

To celebrate headway made I went out to the local bookstore and picked up some magazines. I think my interest in having magazines around is similar to Matt’s take on it – sometimes a magazine article provides just the right length for you to feel like you’ve gotten valuable things from it, without requiring investment of time or attention span necessary to make your way through a book. Perusing the magazine rack at the bookstore, I came across two gems: one is an old favorite of mine that I was surprised to see find in SA, and the other is a recently launched magazine produced here in South Africa.

The first journal I’m referring to is Scientific American Mind. Being the tremendous neuroscience geek that I am, I can’t even tell you how excited I was when I first saw this magazine on the rack in Grand Central Station during the summer of 2004. As far as I can tell, it's perfect blend of brain science and popular culture - acessable to scientists and non-scientists alike. At some point I even think I contemplated getting in touch with them to see if they had an internship available.

The second is a called Maverick. From their website: “Maverick is a magazine for business people who lack the herd instinct. Our readers have no time for accepted wisdom; that may explain why they are, generally, so much more successful than non-Maverick readers. To serve these readers, Maverick itself threw common wisdom out of the window right from the start.” The pieces are short but compelling, the writing is strong, the layout is beautiful, and the topics chosen seem to be uniformly interesting. If you’re a South African reader of this blog, you should go pick up a copy – but for those of you living elsewhere they do post some of the articles they deem most compelling on their website (linked above). I should also thank Tom for giving me the heads-up about the magazine's existence in the first place.

That’s it for now, but I’m working my way through some devastatingly interesting articles from the most recent issue of the South African Journal of HIV Medicine – hopefully I’ll be posting some excerpts and commentary in the coming days. Some selected titles from the table of contents:

The South African National Strategic Plan: What Does it Mean for Our Health System?
Challenges of TB Diagnosis and Treatment in South Africa
User Fees, Transport Costs, and the Ethics of Exemption: How Free is Free ART?

Pretty heavy/heady stuff, right? I’ll be back with the lowdown soon. Later.

Back in the Saddle

I'm hoping that this post will kick off another prolific period in this blogs' life. I was tempted to call it a Golden Age, but quickly realized that it was just the episodes of Rome (which I been compulsively watching) talking.

There are so many things for me to put up here in the coming days. Wonderful pictures from our trips to Cape Town, Hluhluwe Game Reserve, and one of the big Townships around Durban; articles from the New England Journal and the Times about relevant public health issues; reflections on life here in SA as I realize that I only have a few more months left to spend; musings on exciting new music that I've stumbled upon in the past few weeks.

So, I guess that this post is just to let you know that I am back. From the number of unhappy e-mails in my inbox, it seems that I was missed - but I will do my best to fill in the missing pieces.

I'm sure this won't be the last you'll hear from me today. Please keep your Google Reader (or whatever RSS reader your prefer) refreshed and hang on, as a torrent of posts are headed your way.

And as a teaser. Two pictures from yesterdays' graduation party in Umlazi:

Where the streets have no name. Or two names, oftentimes.

From the front page of the New York Times website this morning: Where the Road to Renaming Does Not Run Smooth.

This article addresses a hotly debated topic here in Durban - the renaming of many major roads to honor the architects of the New South Africa. These changes, while originating from a very reasonable and progressive premise, have made it exceedingly difficult at times for a newly initiated Durbanite to navigate the streets of the city. As you can see from the picture above, some of the old street names have temporarily been struck through with a red line, while other street signs with outdated names have been removed entirely - further complicating things.

Unfortunately, I don't really have time to share supplementary commentary at the moment; I have to finish up this work before I can head out to the Northern 'Berg for a weekend of camping and hiking with friends. But please take a look at the article if you get a chance, and I'll contribute my personal experiences and observations about this issue when I get back into town on Sunday.

In taking a look at posts from the recent past, it looks conspicuously like I've been shilling for the Times these past few weeks. I would be more apologetic, but I think it's just that NYT is one of my main sources of news here - and there has been a real wealth of interesting articles for me to share with you guys as of late.

Alright, I'm out of here; catch you all later.

I'm not a player, I just crush a lot

Oh yeah - I meant to mention this before, but it entirely slipped my mind. My homeboy, Dr. Atul Gawande, is a guest columnist over at the New York Times this month. I know I've waxed poetic about the many virtues of his writing in previous posts, but these editorial pieces that he's writing for the Times in May - while perhaps not as thorough or gripping as his other, longer works I've read - are smart, imminently digestible, and contain many interesting insights into the health care crisis in America.

Unfortunately, some of these articles are behind the ever-irritating Times Select paywall - but I'll take a look around and see if they are being published elsewhere. In the meantime, let me know if you'd like to get your hands on these editorials - and I would be happy to send them your way. The titles and brief descriptions of his writings so far are posted below for you to take a look at.

Rethinking Old Age
We don’t much talk about getting more control over our lives in nursing homes. And that’s a problem.

Let’s Talk About Sex
The four facts everyone needs to know about sex and contraception.

Doctors, Drugs And the Poor
The practice of medicine comes with certain moral obligations. The same goes for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.

Bad Medicine, Sneaking In
Medicine’ s success and affordability critically depend on materials and distribution from around the globe. Yet market forces aren’t weeding out the shady operators.

Curing The System
It is possible to alter our health care system surgically enough to minimize harm while still channeling us onto a path out of our misery.

Can This Patient Be Saved?
Our health care system has eroded badly, but it has not collapsed. So we do nothing.

The Power Of Negative Thinking
We Americans believe instinctively in the power of positive thinking. But the real key is looking for, and sometimes expecting, failure.

Electronic odds and ends

Because I wouldn't want you guys to start suffering from a lack of content, here's some interesting stuff for you to check out/think about:

For those of you who don’t subscribe to my feed and are reading this directly off the website, I would like to take a moment to introduce you to the Greatest Contest Ever Held. Science Blogs – a place I have been known to waste a great deal of my time on the internets – in conjunction with Threadless – another site I have been known to frequent –
have joined forces to sponsor a t-shirt design contest. The designer of the most creative image in response to the prompt “Science is Culture” will be handsomely rewarded with cash and other prizes (including a sorely needed iPod). I’ve been turning over some ideas in my head – especially relating to the heavy Religious/Creationist bent of many South Africans I have come to meet in the past few weeks - but am not sure if I really have the technical knowhow, or creativity, to put together a winning proposal. In any case, if I win (or even place), I’m sure you guys will be the first to hear about it.

I would also like to let you guys know about Tim Fite’s new album Over the Counter Culture, which is quite good and quite free when downloaded from his website. It’s relatively spare Hip Hop production, but I know that many of you will agree with his take on the subject matter and some of you might even appreciate his flow. You can also hear him interviewed on this weeks’ episode of Sound Opinions, where I managed to hear about his newly released album in the first place. I’ve been hurting for new music as of late (my internet connection from the office here isn’t quite fast enough for me to feel comfortable downloading stuff from iTunes or other music sites), so it’s been nice to have something new to listen to.

As for my weekend: it consisted of a second viewing of Blood Diamond (Leo’s Rhodesian accent and slang stands up to my improved ability to discern a good accent from a bad one), a early morning trip to the beach for a few hours of body surfing, and reading the first half of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. Oh, and I've also started looking into getting my International Driving Permit for when I get my car in March. Not a bad weekend, certainly, but not the most exciting on record. Hope you all had great weekends, wherever you are in the world, and I’d love to hear from you if you find yourself at a computer with a moment or two on your hands. Talk soon.

Mail & Guardian Online

Another quick one:

I'm adding links to articles from the highly regarded South African newspaper, Mail & Guardian, along the right side of this page. Hopefully this will provide you with some better insight into the goings on in SA, beyond what I'm telling you. I've started reading this site with some regularity (their editorial board is much more frank than anything I've seen in any US paper) and I imagine that I'll post an interesting article or two up here in the near future for you guys to take a look at.

I'm still in my office at New York Cares, so that's all for now.

Peace,
b