Enimas

Today our nation celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and in tandem we will celebrate the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama, tomorrow at noon.

In lab today we were chatting about the preparations for the main event, and our attention had been caught by an article from slate.com mentioning that FOUR different pastors/preachers would be giving sermons/homilies during the festivities.

Is all of that really necessary? The religious figures run the political spectrum from right (Rick Warren) to left (Joseph Lowery) to far left (V. Gene Robinson and Sharon Watkins). But they all still include their magical superstitions, regardless of political affiliation. Where's the atheist who represents reason and sensibility?

I thought our nation had a separation of church and state based on the establishment clause of the constitution. I respect those who have morally sound life philosophies, but to constantly credit a magic man for the motivation seems incredibly childish. Why won't these people just grow up?

And lest we forget the long-term damage true believers can do - Jerry Falwell for example. If only there were a hell for him to burn in. So much hate and bigotry came from that one person, who claimed faith in a paternalistic, ego-maniacal, narcissistic god. My lab mates and I agreed that Christopher Hitchens put it best with his *very* last comment in this riled up interview on FoxNews that took place right after Falwell's death and which is shown below: "If you gave Falwell an enema, you could bury him in a matchbox."

Sad news, but cheer up

Well, it's taken practically no time for me to break my new green laser pointer.

:-(

My copy of "The Cell" - you know, the one by Alberts which is like the bible for molecular bio grad students - simply jumped out of my hands and on to my desk (or fell out of my hands). Unfortunately my new laser pointer was the poor victim to the weight of the massive 'Cell'.

We'll try sending it off, since it's under warranty, and hopefully it can be fixed.

I was really excited to use it for the first time at my departmental seminar this Thursday, but alas, my excitement wanes. I'll have to wait a little longer.

In the meantime, this commercial by the Discovery channel really cheered me up - I love the whole world too!