Change o' Name

As fun as gamma band is, I decided it's a bad name for the blog. My research is coming to an end in a few months (it focused more on the alpha band, anyway) and I have no idea whether I'll be working on the same type of research when I come out of the other end of med school/residency in 6 to 8 years. So, I've renamed the blog, "Irrelevant Process." It still relates to my research (actually, it relates more to my research than gamma band) and it is general enough to accommodate the wildly varying topics of my posts.

Getting away is fun

I just got back from a few days in England. It was nice to get away (although, I didn't totally get away since I gave a research talk - one in which I got viciously attacked on some minor points). What was really nice was getting away from the news. I think it's good for me to pay less attention to all the craziness in the world... I will try to avoid it as much as possible from now on.

Oh, and for your entertainment here are some signs that may not have the same meaning in American English as British English:

In Windsor, near the Queen's home

In Hackney, London (voted the worst place to live in the UK)


In Oxford (No, I didn't try it - I was afraid of what 80% meat entails).

Remind me not to drive in Texas

In many states it's legal for the local police to seize property of criminals in their jurisdiction. This is meant to encourage local law enforcement to catch drug runners (who have nice cars or lots of cash on them) by letting them keep the booty they find. Unfortunately, some jurisdictions decided that it's a great way to steal things from minorities. They threaten the people they pull over (with bogus charges like "driving too close to the white line"), get them to sign over their property and never charge them with anything. Of the 40 people contacted by the attorney of one of the victims, 39 were black. It's not just a few bad cops, they have the whole system set up so that they could quickly seize valuables from whoever they pull over:

The process apparently is so routine in Tenaha [TX] that Guillory discovered pre-signed and pre-notarized police affidavits with blank spaces left for an officer to describe the property being seized.

It is absolutely sickening that this can be happening. The mayor (the only person who's responded to calls) says "We try to enforce the law here." Go to hell...

Hopefully the lawsuit currently against the city goes somewhere.

We don't care if it's against your conscience

Looks like the White House will be reversing Bush's federal conscience clause rule. This move makes me more optimistic about the direction Obama is taking us. I often fear that he gives into the other side too much (especially, the religious side) and with his support of faith-based initiatives, I didn't think he'd do much about the conscience clause. This is great, but a lot of states (.pdf)* have their own conscience clause rules.

BTW, the caption of the picture on the article I linked from the Washington Post, has some reverend talking about how this "raises skepticism about the White House's talk of common ground." It seems to be the right wing's MO now... 1) Whatever Obama does, be against it. 2) Complain that whatever Obama is doing is anti-bipartisan.

*Wow, according to this, West Virginia has the least restrictive conscience rule (almost heaven?). Healthcare providers can't even legally refuse to participate in abortions.

I wonder if it helps their depression?

Apparently crocodiles can find their way back to their territories even if they've been moved miles away using the Earth's magnetic field. So, to keep them from returning to their former, human-inhabited territories, Florida officials take them deep into the swamp and attach magnets to their heads, making them lose their sense of direction. Cool, maybe next time I go to Florida, I'll bring a TMS machine with me (or at least a magnetic therapy bracelet).

Buy more beer

According to Nate Silver alcohol sales (mostly beer) are down almost 10% in the last quarter. That's the most by far in the last 50 years (the previous low was 3.7% down in 1991). Not sure why people aren't buying beer anymore, but if there's any sign that we're entering a deep depression, that's gotta be it. How do you deal with a depression without beer?

Oh no... quackery counts as medical education

Here's a recent "opportunity" from our medical school:

Traditional Chinese Medicine Rotation—Preliminary Announcement



I am pleased to announce that we are again able to offer a rotation in traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) during the Spring of 2010. This month-long rotation is possible through the exchange program between the Department of Family Medicine and FuXing Hospital in Beijing. In addition to didactic instruction in the principles and techniques of TCM (acupuncture, massage, herbal treatment), students will observe how TCM is practiced in Chinese community health centers and hospitals. Limited hands-on training in acupuncture and/or massage may also be provided.

Now that (yet another) scientific review says that acupuncture is nothing but a glorified placebo effect (and I won't even bother with the rest), aren't there more important (more proven) medical techniques that medical students should be educated in? Does the medical school really think that spending an entire month (of the mere 18 months of clinical rotations that makes up an MD) on traditional (i.e. fake) medicine will really add to their students' educations? Come on medical educators... you can't teach your students about evidence-based medicine and then allow this to count as a month's worth of credit at the same time.