Myths and Legends of Japan (1913) F. Hadland Davis

Although I prefer Royall Tyler’s Japanese Tales (1987), this Dover collection is still well worth having if you like folk tales. There is a discussion and history of the Gods of Japan, as well as a section on Buddha legends, both of which were unfamiliar to me.

There was also a collection of fox legends, which immediately made me think of Erin, who loves fox stories.

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People of the Lie M. Scott Peck

Considering that the book was written in 1983, there were several passages that I found particularly striking.

When it no longer bothers us to see mangled bodies it will no longer bother us to mangle them ourselves. It is difficult indeed to selectively close our eyes to a certain type of brutality without closing them to all brutality. How can we render ourselves insensitive to brutality except by becoming brutes?

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I just fiddled with my blog roll again. Added a few, removed some more.
I’m down to only 6 WV weblogs now. I know there have to be more people in WV with quality weblogs. Anyone have any suggestions?

There’s been some interesting health news recently.

A recent study found that Tai Chi increased patients mobility and seemed to act as a treatment for heart failure. I’ve often wished that my grandmother lived closer, so that she could take classes in Tai Chi, and other elderly exercise programs. But I’ve been particularly interested in Tai Chi, because it has a reputation for being easy on the joints and low impact.

The NY Times had an interesting article on the relationship between prayer and healing. As someone who strongly believes in free will, I am somewhat discomforted by the idea of praying for something. I believe that what happens in this world is due to human action and choice, but I do believe that faith does have benefits, because it gives people a sense of comfort and well being, both of which seem to be related to positive health outcomes.

There is a fascinating new study from UNC about mortality rates in the workplace.

Hispanics — especially in the South — suffer more fatal occupational injuries than blacks or other groups.

“We observed that southern workers have higher rates of fatal occupational injury than workers in the rest of the country,” said Dr. David B. Richardson, research assistant professor of epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health. “And, among workers in the South, Hispanic men are now the group with the highest rate of fatal injury on the job.”

So death rates for blacks and whites have decreased, while death rates for Hispanics have increased.

The article mentions some possible reasons for this trend, “on-the-job communication barriers, assignment of more hazardous tasks and failure of employers to invest in training and protective gear for workers who might be short-term or illegal,” but I wonder whether it is due to the fact that the most dangerous jobs are now being given those willing to take low pay just to have a job? (See Eric Schlosser‘s Fast Food Nation and his discussion of slaughterhouses and meat packing plants in the US.)

As someone who is a Democrat and also pro-life, I have been frustrated by those who vote Republican solely because of the Republican stance on abortion. For me, the Republican stance on abortion doesn’t make up for the fact that the Republican platform is in every other way anti-life and ignores the tenets of Christianity except when it suits their purposes.

Finally, in an editorial in today’s NY Times, I’ve found something else saying who has the same idea:

During the eight years of the Reagan presidency, the number of legal abortions increased by more than 5 percent; during the eight years of the Clinton presidency, the number dropped by 36 percent. The overall abortion rate (calculated as the number of abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44) was more or less stable during the Reagan years, but during the Clinton presidency it dropped by 11 percent.

(Note, [Tom] that the author gives both change in number and change in rate.)

I have long felt that the policies of conservatives are not conducive to healthy families, and that the conservative concern for children ends immediately following the birth of the child.

It is all well and good to say that we want a culture of life in this country, but saying it isn’t enough. It has to be backed up with things like health care, child care for working parents (single and married), quality education, real jobs with decent benefits for the parents of those children. All these things will contribute to a culture of life, instead of a culture of poverty and despair.

It’s one thing to claim, like the current president, that you are pro-life. It’s something else entirely to create policy that supports those who are living.

We had a strange experience last night leaving the student recreation center. (We are going to the Rec center several evenings a week to use The Machines. I wasn’t satisfied with just being a wimp, I have to actually prove my wimpiness by lifting weights for a month, and then still struggling to use the machines on the lowest setting. But I’ll continue, for I know with perseverance that one day I’ll be able to move to setting two.)

Anyway, we were on our way out last night when Michael pointed at the multipurpose court we were walking by. “Look at that!”
“Where? At what?” I asked.
“They’re playing dodgeball!”
“WHAT?!”
I’ll be. They were playing dodgeball. Mixed groups, and although there were predominantly guys, there were females there—and a far greater proportion of females than play basketball.
We walked slowly towards the door, staring at the games as we went by—they were playing in not just one, but two of the courts. We stopped to watch the game that looked like it was winding up.
Michael stared intently at the court. “I wanna play! I wanna play!”
I looked at him incredulously. “You what?”
“I wanna play dodgeball!”
“You WHAT?!”
“I love dodgeball! I was good at it!”
“You were?!”
“Sure! I was small and quick and agile!”
“And now,” I said, “you aren’t.”
He ignored that comment and we watched the game end, as one of the four guys on the far side caught the ball thrown by the last guy on the near side.

I was surprised. It looked kind of fun.

But I am NOT interested in playing. I too may have been small and quick and agile when I was younger, but I also lacked hand eye coordination and was painfully clumsy. No, I won’t be playing dodgball, thank you. But I wouldn’t mind watching.

I bet it still stings when you get hit in the side of the face.

…unless we’d like to have our voices heard, in which case we’re an inconvenience.

The president has stopped taking questions from the small pool of reporters who cover his photo opportunities, and he has answered questions from the White House press corps twice since Aug. 23, both times with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi at his side. His last prime-time news conference was April 13.

The tradition of the White House news corps shouting questions at the president has largely faded during this term because Bush reacts testily and does not answer, and his staff typically sets up events so he does not have to walk near reporters.
…
Although all presidents are kept somewhat removed from reality because of security concerns and their staffs’ impulse for burnishing their image, Bush’s campaign has taken unprecedented steps to shield him from dissenters and even from curious, undecided voters. On the way to the forum outside Cleveland, the media buses that went ahead of Bush were temporarily marooned in a church parking lot because police had been told to divert all buses since they could contain demonstrators.
…
Bush has held 15 solo news conferences since taking office. At the same point in their presidencies, according to research by Martha Joynt Kumar of Towson University in Maryland, Bill Clinton had held 42; George H.W. Bush, 83; Ronald Reagan, 26; Jimmy Carter, 59; Gerald R. Ford, 39; Richard M. Nixon, 29; Lyndon B. Johnson, 88; John F. Kennedy, 65; and Dwight D. Eisenhower, 94.

I don’t understand how a president can be said to represent the people, if he refuses to listen to people unless they are proven to be loyal.

We could make up plausible origins. Like old men shaking their canes at kids on the lawn, or children going after fruit trees with a stick–really good trees would have more fruit than you could shake a stick at…

You mean…

“More than you can shake a stick at” comes from Ireland, and the old Irish writing system of Ogham, where histories were inscribed frequently on long, thin, rods.

In Ireland, writing was typically limited to the druids, bards, and warrior classes, but the most prolific writers were the bards who were often grandiloquent when writing the genealogies and histories of the Irish families. In fact, some historians believe that the Irish love of story may date back to this time.

One of the old record keepers, a contrary man named Midac, received the rods for the Bascna clan–more specifically, he received numerous rods detailing the exploits of the warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill, mainly submitted by Finegas. Midac made disparaging comments about the histories, saying that some of the stories were exaggerations, if not outright lies.

As Midac the Cranky was not particularly popular, and his comments were seen as disparaging not just Finegas, but bards in general, others started submitting tales of Fionn’s exploits for the sole purpose of irritating Midac. After a particularly ridiculous tale involving the Morrigan, Midac said that all the other clans had a handful of tales to their histories “a reasonable number” but the number of rods submitted for Fionn was ridiculous. Standing up and shaking the rod with the latest offering, Midac said that all these Fionn tales were more than he could stand and the way things were going, Fionn tales would be the only history of the people that would survive.

It was later that evening when one of the junior bards, after perhaps a bit more mead than was good for him, reenacted the scene. Unfortunately for him, when he mimicked Midac’s rage over the Fionn rods, he grabbed a heavy walking stick as a substitute, and knocked himself unconscious. It was this telling that took the fancy of the local population, and eventually led to our modern saying.

Why doesn’t my Palm have a semi-colon?!

So looks like I shan’t be getting a flu shot this year.

The biotech company Chiron will have its flu stocks destroyed, due to sterility concerns.

Last year the US had 87 million doses last year, and there were shortages. This year it looks like there will be only 54 million doses available in the US.

If you’re not familar with the flu and how flu vaccine is produced, you may be wondering why they just don’t make some more to cover the shortage. The short answer: because it takes a long time to make the vaccine. Five months on average.

If there is a shortage of vaccines, then those of us who are healthy should refrain from getting the vaccine, and allow those who have health problems, such as the elderly, to get the vaccine instead.

So what can we do to keep from getting the flu this winter? First and foremost: WASH YOUR HANDS! Keep your hands away from your face! WASH YOUR HANDS! Finally everyone should know what it’s like to have OCD, as they wash, Wash, WASH! (Here’s a hint: Lotion keeps your skin from drying out, and it is NOT un-manly to use hand lotion. That’s why they make unscented versions.)

It’s also important to stay healthy. Sounds stupid, but it’s true. Reduce your stress. Eat well. Get plenty of sleep and plenty of exercise. All these things will help you stay healthy, and staying helathy will reduce your chances of getting the flu.

And remember that the flu is no laughing matter. If you do start to get sick, drink plenty of liquids (I recommend orange juice for the vitamin C), take asprin or something else to keep your temperature down, get lots of rest, and STAY HOME!

Keep you germs to yourself!

Martin Goldsmith is going to be coming to WVU!

Here’s the blurb:
October 28, 2004, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Mr. Martin Goldsmith, former host of the National Public Radio’s Performance Today and author, will give a lecture titled “Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany.”

Today I said something about “more than you can shake a stick at” and then wondered where the heck that came from.

The answer seems to be: no one knows for sure, but I’m going to go home and check my books, just in case.

ADDENDUM the First:
All four of my slang dictionaries are silent on the subject stick shaking.

ADDENDUM the Second:
Or we could just make something up.

An archeological dig in Yorkshire, England has found that Medieval surgeons were more advanced that previously thought.

The skull in question, dating back to the 11th century, had been struck a near-fatal blow by a blunt weapon, causing a severe depressed fracture on the left hand side.

Closer examination revealed the victim had been given life-saving surgery called trepanning.

A rectangular area of the scalp, measuring 9cm by 10cm, would have been lifted to allow the depressed bone segments to be carefully removed.

This would have relieved the pressure on the brain.

I find it fascinating whenever we discover that ancient peoples had far more advanced medical or technical skills that we typically give them credit for.

I still wouldn’t want to go back and live in those times, but it’s interesting to know that many advanced medical treatments were developed long ago, and that not all knowledge was lost in the western world during the dark ages.

This, though, is the most fascinating quote:

“It seems most probable that the operation was performed by an itinerant healer of unusual skill, whose medical acumen was handed down through oral tradition.”

Where did such a skilled surgeon come from? Was it really oral tradition passed on locally, or was it perhaps a foreign doctor, wandering the world? There were, I believe, doctors in the world at that time who were familiar with such techniques.

I can imagine a doctor going from place to place and country to country throughout the world looking for new techniques or local herbs and medicines, and healing people in exchange for knowledge of local traditions.

I can also imagine a time traveler going back and doing something similar, but I find that far less romantic for some reason.