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  • medievalpoc:

    Math and Science Week!

    aseantoo submitted to medievalpoc:

    Kamoya Kimeu

    [x], [x]

    Yet another Paleontologist of Color! And a really important one, too,

    Kamoya Kimeu (c. 1940-) began life in Kenya as a peasant, but was hired as a labourer on the paleontology expeditions of Louis and Mary Leakey. As soon as he got over the taboo of digging up human remains (associated with witchcraft in his culture), he distinguished himself as a particular talent for discovering and identifying fossils.

    He went on to become the right-hand man for Richard Leakey‘s expeditions, then took over operations, and was named the National Museums of Kenya’s curator for all prehistoric sites in Kenya.

    His discoveries include a nearly complete Homo habilis skeleton in 1959, as well as Turkana Boy, the most complete Homo erectus skeleton ever found, in 1984.Two fossil primates have been named after him: Kamoyapithecus hamiltoni and Cercopithecoides kimeui.

    Sadly, almost all the credit for Kenyan paleoanthropology has gone to the British-born Leakey family. Let’s change that, shall we?

    [x], [x]

    medievalpoc:

    Math and Science Week!

    aseantoo submitted to medievalpoc:

    Kamoya Kimeu

    [x], [x]

    Yet another Paleontologist of Color! And a really important one, too,

    Kamoya Kimeu (c. 1940-) began life in Kenya as a peasant, but was hired as a labourer on the paleontology expeditions of Louis and Mary Leakey. As soon as he got over the taboo of digging up human remains (associated with witchcraft in his culture), he distinguished himself as a particular talent for discovering and identifying fossils.

    He went on to become the right-hand man for Richard Leakey‘s expeditions, then took over operations, and was named the National Museums of Kenya’s curator for all prehistoric sites in Kenya.

    His discoveries include a nearly complete Homo habilis skeleton in 1959, as well as Turkana Boy, the most complete Homo erectus skeleton ever found, in 1984.Two fossil primates have been named after him: Kamoyapithecus hamiltoni and Cercopithecoides kimeui.

    Sadly, almost all the credit for Kenyan paleoanthropology has gone to the British-born Leakey family. Let’s change that, shall we?

    [x], [x]

  • outerlabia:

    fpti:

    earlygr4ves:

    i walked into health and screamed and the teacher goes “you’re the 7th person today. they’re cpr dummies.”

    jesus christ

    they’re calling to mother for food

    Of course, you need to remember that the face of the Resusi Anne/ie dolls is based on the face of an unidentified woman who drowned in the Seine in the 19th century…

  • Anonymous:

    Have you heard about Peter Capaldi refusing to act a romantic relationship with Clara? Do you think he’ll do well, or be smothered by Moffat?

    liz011:

    raptorific:

    From what I’ve gathered, Peter Capaldi is a huge fan of Doctor Who that pretended to be a huge Moffat stan until he’d signed an airtight contract, at which point he revealed he hates the direction Moffat was taking the show he loves, plans to systematically undo it to the best of his ability, has been openly mocking and refusing the participate in parts of the script he doesn’t think are true to the character, and insisting that they “won’t chase him off this show,” which is basically saying “this town ain’t big enough for the both of us.”

    I think the new season of Doctor Who is going to be glorious.

    I kind of want a show that is just Capaldi on the set of Doctor Who mocking the script and butting heads with Moffat.

    I would *totally* watch that show.

  • After learning my flight was detained 4 hours,
    I heard the announcement:
    If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
    Please come to the gate immediately.

    Well—one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.
    An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
    Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
    Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
    Problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
    Did this.

    I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
    Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
    Sho bit se-wee?

    The minute she heard any words she knew—however poorly used—
    She stopped crying.

    She thought our flight had been canceled entirely.
    She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
    Following day. I said no, no, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late,

    Who is picking you up? Let’s call him and tell him.
    We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
    I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and
    Would ride next to her—Southwest.

    She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.

    Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and
    Found out of course they had ten shared friends.

    Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
    Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.

    She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering
    Questions.

    She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies—little powdered
    Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—out of her bag—
    And was offering them to all the women at the gate.

    To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
    Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler from California,
    The lovely woman from Laredo—we were all covered with the same
    Powdered sugar. And smiling. There are no better cookies.

    And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers—
    Non-alcoholic—and the two little girls for our flight, one African
    American, one Mexican American—ran around serving us all apple juice
    And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.

    And I noticed my new best friend—by now we were holding hands—
    Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,

    With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
    Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

    And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
    This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.

    Not a single person in this gate—once the crying of confusion stopped
    —has seemed apprehensive about any other person.

    They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
    This can still happen anywhere.

    Not everything is lost.

    Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952), “Wandering Around an Albuquerque Airport Terminal.” I think this poem may be making the rounds, this week, but that’s as it should be.  (via oliviacirce)

    When I lose hope in the world, I remember this poem.

    (via bookoisseur)

    I’m really glad I read that.

    (via selfesteampunk)

  • How very dare they

    EveningPost

    It’s not aging, it’s charmingly retro. Vintage, even.

    Grumble…If anyone’s going to insult my hospital, it’ll be me.

  • theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

    theepunkerchick:

    bloodonhisfangs:

    joshmosh415:

    I can never stop posting this. The narrow minded bible fanatics that just look at one small thing in the bible then feed the world with their hate over it. At the same time they ignore all the other silly laws made by man they claimed were made by god. These gif’s say it all.

    Exactly!

    Omg this was best post I’ve seen today, I will never scroll by this. EVER

    Oh god yes, this was just a beautiful moment in The West Wing, which really reminds me why I should finish watching it. Got distracted by a holiday…

  • Smithsonian FolkwaSys – The nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution

    Smithsonian FolkwaSys – The nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution

    shadesofmauve:

    OMG DO YOU GUYS KNOW ABOUT SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS?!

    They’ve got a HUGE variety of music, much of which you just cannot get anywhere else. I just bought a super political Irish album from 1979. Amazon? Sells you MP3s. Smithsonian? You have the option of flac! Plus free liner notes.

    IZ MUSIC AWESOMENESS.

    This is awesome, but at the same time I feel so sad because I can’t share it with my dad. :-/

    Although that won’t stop me ordering :)

  • Oh Amy, you’re so funny.

    So, Sunday I spent almost the entire day under the car. I’d scheduled two activities, plus some bonus ‘unlikely but if I have time’ ones:

    – Fit exhaust
    – Service
    – Check sidelight wiring
    – Change steering wheel
    – Replace bolt on seat that doesn’t fit very well
    – Clean windows

    So, that was the plan

    Here’s what I got done

    – Nearly fitted the exhaust

    It turned out that whilst the new exhaust looked like it should be a beautiful fit on a standard Austin 1300, it is a terrible fit on the car I’ve got, which has a Metro 1300 engine. The Austin exhaust is a pea-shooter that runs straight up the middle of the car; a single pipe. The Metro has a 2-into-1 pipe at the front that it appears wiggles all over the damn shop.

    Now my thought, my 150 pound saving thought was that I would attach the 2-into-1 section from the new Metro exhaust to the straight-shot new Austin exhaust. Easy.

    Only:

    – The clamps holding the exhaust to the manifold, one of them is broken and it took a long time to get it back together and back on. Irritatingly, later on I discovered a spare, good one, in a bag of otherwise useless nuts and bolts that came with the car.
    – They’ve moved the mounts so that the mount for the silencer is about a foot forward of where I think it should be…right in the middle of the current silencer. Which appears to be designed to have mounts at one end. Eventually I gave in and chopped other sections of the expensive new exhaust into many bits, so that the exhaust could be fitted. It now has about 4 joins in the last section pushing the silencer forward and down a bit to clear the back of the auto-box selector.
    – Because I had to chop it up so much, and didn’t realise I’d need to fabricate some kind of new mount at the back, I didn’t have enough clamps or rubber mounts.

    So despite being on a night shift tonight I shuffled the car back to the back of the house, hopped it up on ramps (I hate putting cars on ramps on gravel/mud, they slide about all over the flipping place) and managed to put the new clamps on.

    And y’know what, she sounds much better. I’m just praying it all hangs together. I’m not really very happy with the join from the 2-into-1 section to the main exhaust. Really it should be welded, but I’ve no welder.

    Anyhow, so I pootled across to stock up on the requisite quantity of Two Day Coffee. The journey was flawless, apart from the marked flaw of turning a corner on the way home and having the car die. Initially I pondered fuel starvation. It’s very hot out there today, and traffic wasn’t great. Eventually it became apparent that it was fuel starvation, but not heat related. The insanely complex Lucas fuel pump (fitted as an aftermarket installation for reasons that escape me) had got bored of the tedious job of pumping petrol and decided to stop. It took me several minutes to work this out during which I pushed the car to the side of the road and up onto the pavement. Austin 1300’s are remarkably light, incidentally.

    Thankfully a quick tap on the pump and it kicked into action, the car starting and running just fine afterwards. Can’t say it filled me with joy, though.

  • Investment in food

    I find it odd how my decision about whether a food is edible includes consideration of its source. So for food from the shops my level of “it’s inedible” is different from the level for stuff we’ve grown ourselves. For example, if we had an apple and I thought I was 95% certain there was a pest in it, specifically an apple boring maggot, then from the shop it would almost certainly go in the (compost) bin. But for apples I’ve plucked from the tree we’ve grown, no. No, then it’s trim all the bits off that are edible, then chuck the remainder in the compost bin.

    It’s the same with the potatoes.

    Particularly for our heritage variety purple potates which similarly are not particularly resistant to some sort of boring creature. Even when only a tiny amount is edible, I’ll hack the potato to bits to save a tiny, tiny bit of our home grown food.

    I find it conceptually interesting, because in reality wasting our home grown food is less damaging to the environment than chucking away a mass-farmed item, because we don’t use pesticides or agro-chemical fertilisers. We try and do ‘crop rotation’ to some degree.

    So really it should be the other way around.

    But it really isn’t.

  • Okay, that’s not good.

    So, I sat her down in triage. She was just over half way through her pregnancy. We discussed the reason she was in the department – abdominal pain – not exactly hugely uncommon in pregnancy. We talked about general health, which was fine, and all the other personal questions that go along with abdominal pain in pregnancy.

    Then I asked about whether she’d had a scan.

    No.

    Okay, no scan? 1st pregnancy? Odd.

    Have you got your folder from the midwife I ask.

    No… she hasn’t got a midwife.

    Err, okay, that’s even more odd. More that 5 months in and not referred to a midwife?

    Then she explains; she’s just moved to the UK to be with her partner (who works here). She’s not got her National Insurance number yet despite applying for it. And so she’s not been accessing any healthcare.

    One of the joys for me of working in the ED is that it’s free*. I take great pleasure in absolutely not giving a monkeys if you’re from the UK or from Mongolia just visiting for the day. I’m a nurse, it’s not my job to worry about whether you can afford the healthcare, it’s my job to deliver it to you as you need it and to the best of my, and the service’s ability.

    I did tell her to go off and register with a GP, which she can do as a temporary resident anyhow. I hoped that would get her off to a midwife.

    But is this the world that people want in the UK? A world where people can’t get proper healthcare because they’re foreign? That’s not a country, nor a service, that I want to be involved in.

    * I do however have moments of wanting to bill people for completely inappropriate use. Or just being too intoxicated to be locked in the cells overnight. But that’s a whole other debate.