after class

Health Ministry Moves to Fight Killer Bacteria

2007-03-08T20:15:00.000+02:00

For Recanati students: This article discusses some of the ideas we have been discussing in class. Let me know what you think of the suggestions made to stop the spread of this bacteria.

TB Patients Forced to Seek Treatment Behind Bars

2007-03-08T20:05:00.000+02:00

An article of special interest to my Recanati students. Do you think these patients are being treated fairly?

More than food: Latkes take on hamantashen - Features

2007-02-27T19:36:00.000+02:00

I found this while browsing. Latkes are levivot and hamantashen are oznai Haman. This account of the "great debate" will give you a peek at how American university students deal with really serious issues. Happy purim.

More than food: Latkes take on hamantashen - Features

Something Humorous for Purim

2007-02-27T19:16:00.000+02:00

Someone sent me this story on theinternet a while ago. I have no idea where it came from or if it is true, but it does seem like a fun story for Purim. (J.T.)

This story was clipped from the recent Darwin awards, which people get for doing something incredibly stupid. True stories.

Here's the winner: Larry Walters is among the relatively few who have actually turned their dreams into reality. His story is true, as hard as you may find it to believe...

Larry was a truck driver, but his lifelong dream was to fly. When he graduated from high school, he joined the Air Force in hopes of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately, poor eyesight disqualified him. So when he finally left the service, he had to satisfy himself with watching others fly the fighter jets that crisscrossed the skies over his backyard. As he sat there in his lawn chair, he dreamed about the magic of flying.

Then one day, Larry had an idea. He went down to the local Army-Navy surplus store and bought forty-five weather balloons, and several tanks of helium. These were not your brightly colored party balloons, these were heavy-duty spheres measuring more than four feet across when fully inflated. Back in his yard, Larry used straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair, the kind you might have in your back yard. He anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep, and inflated the balloons with helium. Then he packed a few sandwiches and drinks, and a loaded BB gun, figuring he could pop a few balloons when it was time to return to earth. His preparations complete, Larry sat in his chair and cut the anchoring cord. His plan was to lazily float into the sky, and eventually back to terra firma. But things didn't quite work out that way. When Larry cut the cord, he didn't float lazily up; he shot up as if fired from a cannon! Nor did he go up a couple hundred feet. He climbed and climbed until he finally leveled off at eleven thousand feet! At that height, he could hardly risk deflating any of the balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really experience flying. So he stayed up there, sailing around for fourteen hours, totally at a loss about how to get down.

Eventually, Larry drifted into the approach corridor for Los Angeles International Airport. A Pan Am pilot radioed the tower about passing a guy in a lawn chair at eleven thousand feet, with a gun in his lap... now there's a conversation I would have given anything to have heard! LAX is right on the ocean, and you may know that at nightfall, the winds on the coast begin to change. So, as dusk fell, Larry began drifting out to sea. At that point, the Navy dispatched a helicopter to rescue him, but the rescue team had a hard time getting to him because the draft from their propeller kept pushing his home-made contraption farther and farther away. Eventually, they were able to hover above him and drop a rescue line, with which they gradually hauled him back to safety. As soon as Larry hit the ground, he was arrested. But as he was led away in handcuffs, a television reporter called out, "Sir, why'd you do it?" Larry stopped, eyed the man, then replied nonchalantly, "A man can't just sit around!"

Robo-sub takes Antarctic plunge

2007-02-21T14:51:00.001+02:00

Here's an interesting article, with photos, of a robot submarine's dive to deep water in Antarctica. They found a lot of interesting sea life. The pictures are great.

Scidoku

2007-02-21T14:50:00.000+02:00

I noticed that many of you enjoy doing sudoku puzzles. Here's one with a twist. It uses letters instead of numbers. Instruction are on the puzzle page. Just click on the title of this post. Let me know if you enjoy this puzzle.

How Real is your Pain?

2007-02-21T14:49:00.000+02:00

This article discusses the best way to determine how much pain the patient is suffering. Click on the title to go to the article. I'd like to know what those of you who deal with patients in pain think about this article. Just press the comments button to respond.