Wal-Mart Employee Trampled To Death in Black Friday Stampede

America’s annual day-after-Thanksgiving shopping binge, known perhaps foreshadowingly as ‘Black Friday’, reached a new low this year.  Early this morning, Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death in a stampede of shoppers after he opened the door to the Valley Stream Wal Mart on Long Island.  A temp agency employee, Damour was overwhelmed by the crowd of 2,000 shoppers which literally broke the door frame and pinned him underneath it as they surged into the store.  Four other people were taken to a nearby hospital for injuries sustained in the stampede.

I don’t think that commentary on this story is necessary.  I just want to make sure that everyone knows about it, and sees what despicable, self-absorbed cretins this celebration of crass consumerism can turn us into.  This wasn’t a mob of rapists or murderers.  They weren’t drunk or frightened.  This was a crowd whose blind violence was motivated by low prices and marketing.

Here’s looking at you, America.

What’s up?

I just deleted the last post because the YouTube video embedding had been disabled for the will.i.am “It’s A New Day” video.  Check it out here if you haven’t seen it yet.

I’ve been meaning to write about a number of interesting developments lately, including the recent difficulties with the Hubble Space Telescope.  But what’s grabbed my attention at the moment, and what may turn into a real post (gosh, it’s been a while) is this: evolution may actually be able to learn. You heard right – life may actually evolve the ability to evolve faster.  If that’s true, it’s another nail in the coffin for any theory that suggests complex life hasn’t had enough time to develop by natural selection.

Let’s get through this next day of work, first, and then I’ll think about writing something more. If I don’t decide to finish Kafka’s The Metamorphosis first, that is.

On Victory…

I spent Tuesday in Philadelphia, “getting out the vote”.  I place that term in quotes because almost every person I spoke with had already voted.  Among the hundreds of doors I knocked on, I did not encounter a single registered voter that was choosing not to vote.  This kind of widespread enthusiasm is the reason that American voters chose Barack Obama over John McCain by a margin of over 7.7 million votes.  And it’s a testament to the inspirational power of President-Elect Obama.  There were college students and professors partying in the streets here in my Baltimore neighborhood—16 of them were even arrested for disorderly conduct!  Let’s see another president draw that kind of response after winning an election!  I am very happy to have played a part in a truly uplifting moment in American history.  Even with the economy in the toilet, this is the most hopeful I’ve ever felt about this country, and I dare even say it’s brightened my outlook for mankind in general.  President Barack Hussein Obama.  I like the sound of that.

Edit: It turns out that the one person stunned by a police taser gun at the Charles Village celebration was actually a McCain supporter who was just trying to get back to his apartment. Way to go, Baltimore City Police Department!

On Election Day eve

I’ve been busy lately with Obama/Biden campaign activities.  Somewhat.  To be honest, I’ve also been feeling disorangized and  not quite sure what I want to write about in this blog.  I am hoping that when the election is over, I’ll be able to make myself unplug a bit from the news cycle and get back to science reporting.  I’ll be voting tomorrow morning, and then carpooling to the Philadelphia metro area for the democratic Get Out The Vote operation.  In addition to Obama/Biden, I’m also watching the senate races in Minnesota and North Carolina closely.  Why? Regarding Minnesota, I read Al Franken’s book Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot when I was in high school, and the notion of him infurating conservatives in congress as he struts down the halls of the US Capitol brings glee to my heart.  And for North Carolina, I’m mainly hoping to see Sen. Elizabeth Dole lose her seat after running this despicable ad that implies atheists are bad people.  And I hope the door hits her in the ass on the way out.