Thanks for visiting! On this site, I blog about new things I've learned, thoughts about my work, and life. This blog tends to have a strong focus on infrastructure, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the developing world.
I'm in the middle of reading through my blogroll after a very long time. I've just been inundated with work, and am finally able to make the time to catch up on my reading. Here are some of the best of the links I've seen so far:
2. Diagnostics continue to be the bottleneck for most healthcare in the developing world. Therefore, it shouldn't be surprising that this particular cheap diagnostic test out of Vietnam is causing ripples.
3. Around a fifth of global science papers are now freely available online, a study finds, with Latin America and India leading the pack!
4. Ask a garbologist questions. Fascinating potential discussion and amusing writeup.
In case you are the only person who hasn't heard, Michael Jackson died unexpectedly yesterday afternoon. I was close to the epi-center at that point, near UCLA Medical Center where Jackson's body lay and a large crowd was collecting. I was in line at an ATM when I overheard the lady behind me telling her friend what happened. Like everyone else, I was shocked.
Since then, Jackson's death has been reported on almost continuously around the world. Vigils have been planned in every kind of setting imaginable, and the internet has crashed several times trying to keep with the news.
But looking at all this caused in me a great level of sadness. Jackson spent his entire life trying desperately to be accepted, even loved by the people around him. After the molestation charges took away his peace (I don't know the truth, so I can't comment) and the fan base he so desperately held close started to back away, he began to deteriorate in every way. Yesterday, he died alone in a cold hospital room in great financial debt. Until 2pm yesterday, if you had asked anyone what they thought of Michael Jackson, they would say "child molester," "wierdo," "freak", and maybe "musician." But today, the sentiment is so much more forgiving, even loving...
I wonder that if he had known while he was still alive that he was this greatly and genuinely loved and appreciated, how differently he might have lived his life; how much more music and creativity he would have given to the world; and maybe how differently he would have died.
His death was a reminder about the fickleness of fame; but more importantly, the importance of telling the ones we love and appreciate everyday how much they mean to us because it can make all the difference. That death has a strange way of only bringing the most important things to light, and an air of forgiveness. Today, as Jackson is mourned, he is most remembered for the joy he represented and brought to our lives.
Reverend Carroll Pickett, a prison chaplain who presided over several executions, reflects on his role in and thoughts on the Death Penalty. Pickett is profiled in the film At the Death House Door, which forced me reexamine longheld views on the issue (photo source: NY Sun).
I always make a case for education being a lifelong commitment. For me, education doesn't stop with a diploma of whatever sort from an institution; it is only the beginning. Issues and people are living things; and as long as they are living, they are changing; and that means that you need to constantly read up and educate yourself about an issue.
I was reminded again of this recently, when I watched a documentary about the death penalty. I have always believed in the death penalty. If you killed, then you deserved to be killed in return; the point being that it was only fair, and would act as a deterrent to others. Then I watched a documentary called At the Death House Door, that profiles the life of a prison chaplain who has had to preside over executions. It REALLY forced me to rethink my views on the death penalty.
Father Carroll Pickett is a man of great faith, who had personally witnessed friends being murdered, comforted their families during their funerals, and later had to pray with the man who had murdered them. He is a person who had believed strongly in the death penalty, but after spending years as a prison chaplain and presiding over several executions, has experienced a change of heart. It is a poignant, humane, and moving portrait of a man of great strength and faith, pushed to his limits; then finding peace and strength in his family.
Regardless of which side you stand on, it is a fascinating look inside the life of an ordinary man with an extraordinary role. Here's a preview (not a huge fan of the trailer...the film is FAR more softly and beautifully done than the trailer indicates):
On this subject, also check out one of the chapters in Atul Gawande's book Better, that profiles the ethical dilemmas of medical practitioners who preside over executions. Another write up that really forces you to think deeper about this issue.
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