The Seventeenth Century oppression for all people groups was disease. It is thought now that the main fevers were a mosquito borne illness like malaria or yellow fever, though it seems there are many variants of the fevers that are harmful to mankind and it could have also been that century’s version of Dengue or a Zika. Back then they thought it came from bad air, or as punishment from God. Some fevers made you very ill and then you…..
Girl Day is February 27, a day set aside to encourage girls interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). I had to correct the “T,” at first I typed theology. It’s been a while since theology would have generally fit on that list …hundreds of years. It fits for me in that girls in theology are still rare. My own interest in STEM started when Bell Labs gathered kids from all over Dallas and put on a show for us — maybe…..
To be a scientist, I was trained to think in a specific way. Namely to make a hypothesis, gather data, analyze the data for a conclusion, and then to confirm or correct your hypothesis, and repeat. Being a human, I make mistakes and encounter situations where prevailing beliefs (mine, a team, an industry) could be discovered to be flawed. When a round of testing shows a hypothesis is in error or produces results we don’t understand we pause. We…..
Helping Which Other Women? When Madeleine Albright repeated in the context of current politics her famous quote “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women,” it made me stop and think. My decision is to vote for whoever best supports the “Little Minnows,” half of whom are women, wanted at inception by biological mom or not. And if the current woman running for office isn’t standing there, if I don’t support her that doesn’t…..
Either “In God We Trust” means something religious or it doesn’t. During the Civil War and the Cold War “In God We Trust” stamped on our coins was meant to acknowledge our reliance on our creator. Later, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit seem to say it did not mean anything religious, but only to inspire. If it means something religious: for example if it implies we as a nation trust in a Judeo-Christian God, not…..