Bacteria Are Good for You

Hand sanitizers kill 99.9% of bacteria where applied in 30 seconds or less (1).  To a normal brainwashed person, this sounds great that so many bacteria are being killed.  But, what about the 0.1% of bacteria that isn’t killed?

There are 10 times as many bacterial cells in and on our bodies than human cells (2).  Human bodies are composed of about 50 trillion cells, depending on who you ask (3).  Multiply that by 10, and you get about 500 trillion bacteria cells (500,000,000,000) in the human body.

Now back to the 0.1% of bacteria that your 99 cent hand sanitizer did not kill.  0.1% doesn’t sound like a whole lot until you consider the enormous amount of bacteria contained in the human body.  A small patch of skin, area equal to the antibacterial drop that you administered could well contain millions of bacteria.  With a patch of 5 million bacteria, 500 bacteria could still potentially survive.  These 500 bacteria are antibiotic resistant; they could not be killed by your antibacterial product.  The resistant bacteria then multiply, and soon your hand is covered with bacteria resistant to hand sanitizer.

Of course this is an exaggeration.  The mutated bacteria that survived your Walgreens brand antibacterial soap pay a fitness cost in maintaining their antibiotic resistant genes.  Bacterial levels can thus return to normal overtime as wild-type bacteria overwhelm the antibiotic resistant strains.  But, it still highlights one of the upcoming problems in human health: antibiotic resistant bacteria.  Replace hand sanitizer with other antibacterial products and you still select for resistant bacteria, not to mention antibiotics that are being fed to livestock for human consumption--creating antibiotic resistant flora that is transferred to humans through food.  The frightening reality is that scientists are running out of drugs to combat bacteria that simply cannot be killed.

The answer?  The best you can do is to use traditional soap.  Soap causes dirt and other microbes to be washed off your hands with water and down the drain.  For now.


1.  http://www.livestrong.com/article/173900-what-are-the-effects-of-hand-sanitizer-on-bacteria/

2.  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104662183

3.  http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/11/28/how-many-cells-are-there-in-th/

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Let Me Tell You A Bit About Insecurity

(1)

Insecurity?  Your idea of insecurity is the lonely outcast who doesn’t feel accepted into society.  Let me tell you a little bit about insecurity.  If you look up insecurity, you’ll find the opposite: successful people—those who care about money, their looks, and their social life.  And lately that’s all I’ve been exposed to.

So who am I looking for?

I’m looking for someone who will change my life.  Someone who will show me that it doesn’t matter how many friends you have, as long as they love you—quality over quantity. 

I’m looking for someone who will tell me that drinking or doing drugs does not make me cool.  In fact, I’m looking for someone who attributes success entirely based off on sobriety.

I’m looking for someone who despises the pretentious social attitude in the modern world.  Someone who would take me far away from the clubs and people, where we could appreciate life without distractions or discrimination. 

I’m looking for someone who stands out from the crowd, because that person realizes that the crowd is all a bunch of mindless followers. 

I’m looking for someone who works so hard that it spreads like the plague, making me realize that I could be so much more if I tried.

I’m looking for someone who will show me that every single thing I’m doing is wrong.

So let me tell you.  That person who is “secure” is not that mainstream person who has a million friends, a great social life, and stunning looks.  That cannot be farther from the truth.  The secure person is the one who realizes that you cannot be yourself if you are part of the crowd.  That person realized from the start that life is founded on human individuality. 

I really really want to meet you.  Because I need somebody to look up to in life.  I’m still apart of the mindless crowd and I’m not brave enough to leave on my own.  So until we meet, I’ll be at the bar with my buddies.


1. http://pursuitofyourboyfriend.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/insecure-detail.png

Speeding Doesn’t Get You There Faster

When I talk about speeding, I don’t mean driving 5 MPH over the speed limit.  As far as I’m concerned, 5 MPH over the speed limit is the speed limit.  But, once you get near 15 MPH over the speed limit and you start tailgating me, you’re pushing it.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Speeding.jpg

Let’s do some math.

In the standard 45 MPH zone:

A car driving 50 MPH will cover 1 mile of road in 3600/50 = 72 seconds.

A car driving 60 MPH will cover 1 mile of road in 3600/60 = 60 seconds.

Assuming you live 5 miles away from your school and assuming the whole path is a 45 MPH zone (which it isn’t):

The 50 MPH car will arrive in 72 x 5 = 360 seconds = 6 minutes.

The 60 MPH car will arrive in 60 x 5 = 300 seconds = 5 minutes.

You just saved one whole minute by driving 15 MPH over the speed limit, endangering other civilians and potentially getting a ticket.  Good job asshole.  By the way, you’re still late for class.

You may argue that the time saved from speeding adds up as distance increases.  Using the previous conditions, you save 1 minute for every 5 miles you drive.  The area of Los Angeles is about 500 square miles, making the furthest points of the city about 25 miles apart (1).  Driving a distance of 25 miles across the whole city of Los Angeles, the maximum time you can save is 5 minutes.  If you were already 5 minutes and 1 second behind schedule, you would still be late for class.

In case you forgot, there are also these things called “stop lights.”  They make your speed 0 MPH, so everybody else can catch up to you.

Stay tuned for: “People who drive 50 MPH on the freeway.”

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles#cite_note-1

Japan Deserved the Women’s World Cup

http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/2798700-16x9-700x394.jpg

Despite the title of this post, this was one of those games where you can’t cheer against either team.  After today, I love both teams and all the players from each team.  But, I really wanted Japan to win.

The 2011 Women’s World Cup Final was most exciting thing I’ve ever watched on television (including the Men’s 2010 World Cup, Super Bowl XXXIV, and the 2008 Beijing Olympics). 

You could not have written a better conclusion to the 2011 Women’s World Cup.  Japan VS USA was the best final you could hope to have.  I never said that they were the best teams in the competition, but you could feel that these two teams were going to make sports history.

The United States dominated the first half and deep inside I expected them to be ahead at least 2-0 by halftime.  The team maintained possession and showed much greater strength and speed than the Japanese.  Lauren Cheney (USA) and Abby Wambach (USA) were on the verge of being unstoppable.  A starting Megan Rapinoe (USA) brought enormous pressure from the US’s left side.  With so many close shots rattling off the woodwork, you could feel that either (1) the US was going to obliterate Japan or (2) this was not the US’s day.  As a former defender, I idolized the Japanese for their solid defense against Germany and Sweden.  But, as determined as they were, I knew that it was only a matter of time before disaster struck and the walls came crumbling down.

Pia Sundhage decided to keep high pressure attack by swapping out an injured Lauren Cheney (USA) for Alex Morgan (USA) at halftime.   Norio Sasaki countered the American offense with two aggressive substitutions: Kozue Ando (J) and Shinobu Ohno (J) made room for Yiki Nagasato (J) and Karina Maruyama (J), two physically larger and aggressive attackers.

This tactical battle didn't last long, as newly subbed Yiki Nagasato (J) got caught being indecisive in front of USA’s 18-yard box.  As five defenders swarm her, Megan Rapinoe (USA) came out on top and launched a bomb all the way to Alex Morgan (USA) who powered past Saki Kumagai (J) and blasted it past Ayumi Kaihori (J) into the back of the Japanese net.

I’ll be honest.  At this point, I thought it was all over for Japan.  USA looked menacing from the start and I thought Japan’s best hope of winning would be to last long enough for penalty kicks. 

But, champions never give up.  The persistence of the Japanese led to a blunder in the American defense between Rachel Buehler (USA) and Alex Krieger (USA) and gifted Aya Miyama(J) a much needed goal only a few minutes later.

I jumped up and screamed.  Did that really just happen?

Japan looked a lot more menacing now.  Their passing picked up and every attack looked fatal.  The US started to seem nervous.  But in extra time, after an amazing header clearance by Saki Kumagai (J), the star Alex Morgan (USA) somehow found space and delivered an absolutely perfect ball to Abby Wambach (USA) who headed it deep into the net.  As much as I love both Japanese defenders, Saki Kumagai (J) lost her marker and Aya Sameshima (J) did not shift over to cover as she should have.

There was no way Japan was coming back from this one.  I could not see any possible way Japan could muster up enough power, energy, and spirit to score a goal this late in the game.  A couple Japanese chances went by, but I was not fazed.  In the dying minutes of the game, American goalkeeper Hope Solo (USA) got injured and stayed down for a couple minutes.  Time was running out.

All of a sudden, from out of nowhere Japanese captain Homare Sawa (J) flicks in the ball from a corner kick (I was watching and still didn’t know how it went in).

I went crazy.  DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN?

Abby Wambach (USA) had one last chance to tap it in from 5 yards out, but failed to make decent contact with the ball.  Azusa Iwashimizu (J) sacrificed herself in the dying seconds tackling Alex Morgan (USA) and earning a red card, but the USA failed to convert on the following free kick.  The final whistle of overtime blew and the whole world could see that this World Cup would belong to Japan. 

In the huddle before penalty kicks, you could see the Japanese coach Norio Sasaki smiling, foreshadowing the events to come.  Ayumi Kaihori (J) of Japan became the hero, saving 2 shots and watching one sail over the crossbar.  20-year-old Saki Kumagai (J), star Japanese defender who shut out American hero Abby Wambach (USA) for most of the game, stepped up and drilled the winning penalty into the back of the net.

There’s not much to say about the penalty shootout.  It’s a horrible way to lose the World Cup, considering that USA had plentiful chances to put away the game.  But, they didn’t.  The rest is now Japanese history.

As much as I love the USA team, words cannot describe how happy I feel for the Japanese team.  Personally, soccer is my life, and I have played for over half my life.  This game really showed that soccer is more than just a game.  It unites players and nations of the entire world.  Today, Japan was the image of hope.  Nothing is impossible if you have the heart to chase your dream and never give up.

Thank you Japan for winning the Women's World Cup 2011.  That was exactly the spark many people, including me, needed in our lives.

Special shout out to the Japanese defense!  Yukari Kinga, Azusa Iwashimizu, Saki Kumagai, and Aya Sameshima!  Sameshima was by far my favorite player and I’m glad she’s now getting the recognition she deserves!  Now she just needs to marry me.  I'm joking.  Kind of.