Chanda's Tumblrsaurus

Einstein rings. They are cool. (via APOD: 2008 July 28 - SDSSJ1430: A Galaxy Einstein Ring)

21 hours ago

”

Roads,” said the eminent ecologist Thomas Lovejoy, “are the seeds of tropical forest destruction.

As Roads Spread in Rainforests, The Environmental Toll Grows by William Laurance: Yale Environment 360

2 days ago

an anonymous monk prays over a dead man.

4 days ago

Study Finds That Racial Discrimination Can Be Harmful to Your Health : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education

5 days ago

A response to yesterday's "Rape Responsibility" post at VerySmartBrothas.com

brokeymcpoverty:

originally posted at PostBourgie/HuffPo, and also at Uptown Magazine (the first link)

(via youlikemealready)

5 days ago

”

This is necessary, because in America passivity means white supremacy. It is subtle and pervasive, conditioned by and conditioning our magazines, movies, tv, our clothing, all the things we buy. It is a virus infecting my own mind as a person with so-called privileges, and the mind of someone who might not have such privileges. Recently I was invited to talk about Buddhism and race to a diverse group of teenagers doing an interfaith social action internship in San Francisco. I hope I did a good job talking to them, but it was curious to me that I was the organizers first choice for a Buddhist speaker. The irony is that Buddhism in America gets defined as and by people who look like me, not by the far more numerous Asian and Asian-American practitioners. But the wonderful thing about what the Buddha taught, what we can experience in zazen, is that each of us can go beyond duality. It can’t be done just by reason and talk. We have to uncover the reality of the world, which lives deep in our bones and then bring it back out into the world. We must be willing to make a lot of mistakes.

Angry Asian Buddhist: Alan Senauke: On Race & Buddhism

1 week ago

”

So what is a white Buddhist to do? The first step is to acknowledge our unearned privilege and our part in its ongoing ramifications. We may not be titans of industry or academic heavyweights, but across the board, we enjoy benefits from being white that are denied to people of color in the same economic spectrum. I can’t give up my white privilege—if only I could abandon it on a park bench and walk away—but I can make myself aware of it. I can choose not to close my mind and run from situations where I must confront the drawbacks of what it means to be white in America.

A White Buddhist and Privilege « Dharma Folk

1 week ago

Black March: a call for a consumer protest against the entertainment lobby.

1 week ago

#SOPA Amazing things can happen when a free internet and health care collide. superamit:

Many of you have asked, so here’s what’s going on with me.

WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE

8/1979: Born. Grew up in CT, built a killer eraser collection, fell in love with computers.

Left college to start a company. Fell hard. Fled to India for 3 months.

Started 2nd company. Learned to be an adult. Fell in love with NYC.

Moved to SF, discovered burritos & some of my fave people on Earth.

9/2011: Got diagnosed with Leukemia!

Cried. Went through 3 cycles of chemo. Hurt. Thought hard about what I want out of life. Grew up a second time.

TODAY

… After over 100 drives organized by friends, family, and strangers, celebrity call-outs, a bazillion reblogs (7000+!), tweets, and Facebook posts, press, fundraising and international drives organized by tireless friends, and a couple painful false starts, I’ve got a 10/10 matched donor!

You all literally helped save my life. (And the lives of many others.)

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Tomorrow, I’ll be admitted to Dana Farber in Boston for 4-5 weeks.

First I’ll get a second Hickman line to allow direct access to my heart (for meds and for nutrients if I’m not able to eat). Over the next week, the docs blast my body with a stiff chemo cocktail to try and eradicate all traces of cancer cells. In the process, the immune system I was born with, and my body’s ability to make blood, are destroyed.

Next Friday, I get my donor’s stem cells by IV. I start on immunosuppressants to prevent my body from rejecting them (I’ll be on them for 12-18 months). For these weeks I’ve no immune system, so I’m severely vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. My hospital room and hallway become my world.

Meanwhile, the stem cells make their way to my bone marrow and, with some luck, start producing platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. At this point, my blood type changes to the blood type of my donor. And my blood will now have my donor’s DNA, not my own.

This is science fiction stuff. I can hardly believe it’s even possible, and there’s lots of chances for things to go wrong. It’s frightening.

AFTER THE TRANSPLANT

Recovery to a new state of “normal” takes about a year, but there’s a few storm clouds hovering:

My immune system is new, like a baby’s. I’m prone to getting sick.

Just as with any organ transplant, there’s a chance of rejection. Except in this case, it’s my blood that’s the foreign body, and it touches every organ. They call it graft-vs-host-disease and it can cause health issues and organ complications for the rest of my life.

Successful transplant or not, Leukemia can relapse. Stubborn mofo.

Overall, 75% of AML transplant patients survive year one, 50% make it through year five. My odds are a little better since I’m young.

THE GREAT NEWS

I’ve got a long road ahead. But I’ve got a donor & amazing family & friends. A few months ago I didn’t have many options. Today I have a plan.

I am alive. I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Thank you.