I'm gonna live...

Last week while playing basketball I was kneed in the back of the leg, at the top of my calf. It hurt a lot, but I finished the game. That night it was really sore, but I just figured I had bruised my calf. A week later the pain was equivalent to the first day, but there was no swelling or bruising. I started to get concerned, so I went to the doctor.

The first doctor poked around, asked me some questions, and then referred me to an ultrasound clinic to get more information. I went to the ultrasound clinic and the doctor there referred me to another doctor, adding that I must go there "immediately". That doctor took one look at my ultrasound results, and sent me to Emergency, and told me to get there "stat". Apparently, the rush had to do with a lot of blood that was pooling in the tissue, and concerns that a clot could form.

The ER doc, despite his high level of self-assurance, did a couple of cross-checks to make sure he gave me an accurate diagnosis. He called a hematologist, and also checked his medical database to make sure there was no risk of clotting. He said that taking blood thinners wasn't really necessary ("you don't really want to take rat poison, do you?") and said that anti-inflammatories, heat, time, and mild stretching should do the trick. He also added, with a sly smile to Caroline, that vacuuming would be an excellent way to stretch that stubborn calf muscle.

The good news is that I'm gonna live. The bad news is that now I still have to write all my law school exams in two weeks.

Kansas Outlaws Practice of Evolution

It was only a matter of time. Read about it here.

Nostalgia for Thailand

A few different people I know are going to Thailand in late December or early January. Many of them have asked me for advice, so today while I was thinking about what to recommend to them, I started looking through our Thailand photos and came across this one.

I'm already a little envious that these people get to go there for a nice, warm vacation, and the fact that here in Calgary it's nearly 30 below and the car won't start is making my envy grow.

Elephants Raping Rhinos??

A friend of Caroline's pointed us to this article about elephants in the New York Times Magazine. The article describes how, in the absence of older bull elephants to keep the younger bulls in check, the younger elephants go into musth too early, get out of hand, and go on testosterone-fuelled rampages.

The results are shocking, and particularly devastating to local rhino populations. Between 1991 and 2001 in Hluhluwe-Umfulozi Park in South Africa, 63 rhinos were killed by elephants. Similar incidents have been reported in other parks, especially in the absence of older bull elephants.

The idea of elephants killing rhinos is pretty crazy. I mean, aren't rhinos supposed to be tough, with that big horn and leathery skin? But here is where the truly disturbing part comes in. Right there, at the bottom of Page 1, the author states that in this park, young male elephants were "raping and killing" rhinoceroses. What? I was so caught off guard that I went to the article that Siebert cited in the Journal Pachyderm. I read the article twice and found no mention of any "raping" going on. And then I began to wonder: is this really true? Is that even possible?

I am no expert on elephants, so I remain open to the possibility that Charles Siebert is correct, and that this wasn't just a bit of literary embellishment for effect. But deep down, at the core of my skeptical, elephant-loving soul, I seriously have my doubts.