A good reminder

 

Worth learning and re-learning

Our recently-published article in Anticancer Research

I'm proud of our article that was just published in Anticancer Research. The article has been placed in 'Issue Highlights' as well (Anticancer Research (iiarjournals.org). It's a nice way to round off my career in academic science. My co-authors and I worked hard on this article; we started the work in 2017 and I finished most of the data analysis and writing of the article in February 2021. One of the co-authors (Sean Pham) did his Masters degree studying one of the DNA repair proteins (PARP1); he successfully defended his work in 2018. So all in all--a productive last four years. I'm grateful to know/have known some wonderful research technicians, Masters students, PhD students, and pathologists. Without them, this article would never have seen the light of day. Teamwork. When science is about teamwork and working together toward the goal of publishing what one studies, nothing in the world beats it--that feeling of contributing new knowledge to the field, however small a contribution. That feeling has nothing to do with power or politics, just with pure knowledge and intellectual satisfaction. 

I also want to thank the research foundation at Oslo University Hospital for their generous support of my research during the past ten years. I don't know what I would have done without them, because most small academic scientists like myself, who enjoy working independently and are not part of huge centers of excellence, don't get funding anymore from the large granting organizations and institutions like the Norwegian Cancer Society and the Norwegian Research Council. So thanks to the hospital research foundation from the bottom of my heart. You kept us going during tough times. I'd like to think that your support of us is money well-spent. 

Here is the link to the article if you'd like to check it out: DNA Repair Protein Expression and Oxidative/Nitrosative Stress in Ulcerative Colitis and Sporadic Colorectal Cancer | Anticancer Research (iiarjournals.org)

The tyranny of electric scooters in Oslo

I have very little good to say about electric scooters, which is perhaps a bit sad given that they seem to be a rather congenial way of getting around a town or city. My dislike of them stems from the fact that Oslo has done a terrible job of regulating their use. You can read about the scooters and why they are so unpopular at present with just about everyone in Oslo except the halfwits who use/abuse them and the privilege of driving them: More rules loom for electric scooters (newsinenglish.no)

New regulations regarding their use are forthcoming in August; they can't come too soon, because at present, navigating your way as a pedestrian on Oslo's sidewalks (where many of these scooters are driven) is like walking out onto a crowded highway with cars speeding past you on all sides. You risk your life, and at the very least, you risk major injury. There are a number of pedestrians who have been injured by them already. As I wrote on my Facebook page last night: 

I fully support these new rules, because the halfwits who cause the chaos described in the article are a danger to others and to themselves. Additionally, you cannot walk one block in this city now without coming across an electric scooter that is parked smack in the middle of the sidewalk, which is an indication of the appalling lack of respect for others that is rampant in society now. There is absolutely no thought given to the blind, the handicapped, the elderly, mothers with baby carriages, and so on. This is what happens when a city does not regulate such things from the start--a gigantic failure on the part of Oslo's city government.

The halfwits who abuse the privilege of driving them drive too fast, drive on the sidewalks, don't stop at traffic lights, don't stop at pedestrian crosswalks, drive them while drunk, and park them anywhere they like, usually in the middle of the sidewalks for reasons that are unfathomable to me. I am sick and tired of the scooters, and sick and tired of the disrespectful halfwits who drive them. I'm not the only one. But I am going to be more verbal about how I feel as time goes on, especially if the new rules are not enforced. Because that is typical for liberal cities like Oslo where anything goes; they make rules that are not enforced. There are not enough police folk to do all the jobs required of them, and fighting major crime has to be the priority, I understand that. But the blatant lack of respect shown by the el-scooter halfwits is part of the problem in a society that is moving toward chaotic circumstances in many things. If they don't get a grip on this problem, they will have lost the battle for many of the other problems that need dealing with. 

The el-scooters should be designated 'motor vehicles', just like motorcycles and mopeds. You cannot ride the latter on a sidewalk. There are rules for driving motorcycles and mopeds. Those rules should be extended immediately to el-scooters.

Another aspect of this problem is that el-scooters run on batteries. The Green Party in Oslo pushes all things electric as environmentally friendly. But electric cars for example are not necessarily more environmentally friendly than cars that run on fossil fuels: Are Electric Cars Really Greener? What About Their Batteries? (youmatter.world). Batteries get used up, and what happens to them? Apparently the el-scooter batteries last about a year. Where do the used-up batteries get dumped? Are they recycled by the companies who produce the el-scooters? I envision this as a major problem for the future. I don't pay much attention to the Green Party here in Oslo because they border on extremist. What I do support is reducing the cost of using public transportation to encourage people to use their cars less. I support neighborhood car-sharing as a way of reducing carbon footprints. There are already companies that exist for this purpose. 

The irony is that the young people who slavishly follow the Green Party could be the same people who abuse the el-scooters. It wouldn't surprise me at all. They believe that they are right no matter what, and that they can drive where they want and as fast as they want, when they want. For them, car owners are the real enemy. I feel sure that this is used by them as justification for their reckless attitudes and lack of respect. Because why else would a person who is presumably normal, caring and respectful park an el-scooter in the middle of a sidewalk? Possible answers? These people are not normal, caring or respectful, or they are giving Oslo the finger, pure and simple. Take your pick. 

What happened to respect for others?

Most citizens of this country have followed the rules and regulations instituted by the government to protect society during the coronavirus pandemic--kept their distance, wore masks, limited indoor and outdoor gatherings, and got vaccinated. Society has more or less reopened, at least within the country. Traveling internationally to and from countries outside of Europe is another story that I won't go into here, perhaps in another post. The reopening of society has led to some interesting developments, among them an almost desperate desire on the part of young people to party on the weekends--indoors, outdoors in the parks and city streets, on balconies, and so on. While I do understand that they are celebrating no longer being cooped up, I don't understand why they can't police themselves and set limits for how long they party. Most of us who live in the co-op complexes in Oslo can attest to the fact that the parties seem to be never-ending and very loud. They continue on into the early morning, with singing (karaoke), yelling, loud music and the like. None of us are opposed to the desire to party; in fact, those of us who are older can remember well what it was like to party. But we lowered/turned off the music before midnight and most guests left around that time. Sometimes we had to ask one or two stragglers to leave, since we wanted to go to bed. It was never really worse than that. But now it is. Parties go on until 3 or 4 am, despite the co-op rules that say that there is to be no noise after 11 pm, and definitely no noise on the balconies after that time. These rules have been completely ignored as of late, with drunk people sitting out on the balconies and having loud conversations with other partygoers. Parties, when they do break up, are then followed by gatherings in the courtyard outside, upon which many residents' bedrooms face. We then have to deal with loud conversations in the courtyard that go on interminably. Needless to say, very few residents get any sleep on these evenings. 

It has gotten bad enough that the younger residents have begun to complain about the noise, especially young families with infants and toddlers. These are people who don't get much sleep to begin with. We are quite happy that they complain, rather than having the older people do the complaining, since if the older people complained they would be labeled sourpusses and party poopers, and likely ignored. So far, the young people who complain are doing so on the co-op's Facebook page. The 'sinners' promise to shape up and mend their ways. We'll see if it's just talk or if they really mean it. 

I've concluded that most of these types of problems and most of society's problems stem from lack of respect for others. I don't know what happened to respect for others; it appears to have disappeared. There are still many people who are respectful of and who are considerate of others, but they are beginning to be a minority in this city at least. Oslo is populated by young egotists, those who think the world exists to do their bidding. They are entitled souls who have rarely heard the word 'no' in their young lives. And therein lies the problem. They are spoiled beyond belief, and I blame their parents, who caved to their every demand while they were growing up. The sins of the children have their origin in the laziness of the parents. But knowing all this won't make these young people respect others. I'm not sure what will, but I don't think more mollycoddling and kid-glove treatment are the ways to deal with it. They need to meet a wall of harshness and rigidity on the part of society's gatekeepers. I doubt it will happen in Oslo. After all, Oslo prides itself on its liberalness and tolerance, which are fine up to a point. And then they aren't enough after a certain point. Society needs rules and regulations, and enforcement of those rules and regulations. It is not enough to just talk the talk, the police have got to walk the walk. In this politically-correct city, I'm not holding my breath that the latter will happen any time soon.