Dark Ages

Bush used his first Presidential Veto to nix a bill to lift some restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. There were not enough votes in the House to override the veto, so policy stays as it is. That means that a very small number of pre-existing embryonic stem cells remain available for research use if supported by govt funds, which is not a scientifically viable situation. The worst part is that he vetoed it on moral grounds - what happened to separation of church and state?

Stress Relief Yoga

My gym buddy and I tried a second yoga class last night called Stress Relief Yoga. In this class, everyone sat in a circle and the instructor created a kind of ritual space within which we were supposed to relax and meditate. Then we did some of the poses at a much slower pace and level of intensity than in the other class. The positions actually felt easy to do after our three weeks of experience in the other class. I felt like this instructor had something to teach, but that I wasn't interested in learning it from her. I didn't connect with her teaching style and I felt like I had been participating in a ritual without my full consent. I am much more comfortable with a more athletic, physically demanding approach to yoga through which I can choose to concentrate on the spiritual aspects or not at my option. That's actually very similar to my approach to dancing. While I'm aware that I am resistant to the spiritual/meditative aspect of yoga, I don't think that I'll return to this class any time soon. I feel like I got what the class offers, but that it wasn't for me.