Science and Morality.

Science: fixed truth such as the Law of Gravity which states that if you jump off a cliff without restraint or some lift mechanism, you will fall downward. No interpretation.
Morality: pliable concepts such as the Old Testament stricture “Thou Shall Not Kill”. No interpretation right? Wrong. Mercy killing by Christians. Executions by Christians. Murder by Christians. Rules for how and when to kill. So this is a moral issue.
But, can Science inform morality? You bet it can. It was considered immoral to dissect human bodies, to desecrate the temple of God, and so was a punishable crime both morally by the Church and by civilian authorities who drew their laws from the moral opinions of the Church. Fast forward and find that it is no longer a mortal sin to work on a cadaver. Science trumped morality.
What about the issue of embryonic stem cell research? Opinion on the morality of this prevents the Science of it from being fully realized, in this country. The issue of insoulation (moment when the soul enters the body) and when conception occurs blur the moral arguments, but the fact that thousands of frozen embryos will die anyway and could be used to seriously help people is a fact. No ambiguity. Is a fertile embryo a person? Who knows? When does the soul enter the person? Is there really a soul? Who knows? These questions are argued by religious agents with no basis for ever getting a factual answer. Ambiguity.
Global climate changes? Science is quite clear on the facts. Deniers make up facts and ignore reality in favor of clichés like “I don’t trust Science” or “Not all Scientists agree.” or “You can’t believe what they say.” So deny penicillin or heart/lung transplants.
I vote for Science. Obviously many of you didn’t.

Image: http://www.greenberg-art.com/.Illustrations/.Serious/qq1sgMosesMorality.jpg

Courage Comes in Many Forms.

Here is a tale of a kind of courage. Courage comes in many forms, and I saw one the other morning. Sometime in the past this man had his entire nose, the middle of his upper lip and jaw, and part of his pallet removed, leaving a large hole in the center of his face. I don’t know why.
When I first met him he wore a prosthetic device attached to a pair of glasses that mostly hid the destruction. It had a little tab in the middle that sort of fit in the space where his moustache grew, and the sides more-or-less covered the hole. It looked like a rubber nose, the kind you see kids wear as a costume, and that is what it essentially was.
The next time I saw him was about a year later, when he arrived at my house to do some repair work. He got out of the truck with his glasses and nose in place, and walked up to the back door. We shook hands and talked about the job. As he went back to the truck I noticed him take off the glasses and throw them through the window onto the seat. He turned. Not pretty. But a major repair was underway. The jaw and lip surgery was healing nicely and the hole where his nose had been removed was now smaller and less ragged.
I guess he wears the nose at first to keep from shocking or frightening people. And I hope he took it off because he sensed I wouldn’t be shocked. I wasn’t.
This guy has the courage to face the world as he is. Unless challenged we can never know if we have that kind of courage. But we know it when we see it. And I saw it up close and personal. There are thousands of people meeting the world on their own terms. Courage to overcome fear and prejudice comes in many forms. Celebrate it when you see it. Or live it.
Image:http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/05/15/300_tank_080514014816328_wideweb__300x300.jpg

Change of Pace

I just watched a music video (Search? Music Video? Has he Cracked?) of “The Highwayman”. Take a moment out of your day and watch this. Doesn’t matter if you don’t like Cash, Nelson, Christopherson or Jennings. This transcends musical taste and cuts to the heart. The message is plain: have faith.
A lesson for us all, this day especially.
Enjoy;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VST2KKIYn50&feature=related
Image: http://smithyboy.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/thehighwayman.jpg

Just a Thought

Kumbaya? Not any time soon.

Mitch McConnell is quoted thus: "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." (1) With this as a starting point, it is difficult to see how the party of “NO” can possibly understand anything other than their own power. The incoming chair of the oversight committee (house) said something like “We will bury the White House in subpoenas”. The Republican leadership in the Senate has said something like “We will use every parliamentary maneuver to stop the Democrats in their tracks”. Can’t the Republican Party see ANY other issues of importance?
In 8 years of the Bush daze I never heard any Democrats say anything even close to these outrageous things. Why you ask? Simple. The Democrats are slow and stupid when it comes to fighting for their own survival, and the Republicans are quick and deadly when fighting for theirs. The President has already conceded that in order to move the country forward he and his will have to compromise with the Republicans. The Republicans have already said “NO”.
So don’t look for any “Kumbaya” moments any time soon. And for you liberals, women, gays, poor and others towards the bottom of the food chain out there, don’t look for any sympathy from the Republicans. But, you bankers, oil men, CEOs and other power brokers and super rich folks, start up the Victrola and put on “Happy Days are Here Again” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf53oFb4IKA).

1. http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-national/republican-leader-says-gop-s-number-one-goal-is-defeating-obama-2012
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/His_Master%27s_Voice.jpg

I don’t give up. I throw up.

Fifty one percent of registered voters in Florida did not bother to vote. According to the supervisor of elections for Leon County, Ion Sancho, most of these were Democrats. That’s right, Democrats. Who didn’t vote. Makes me want to puke in their dinner. This country is all about “the People”. We hear “the People” this and “the People” that. But when it comes time to actually hear from the people, half of them don’t bother to vote. And this time that disgusting apathy got a full slate of Republicans elected.
So now the ball is in their court to play, as the newly elected Governor said “- - - for all the people, not just the Republicans who elected them.” Well, Scott, it’s like this: the Republican minority did not elect you and your party. The apathetic, pathetic and worthless Democrats that didn’t vote elected you. Personally I recommend that you piss on them. They deserve nothing less.
Sorry, got to go. Got to throw up again.
Image: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40949000/jpg/_40949974_vomiting416300.jpg

Biuka: The Voice of Freedom

Listen to this link then come back and read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKy_uZCC-Ko .

Thanks to NPR, I heard this incredible woman this evening. Wonderful in all qualities of singing, she said that freedom liberated her voice. Parents from an oppressive African country, raised as the only black in a gypsy enclave in Mallorca, a Spanish island, openly bisexual and a single mom. Talk about a few strikes. This woman didn't strike out. Her voice is amazing. I now have a new artist to listen to. And to learn and learn from. Don’t miss this one.

Bio information: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130920420

A Time for Good Will and Prayer

“Friends can disagree and still be friends.” “When two people of good will argue from opposite sides of an issue, one usually wins and one loses;” “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."
These familiar phrases echo and resonate during the political season. Friends who have radically differing political views argue, taunt, point and laugh at each other. Then, the election is over and reconciliation usually happens. I was talking to a friend of mine just today, a quite conservative Republican, and he was teasing me about the probable outcome of the elections today. The “So, what’s your boy gonna do now?” kind of stuff.
The election isn’t over as I write this, and I will probably have more to say tomorrow. But for now I would offer this: If the Republicans win and can somehow manage to overturn and turn back what I see as progress in regulating the banking industry, and kill the healthcare effort, kill the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency and attenuate other moderate efforts to curb the excesses of business, then in addition to celebrating, I think my friend should get down on his knees and pray. Pray that the outcomes of these reversals won’t kill his grandchildren or send the country into a morass of unregulated greed. Pray that the air stays breathable, the water stays drinkable, the food stays eatable and the money stays spendable.
If they win we all should pull together to try to educate the electorate, if possible, and hope for a reversal of the reversal next time around.
Otherwise we are in very, very deep doo doo. (See, I can play nice.)
Image: http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/03/rg_sewage_wideweb__470x335,0.jpg

M-I-C----K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

The setup: STEMtech conference at the Swan and Dolphin in Disney country; families from all over the world staying at the “cheapest rates this hotel has ever offered” (desk clerk); walking on the Boardwalk and around the grounds (humming “Mrs. Robinson”?); Mouse ears everywhere.
This paradise destination for so many families is moderately crowded and bustling along nicely. Families having fun, coming back from fun, going out to have fun (whatever that may be). The place is noisy in a conference-e way. Lots of conversation (none overheard) some laughter, but always in the background the signature sound heard everywhere: children crying and whining. “I wanna go - - - - and see- - - “ or “I don’t wanna go - - - - etc.” or “No” or just whining. I cannot remember being anywhere in the place where some child wasn’t crying or whining. Walking along the 7th floor hall to our room on the third hallway we passed many doors. From behind some of them? You guessed it : crying or whining. I thought “what the hell? This is supposed to be fun (Whatever that is.) These parents and children are ragged out.”
It finally struck me: When I was a kid, we went places and had fun (whatever that was) and my brother and I probably cried and whined a bit, but we had lots of time. Time. We had a cabin for a week in the mountains, or spent 3 months in the summer house, or spent weeks driving to Nebraska to spend time with family. We didn’t have to pack all our “fun” into a 3 day pass and exhaust ourselves in the process. I didn’t, not once, hear my mother or father say “Damn it, we are here to have fun and we are GOING to have fun!!!”
So, are we having fun yet?
Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73q5EX7-pIF4HVs7cVDoy3VdymU4nSHAfnU6PtnuMlEVg_1MSi44GVY6nyOcKkp-Lmi24yQRdkXdOcsoNVRCVGl4oelx7kjU8In3c3lmJLNuzSwx58y4QntyIrwkxvAThJPna47uWyd8/s400/sad_disney_mickey_mouse.jpg