Whooping Cough is Baaaaack (says the Christian Broadcast Network)

With a vengeance too. I had it when I was a kid, less than 10 years old based on the house we were in at the time. Stayed in bed for days and whooped and whooped like crazy. My mother rigged a steam tent over the head end of the bed and I breathed moist air with Vicks VapoRub and had Antiphlogistine from a heated tube plastered on my little chest and covered with a warm wet towel. Did they work? Well, here I am so something worked. Probably just a robust immune system.
A couple of years ago I got it again (from some twit on an airplane). Coughed and whooped a little, just enough to identify it to my own satisfaction and in a few days it abated. Immune system kicking in and getting a booster case.
So now, according to the Christian Broadcast Network (1), the bacteria that causes it (Bordetella pertussis) has evolved into a more resistant type that is evading the immunization shots. EVOLVED!! From the CBN. Finally a public admission that Evolution actually is a real phenomenon. I am impressed. Well done CBN.
You should get the shots for pertussis (whooping cough) anyway though. The current vaccine either is or soon will be using the evolved strains and should help to curb the deadly epidemic that is underway. One problem is morons who believe immunizations are some sort of conspiracy or that they cause autism or some other such nonsense. Did I call them morons? Sorry, I should have simply called them parents of dying children. That make you feel better?

1. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2012/July/Whooping-Cough-Makes-Deadly-Comeback-in-US/

Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTgv_wKxpYC8h24mNwe7MD4TYvFL-DsgqR0H3mB8qOCF6waX2psrNsxnCzrJDQualJOGF9N6AXR2Ix_UBsWU6VYR6Sp41SG0inXRDaFCSso56q5ytWRviVMJSx3niyxyjmGITMHNhzkI/s1600/288464d1310524424-some-doctors-saying-vaccinate-your-child-go-elsewhere-treatment-n-whooping-cough-tubes.jpg

“On My Honor - - “

I made it to Second Class. I liked being in the Scouts and especially the Jamboree in 1953 at the Irvine Ranch in California. Then I got interested in blowing up stuff and being a tough guy. These are not values normally associated with being a boy scout. So I dropped out and never looked back. There have been incidents over the years since the beginning of Scouting that indicated a definite anti-gay (lumping GLBTQ into “gay” for the moment) bias. That bias has become more and more public as the acceptance of gays has grown, and as the legal protection for gays has finally begun to accumulate.
The quote below is directly from the BSA website and no matter how hard I try, I cannot find anything here that justifies an anti-gay stance:

“Being morally straight means to live your life with honesty, to be clean in your speech and actions, and to be a person of strong character.” (1)

Therefore I conclude that the official policy of the people that run the BSA is Homophobic for personal reasons. Good enough for me to give my Second Class patch and card back if I could find them. And since I am at the very least an agnostic if not an outright atheist, I wouldn’t be allowed in anyway.

There are other problems with Scouting and their own code. One of them has to do with obeying the laws of the land. The quote below (my italics and bold) is from their website:

“By being a good family member and a good citizen, by working for your country's good and obeying its laws, you do your duty to your country.” (1)

The laws of this country in both State and Federal statute protect the rights of all. Gays included. By discriminating against anyone, BSA and boy scouts individually clearly break the code. They hide behind the “private organization” shield to keep their discrimination alive. Personally I think it’s time for the BSA to read their own pledge and try to follow it. And as an aside, Google Boy Scout Leaders, select images and look at the percentage of fat bastards. Healthy huh? Try this revised pledge:

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to my God (and no one else’s), my country and to obey the Scout Law (even if it conflicts with Federal or State law);
To help other people at all times (except people from the GLBTQ community);
To keep myself physically strong (but fat is OK), mentally awake and morally straight (whatever that means).

Image ;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_2PxtIsYOX0U791GQX8RiYPb_-QCHU3ROHOctAdOBPzoqNHY6-3WCD1QlzIEbUNgkmvkyK76k5FIh_5u8EVgcSHeq5EmfhixTw5slaT-DoMnCLJHlKsBQJmOQQ9QiQzkBf50uqFxAmqR/s1600/Flag+salute+171712.jpg

1. http://usscouts.org/advance/boyscout/bsoathlaw.asp

“Reach for the Stars.”

This simple line is the way Sally Ride ended her numerous lectures, presentations and talks.

Some of you will remember her famous “First Women in Space” launch with the “ride sally ride” music pounding in your ears. Some will not even know her name. And some of you will hate her because she was a lesbian. She was also a wife and mother. An engineer. A pioneer. An educator and author. A loving companion. In other words a wonderful person. A very private person despite her world-class presence.

I don’t normally have difficulty finding the right words to express myself, but here I have run into a roadblock. A combination of sadness, shock, loss and anger are hard to explain. So I won’t try. Instead I recommend that you read the article (1)  linked below. I think you will find what you need there to come to some sort of closure. Especially important is the statement from Sally’s sister, Bear. Here is an excerpt:

"Sally lived her life to the fullest with boundless energy, curiosity, intelligence, passion, joy, and love. Her integrity was absolute; her spirit was immeasurable; her approach to life was fearless. Sally died the same way she lived: without fear. Sally's signature statement was 'Reach for the Stars.' Surely she did this, and she blazed a trail for all the rest of us.

What more could anyone ask?

1. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/24/12933519-why-sally-ride-waited-until-her-death-to-tell-the-world-she-was-gay?lite
Image: http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2012623/reg_1024.sally.cm.72312_copy.jpg

Is Religious Freedom a Lie?

 
You decide. If you remember, among the very first settlers were Protestants seeking releaf from the oppression of their religious practices in England. They came here to escape from religious persecution. Later, when America won independence from England the ideals of religious freedom were enshrined in our most sacred documents. Nobody had to belong to a particular religion (so it said) or worship in any particular way. Everybody was welcome. Even people who had no desire to worship at all. So what happened along the way? One group of believers coopted the system and claims a mandate to be the official religion of the country. “This is a Christian  country” they proudly proclaim. Well, it ISN’T a Christian country. America is a country where ALL RELIGIONS are at least officially welcomed.
Then there is Tennessee. I am beginning to think that this state is not the “home of the free” but the “home of the narrow-minded, bigoted, ignorant masses”.  See, I am being kind. No New York language.  Since the beginning of the millennium many churches have been built and occupied in Tennessee. No problems with any of them. Along comes a mosque and BOOM! Suddenly religious freedom is left behind. What a SHAMEFUL ATTITUDE. Read the quote below:

"If ICM were a Christian church, it would have been granted a certificate of occupancy and would be worshipping in its new facility today," a memorandum to the federal court reads, citing 20 instances of Christian churches that have been allowed to build since 2000. " ... The discriminatory treatment of the mosque also sends a powerful message to the Muslim community that they are second-class citizens, not worthy of the same rights or protection as Christian churches." (1)
Kind’a makes you proud to be Amerikin, don’t it? (Hey Bubba, whar’s my Bud Lite at?)

Image: http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/7/2010/08/340x_mosque.jpg

1. http://news.yahoo.com/judge-grants-tenn-mosques-petition-open-221355614.html

Who Loves you and Warned you?

My Man Telly

 You remember your science classes? The heart and dare I say soul of the scientific method of inquiry is the ability to accurately predict the outcome of an experiment. The better the prediction fits with the observed outcome, the more likely the hypothesis was correct. So  ten years ago or more, scientists were predicting that global climate change would create the conditions for sea level increases, temperature increases, melting glaciers and ice fields, heat waves, floods, fires. The list goes on.
Look at the news today. Every single prediction is here now. Every one. Still doubt that there is a serious climate shift in the process of happening before our eyes? Then look again. Below are a few links to today’s news. Not very nice, are they? Fires, heat waves, storms, sea level rising. You get the point? Remember the old Telly Savalas line (no, you are probably too young) “Who Loves ya Baby?”

Well here is the old Woody line: “Who Warned ya Baby?” And who told you it was bullshit? Conservative talk radio. Fundamentalist preachers. Ignorant congress people. The energy industry.  And many of you sucked it up. Well suck this: IT IS HERE NOW AND IT AIN’T GOING AWAY. \Oh yeah, I am not so pissed as sad for all you gits that kept sucking up the poison the deniers spued. Sad gits. So sad. And, if you bought into the truth from the get go as many of you did, thank you. Don’t give up trying to convert the gits. And you have the right to be just a little smug.
Image: http://growthnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/telly-savalas.jpg

News: http://news.yahoo.com/us-summer-global-warming-looks-064915370.html

News: http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-07-03/environmental-outlook-rising-sea-levels

Florida Abolishes Planning for Sea Level Rise!!!

Thanks again, Diane Rehm
The program in the second hour was about the certainty of sea level rise and what can or is being done about it. Many states already have planning processes under way to meet the challenge of from 3 to 5 feet of rise by 2100.
Governor Crist empaneled a commission during his last term to begin the planning for the rise of sea level and to recommend actions to respond to it. Florida is particularly vulnerable due to the long coastline, the degree of building on the coast, and the low elevation of the land. So planning for the certainty of ocean rise was a good and wise move.
Along comes Governor (moron of the decade) Scott and one of the first things he does is abolish the commission and stop the planning process. Why? The conservative line: It is a HOAX!!!
Well Ricky Baby, Science, which you think sucks except when you need antibiotics or safe food, is right on this one, and you are dooming all of Florida, not just your conservative asshole friends, to misery.
Thanks again, Diane, for the timely reminder of just what a PUTZ our governor is.

Image: http://kaystreet.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/rick-scott.jpg
Program:http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-07-03/environmental-outlook-rising-sea-levels

Mermaid: Half fish half woman.

Mermaid As I Would Like Them

I just read a disclaimer from NOAA (1) that mermaids do not exist. I immediately googled “mermaid images” to see what was out there. Interesting. From mummified hoaxes to Walt Disney. Mermaids abound in art, literature, folk lore and many other places.

As a biologist I have had to deal with students questions about mermaids from time to time. Questions about reproduction usually top the list. “How do they DO that if the bottom half is a fish?” Simple answer is “THEY DON”T BECAUSE THEY DON”T EXIST!!!” The lesson is really one of asking the right question. If you ask the right question you can expect to eventually get an answer that is reasonable. For example, if you ask “Why does the sun come up in the morning?” eventually you will be told the real reason. There may be alternative explanations to begin with, but sooner or later the correct one will surface.

But if you ask “Why is the moon made of green cheese?” you will NEVER get an answer that is correct, because it isn’t. The correct question should be “IS the moon made of green cheese?”

"Real" Mermaid Mummy

Back to mermaids. I have a question: “Why are nearly 100% of the images of mermaids shown with bras? Or some kind of breast covering? And where do they get the cloth? There is an answer to these questions. First, they aren’t covered with anything because they do not exist in reality. They exist in mythology. Folk lore. Imagination. The covering? Probably Judeo-Islamic-Christian abhorrence of the female anatomy. I bet if you find really old images of mermaids they are bare breasted. As nature intended. Gotta love nature.

Image: http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/74500/Sea-Mermaid-74883.jpg
Image: http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/23800000/mumified-real-mermaid-random-23800061-500-400.jpg
Image: http://www.alliphonewallpapers.com/images/wallpapers/ckdb446em.jpg

1. http://news.discovery.com/animals/noaa-mermaids-120629.html

You Can Not Even Imagine How Spoiled American Kids Are.



Not Nica, but the same.

A day's load.

He got up with the sun, had some leftover rice and beans, took his wheelbarrow and his little brother and went into the scrub to gather firewood. Several hours later he returned with a load of wood in his barrow, his brother carrying all he could too. It was nearly 100 degrees and very dry. The boy was 7. His little brother was 4 He had his own tiny barrow. They were both smiling. They returned to a clean house, swept by their 6 year old sister. The floor was clean. The floor was packed dirt. Mother had washed clothes in the river, swept the yard clean, and prepared food for supper. She had no running water, no bathroom, no door on the house, no windows on the openings in the wall, no stove except a clay and rebar fireplace, and no chimney. The smoke went up through the thatch. The kitchen was the living room and the bedroom. She smiled when we walked up. She was pregnant. Her daughter was shy, but smiled too. There were no toys, no electricity, little furniture, few clothes. She and the kids were clean.

This is Nicaragua in the boonies. I am not saying that they couldn’t use more or want more. I am saying that they were happy to have what they had. We took Polaroid pictures of the kids and mom and she was filled with wonder as the picture developed before her eyes. She had no photos of herself or children that we could see.

Not wheelbarrows, but the same idea.

How do I know this? I was there. It was an oft repeated scene. No tears. No complaints. Smiles. It breaks your heart.

Now read the article (1) published today in Yahoo News about American children. Draw your own conclusions.

1. http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/easy-answer-why-american-kids-34-spoiled-rotten-192300981.html
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/34855388.jpg
http://plopsymd.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/blogwood.jpg?w=720&h=1082
http://www.nextbillion.net/pubs/images/22ee65ce6102c74c952ef1fcb39650ce.jpg

Nobody has tried to take my guns away. Except Republicans of course.

All Moderate Republicans should be ashamed of their party

The moron that wrote this is typical of the conservative liars. One, the program he is talking about was started by the Bush administration and continued by the Obama administration. Two. Show me where in 4 years the Democrats have ever tried to take away anybody’s guns. I can still buy them by the bushel in Florida if I want to. Ammo too. And gun shows too. And I can carry concealed. This kind of conservative lying is just to whip up ignorant rednecks who already hate Obama because he is black. Get real asshole. Here is what the asshole said:
(1)"The Obama administration has almost certainly engaged in the most shockingly vile corruption scandal in the history of the country, not counting the results of Season Eight on "American Idol."
Administration officials intentionally put guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, so that when the guns taken from Mexican crime scenes turned out to be American guns, Democrats would have a reason to crack down on gun sellers in the United States.
Democrats will never stop trying to take our guns away. They see something more lethal than a salad shooter and wet themselves."

You think that all the Democrats who carry guns professionally or privately go around with wet pants? I don’t. If anything should be banned it is Salad Shooters. And lies.

Here is the TRUTH!!!

1969, journalist William Safire asked Richard Nixon what he thought about gun control. "Guns are an abomination," Nixon replied. According to Safire, Nixon went on to confess that, "Free from fear of gun owners' retaliation at the polls, he favored making handguns illegal and requiring licenses for hunting rifles."

It was President George Bush, Sr. who banned the import of "assault weapons" in 1989, and promoted the view that Americans should only be allowed to own weapons suitable for "sporting purposes."

It was Governor Ronald Reagan of California who signed the Mulford Act in 1967, "prohibiting the carrying of firearms on one's person or in a vehicle, in any public place or on any public street." The law was aimed at stopping the Black Panthers, but affected all gun owners.

Twenty-four years later, Reagan was still pushing gun control. "I support the Brady Bill," he said in a March 28, 1991 speech, "and I urge the Congress to enact it without further delay."

One of the most aggressive gun control advocates today is Republican mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York City, whose administration sued 26 gun manufacturers in June 2000, and whose police commissioner, Howard Safir, proposed a nationwide plan for gun licensing, complete with yearly "safety" inspections.

Another Republican, New York State Governor George Pataki, on August 10, 2000, signed into law what The New York Times called "the nation’s strictest gun controls," a radical program mandating trigger locks, background checks at gun shows and "ballistic fingerprinting" of guns sold in the state. It also raised the legal age to buy a handgun to 21 and banned "assault weapons," the sale or possession of which would now be punishable by seven years in prison.

And Romney (2): We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts. I support them. I won't chip away at them. I believe that they help protect us and provide for our safety.

Nuff Said.

Image: http://leftcall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/46239454_d4193d63a8_b.jpg
1. http://news.yahoo.com/biggest-scandal-u-history-233202888.html

2.http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Governor/Massachusetts/Mitt_Romney/Views/The_Second_Amendment/

Seǹor Wences – What a Treat!!

A little while ago I saw a FB posting that reminded me of a childhood ventriloquist. He was featured on many of the 1950s and 60s family variety shows that once were the centerpieces of TV networks. His act was simple and funny. At a time when we, the children, were practicing hiding under our school desks to avoid being killed in an atom bomb attack, Seǹor Wences came to us and made us laugh. Here are a few links to his wonderful comedy. You really should take a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJiYZ6QIAtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEio4rQDU5A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfgj0YtVfdg&feature=related

Take the time to smell the roses and treat yourself to a great few minutes.

Image: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4399/1872/320/SenorWences60.jpg