The Craven (long version)

Once upon a March so dreary,
The High Court pondered weak and weary,
about the future health and fate of many,
but had no dog within this hunt,
knowing they would never suffer, never suffer any healthcare want.
Swayed by ideology, and nothing more.

The telltale heart that echoed loud,
that began the stirrings in the crowd,
came not from under any floor,
but beat from the chest of an infamous boor,
the meaning true both new and old,
the timing of this event to many, particularly cold.
Darkness there, and nothing more.

A young man’s death grants him life,
after a lifetime of sowing none but strife,
other priorities were always present,
to prevent him from serving in jungle or once fertile crescent,
feeding off the blood of lost youth,
once just metaphor, now it’s truth.
Two other lives lost, forevermore.

A better example of the void,
between those of means and those devoid,
cannot easily come to mind,
who even now breathes last behind some door,
with grieving families tears flowing behind some door,
because of ‘other priorities’ will cease to be, forevermore.
trust the system, nevermore.

What timing is this that points so boldly,
as a right wing Court considers coldly,
whether to strip away any safety net,
from those with fewer means, whose fate by economics is so cruelly set,
Can you not help us or do more,
The Republican stand on this sad score,
Market forces, and nothing more.

The black suited pundits and lawyers came a knocking,
knocking on the High Court’s door,
armed with briefs payed by other fattened suits,
and with the payors deep in cahoots,
to defeat the reforms was their charge,
with success would their golden parachutes enlarge.
And many in need will be without,
saddled with debt or to do without,
Power, greed, and nothing more.

Many asked with pleading eyes,
of future plans could the conservatives us apprise,
will something better come our way,
if you are able this chamber to sway,
If the black hearts these reforms defeat,
can we something from you better beg and entreat,
Quote the Craven, nevermore.

To the judges, Listen to us and no other,
we care not for any brother,
no matter what we say while on bent knee,
Absent money we’re deaf to your plea,
Defeat this program but offer no other,
Take what’s ours but loathe to any other,
say the craven, nevermore.

Millions lack basic care, uninvited through this chamber door,
Only suits and shills may speak their mind,
Only payors and politicians may raise their voices,
here behind these gilded doors,
The rank and file must suffer and die in silence, far away from these hallowed doors,
Nameless here, forevermore.

‘Start a healthcare savings account behind some banker’s door’,
crows some black suit gathered round the court,
None with knowledge of the perversity of this is allowed to retort,
Save what money beyond my door?
you who aren’t one check from ruin judge us, judge us behind this door,
The judges are unmoved,
what we say is law, there’s nothing more.

And while this forgone result plays out in three acts behind these doors,
Do the pundits sow lies and falsehoods about issues like contraception,
addling weak minds and altering perception,
justifying the the harm wrought behind these doors,
the loss of hope behind a million other doors,
aid to those in need, nevermore.

Yours and my fate decided, decided for us behind those doors,
Choose to eat or take that medicine,
find those boot straps and yank hard,
They so removed from your daily plight, huddle and snipe behind these doors,
will any justice yet be meted out beyond these chamber doors,
pray the craven, nevermore.

Set for life in black robes behind these doors,
The best Court that ‘speech’ can buy,
Never to be touched, never to be shaken,
by what decisions come down, down behind these chamber doors,
Their agenda, and none other, set behind these 12 foot doors,
When can justice be forthcoming,
quote the craven, nevermore.

If money is speech, then poverty is silence,
Until hope dies or enough are incited to violence,
and come streaming, ever streaming through this chamber door,
Justice with the luxury to remain blind, blind behind this chamber door,
Until some future mob storms the courtroom,
and tells the craven, nevermore

Freedom from Religion

Pliny used to get in trouble in history class. I was not a fan of the pilgrims. All that blah, blah, blah about fleeing Europe for religious freedom here in America, is a bunch of rot. The pilgrims were cultists who learned nothing from their own experiences. They demanded freedom to worship as they chose, but failed to extend the favor to anyone else.

Freedom is only stable when it's reciprocal. Freedom of religion must go hand in hand with freedom from religion. That gets missed in all the Tea Party nonsense about the Founders. The First Amendment to the US Constitution redressed an imbalance. The original articles established freedom from religion by eliminating any religious requirements to hold office. The First Amendment extended that to freedom of religion.

So if an employer that reaps the benefits of this nation's freedoms is required to provide contraception services as part of their benefits package, too bad. It isn't their freedom that's at stake. It's the freedom of those who believe otherwise that is. And lest we forget, according to the Founders, theirs was the first freedom.

The Craven (short version)

Once upon a March so dreary,
The High Court pondered weak and weary,
about the future health and fate of many,
but had no dog within this hunt,
knowing they would never suffer any healthcare want.

The telltale heart that echoed loud,
that began the stirrings in the crowd,
came not from under any floor,
but beat from the chest of an infamous boor,
the meaning true both new and old,
the timing of this event to many, particularly cold.

A young man’s death grants him life,
after a lifetime of sowing none but strife,
other priorities were always present,
to prevent him from serving in jungle or once fertile crescent,
feeding off the blood of lost youth,
once just metaphor, now it’s truth.

What timing is this that points so boldly,
as a right wing Court considers coldly,
whether to strip away any safety net,
from those with fewer means whose fate by economics is so cruelly set,
What say the Republican’s on this sad score?
Market forces, and nothing more.

The black suited pundits and lawyers came a knocking,
knocking on the High Court’s door,
armed with briefs payed by other fattened suits,
and with the payors deep in cahoots,
to defeat the reforms was their charge,
with success would their golden parachutes enlarge.

Many asked with pleading eyes,
of future plans could the conservatives us apprise,
will something better come our way,
if you are able this chamber to sway,
If the black hearts this reform defeat,
can we something from you better beg and entreat,
Quote the Craven, nevermore.

Pegman Theater Quiz!

K movie fans. Identify the 15 movies from the Pegman Theater productions. If you are the first to name all correctly, you can request that a scene from your own favorite movie be included! No lurking please - take a stand!















Hmm Harry. Interesting take on #3. I can sort of see it. But no. Below is the real scene from 'Broke Back Mountain', so you see the difference.
11 is not War of the worlds - (see below for 1953 version)

A Children's Tale: Pliny's World of Church and State

The 28th Amendment

Proposal - The 28th Amendment: Congress shall pass no law from which they are exempt.

I call it the 'in my shoes amendment'. After all, these people are supposed to represent us. How can they do that unless they understand our challenges. As I said in an earlier comment - Mandate without shared sacrifice is simple tyranny.

Send it to your representatives if you like it. At least it should be discussed.

Surprising Revelation

In today's paper was this shocking headline:

"Post-Rapture pet service a hoax"

Really?

A Moment for Empathy and Clarity

It’s hard to discuss a candidate’s family without it being too invasive or unintentionally cruel. To a large part, I think that family members should be off limits. But at the risk of seeming a bit harsh, Rick Santorum's family values conservatism opens his family to scrutiny. How he manages the challenges of his own family vs how he insists the rest of us behave, is an interesting contrast. Of course his notorious insertion of himself in the Terri Schiavo case would make him fair game anyway.

But the point of this post is on empathy. Rick Santorum has an opportunity to lead through experience. Santorum has an opportunity to examine his position on universal care in light of his own family’s experiences.

Santorum has a 3 year old daughter with Trisomy 18, Edwards Syndrome. The background of Trisomy 18 was discussed in the last post. Recalling that there are full and incomplete trisomy cases, in the true trisomy 18 situation most fetuses spontaneously abort, and few that go to term live more than a few weeks. Obviously, incomplete cases can have variable longevity. I have no information as to whether the Santorum child has incomplete or complete trisomy.

The best medical course of action based upon prognosis is not the purpose of this discussion.

Santorum and his wife decided to do everything possible to support their daughter and combat her congenital problems.

They are fortunate to have the resources to do that.

What I would ask Santorum would be to walk in the shoes of the uninsured for a time. Imagine what it would be like if he could not provide for his daughter's healthcare needs in the manner that his heart directs. What if the decision was pure economics? What if you couldn’t afford one of his healthcare savings accounts? What we he have done? How would he feel knowing that there was a guy out there spouting about the sanctity of life, who voted against essentially every bill aimed at making healthcare more affordable to people with fewer means? Would he change his mind?

This is the grim reality for millions of Americans. This group suffers under economic rationing of healthcare. Do we care? Should we care?

The Mechanism for Down, Edwards and Patau Syndromes

As a prelude to the next posting, here is a short summary of the mechanisms by which genetic conditions such as Down (trisomy 21) , Edwards (trisomy 18) and Patau (trisomy 13) syndromes can occur. Trisomy refers to the presence of an extra copy of a chromosome beyond the normal pair. Affected individuals may have 47 instead of 46 chromosomes, or may have 46 chromosomes, with one containing duplicate portions of a third.

Each human cell normally has a compliment of 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs. One copy in each pair is from the father and one from the mother. Every time a cell divides (mitosis) duplicates of each are made and this relationship is preserved. Absent mutation (or rare chimeric individuals) , every cell in your body contains the same genetic compliment.

The exception to this, of course is the process by which sex cells (gametes - eggs and sperm) are created for sexual reproduction in the process called meiosis.

Unlike mitosis, meiosis only occurs in testes or ovaries and has two distinct phases that result in daughter cells that differ greatly genetically from the parent cell..

In phase one of meiosis, each chromosome is duplicated prior to the first cellular division. Once duplicated, the chromosome pairs are in close proximity and a critical process occurs that will increase the diversity of chromosomes created by the process. This is called recombination or crossover.
Portions of one arm of a duplicate chromatid overlap, or crossover, with the arm of one of the complementary strands and they switch places. The result will ultimately be a unique chromosome made up of portions from the father's and mother's originals. Since this happens independently in every new gamete produced, the variability is great and the genetic diversity of the offspring will increase.
Phase one of meiosis ends when the cells divide into two cells each with one of the recombinant pairs of chromosomes.

In phase 2 of meiosis, the cells divide a second time and each gamete (egg or sperm) contains a single recombinant copy of each chromosome pair, i.e. 23 chromosomes instead of the typical 46. Because of crossover recombination during phase 1, the individual gametes will differ from each other and from the original copies inherited from this individual's parents.
Later, during reproduction one of these gametes will hopefully fuse with one from the partner creating a zygote that combines one copy of each chromosome from each parent returning the number of chromosomes to 46 in the new individual.

Unfortunately errors sometimes occur during this process. Often the errors create nonviable gametes but some combinations of errors may result in a viable pregnancy. One group of errors are the trisomy syndromes.

As you might imagine errors can occur in either the division of chromosome pairs or in the recombination process.
If the error is in the division of the chromosomes, one gamete of the 4 daughter cells will have an extra copy of a chromosome (24) and one will have none (22). The gamete absent a copy is usually nonviable with the exception of errors affecting the sex chromosomes. In some cases, a gamete having no copy of a y chromosome, can result in a viable zygote that has one X chromosome only (XO Turner syndrome). Gametes with full duplicate copies of a chromosome which create viable zygotes that go to term, will result in individuals with the most severe cases of the respective trisomy syndrome. The most common duplication errors that can go to term involve chromosomes 21, 18, and 13.

If the error is related to crossover recombination, there is a failure to compete a symmetrical transfer of genetic material from one chromatid to another. One will have duplicate DNA from the donor resulting in a hybrid chromosome.
Where and how much material is duplicated, will determine the severity of these incomplete trisomy cases which may present with less severe forms of the syndrome and have significantly different outcomes.

Anatomy of an Un-apology

The Un-apology has become a staple of American politics. Caught red handed with one's hand in any metaphorical cookie jar and the right wing serial liar may be required to issue a formal un-apology. (Sometimes, they are sincerely sorry - that they got caught.)

GasBag issued one last week. Here is the transcript along with a literal translation:

A Statement from Rush: March 03, 2012
For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, (I am a hyperbolic ass) three hours a day, five days a week (apparently an unrecognized source of greenhouse gases. No wonder he's a climate change denier!) In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke. (what is the correct word substitution for slut? MEANING: there was no way I could have imagined that calling a young woman a slut by name on national radio could be misinterpreted as a personal attack.)

[I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. (yeah, we should be bad mouthing gays instead) I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. (Which is why Rush goes to Thailand for his) What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? (I don't know, people like you spit in its face, is my guess) Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? (If we accept sex as a natural part of life? Probably the downfall of the right is my guess) Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom (unless they are gay of course, then it's my business) nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.] Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. Real intent of the message which is a staple of the un-apology which always contains a rationalization or excuse for the boorish or deceitful behavior. MEANING: over here! Pay no attention to what a misogynist gas bag I am, and ignore the fact that we already pay for Viagra. It's a guy thing, after all. My un-apology must restate my position, which is right and true. It helps later when I renounce my un-apology as just another attack by the liberal media devils. They tricked me in to being a total ass! Rush, it isn't hard to do. You ARE a total ass, this is just one time when people payed more attention.

My choice of words was not the best, (ya think?) and in the attempt to be humorous (trying to cloak a personal attack as misunderstood humor. If you call me on it, it means you have no sense of humor or are too sensitive. A classic bullying behavior.) , I created a national stir. I sincerely (oh, that makes it ok. That’s how we know it’s sincere - you said so! If you’d have left that out we might not have believed you) apologize to Ms. (Ms is code for feminazi) Fluke for the insulting word choices. (As opposed to the simple insulting tone and intent)

Gee, Rush, I guess we Un-accept...

Three Blind Men and an Elephant...

Over at HuffPo, Rabbi Alan Lurie launches into a diatribe about atheists 'mental illness' and their lack of theological sophistication. Amind the rancor is the first reasonable (semi) and interesting theological argument I've heard in a long time. Unfortunately for him and his kind, it's an argument he can't use.

He's ripping on Richard Dawkin's well known comment about everyone being an atheist about all gods but their own. How true atheists differ from believers only by one god. The point is that with so many competing faiths why would anyone think that any one is correct - it's more logical to think that they are all false.

The rabbi talks about how this is a naive argument since the existence of competing faiths is illustrative of various cultures trying to come to grips with their perception of the existence of a greater power. I happen to agree.

Don't anyone get worried or rejoice. Perception is not fact. We perceive lots of things that aren't true. That's why so many of us depend upon the scientific method. It's the best way to counter perceptive bias we currently have. I agree that people perceive these things I just don't believe their perceptions are reflections of the true universe.

The perception part is key to me. I do believe that all these faiths are examples of people trying to make sense of the world. Each is colored by their cultural history. I agree with the rabbi that all believers are perceiving (or longing for) something greater than themselves, and like the old saw about the three blind men trying to describe an elephant, each falls short of a complete picture. Far from truly competing beliefs they are culturally biased expressions of some portion of the same thing.

It's an interesting and reasonable explanation for the presence of so many faiths. Unfortunately it's more use to a cultural anthropologist than a theologian. Because it suggests that no extant faith presents the full picture. Each is only a theory...

So it's not something that a theologian can use. But a deist, that's a different story.

Natural Election 2012: A Rare Glimpse of the Grooming Process

Due to PEC's unprecedented access to the political process, we were able to smuggle these rare images of Karl Rove in his natural state, helping to groom the presumptive Republican candidate, Mitt Romney.
Stay with PEC throughout the election - and the possible emigration in November...
PEC: the most unbiased reporting in America - we think they all suck!

The Exxon PepsiCo Doritos Lorax

I am the Exxon PepsiCo Doritos Lorax, I once spoke for the trees...

Now I shill for corporations to generate licensing fees...

It all started way back before the cowboy actors time,
when my creator penned the very first green rhyme,
But spin doctors and liars were finely honing their craft,
and figuring better ways to make money than graft,
Before political discourse got so far off the track,
Ahhh, such a long, long, long, long, long time back...

Hollywood moguls discovered the money to be made,
from wringing every drop from children’s classics to make green colored ade.
Irony cannot be allowed to impede valuable product placement,
no matter how great the degree of my message’s debasement,

And so my simple message of ecological stewardship has been re-imagined and redrawn,
you know, kinda like if I’d sold away my soul and liked watching smog obscure the dawn,
Though to be played by DeVito as a crazed dervish certainly blows,
it could have been much, much, much, much worse, I suppose,
Good thing the casting for this one from the others did vary,
Cause at least I was sparred the indignity of being portrayed by Jim Carey.

I’ve nothing against recycling, that much is certainly true,
but high concept rehashing and rebooting leaves nothing on which a child's mind can chew,
Suits devoid of ideas that can be called their own,
slap a endearing old label on crap that my master would surely disown.
Old Once-ler once erred making so many thneeds,
but it's still not as bad as all these lame ripoffs that simply nobody, nobody, nobody needs.

"I am the Lorax. I once spoke for the trees.
I spoke for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
Not having Scalia, Roberts, and Thomas to grant personhood to them,
Now against corporate axes their fates looks quite grim.
Withe the rich and the powerful controlling all discussion,
once again this land quakes under their unregulated machine’s percussion.

This shirt from my sponsors I am required to wear,
That it fits not at all they really don’t care,
For it must, must, must, must not be allowed, no, no, No!
a single square centimeter of flesh absent a corporate logo.
And my sponsors forbid me with the reapers to argue, or to even get mad,
They hope that concern for the planet was just an unfortunate fad.

My neocon handlers hated my liberal bent,
and trotted off to the sponsors, their bile to vent,
Angry conservatives night and day yelled, "Now listen here, Dad!
All you do is yap-yap and say, 'Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!'
Well, we purchased your rights, sir, and I'm telling you,
you better start doing just what we tell you to do!”

They threatened me with lawyers and repercussions should I force them to sue,
It gave me some pause, I don’t mind telling you,
Then I remembered what my creator had intended, what even little children once knew,
I looked at the damage corporate greed would on this world imbue,
Then into the trash this silly-assed shirt I threw, threw, threw, threw,
and heisted my self up and away telling the corporations F You!












I am the Lorax, once again, I speak for the trees,
and the birds, and the sky, the water and bees,
So though now money is speech,
and has extended a company's political reach,
Don't you forget what the Once-lers ignore while they covet each penny,
We the people control their cash flow, and our voices are many,
Why not join me in remembering a time when we cared,
Tis the year of an election, what better time for our vision, with this country to be shared...

With Apologies to the Pig

Hey Fat Boy! Why not explain why you needed all that Viagra when you were traveling to Thailand a while back.