Category: Politics
Guest Blogger Danio, sneaking a few more posts in:
Remember that execrable HHS policy document that proposes an extension of the current protections for health care workers who refuse to provide or assist in treatments that they personally find morally objectionable? I did a little back-tracking on this issue, and followed the trail of HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, who requested this regulation after a "disappointing" interaction with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He has since been unwavering in his support of the proposal--which he claims is not about abortion OR contraception, but about conscience rights--and has a recent blog post responding to the feedback he's received from pro-choice activists as a result of the leaked document.
Here's the money quote:
Is the fear here that so many doctors will refuse that it will somehow make it difficult for a woman to get an abortion? That hasn't happened, but what if it did? Wouldn't that be an important and legitimate social statement?
"Social statement?" I can scarcely get my mind around the fact that he is so openly, unapologetically endorsing a policy in which pious opinion would trump secular law. Once again, though, it shouldn't be a surprise. After all, he himself states that "The Bush Administration has consistently supported the unborn". Ah yes, even as they indiscriminately leech the quality of life (if not the life itself) from countless other self-aware, functioning humans on the planet, each and every blastocyst they encounter is ceremoniously wrapped in a mantle of sanctimonious protection.
Somehow even more disheartening are the numerous fawning, unctuous comments on Leavitt's recent blog entry. One wrote:
Secretary Leavitt,
It is beyond my comprehension that anyone would be offended by a health care professional who valued human life. But the tragedy is our culture has regressed to a form of barbarism unseen in centuries where progress in technology and science has poisoned our minds, hearts and souls where the intentional destruction of innocent and vulnerable human life has become more important than saving it.
Those of us living and working in a society where human life is expendable by government dictate but fail to stand up to protect and cherish life at any and all costs will live to regret it.
You are doing the right thing Secretary by allowing those of us in the health care profession live our moral and ethical consciences rather than forcing us to choose another profession.
Choose another profession like....a PETA supporter working in a meat packing plant?An auto mechanic who doesn't support the use of fossil fuels?
Keep your eyes on this one. It has 'lame duck's parting shot' written all over it.
Posted by PZMinion at 5:48 PM • 70 Comments
Category: Kooks
In the reality based community, when you've got a problem, you call an expert with some skills and training to deal with it. In the rest of the world, you call a priest to blame evil spirits and do nothing for a small pile of money. How else to explain asking a wizened old Catholic priest to explain 'perversions' and STDs?
Promiscuity, as well as homosexuality and pornography, says 73 year-old Fr. Jeremy Davies, is a form of sexual perversion and can lead to demonic possession. Offering what may be an explanation for the explosion of homosexuality in recent years, Fr. Davies said, "Among the causes of homosexuality is a contagious demonic factor."
Fr. Davies continues: "Even heterosexual promiscuity is a perversion; and intercourse, which belongs in the sanctuary of married love, can become a pathway not only for disease but also for evil spirits."
He goes on to blame all kinds of evils on demons. Forget medical explanations: we need to treat with leeches, stat, and if that doesn't work, an exorcism. And if that fails, there's always the 100% successful traditional treatment: tie them to a stick and set them on fire.
Posted by PZ Myers at 6:55 AM • 281 Comments
Category: Entertainment
Hey, the next episode of the History Channel's series on evolution is coming up soon: Evolve: Sex. I don't quite have the stamina to liveblog it tonight — I'm ready to fall asleep sitting down — but I'll be tuned in and trying to watch it.
Posted by PZ Myers at 9:07 PM • 56 Comments
Category: Weirdness
One of the chores I got done this afternoon, after a much needed nap, was to go through the mail that accumulated during our long absence. Part of that job is sorting out the pile of magazines that I did not subscribe to, but that some people out there think they can sign me up for and annoy me — but which, since I did not authorize any payment, and which are usually sent to me under some sloppy permutation of my name, I simply never pay for, and eventually the publisher gets tired of sending me without recompense and the subscription fades away.
It's a weird mix: lots of conservative political rags which get tossed into the recycling bin with barely a glance, and the rest is a mishmash of odd stuff that the sender seems to think says something about me. Out magazine I sort of understand — they want to imply that I'm gay, which they think I'd take as an insult because they do — but the yummy cover photo of Neil Patrick Harris and the nice interview inside just made me think there would be some perks to being gay. American Rider, though, is a strange choice. Am I supposed to be a leather-wearing Harley rider, too? It's a very Tom of Finland combination, but sorry, ultimately uninteresting to me. Body+Soul is a better choice for something that would irritate, but it's so dang silly that I can only laugh.
So I hate to say it since I am getting a giggle out of these random piles of glossy paper in my mailbox, but could you please stop wasting your time? The only people being hurt by this action are the mail carriers who have enough of a burden to haul every day, and possibly the publishers who might lose a little money on the printing (but might gain a little more ad revenue from the temporary addition to their subscriber rolls).
And planet Earth. Think of the Earth, man.
Posted by PZ Myers at 5:37 PM • 158 Comments
Category: Pointless polls
Right now, this one's a tough choice: Who would win in a free-for-all, anything-goes cage match?. The top two contenders are PZ "The Violator" Myers and Christopher "Drunken Monkey" Hitchens, with me in the lead…probably because the thought of a man nicknamed "The Violator" and a reputation for tentacle mayhem is too terrifying to contemplate.
Posted by PZ Myers at 9:34 AM • 110 Comments
Category: Pointless polls
What do you think? Would the world be better off without religion?
Of course, religion is only a symptom: what would really make the world better off would be if people were smarter and made important decisions rationally. That's even less like than growing out of religion, unfortunately.
Posted by PZ Myers at 9:23 AM • 117 Comments
Category: Personal
Somebody shoot me. Yesterday was a full 24 hours of travel with nothing but intermittent naps, and of course I wake up this morning at my usual time of 6am after only 3 hours of sleep. And I seem to have acquired a chest cold. Or pneumonia. Or Ecuadorian Lung Rot, or something. I'm hoping that at some imminent time point, after I've taken care of a few chores, my physiology will allow me to get some sleep.
Until then, let's look back in time, to a morning a whole week ago, when I would regularly awaken to a whole grand morning feast of exotic tropical fruits, and I'd feel like eating them all. This is my taste test of a granadillo, a weird fruit with a horrible color (gray) and an unappetizing texture (watery mucus) and a fine sweet flavor.
O PZ of times past, who could awaken in fine fettle and a zest for adventure, please reincarnate in this body soon.
Posted by PZ Myers at 8:27 AM • 43 Comments
Category: Weblogs
We must all welcome Bitch Ph.D. to the ranks of bloggers who have twisted Bill Donohue's panties. Congratulations!
Posted by PZ Myers at 4:19 AM • 121 Comments
Category: Pointless polls
CNN has a poll in need of Pharyngulisation:
"Do you believe God's intervention could save a family member even if doctors say treatment would be futile?"
Naturally, 'God' is an assumed reality in this scenario. Go crash that bastard.
~Danio
Posted by PZMinion at 12:04 AM • 80 Comments
Category: Neurobiology
Guest Blogger Danio:
The time has come to delve into the retinal component of Usher syndrome. In Part II, I briefly described the results of protein localization studies, in which most members of the Usher cohort were found at the connecting cilium of the photoreceptor and at the photoreceptor synapse. The following diagram summarizes these findings:
Usher protein localization in photoreceptor cells. From Reiners, et al. 2006
So, as we saw in the ear, proteins with the equipment for physically interacting with one another are gathering in specific places, and thus multi-protein complexes are likely being formed at these locations. The cluster of Usher proteins around the connecting cilium has been the focus of most of the current retinal studies, and to understand the potential importance of an Usher complex at that subcellular location we must address the importance of the connecting cilium itself.
Read on »
Posted by PZMinion at 7:53 PM • 22 Comments
Category: Godlessness
I got a request from a reader that I'll just pass on directly to any musically-inclined readers here…
Any chance Pharyngula readers can help? I have been writing and posting songs under the band name Natural Wastage on Soundclick.com (a sort of music version of myspace/facebook, I guess) for a while, and whilst re-installing some songs last month, I was struck by the number of Christian related genres available. Therefore, in mid July I emailed Soundclick and asked
"Looking through the categories I note that while there is Christian Rock, Country and Rap, Contemporary Christian pop and Pop and Urban Gospel, there is no category for atheist music. Can I ask you, initially, to create 'Atheist Rock' as a sub-genre of Rock. This is the category that most of my recent and current music writing falls into". The reply was I got was
"At this time there has not been enough requests for this genre to be added, so we will not be adding it. Thank you for your suggestion though."
Best Regards,
Ally Byrd
SoundClick Staff
support@soundclick.com
What I'd like to ask is whether there are any song writers or performers reading Pharyngula who feel as I do, and if so, would they be prepared to contact Soundclick with a request that they add an Atheist Rock, or Atheist Folk, or whatever, to their list of genres. Please note that I would NOT suggest a blanket, mass emailing by large numbers of people UNLESS, AND ONLY IF they are genuinely prompted by an individual unfulfilled, unrequited need to listen to, or write for, these particular genres. There is absolutely NO reason to suppose Sounclick's response is anything but honest. So let's be honest ourselves.
Hmmm. I can think of a few bands with an atheist sensibility (maybe readers can name more here!), but most of their music, with some exceptions, simply doesn't say anything about gods or jebus or magic spirits dwelling in the trees or whatever. There probably is a dearth of explicitly atheist songs because most are about real subjects, rather than not-real subjects…and you can't just say that any song that doesn't mention a god is an atheist song, or you'd have to call the Beach Boys an atheist band.
But hey, maybe there's a thriving genre out there that I'm missing. If so, let us know about it and try to show Soundclick the light.
Posted by PZ Myers at 7:44 PM • 246 Comments
Category: Religion
Although I was actually in Guayaquil the day before brave heroes despoiled another cracker&hellip:
In response to criticisms by the nation's Catholic bishops regarding pro-abortion and anti-family language in Ecuador's new proposed Constitution, a group of people entered a chapel in Guayaquil, grabbed the Eucharistic host that was exposed for adoration, tore it apart, spat on it, and stepped on it, according to ACI Prensa.
…I was actually a thousand kilometers away on the island of Santa Cruz when the action went down. Clenched fist salute, anyway!
Note that the quote is from the crazy anti-choice site, LifeSite, and that the "anti-family language" is actually pro-family planning language, and is a generally good thing unless you you've been infected with a fanatical hatred of contraception and abortion by a nominally celibate man in a dress.
Posted by PZ Myers at 5:39 PM • 93 Comments
Category: Politics
All sensible people want to get rid of the shrill kook and raging homophobe Sally Kern from the Oklahoma government — and she has some competition in the coming election. Get out there and party with Ron Marlett at the end of this month, and raise a little money for his campaign!
From Ron Marlett, Democratic candidate
to remove Sally Kern from the public payroll
Dear Friends,
I wanted to let you all know of the "Rock Your Freedom" concert and rally we have scheduled for Saturday, August 30th from noon to whenever the last band hits its last power chord. It will be held at Eldon Lyon Park which is just west of Rockwell Avenue on NW 36th.
For friends living outside of Oklahoma, I offer an opportunity to experience famous Oklahoma hospitiality. Bring sun shade, lawn chairs and kick back and celebrate the freedom of music. We'll also be raisng our voices to let Sally Kern know that her brand of neo-conservative tyranny will no longer be the rule of this state.
Hope to see you there,
Ron Marlett
If you can't attend secure contributions can be made from Ron Marlett's web site. Look for the blue button in the upper right corner. Posted and expanded by Jim Nimmo on his own initiative.
Posted by PZ Myers at 5:03 PM • 9 Comments
Category: Cephalopods
This cartoon is so sweet.
Posted by PZ Myers at 4:43 PM • 27 Comments
Category:
We all regret the loss of Blue Collar Scientist to cancer a short while ago. Now we have an account of his last few days — he died dignified and living well to the last moment, on a visit to Down and Westminster Abbey.
Posted by PZ Myers at 4:30 PM • 11 Comments
…and this is a 
