Finding God in a Dog

President of Catholic Bishops Conference Cardinal Dolan bribed pedophile priests to go away quietly

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 02:23:06 GMT

Say this for Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: He sure is a multi-tasker.

When he's not threatening to cease "liv[ing] out the imperatives of our faith to serve, teach, heal, feed, and care for others" unless all American women are denied access to contraception, using his blog to smear children raped and molested by priests, coordinating massive lawsuits against the Obama administration because women's health care makes him sad, appearing on TV to false witness through his teeth, appreciating "the work done" by the hate group Catholic League, or organizing a national "fortnight" of civil disobedience, he's apparently busy praying that no one will find out about how, before he became the most powerful Catholic figure in America, he secretly bribed pedophile priests to leave the Church quietly.

And then the New York Times found out. Quoting that story now:

Questioned at the time about the news that one particularly notorious pedophile cleric had been given a “payoff” to leave the priesthood, Cardinal Dolan, then the archbishop, responded that such an inference was “false, preposterous and unjust.”

Except that it turned out to be absolutely, positively true.

So, the Roman Catholic Church has no moral authority left. And their spiritual authority only lasts as long as one doesn't take matters into their own hands. That means that the only thing left sustaining the Church ... is cultural inertia. Yeah, that'll last.

End Of May MISCELLANY

Thu, 31 May 2012 19:31:37 GMT

Last weekend's massacre in Syria is fanning the fires for another war. The United States is preparing. Syrian rebels are preparing. And SOS Clinton is not-so-tacitly pressuring the Russians to stay out of it.

North Carolina real estate interests are pushing for a law that would force planners to ignore global warming predictions of sea level rise. Without those data, planners need to rely on historical data that predict a rise of anywhere from four to sixteen inches. Global warming predicts a rise of one meter, or about 40 inches. My advice: don't buy coastal property in North Carolina. Or if you do, be ready to dump it on a sucker in the next few decades.

This woman uncovered massive fraud in Citibank's mortgage lending process, which continued right up to her lawsuit in March 2011. THE GOOD: she won $31 million in that lawsuit. THE BAD: the lawsuit alleged, in part, that the fraud practices that led to the 2008 meltdown are still ongoing in 2011. They're probably still ongoing in 2012 as well. The culture of self-denial runs deep. THE UGLY: The DOJ is promising criminal charges. We're waiting, and none too patiently.

Oregon's health care reform effort is rolling right along.

"Calculate the trajectory of a projectile under gravity and subject to air resistance." This problem was posed by Newton, has stumped mathematicians for centuries, and was finally solved by a 16-year-old working on a school project. The student chalks it up to naivity.

Windows 8, reveiwed here. The interesting (as in "oh god") parts of the EULA discussed here. Yes, I'll still use it when it comes out, properly sequestered in a virtual machine as it should be. But now I'm determined to not use it for anything important.

A rare public personal update...

Thu, 31 May 2012 00:08:39 GMT

Three Hands Press says:

Forthcoming in June...

Announcement of a new magical work by Robert Fitzgerald, illuminated by the eldritch woodcuts of our own Liv Rainey Smith.

Stay tuned, kids.

A note on #SpaceX and the future of space travel.

Mon, 28 May 2012 06:55:14 GMT

NASA estimate of the total cost for SpaceX to R&D the Falcon 9 system: $3.6 billion.

DOD budget for Joint Strike Fighter R&D: over $9 billion for 2012 alone.

Total cost of shuttle program: $196 billion over 40 years.

There are a lot of things that government can do better than any corporation, simply because the economic logic of leaving such things in the hands of the private sector make things worse. Space travel, carefully regulated, is a notable exception. Continued space travel as a strictly government venture is too risky for political reasons. Privatizing space travel turns the political risks into economic risks - and it turns out that the economic risks aren't that bad after all. Of course, the biggest customer will continue to be the government, but I can see that changing as the cost of travel goes down.

An Open Letter to the Democratic National Committee about #WiRecall | Attn @DWStweets

Sat, 26 May 2012 17:55:46 GMT

Dear considerate folks at the Democratic National Committee,

I was interested to read your fundraising letter this morning:

maxomai --

Picture this:

It's the morning of June 4th. You head to the airport to catch your free flight to New York City. Enjoy the in-flight snack or movie. That evening, a car picks you up and takes you to the main event.

And that's where you meet Presidents Obama and Clinton.

I don't really know what else to say.

Stop imagining -- make it happen.

Donate today to be automatically entered for a chance to meet Presidents Obama and Clinton in New York City -- airfare and accommodations are on us:

I've got a better image for you.

Picture this:

It's the morning of June 5th. As in, two in the morning. The polls closed in Wisconsin's recall election hours ago, and Tom Barrett managed a narrow win after a massive get out the vote effort. Scott Walker and the Republicans are licking their wounds after a close but stinging defeat in the recall election. Unions and progressives everywhere are energized, Rick Scott and other look-pretty-and-hold-the-pen types are breaking out the Rolaids, and the Koch Brothers and other corporate powers are on notice that they can't spend enough to save their lackies if they go too far.

That's the future that you can make happen. But you can't do it just by sending out fundraising letters. You need to pour serious money - tens of millions of dollars - into a get out the vote effort to save Wisconsin.

I really don't know what else to say.

Actually, that's not true. Let me add this: if you guys won't do it, then I will. The money that I would donate to the DNC will go instead to Tom Barrett. And for crissakes get some spine.

Memorial Day Weekend CHEERS and JEERS!

Fri, 25 May 2012 21:16:50 GMT

CHEERS to the US Dollar, which is, in the wake of the weakness in BRIC growth and the crisis in Europe, the only safe currency right now.

JEERS to crooks getting off scott free; in this case, the Lehman Brothers executives who caused the 2008 economic crisis. The SEC recommended no charges or other sanctions be brought against them. And if you don't like it, the cops are there to pepper spray, billy club and LRAD you into submission. Yup.

JEERS to bigots, part one. Check out this letter sent to my friend Greg Harris and several other pro-gay rights legislators in Illinois. No. Seriously. Go look at it, because I guarantee you it's going to be in our grandchildren's history books as an example of the kind of ugly crap gays and lesbians used to have to put up with in the United States. Among other things, it recycles the old disproven tropes about what causes homosexuality, brings up the old HIV/AIDS argument in gay men (without bothering to address the virtual lack of STDs in lesbian women), and recycles the myths about "traditional" monogamous marriage. This letter was written by Peter LaBarbera of Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality, Wayne Lela of Heterosexuals Organize for a Moral Environment (that's HOME), and John McCartney of Citizens Concerned About Media.

JEERS to bigots, part two. If a group of right-wing idiots rampaged through the streets of the nation's capital demanding the deportation of black people, and a conservative legislator joined in saying that blacks should be isolated from the cities, our media would be all over it. If this happened in South Africa, or Europe, or Russia, or South America, we'd have everyone to the left of Sean Hannity calling for a boycott of that nation. So where is this happening that we're not hearing a peep about it? Right here.

JEERS to Curt Schilling. Step one: borrow millions of taxpayer dollars to start your company. Step two: whine that you and your other fellow John Galts never had to take a dime of government money. Step three: fire everyone. If you want to know why I think objectivism and its mutant children are a joke, this man is a case in point.

CHEERS to Gay Marriage. For the third time now, a Federal judge has ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. SCOTUS is going to have to take this up in the next few years. Remember: Mittens stands behind a Constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage in the United States, and even stands opposed to civil unions.

CHEERS to amusing idiots. I'm 100% opposed to bombing Iran, but their stupid shenanigans still amuse me. In this case, it's their pronouncements that a recently revealed manuscript of the Gospel of Barnabas threatens Christianity because it apparently claims that Jesus (A) wasn't crucified at all and (B) predicted the coming of Mohammed (PBUH). As someone who has little sympathy for Christianity, my first response is to wonder what's in the water in Iran. If these people weren't totally clueless, they'd understand that the big threat to Christianity isn't Islam at all, but in fact the same enemy that threatens Iranian Islam: modernity.

CHEERS to Amazon.com employees, who won the right to air conditioning in the warehouse. This is why we still need a labor movement, folks.

CHEERS to those that died and those that were left behind. The dead have their honor. Those left behind have the aftermath. For what it's worth, the Vice President has some advice on dealing with the aftermath.

Cong. Mike Coffman (R-CO): "I stand by my statement, I misspoke and I apologize," over and over

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:43:16 GMT

Mike Coffman tried to reap the wind of the Birther movement and got his sails torn off. Word got out that he said, at a conservative fundraiser, that he didn't know whether the President was born in the US and that Obama is "not an American at heart."

What he wasn't considering at the time, apparently, is that his district was redrawn to include the town of Aurora, and was now more favorable to Democrats than in the last election. So when a tape of his comments got out, Democrats saw it as an opportunity to get out the vote and eke out a win for his opponent, Joe Miklosi. Coffman's strategists must have seen the writing on the wall, so they told him to lay low while they engaged in damage control.

Then the local media cornered Coffman. The result, below (or here), is a train wreck.

Isn't that precious?

Needless to say, Joe Miklosi has seized on this, both with a petition telling Coffman to "stop hiding," and, more importantly, with fundraising pitches.

2012 is shaping up to be a dogfight instead of a blowout, and flipping House seats isn't going to be easy. Colorado's 6th district is, after these gaffes, one of the few places where Democrats have a good chance to flip a district.

May 22 MISCELLANY!

Tue, 22 May 2012 13:21:32 GMT

If you were wondering why all those people were protesting in Chicago, it has to do with, among other things, a deal to remain engaged in Afghanistan until 2024. (Remember?)

Life Imitates Art, Mitt Romney Foreign Policy Edition

SpaceX had a successful launch this morning. The capsule is set to rendezvous with the International Space Station Friday. The long flight is, in part, to help NASA and SpaceX conduct tests.

Why the hell would Australia participate in wars in places like Iraq, where they have no vested interest? The answer is, they do have a vested interest: they need allies. More here. Things like this are a handy exercise to see what motivates US policies, too.

I should feel worse about the Cubs losing this badly, but I'm still mad at Joe Ricketts over this shit, even if he did repudiate it.

May 21 MISCELLANY!

Tue, 22 May 2012 02:18:29 GMT

Believe it or not, Ron Paul's had a real impact in the Republican nomination process by capturing the majority of delegates in recent caucuses. He's not going to be the candidate, but he could push for changes in the GOP platform. Legalizing pot? Ending the wars? Probably not. Austrian economics? End the Fed? Maybe. For another POV, you can do worse than Justin Raimondo.

Anonymous does more than just release ultimata and take down corporate and government front pages, you know. They also expose child pornography. They also do birthdays.

More Birther silliness here. It's one thing to question the consensus. It's another to secede from reality altogether and form a brand new party line.

"We will not do as we are told. Instead, we will do what is just." Thus sayeth the Catholic League. And these brave, bold words would be admirable, if what they wanted wasn't to deny women basic reproductive health care. Meanwhile, the RCC's bishops are investigating the girl scouts. All in the name of enforcing a male-defined model of womanhood. My advice on the matter: forget it, boys, the clock stops for no one.

I need to post this more often on FaceBook.

When a poll is too good to be true

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:21:55 GMT

Check out this poll from Vanderbilt:

Tennessee
Obama 41
Romney 42
MOE 4
N = 1002

Obama's within one point of Romney in deep red Tennessee! Wow!

Just one problem: this is a poll of Tennessee residents. The same poll shows Romney up seven with registered voters, which is a proper subset of residents. The likely voter model in Tennessee, when those polls start coming out, will be even worse for Obama. And in November, barring the absolute collapse of the Romney campaign and a consequent Obama landslide, Tennessee will go in Romney's column.

Book Review: Jeremy Robert Johnson's "We Live Inside You"

Sat, 19 May 2012 20:07:46 GMT

One could accuse me of having been bribed for this review. Jeremy Robert Johnson asked on his FaceBook page whether he should pay for a book review on some website; I offered to write a book review for a copy of the book. Mr. Johnson agreed, and dropped off a copy of the book at my doorstep, complete with a personal note on the inside cover and a Garbage Pail Kid card. That's valuable stuff! But in spite of this, I read We Live Inside You with a critical eye. My verdict is that this book kicks ass.

We Live Inside You is a collection of short stories, with an appendix containing some of his early material. The more current stories are brilliant, human, and disturbing. Some highlights:

Consumerism: This is fitting follow-up to his short Priapism from Angel Dust Apocalypse. This time, the family has been in a horrible car accident, and the father tells his son, boldly, stridently, unflinchingly, to man up, stop whining about his mother's mangled corpse, and do what is needed to survive. One might think of the dad as the Ultimate Objectivist, his son his pupil, and this lecture the ultimate objectivist lesson.

When Susurrus Stirs is a great horror tale, Lovecraftian in the tradition of Lumley's The Big C. Our host has a parasite, and we follow the host as the parasite slowly becomes him, and then unleashes itself on others. This is the kind of story where Johnson shines. It is humorous, weird, and wonderful at conveying to the reader just how not okay the situation is.

Probably the best story in the collection is States of Glass. Our protagonist is a young wife who soon finds herself a young widow; and in her panic and fear, she finds herself insanely horny. It is bizarro literature for sure, but touching, deep, and human in a way that most bizarro literature is not. People experience death in unpredictable ways, and it's certainly not unrealistic that someone would react to the sudden death of a lover with powerful sexual urges. Our protagonist deals with her situation in a manner that strikes me as dignified and sweet.

What I really appreciate about Johnson is that he doesn't treat his characters as props and bit players, as many bizarro authors do. His stories are, in fact, character-centric, and he develops them wonderfully. Bizarro is fun, but a lot of it is popcorn and beer - empty calories. Johnson is steak and grilled asparagus - bizarro for grown-ups.

You can find Angel Dust Apocalypse and We Live Inside You on Bizarrocentral.com.

New York Judge Pleas for medical marijuana in NYT Op-Ed

Thu, 17 May 2012 18:56:27 GMT

If you're going to admit to breaking the law, an op-ed in the New York Times is the way to do it.

THREE and a half years ago, on my 62nd birthday, doctors discovered a mass on my pancreas. It turned out to be Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. I was told I would be dead in four to six months. Today I am in that rare coterie of people who have survived this long with the disease. But I did not foresee that after having dedicated myself for 40 years to a life of the law, including more than two decades as a New York State judge, my quest for ameliorative and palliative care would lead me to marijuana.

The Judge goes on to state that marijuana, smoked and inhaled, is the only medicine that allows him to eat and sleep, and thus continue his fight against cancer.

It bears repeating that I do not myself use marijuana or other illegal drugs for any purpose. It also bears repeating that the day may come when I or any of you reading this.find themselves in the same position as the above author. Congress's continued refusal to make allowances in Federal law for medical marijuana, the FDA and DEA VIA their refusal to make allowances for state medical marijuana laws, and President Obama's own inability to govern consistently with his campaign promises, are cruel, callous, and cowardly towards thousands of cancer patients. Not to mention glaucoma patients, chronic pain patients, and so on. As a nation, our compassion has been overriden by our inane prohibitionist phobia. This has to end.

May 17, 2012 MISCELLANY!

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:46:36 GMT

Judge halts indefinite detention of Americans on, among other things, First and Fifth Amendment grounds. The judge also rejected the stupid argument that enjoining this law would put an unconstitutional barrier on the President's absolute power.

Minority births now outpace white births. Cue hysteria in three, two...

Oh look, Israel is the hot issue in Egypt's Presidential election. Do note: the secular left that led the revolution doesn't like the occupation tactics of Israel any more than the Islamic parties do.

Today's word is "Grexit," meaning, the quick abandonment of the Euro by Greece. More on this here. Yes, this will hurt the US economy, it will cause the stock market to dive, and it could determine the election. Let's see if Mittens really has solutions here.

In the 80s, it was fighting for your right to party. In this decade, it's fighting for your right to locally produced pork, like this guy did. One has slightly more merit than the other.

May 16th MISCELLANY

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:34:37 GMT

Antiwar.com needs your help to stay open!

The new Imperial Groupthink in Washington is that ending indefinite detention without a trial would reward terrorists. How, exactly? If they're terrorists, can't you just, you know, put them on trial?

The new third rail in Oregon politics is apparently the state's medical marijuana law. Ellen Rosenblum ran on her opponent's anti-medical marijuana actions as US Attorney, and crushed him nearly two to one. The Democratic Party might want to pay attention to this. Oregon is in the bag for Obama in 2012, but popular sentiment favoring medical marijuana is spreading in blue states and prohibitionist attitudes are on the decline. Eventually they're going to have to join the cause, similarly to the present shift on gay marriage. (Spoiler: I never smoked pot before and I don't smoke pot now, but my family history indicates that I might have very good reasons to start using medical marijuana in the future.)

Deb Fischer scored a surprise win in the Nebraska Republican Primary for Ben Nelson's Senate seat, mostly on the strength of the Tea Party. Which makes me wonder whether they were aware of how much she benefits from Federal subsidies. Her opponent, former Senator Bob Kerrey, has an uphill battle. As of two months ago, he was losing to her by ten points according to PPP. On the bright side, he's got a boatload of money.

Via a friend of mine, the Remote Control Flying Fuck. No, I do not have one. By implication, I cannot give one.

May 15th MISCELLANY

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:55:59 GMT

The latest attempt to scam us into war with Iran.

"A number of women have come forward to say they were discharged for 'personality disorders,' – which means no healthcare, no disability benefits — after they filed sexual assault charges with the chain of command against fellow servicemen." -- From this.

Attempts to form a new government in Greece have failed, which means they will hold new elections. Yup.

Yet another reason to get the hell out of Mississippi here

More on our first really gay President - who was, most assuredly, James Buchanan - here. Lots of money quotes in this one, especially concerning the myth of America as the land of eternal progress. If it was, then what are we to make of men like Anthony Comstock? What Comstocks, both of the left and of the right, now lurk to hurl us back into the dark ages again?

The latest @CBSNews/@nytimes poll is suspect.

Tue, 15 May 2012 02:10:14 GMT

There's a massive selection bias in this poll:

Romney 46
Obama 43

Why do I say that there's a selection bias? Because:

This poll was conducted by telephone on May 11-13, 2012 among 615 adults nationwide, including 562 registered voters, who were first interviewed for a CBS News/New York Times Poll conducted April 13-17, 2012.

This might make for good narrative building, but it makes for a lousy scientific poll.

That's not to say that the poll is out of the ballpark. Rasmussen has Romney up four, Gallup has Obama up one. It is to say that any future polls by CBS News and the New York Times need to be taken with a lot of salt, until they fix their methodology.

Thursday MISCELLANY!

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:42:05 GMT

Why exactly are we sending Special Forces into Yemen, and does anyone really accept that this is a training exercise?

Opposition to the Afghanistan mess is at an all time high.

The political effects of Obama's "coming out" on gay marriage - in Latin America.

The (adjective) (noun) that will make you (verb). The (adjective) (noun) that will make you (verb) (preposition) (noun). What am I describing? If you guessed MoveOn.org's The Daily Share, you'd be right. And yes, the daily tear-jerker spam is annoying.

Obama 2012's slogan: Forward. Obama 2012's TV ad, Reverse. Their follow up, Backward on Equality. Noticing a pattern here?

#Romney reportedly bullied gay classmate | via @washingtonpost

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:30:29 GMT

Quoting WaPo

John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.

The incident was recalled similarly by five students, who gave their accounts independently of one another. Four of them — Friedemann, now a dentist; Phillip Maxwell, a lawyer; Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor; and David Seed, a retired principal — spoke on the record. Another former student who witnessed the incident asked not to be named. The men have differing political affiliations, although they mostly lean Democratic. Buford volunteered for Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. Seed, a registered independent, has served as a Republican county chairman in Michigan. All of them said that politics in no way colored their recollections.

“It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,” said Buford, the school’s wrestling champion, who said he joined Romney in restraining Lauber. Buford subsequently apologized to Lauber, who was “terrified,” he said. “What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do.”

“It was a hack job,” recalled Maxwell, a childhood friend of Romney who was in the dorm room when the incident occurred. “It was vicious.”

“He was just easy pickins,” said Friedemann, then the student prefect, or student authority leader of Stevens Hall, expressing remorse about his failure to stop it.

The incident transpired in a flash, and Friedemann said Romney then led his cheering schoolmates back to his bay-windowed room in Stevens Hall.

Friedemann, guilt ridden, made a point of not talking about it with his friend and waited to see what form of discipline would befall Romney at the famously strict institution. Nothing happened.

So, this, then, is now part of the narrative of 2012. Vote for Obama, who's standing up for gays and lesbians; or vote for Romney, the gay-basher. There are parallels to be drawn to the 2004 Presidential election, which also became a referendum on gay marriage. It will be interesting to see if this works in reverse. I'm looking forward to what the tracking polls will look like in a week. We already know, via this AP-GfK poll released yesterday, that Obama beats Romney by about 20 points on social issues. This could be part of a campaign to highlight that difference and emphasize Obama's strength. And yes, I mean that this WaPo story could be part of "this," which is not to say the story isn't true.

Dead heat in #Massachusetts Senate race

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:45:35 GMT

Rasmussen:

Warren (D) 45
Brown (R, Inc.) 45
MOE 4.5

Remember, Ras leans Republican.

They also found that Obama beats Romney by 20 points in Massachusetts, which tells me that his campaigning for her would go a long way.

Time for #Obama to come out of the closet.

Mon, 07 May 2012 21:03:21 GMT

His Vice President supports same-sex marriage.

His Education Secretary supports same-sex marriage.

The Public supports same-sex marriage.

Now, Markos Moulistas is asking a very good question:

Well, do you, Mister President?

We're hearing from the White House that the President's views on this matter haven't changed. Maybe it's time they did. It's time for the President to come out in favor of marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. I think he can win on this issue, and furthermore, I think winning on this issue will turn the tide against forty-two years of the advancement of the Frankenstein's monster of Objectivism and Theocracy.

Why I'm rescinding my organ donor status

Mon, 07 May 2012 18:17:39 GMT

The recent trend of using social media to encourage organ donors reminded me that I need to get on the ball and rescind my organ donor status. I've already informed my wife and family of my intentions not to donate my organs, and I suppose I'm letting you all know through this blog. All that remains, as far as I know, is to inform the Oregon DMV.

In principle, I'm just fine with donating my organs. If I'm gone, after all, I'm not going to use them anymore; they may as well go to someone who can use them, assuming that someone can use a fatty liver, pickled kidneys, and nearly blind eyeballs.

However, recently it has come to my attention that the medical community is taking liberties with the definition of when someone goes. Quoting NPR:

For decades, organ donation has been guided by something called the "dead donor rule."

"We have this idea that you must be dead first — so before your organs can be removed, we agree that you are dead," said Leslie Whetstine, a bioethicist at Walsh University in Ohio.

That probably sounds pretty obvious. But defining "dead" turns out to be pretty complicated. It turns out, there are two ways to declare someone dead. For decades, the main way has been "brain death."

Yeah. That's the definition I use, too. If my brain is gone, I figure the soul is gone, the personality is gone, everything that is really important to me is gone, it's organ harvesting time. I figured that part was obvious. Well, not so fast.

But transplant advocates have revived another definition in recent years. It's had several names, including "donation after cardiac death (DCD)" and "donation after circulatory death." It says: It's OK if donors initially may still have some brain activity. But in this case, death requires "an irreversible cessation of circulation and heartbeat and breathing and no intervention will be done to restore it," Bernat said. "So it is permanent."

...

"The problem is, it's not at all clear that donors after circulatory determination of death are truly dead," Halpern said.

Especially because, as it turns out, some terminal patients are put on heart-lung machines to keep donor organs fresh. Which might, also, keep the brain alive. Which brings me to the point where I said, "fuck this."

To address this issue, the Michigan doctors insert a balloon to block blood from getting to the brain.

Sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, you do that, you're murdering me for my organs. Thus, the answer is "no" until they sort this question out once and for all, and conclude that my organs are mine, all mine, until my brain dies on its own. If you're not willing to do that, then I'm not willing risk my last moments being a pure nightmare.

May 7 MISCELLANY!

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:33:21 GMT

Obama's first major ad buy should start showing now in nine swing states. Watch it below (or go here). It basically paints the narrative the President wants to set, encapsulated by "OBL is dead and GM is alive."

What's holding up job growth? Democrats say it's Republican obstructionism. Republicans say it's threats that Democrats will raise taxes. Businesses say that it's because banks aren't willing to loan anyone money to expand. Meaning, in effect, that the extreme caution of 2008 is still hurting us.

So, the Pentagon looked into it, and came to the conclusion that government whistleblowers are subject to severe reprisals. Gee, no kidding. Do we file this under "O" for "Obvious" or "B" for "Bradley Manning?"

Take two minutes to help save the Internet here.

Joe Biden on marriage equality here. TL;DR: he has no problem with it.

Every Major's Terrible, to the tune of "The Modern Major General," here. (The original here)

Thanks to plexiglass, a moment of horror and natural selection becomes a moment of mirth and family bonding here.

Why I'm cracking up at #tcot nonsense over Dick Lugar.

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:23:36 GMT

Right now I'm cracking up at the Tea Party telling themselves that Liberals just LURV Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) over Koch Brothers puppet Richard Mourlock. For example:

"This is whats going to happen: Lugar will get pramried out and Mourdock will win the election. Because real americans will always vote for a genuine conservative, not some Soros-funded communist who hates america and supports islam!" - From Saturday hate mail-a-palooza: Hitching up with a Republican senator, of the front page of DailyKos

"This is all economics 101 for Republicans, but I guess they feel they can say anything to an audience of Democrats, as long as they serve the purpose of reelecting an 80-year old liberal." - from The Ultimate Treachery, a diary on RedState

"Lugar is a an Loony Left Liberal Lemming Drone." - Michael Gaines, from this FaceBook thread.

"Why should Hoosiers trust Lugar to lead the charge on health care? He has partnered with liberals to pass their plans, he has supported mandates, and he has cosponsored big entitlement spending. This year’s elections will be a referendum on ObamaCare, but unlike Richard Mourdock, Dick Lugar hasn’t even signed onto the Repeal ObamaCare pledge!" - Daniel Anderson, FreedomWorks for America

Part of the reason why this shit cracks me up is because I and many other liberals worked to defeat Dick Lugar in the past. In my own case we tried in 1994, and failed, because that's what happens when you try to defeat a well-liked Republican in a Republican wave year.

Part of the reason I'm guffawing at the gullible is that Lugar, like most of the rest of the Republican bloc, has been in lockstep opposition to everything President Obama has proposed from day one. It might make a difference to the Koch Brothers, who would prefer a controllable ally to an independent one, as to which Republican gets that seat, but it makes no difference to the Democrats, and little to Obama's agenda.

But, really, most of the reason why this cracks me up is that I and a lot of other partisan Democrats have been cheering on Mourlock over Lugar for months now. Why, you ask, would we do this? Here's why:

Donnelly (D) 29
Lugar (R) 42

Donnelly (D) 34
Mourlock (R) 28
Source: The Hill

Granted: this is just one poll, taken before much attention has been paid to the general election. But it shows Mourlock's basic problem. He's not a known quantity the same way that Lugar is. This gives Donnelly a much, much better chance of winning this seat than he would have if the Republicans nominate Lugar again. His odds aren't great, but given the stakes, I'd take Mourlock as an opponent over Lugar any time.

34 Things Every Man Should Know By 30 || Hat tip to @JadeSylvan

Sat, 05 May 2012 00:23:21 GMT

I've been pondering Jade Sylvan's impressive list 30 Things Every Woman Should Know by Age 30. Mostly, I wish I had a list like this for myself when I was in my twenties. So why not make one?

For the most part, I would do this by adopting Ms. Sylvan's list, tearing out three that I think aren't apropos. (Most men don't wear make-up, which makes #25 not so useful. Most men learn to pee outdoors as kids, which obviates #20. And to be quite honest, I doubt any woman is comfortable enough with any man so that any man will need #8.)

Then I would add the following:

How to really listen to women and ask them for advice, and not just about relationships. Most guys aren't aware of this, but they tend to think that they're smarter than a given woman on subject X. There's a word for it - mansplaining - and it's actually terribly annoying. Actually listening will help you to avoid this. Asking your female friends to point out to you when you're doing this (and giving them permission to smack you when you are) is also helpful.

How to be friends, and just friends, with a woman. A lot of guys in their 20s think this is impossible. However, not only is being friends (and just friends) with a woman possible, but by your thirties, this is, in fact, mandatory. Not doing this in our egalitarian society will put severe limits on your career, your social life, and your cultural life. Start with learning how to listen to women (see above) and move on from there.

How to get out of the "friendzone." Note the quotes here. The fact is that there's no such thing as the friendzone. Guys who claim this are effectively talking themselves out of something good (see point two of the Ms. Sylvan's post above). The fact is, if you are friends (just friends) with a woman, if neither of you are committed to someone else, and if you find them attractive, there is always a path to something more. Consider with this: "I think you're special and I'd like to get to know you better...would you care to join me for (movie) at (time)?" If she asks whether it's a date, be honest: "Yes, I'm asking you on a date - just a date." You might be surprised at who jumps at the offer.

Do not pour out your heart at her. That's creepy. Just ask her on a date first.

If she turns down your offer, accept it and move on. Yes, unrequited love sucks. Part of being a grown man is learning how to deal with it. Have a beer and a shot and sigh and move the fuck on.

Lastly, if you were friends with her just because you wanted to have sex with her - you probably weren't being honest with her. Which means you weren't really being that good of a friend in the first place.

Then, I would add these, to both the mens' list and the ladies' list:

How to troubleshoot anything. This is an extension of #22. Understand what the symptoms are. Divide the system with the issue into pieces. Examine each one, eliminating them in turn until you find the likely culprit. Address the likely culprit. Test safely. Treat the system as suspect until you're reasonably sure that the symptoms are gone. It's not foolproof but it's a reasonably good algorithm. Being expert at this particular skill will go a long way towards helping you fix anything.

How to ask questions if you're lost. You might feel like you have to be the expert at everything. You don't. You should be the expert at some things by age 30, like mathematics or Java programming. But for things where you don't know the answer, you should know how to swallow your pride and go and find the answer from an expert, or from Google. Also, see #28.

How to write clearly. The written word is king of the Internet and of corporate communications. Knowing how to write clearly is therefore a survival skill. It will help you to instruct your cohorts, impress your superiors, and even to cover your ass.

How to use your bullshit filters. There is a lot of information out there in the world, and most of it is pure bullshit. People are trying to sell you things all the time, whether it's soap or a political or religious ideology. Pick your sources carefully. The mainstream media aren't going to be completely honest with you, because they have a corporate agenda. However, they're almost always a better, more accurate resource than IndyMedia, FreeRepublic, or Infowars.

By the way, don't assume that you have good bullshit filters just because you're smart. There are way too many smart people out there who never develop adequate bullshit filters, and think that their having an IQ of X and a GPA of Y is adequate protection from bullshit. It isn't. In my experience, trained, highly capable mathematicians are in fact the worst at this.

What would you add?

EDIT Quoting my friend Amanda, who commented on my FaceBook page:

I would add: "how to argue with logic as opposed to emotion as a means of defending your point" and "how to recognize the validity of emotions, even if they're illogical" and finally "how to break up with someone without being an asshole". I'm pretty sure these could be affixed to both lists.

Damn, she's good. Reposted with permission.

Wherein #DanSavage accepts homophobic #nom idiot Brian Brown's challenge. | Attn @therealoderus

Fri, 04 May 2012 22:19:58 GMT

Quoting the man himself:

I will name the time and the place, per your offer, as soon as possible. Looking forward to it, NOMnuts.

On the one hand, Dan Savage knows next to nothing about Christianity. On the other hand, Brian Brown is a homophobic idiot who also, IMO, knows plenty about the fascist, nationalist brand of Christianity, a bare minimum about the Bible, and nothing about much else. The whole fight is bound to be about as enlightening as a professional wrestling match.

However, I do see some potential for good here, if GWAR jumps on stage during the debate and kills both of them. How about it, guys?