Jurassic Park Meets Bible School

This has road trip written all over it. I'd have to go and see it just to believe it! Seems Creationists aren't content with infecting our schools and politics with their pseudo-science; they've now started erecting their own world-class museums. Yes- you read that right. A museum in Arkansas ( no surprise there, where the local mouth-breathers call T. rex " that big gator in that there fancy moving picture" ) displays exhibits such as a Tyrannosaurus rex being watched from the bushes not by a wary prey, but by Adam and Eve. Another shows juvenile dinosaurs on the Ark.....apparently Noah had the presence of mind to realize that a fully-grown Brontosaurus might well sink his little boat. One poster in the Creationist Playhouse--oh, I'm sorry-- museum, shows juvenile sauropods next to modern-day tigers and lions. WTF? If this wasn't being taken seriously, it would be a hoot, but the fact that people are thronging to this schlock is frightening. What's even more embarrassing is that this article was carried in the UK's Guardian. The Brits must be laughing their collective asses off and re-evaluating whether their persecution of the Puritans wasn't justified. C'mon kids! Time to take a roadtrip to JesusLand!!!!!

Attack the Clones, We Must

Seems South Korea has raised the hackles of Our Fearless Leader by reporting that their scientists have cloned human embryos, extracted their stem cells and used them for research. In Bush's eyes of course, this is murder and rails against his "culture of life". As a side, a bill which relaxes the ban on using stem cells in research ( co-introduced by our own Diane Degette ) is being sent to Bush. Bush is sure to veto this bill. Says Bush: ''I made very clear to Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayer's money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life -- I'm against that.........Therefore, if the bill does that, I would veto it.'' A couple of observations:

• Bush can deny U.S. scientists access to stem cells for what could be truly ground-breaking research, but he holds no sway over the rest of the world. Science will march on, in spite of this country's devolution into government-sanctioned, pseudo-science. The potential benefits to mankind far outstrip the still-contested notion that an embryo is Life, and this will drive man to understand the complexities of these cells.

• I work with human cells every day. Cancer cells, mononuclear cells and a myriad of others. All of these are direct descendents from stem cells which are in turn a product of the union of a sperm and egg. I don't for a minute question the ethics of what I am doing. A blastocyst ( a mass of early-developed cells ) is not a sentient being. It does not feel. Is it life? In a strict, pragmatic view it is. It meets the criteria of being able to reproduce, to take in nutrients, to move towards heat or some other stimulus and to grow. Yet I feel no compunction about destroying these cells because they are not sentient. I DO feel bad when I yank the tail of a mouse hard enough to dislocate its neck and kill it. The mouse is self aware and thus frightened. And yet we do it every day. Certain compromises have to be made for the greater good. So we experiment on sentient animals: dogs, rabbits, monkeys and mice to name a few. People enroll themselves onto clinical trials, hoping the risks will be outweighed by a slim chance of a benefit. In the grand scheme of things, harvesting stem cells seems fairly innocuous. No one gets hurt and "life" is not destroyed because to lose something, you must first SENSE it.
  

• Stem cells are not harvested from living donors. These masses of cells are created in the test tube ( in vitro ), not yanked from a healthy uterus. The sperm and eggs are typically donated for the sole purpose of research. Clearly then, these people have no ethical issues donating their gametic cells for research. By withholding monies from these research programs, the Bush administration is shoving its religious values down Americans' collective throats, irrespective of its citizens religious beliefs.
  

Here's a thought. Why not let the amoral scientists do their jobs? Let them work with stem cells and find fantastic new cures and remedies for a panoply of ailments. Let people decide on whether they want to take advantage of those remedies knowing full well that those cures come from stem cell research...... from destroying life. I'd bet my life that a great many Christians would suddenly abandon their conceptions of what life is for that cure to the cancer growing in their body, or for that cure to their Parkinson's. That's just my guess though.........they might shun those cures, but I doubt it.

Friday Fives

1. You can invite 2 artists to your house, but they must sing together. Who are they and what one song will they sing?

Bette Midler and Henry Rollins. They'd sing " Wind Beneath My Black Flag ".

2. Are you on "the light side" or "the dark side"?

Dark Side material. Definitely. While the Jedi mean well and are needed throughout the galaxy, I'd much prefer being a Sith. They get to blow things up, have wicked cool powers and cause mayhem throughout the galaxy. I'm so up for that. And did I mention the get-ups? Who doesn't want to wear a big, black flowing cape and bark orders at inept underlings? Oh, and I almost forgot the biggest advantage of signing on with Vader and Co. Removing incompetent underlings/people with the flick of a wrist. That's a power I wish for on a daily basis.

3. If you could completely start your life over from scratch, what would you do differently the second time around (if anything)?

I think I would've "played the field" more after coming out of the closet. I got into a 5 year relationship about 3 days after I came out. While it wasn't all bad, I think I would've had much more fun being free and loose.

4. Do you have any purple clothes in your closet? If so, what items are they? Do you enjoy wearing the color purple?

I own this great dark purple shirt from the Banana. I do like wearing purple, but only in dark tones. Light purple is soooooooooooo gay.

5. What do you picture when you think of garbagemen?

The clanking of beer bottles, wine bottles, more beer bottles, more wine bottles, liquor bottles and the occasional tin can and milk jug being dumped into the garbageman's very loud truck at 7am.

"Star Wars" Strikes Back

You knew I was going to do it. A midnight screening of the last Star Wars movie, attend, I did. I went to this movie full of apprehensions. Would Lucas finally deliver? Were all the positive reviews justified? Would Revenge of the Sith be Lucas' crowning achievement, a fitting swan song to his massive 28 year film cycle? Yes, yes and yes. This last of the prequels chronicling the descent of Anakin Skywalker and linking the movies into one massive saga delivers the goods......and with a wallop. It is relentlessly foreboding, right down to the ominous yet muted score. There is no annoying Jar Jar, no comical one-liners from C-3PO, and no cute furry creatures for the kiddies. Death is everywhere. This is Star Wars all grown up. Anakin's descent into darkness is genuinely heart-breaking, which is all the more surprising since we know his destiny. Without giving up any details, I can say that the transformation of Darth Vader from man into machine will endure as one of the most iconic images from the entire series. It is fittingly grotesque and surprisingly heart-wrenching all at once. And shockingly, Darth Vader himself becomes a much more sympathetic character. As he arises from the operating table, taking his first steps, Emperor Palpatine is there to instill rage and guilt in his apprentice, to further manipulate him and feed the Dark Side, to help forge Vader into the monster he will become. It is truly sad.

That being said, the film also dovetails nicely into the original trilogy. Many loose ends are tied up and while there are a "few" inconsistencies, only people steeped in the lore of Star Wars will likely notice. All in all, this was a great Star Wars film. I'd rate it very close to The Empire Strikes Back in terms of sheer drama and good acting. Thanks George, for letting a 35 year old enjoy your universe again....................

Friday Fives

1. How often do you cook at home?

At least once a week, although Robert is more the cook than I. I do love grillin'. Less clean up and you get to be outside drinking a beer. Something about BBQ and beer that just "fits".

2. How did you learn how to cook?

A myriad of sources. All of my grandparents cooked fairly well. I was always fascinated by their style as well. " A little of this and a little of that " and----BAM!!----instant culinary bliss. I also enjoy going to the book store and purchasing cookbooks and just running with them. All in all, I'd say I'm mostly self-taught.

3. What is a meal that has special meaning to you?

Well, duh. Thanksgiving! Gathering together with all your loved ones and gorging yourself on food and drink like invading Mongols..........well, what's not to like?

4. What is the last meal you cooked?

A Thai green curry dish. We've been doing alot of Thai dishes lately.

5. What is your least favorite thing to cook?

Children? They're hell to get into the oven and clean-up afterwards is just a bitch.

Deliver Us From Evil............er Texas

Looks like the Lone Star State is at it again, showing the world that it is a leader in Family Values. The Texas Legislature is debating a bill that will effectively ban gays and lesbians from adopting children or even fostering them. It is, of course, in typical Republican-speak, called the "Defense of Families Act". But here's the real kicker. Gays or lesbians who ALREADY have kids in their homes will have those children summarily removed if this law is passed. This is "Family Values"?? Removing perfectly happy kids from homes and parent-figures that may represent the best homelife they've ever had just because politicians think these kids will catch "gay"? This just screams insanity to me. If letting gays adopt and foster kids was so "unholy" and wrong, why did the legislature EVER let it happen. And lest you think that there isn't a religious undercurrent to this bill, read this little ditty from a gal who wrote in to Dan Savage's column this week:

I work in an office at the Texas House of Representatives. Last week, the house passed an amendment to the Child Protective Services bill saying not only that gay people can't be foster parents, but also that if you already are a foster parent and are discovered to be gay, your children will be taken away from you. This week, they passed a bill to amend the Texas Constitution to invalidate any legal agreement similar to marriage for same-sex couples.

Every day, the Texas house opens its session with a prayer. Representatives bring in pastors from their districts. The prayers usually sound something like, "God knows what he wants you to do today... let God guide you in your important decisions..." I was wondering, if you were to write a prayer invoking the name of God before the Texas House of Representatives, what would you say?

Mind you, this gal works for the Texas legislature, so her story can be expected to carry some weight. This is outrageous. The only outcome for the kids affected by this law will be even more trauma and resultant wariness towards adults. What else could one expect? These kids have been shuffled through the system for years and then, upon finding a good family who happen to be gay, are yanked from that stability and thrown back into the bureaucratic morass that is The State. How can anyone conceive of this bill as "family friendly"? This is all the more appalling in that recent scientific studies are pretty much up in the air concerning rearing a child in a same-sex household versus raising one in a more "traditional" home. Which begs the question: what exactly IS "traditional" these days? A one-parent family? Being raised by grandma while mom or dad or both work two jobs? A same-sex family? Having a crack-whore mom? Being raised by siblings? The reality is that all of these scenarios are extant, especially the one-parent family. How is being raised by one parent any better than being raised by two men or two women? In my estimation, the only requirement to being a good parent is being a good provider and giving a child love. Who cares who's giving it? Apparently, Texas politicians do.

Christians love God
God Hates Gays
Therefore, Christians must hate Gays.

Here's my version:

Bible-thumping, right wing assholes just hate.
That's it.

Friday Fives

1. Do you prefer to be the driver or passenger?

This all depends on who's driving. With most folks, I have no problem relinquishing control. I'm not a control freak when it comes to driving, although I do it any chance I get. I'm definitely one of those Americans who loves his car..........even if it is a 4 cylinder Toyota Tercel.

2. When you drive somewhere, do you prefer to take the long way or quickest route?

Being blonde AND having no innate sense of direction, I usually end up taking the "scenic route". This infuriates others to no end, but unless I'm in a rush, it doesn't bother me. I'll get there eventually. I HATE the feeling of being lost alone. If I'm gonna get lost, I want someone to bitch to about it. So, if I'm going to a new place and am on a schedule, I like to have someone else with me---someone who hopefully knows where we're going. This doesn't always work though as my partner is sometimes as clueless as myself. To wit: Eddie and I driving madly about downtown searching for parking, both trying to be calm about the fact that we have exactly 10 minutes to park, walk and seat ourselves at Boettcher to hear Patty the Triangle Player's most recent cavalcade of sound. The anxiety level inside that little TT was more palpable than John Merrick's tumors. Now we just leave earlier...........

3. Do you have road rage?

Admittedly, yes. People just do the stupidest things on the road. I know screaming and cursing does nothing but get my heart going, but goddamn it feels good. In my world, everyone's license plate would be their car phone number. So, Bad Woman Asian Driver ( sorry, its true ) who cuts me off without signaling gets a phone call from me asking her if she's familiar with Ancient Chinese Secret called USE YOUR FUCKING SIGNAL!!! Road rage? Me?? Nah................

4. What is the longest road trip you have taken?

Hmm. Out little 4-cylinder, hamster-driven Tercel has been driven from San Antonio to South Carolina and from Denver to Seattle, which makes her a trans-American vehicle. I think those are about equal distances. All I know is that those are some LONG trips.

5. What would your reaction be if you were driving and saw an animal run into the road?

That's easy. If I can safely swerve out of the way, I'll do it. If I think for even a second that I can't, Bambi or Thumper just got a plot in the nearest pet cemetery. My life is worth WAY more than some animal's.