Somehow this really gets to me in a way that all the beautiful, mind-boggling photos of universe upon universe strewn through the unimaginable distances of space don’t. And I’ve even seen Mars with my own eyes in the night sky!
rainbow acorn color wheel
Beautiful!
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
I once again have a brief, but heartfelt, post to honor Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging to celebrate the achievements of women in technology and science.
The first I heard of Jocelyn Bell Burnell was good reports of her as clerk of London Yearly Meeting. And then in 2000, I got to hear her speak at the annual Gathering of Friends General Conference. That is when I learned of her scientific accomplishments as an astrophysicist.
Burnell (then Bell), as a postgraduate student, discovered pulsars. As a student (and, I believe, as a woman), she was not included in the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics that was awarded to her supervisor, Antony Hewish.
In Burnell’s address to Friends, several things particularly struck me: her generosity of spirit, tested by grief; her embrace of both science and spirit; and her vivid cosmological description of us (and everything around us) as being made of stardust.
Science and Sarcasm
Given the mental difficulties involved in deciphering sarcasm, it’s interesting to note that the right hemisphere has been repeatedly implicated as an essential component of sarcastic processing.
War Criminals? part 2
Some of the brutal interrogation methods that Mr. Yoo and Mr. Bybee approved for use on Qaeda prisoners, including wall-slamming and the near-drowning of waterboarding, had never before been authorized in American history, and the United States had condemned such treatment as torture and abuse when used by other countries.
Um, perhaps because it is torture?
via Justice Department Report Finds John Yoo and Jay Bybee Not Guilty of Misconduct — NYTimes.com.
War Criminals?
John Yoo, page 251
Jay Bybee, page 255
Steven Bradbury, page 258
Michael Chertoff, Adam Ciongoli, John Ashcroft, page 259
Based on the results of our investigation, we concluded that former Deputy AAG John Yoo committed intentional professional misconduct when he violated his duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough, objective, and candid legal advice.
We found that former AAG Jay Bybee committed professional misconduct when he acted in reckless disregard of his duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough, objective, and candid legal advice.
We did not fmd that the other Department officials involved in this matter committed professional misconduct in this matter.
Sadly, this is a document that looks only at whether Office of Legal Counsel staff performed according to professional standards as lawyers. Whatever their “professional responsibilities,” it is clear from even my cursory look that these government officials were participating in the justification of torture.
Notably absent are then-President Bush, Vice President Cheney, congressional leadership, CIA personnel, and members of the military who may have been complicit in our nation’s descent into barbarism in the name of their “war on terror.”
(A tip of the hat to Andrew Sullivan.)
Blog Swarm on DADT
I left a message on the HRC website. It took 30 seconds.
[C]ontact the Human Rights Campaign on behalf of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
OUR MESSAGE TO HRC IS SIMPLE:
Publicly demand that President Obama take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.
1) That means the President needs to state publicly that he wants Congress to repeal DADT this year; and
2) The President needs to take the lead in working with Congress to make sure the repeal happens.
HRC Front Desk: (202) 628‑4160
TTY: (202) 216‑1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777‑4723HRC Web site comment page.
General membership email at hrc: membership@hrc.org
Today in Boston
via my G1 Android phone and the new WP app.
Watch: Obama Dances Around Same-Sex Marriage at Town Hall — Towleroad, More than gay news. More gay men
[I]t makes sense for us to take a leadership role in ensuring that people are treated the same. —President Barack Obama, January 28, 2010
(via Towleroad.)
So, if a state’s laws say it is legal, and a couple’s church says it’s moral, and a same-sex couple gets married, why isn’t their marriage recognized by the federal government? And why aren’t you working to change that?
I’m very sad about this
Early morning, Wednesday, 27 January
Just in from Kathleen Bartholomew, Kage Baker’s sister and care giver:
Kage’s doctor has informed us she has reached the end of useful treatment. The cancer has slowed, but not stopped. It has continued to spread at an unnatural speed through her brain, her lungs and — now — reappeared in her abdomen. It is probably a matter of a few weeks, at most.
Kage has fought very hard, but this is just too aggressive and mean. She’s very, very tired now, and ready for her Long Sleep. She’s not afraid.
We’ve been in a motel the last week or so, in order to complete her therapy. I’ll have her home in her own bedroom by the weekend, though, so end of life care can take place in more comfortable surroundings.
via Green Man Review and John Scalzi.
There are two intertwined sources of grief in this news.
First, I love Kage Baker’s books, especially the Company novels.
Second, my late friend Barbara and I read most of them together as they came out, and they were central to our recognition that we turned time and again to unorthodox time-travel books. (Other notable authors in that category are Kim Stanley Robinson and Connie Willis.)
And now not only will I not be reading new Kage Baker novels with Barbara, I won’t be reading any at all. Barbara’s last weeks at home in hospice care were rich and filled with loving friends and family, and she simply never woke up from an afternoon nap. My prayers are with Kage, her sister, their family and friends, as she continues along the path we will all walk one day.