At some point in this video, Z said "the star will tickle his unclebrain." When I played back the video he said "daddy, what's an unclebrain?" I replied, "I have no idea Z, you were the one who said 'unclebrain.'"



Wow, I need to update my LJ Z icon. That one is probably around two years old.

One of the most perplexing propositions coming from conservative quarters is the notion that the GOP's alleged "War on Women" is just a PR campaign concocted by Democrats to make Republicans look bad.

Did deep cover Democratic operatives infiltrate the Idaho legislature to propose the "justifiable homicide" bill? Did some lefty whisper subliminal suggestions to officials in Mississippi, Colorado, and Oklahoma to push "personhood" amendments and laws that would outlaw IUDs, hormonal birth control, and in-vitro fertilization? Did some liberals launch a conspiracy in New Hampshire to pretend to be Republicans, get elected to the NH legislature, to pass bills forcing doctors to tell women that abortions increase the risk of breast cancer? Are members of Obama's re-election team using some kind of mind-control ray to influence Tennessee legislators to consider a bill that would publish the names of doctors who have performed abortions online? Were legislators in my home state of Georgia under the hypnotic influence of David Axelrod when they pushed a bill that would force women to continue pregnancies with mortally deformed fetuses with no chance of survival outside the womb? "Oh, you look ready to pop! When are you due?" "In about a month, after which my son will suffocate to death due to lack of lungs. Would you like to buy our crib and carseat before we put them up on Craigslist? They're still in boxes."

Republicans, very briefly, held the upper ground after the original mandate from the Obama administration mandating that Catholic organizations cover birth control in their health plans. Even uber-liberals like E.J. Dionne were saying the administration had overreached. But it didn't take long for the GOP and its water carriers to piss away that advantage. Since Republicans took complete control of so many State governments in 2010, it's been hard to keep up with the unprecedented deluge of bills focusing specifically on the "lady parts." I'm sure Democrats are going to exploit anger over these bills, and the jaw-droppingly ignorant rhetoric used by those proposing them. But this was a political gift Republicans handed to the Democrats, wrapped in a little pink bow.

Oh! And I forgot the one where a doctor would be immunized from lawsuits if my wife's health was damaged from pregnancy-related complications because her doctor withheld information about her health because the doctor thought it might lead my wife to wanting to abort a pregnancy. Unless my wife fucking died from those complications. If she died, then I could sue. Yes, that bill. I fucking love that one.

That last one was my tipping point. Look at me, being actually, truly furious. I often get irritated, I often get annoyed, I often get vexed about the things I see that politicans are proposing. But full blown, near-shaking anger -- that does not happen very often.

I am blessed with a lovely wife and a lovely son, and fortunately he came to the world in the usual way. I never sensed anything from the midwife, doctors, or nurses that lead me to believe that Joyce or our Z-to-be were suffering from any dangerous complications.

Joyce was 35, which technically put bumped her into the higher-risk age zone, so we were sent to doctor who specializes in higher-risk pregnancies equipped with a machine that could form higher-quality ultrasound images than those available at a usual OBGYN's office. Using this, they took various measurements of our son-to-be to formulate a risk score. In many cases this can rule out the need for a risky and painful amniocentesis.

Several states have passed, or are in the process of passing, various laws that immunize doctors from lawsuits if they deliberately withhold information from a patient because they believe that information might lead a patient to seek an abortion... unless the woman dies.

Regardless of how you feel about the issue of abortion, this kind of law -- much like the "personhood" laws and amendments, which could outlaw many forms of birth control -- goes far, far beyond the issue abortion.

From Kansas Abortion Bill Would Impose Sweeping Restrictions:

Among the most contested provisions of the bill is the section that would exempt a doctor from a medical malpractice suit if a woman claims the physician withheld information about potential birth defects to prevent her from having an abortion. In addition, a woman would not be able to sue if she suffers health damage from a pregnancy as a result of information withheld from her to prevent an abortion. A wrongful death suit could still be filed, however, if the mother died. [boldface mine.]

From Wrongful Birth Bill: New Abortion Legislation Passes Arizona Senate:

Under the provisions of [Bartos's] bill, a doctor could not face a medical malpractice suit if the doctor withholds information from a mother about health issues facing a child that could cause her to have an abortion.

Barto's legislation is quickly drawing opposition from House Democrats, including Rep. Matt Heinz (D-Tucson). Heinz, a physician, said that he does not believe the proposal fits with the role of a doctor and noted that in many cases a woman needs to know of the potential disabilities to prevent health problems that could potentially kill her during child birth.

"I cannot think of a time that it is right to withhold information from a patient that would cause them pain or death," Heinz told HuffPost. "That is not consistent with the Hippocratic Oath."

I think back to the time when Joyce and I -- and our Z-to-be -- were in the specialist's examination room. The only people I would want in there besides us would be our doctors and their assistants. I would prefer it if legislators, governors, and even presidents would agree to wait outside.

[I had originally written this as a response in a thread on Facebook, and realized that it was probably lengthy enough to be a stand-alone blog entry.]

A recent post on a New York Times article bore the title Obama: The most polarizing president. Ever.

He may be the most polarizing president ever, but that is through little fault of his own. The Republicans and conservative media put so much effort into demonizing Obama in 2008 -- particularly in the last few months before the election, when the McCain camp was becoming increasingly desperate -- that there was no way to back down from the Kenyan-Marxist caricature they had crafted. During the Q&A with House Republicans near the start of 2010, Obama pointed out that the Republicans had painted themselves into a corner; by telling their base that Obama was not-quite-but-pretty-close-to-the-antichrist, it gave the Republicans no room to negotiate with him, since the conservative base will punish any Republican who is even talking to "the enemy." (See how Republican voters treated Jon Huntsman.) One of the reasons the GOP seems to be devoid of ideas is that they have to disavow their own ideas the moment Obama embraces them (see cap & trade, DREAM act, individual health insurance mandate, etc.) Republicans are utterly disingenuous when they claim that Obama has been unwilling to negotiate with him; indeed, a defining aspect of his presidency has been the speed with which he was willing to capitulate to Republican demands.

It didn't have to be as bad as it is now. The change happened in August 2009. Chuck Grassley is the canary in the coal mine. I think he and a few other Republican legislators were -- at least at first -- negotiating in good faith on health care reform. But Grassley and the others got spooked during the August recess. A decision was made at some point that any legislation proposed by Obama must be opposed, regardless of its content. If you see video clips of Grassley speaking before and after August 2009, the contrast is striking.

Obama recoils from confrontation -- he's not a Newt Gingrich or a Barney Frank, to name two characters who thrive on it. It seems to have taken him a while to realize that congressional Republicans have spent the past several years negotiating in bad faith. He is framing his election campaign around a Trumanesque theme of railing against a "do-nothing congress" -- not because it's something he wants to do, but because Republicans in Congress have given him no other option.

It has been a long time since I have posted in LJ. I've often just posted links to various articles, with only a few sentences of commentary at most, so I started doing that on Facebook instead of here, since Facebook seemed more amenable to that brief format, and there seemed to be more people over there.

But I wanted to post this story here. Everyone needs to read it: Survivor: MIT grad student Samuel Brinton remembers ‘ex-gay’ therapy:


...a copy of Playboy magazine was somehow smuggled into the eager hands of the community’s young boys. Overflowing with pride, Sam mistook his sexuality for sanctity and told his father that he was “so righteous, so holy,” that he wasn’t affected whatsoever by the pictures of scantily-clad women. He did, he admitted to his dad, sometimes feel that way about his best friend Dale.

“The next thing I knew,” Sam says, “I woke up in the E.R.”

12-year-old Sam had been “punched out cold” by his father, and would end up in the emergency room for similar reasons seven times in quick succession...

“...the first step” of his therapy involved attaching his hands to a table with leather straps, palms up. The therapist placed blocks of ice on each hand and showed Sam pictures of two men holding hands, so that the young boy began to associate touching men with the “burning cold.”

“The second step” was similar, but the ice was replaced with copper heating coils that had been wrapped around his wrists and hands. The heat was turned on when pictures of two men holding hands were shown, but turned off when pictures of a heterosexual couple holding hands were shown. Following these sessions, Sam would shudder when hugged by his father, experiencing what he calls “heat flashbacks.”

“The third step” accompanied Sam’s first attempt at committing suicide (there have been five). He was strapped into a chair, and small needles were stuck into his fingertips. The needles were attached to electrodes, and Sam received shocks when shown pornographic images of two men engaging in sex acts.

During the months of therapy, Sam was kept in his bedroom “24/7.” His parents told his younger sister that Sam had murdered someone, and they were hiding him from the police. Sam says he was “sequestered” to protect his parents’ reputation at the mission.

This sounds like fun (literally!)

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Georgia Tech's Sonic Generator and The Woodruff Arts Center host SONICpalooza - a 10-Hour Festival of Live Contemporary Music

Saturday, June 25, 2011; 2 pm - midnight; free and open to the public

Woodruff Arts Center Galleria, 1280 Peachtree Street

Audience members are encouraged to come and go as they please and sample food and drink from Atlanta's finest street food vendors on Callaway Plaza.

http://www.sonicgenerator.gatech.edu/upcoming_concerts/june-25-2011-sonicpalooza.html
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128848553862345

Sonic Generator, in collaboration with the Woodruff Arts Center, is proud to present SONICpalooza - a festival of contemporary music on June 25, 2011, 2:00 pm - Midnight. Featuring performances by Sonic Generator and friends, SONICpalooza will showcase works by the most unique American composers who are actively shaping contemporary music.

Notable performances include music by Steve Reich, who has been called "one of a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history" for his influence on contemporary and minimalist music. SONICpalooza will prominently feature several of his seminal compositions. Clapping Music, an early work of Reich's for two percussionists, and his late 20th Century masterpiece Music for 18 Musicians, will open and close the festival. Also featured throughout the day will be the music of another giant in contemporary music, 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Lang. His multi-movement work for chamber ensemble child will receive its Atlanta premiere during SONICpalooza. George Crumb's Unto the Hills: American Songbook III will be yet another Atlanta premiere. A cycle of Appalachian folk songs scored for percussion quartet, piano and soprano, Unto the Hills will feature Atlanta's own Wanda Yang Temko. Rounding out the rest of the day will be a unique collection of works by local, up-and-coming, old school, downtown, uptown, minimalist, post-minimalist and post-modern composers.

SONICpalooza promises to be a celebration of contemporary music, local art and innovative cuisine. Film, video, and lighting design by local multi-media artist Neil Fried will accompany many of the performances. Much of his work revolves around the idea of "live compositing," the use of analog and digital technologies to create composite montage in real time using film and video projections, computer processing, performance, and the manipulation of projection screen materials. Food and drink from some of Atlanta's finest street food vendors will be on hand during the day, parked right outside in Callaway Plaza.

SONICpalooza will take place in the Galleria of the The Woodruff Arts Center and is free to the public. Audience members can come and go as they please throughout the performances. SONICpalooza will be the first contemporary music festival of its kind in Atlanta and aims to be an engaging, entertaining, and inspiring good time.

The Link: Peter Thiel: We’re in a Bubble and It’s Not the Internet. It’s Higher Education. (Peter Thiel is an uberlibertarian of the sort that I usually find nauseating, but I find him to be endlessly fascinating and his arguments at least interesting and quite often quite compelling.) A related link: Peter Thiel Has New Initiative To Pay Kids To “Stop Out Of School”.

The Talk: I don't like the "they have college education and homes because they have the personal traits and behaviors that make you middle class so you can afford them" bit around the 50 minute mark, but I think most of the rest of this is on target, and the Q&A is interesting. I like the idea of "apprenticeships" coming back - graduate school in science and engineering are basically glorified apprenticeships.

My mother taught Kindergarden through 2nd grade for over 30 years; she is the hardest working person I've ever met. My wife spent three years as a teacher; she left teaching to go into *tech support* in search of decent pay and respect.

If you want to complain about teachers being "lazy" and "overpaid," pay close attention to that sharp, poking feeling; that's your new asshole that I am preparing to rip you.

That's the title of a talk I'm giving as part of Georgia Tech's ECE8010 weekly graduate seminar, on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 11:00-12:00 AM, Van Leer 200.

Title: Education and Innovation in the End Times
Speaker: Aaron Lanterman

Abstract: Two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson envisioned an institution "based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind, to explore and to expose every subject susceptible of its contemplation...not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." He spoke of the University of Virginia, which became the template for a new kind of place of learning, "so broad and liberal and modern, as to be worth patronizing with the public support, and be a temptation to the youth of other States to come and drink of the cup of knowledge..." Georgia Tech is a descendant of Jefferson's legacy, and we should be proud of the role we have played in pursuing his vision. But, to misquote the Bard, when changes come, "they come not single spies, but in battalions" - and Shakespeare never met Ray Kurzweil or Gordon Moore.

The U.S. educational system, as we now know it - from kindergarden to the 12th grade, from the freshman year of college to the doctoral thesis defense - may be hurtling towards a catastrophic breakdown. We should not try to fight the gravitational pull of this vortex of creative destruction. We should not try to frantically skirt along its event horizon. We should dive headlong in - and there, in a singularity of unlimited community and creativity, we may find the fullest realization of Jefferson's dream.