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Virus News!

Virus News!

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You have got to read this article on the virus at Discover!

How did I miss this before????

Unintelligent Design
A monstrous discovery suggests that viruses, long regarded as lowly evolutionary latecomers, may have been the precursors of all life on Earth
by Charles Siebert, Photography by Jörg Brockmann
From the March 2006 issue, published online March 15, 2006

Now the viruses appear to present a creation story of their own: a stirring, topsy-turvy, and decidedly unintelligent design wherein life arose more by reckless accident than original intent, through an accumulation of genetic accounting errors committed by hordes of mindless, microscopic replication machines. Our descent from apes is the least of it. With the discovery of Mimi, scientists are close to ascribing to viruses the last role that anyone would have conceived for them: that of life’s prime mover. …

The discovery of Mimivirus lends weight to one of the more compelling theories discussed at Les Treilles. Back when the three domains of life were emerging, a large DNA virus very much like Mimi may have made its way inside a bacterium or an archaean and, rather than killing it, harmlessly persisted there. The eukaryotic cell nucleus and large, complex DNA viruses like Mimi share a compelling number of biological traits. They both replicate in the cell cytoplasm, and on doing so, each uses the same machinery within the cytoplasm to form a new membrane around itself. They both have certain enzymes for capping messenger RNA, and they both have linear chromosomes rather than the circular ones typically found in a bacterium.

“If this is true,” Forterre has said of the viral-nucleus hypothesis, “then we are all basically descended from viruses.”

Claverie says, “That’s quite a big jump in our thinking about viruses—to go from their not even being organisms to being all life’s ancestor.” …

“The general public thinks genetic diversity is us and birds and plants and animals and that viruses are just HIV and the flu. But most of the genetic material on this planet is viruses. No question about it. They and their ability to interact with organisms and move genetic material around are the major players in driving speciation, in determining how organisms even become what they are.”

We have been looking for our designer in all the wrong places. It seems we owe our existence to viruses, the least of semiliving forms, and about the only thing they have in common with any sort of theological prime mover is their omnipresence and invisibility. Once again, viruses have altered the way that we view them and, by extension, ourselves. As it turns out, they are not the little breakaway shards of our biology—we are, of theirs.

So it’s not only language…. I’ve been thinking along these lines for a long, long time. It’s so fun to see that I haven’t been the only one. Maybe there’s a contagion-effect among minds, too?

This is very, very exciting scientific research.

Please comment if you know of any new developments!

Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed

Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed

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In Santa Fe, Michael told me that at some point Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson had gotten married. Huh? Whew. Can anyone confirm? I guess they’ve been an item for some time – I don’t know how I could have missed that. Two of my favorite talents, but so very different.

I’ve been listening to a lot of both of them in the last few days. I’ve really been enjoying the music from Anderson’s “Strange Angels.” Then I discovered her series of public service announcements. Heh-heh. I’m going to post one a week.

Until then, here’s some of my faves.

I think my favorite is “The Dream Before” – about fairy tales (Hansel and Gretel here), Bellamy’s angel of history, and “progress”:

And I adore “Strange Angels”

I couldn’t find “Closed Circuits” – which I also love, but no blog post on this – at VirusHead – would be complete without…. “Language is a Virus from Outer Space.” (grinning)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FeyGTmw0I0[/youtube]

And “Smoke Rings” – que es mas macho?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnRjTKVWzw8[/youtube]

And of course – “O Superman.” Two versions – I like the delivery of the first (close up) one better, but it looks like it was part of some kind of documentary. Oh hey – does anybody know what the name of this was or where I might get it? The second video is the full version -a very powerful performance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8LquNy3fd8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hhm0NHhCBg[/youtube]

I’m lingering on Lou Reed, too, especially the tracks on “New York.” I’ve always thought he had a really sexy voice. When we saw him in Paris, I wore black boots and a mini-skirt (and looked at an Parisian audience swearing tee shirts and jeans – so disappointing).

Here’s an interesting video that was made of “Satellite of Love.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTqziV6kK0M[/youtube]

Lou Reed and John Cale singing “Nobody but You” (about Warhol) on the Letterman show.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFP9kBIXxfY[/youtube]

And a Reed classic – “Sweet Jane”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1edgKKwKf-0[/youtube]

I couldn’t find a video of “Sick of You” anywhere. It has always been my very favorite Lou Reed song. It’s a bit dated now in terms of the references, but I still enjoy it just as much as I always did. Note the Rudy Giuliani comment – hmmm. The bit on the President’s head works a little differently now than it did for Reagan.

I know this song stone cold – I’d love to perform it sometime, but it’s not the kind of song that is likely to show up on karaoke, and I doubt I could put together a back-up band anymore (lol) – so I sing it on the deck, iPod to my ears. My neighbors must really wonder about me. Anyway, here are the lyrics (emphasis added).

“Sick Of You,” Lou Reed

I was up in the morning with the TV blarin’
Brushed my teeth sittin’ watchin’ the news
All the beaches were closed
The ocean was a Red Sea
But there was no one there to part in two
There was no fresh salad
‘Cuz there’s hypos in the cabbage
Staten Island disappeared at noon
And they say the midwest is in great distress
And NASA blew up the moon

The ozone layer has no ozone anymore
And you’re gonna leave me for the guy next door?
I’m Sick of You, I’m Sick of You

They arrested the Mayor for an illegal favor
Sold the Empire State to Japan
And Oliver North married William Secord
And gave birth to a little Tehran
And the Ayatollah bought a nuclear warship
If he dies he wants to go out in style
And there’s nothing to eat
That don’t carry the stink
Of some human waste dumped in the Nile

Well, one thing is certainly true
no. one. here. knows. what. to. do.
And I’m Sick of You, I’m Sick of You

The radio said there were 400 dead
In some small town in Arkansas
Some whacked-out trucker
Drove into a nuclear reactor
And killed everybody he saw
Now he’s on Morton Downey
And he’s glowing and shining
Doctors say this is a medical advance
They say the bad makes the good
And there’s something to be learned
In every human experience

Well I know one thing that really is true
This here’s a zoo and the keeper ain’t you
And I’m sick of it, I’m Sick of You

They ordained the Trumps
And then he got the mumps
And died being treated at Mt. Sinai
And my best friend Bill died from a poison pill
Some wired doctor prescribed for stress
My arms and legs are shrunk
The food all has lumps
They discovered some animal no one’s ever seen
It was an inside trader eating a rubber tire
After running over Rudy Giuliani

They say the President’s dead
No one can find his head
It’s been missing now for weeks
But no one noticed it
He had seemed so fit
I’m Sick of it!!!

I’m Sick of You
I’m so Sick of You!
bye, bye, bye
bye, bye, bye

Nuclear Plans, Libby’s Friend, Scope of War, SOTU

Nuclear Plans, Libby’s Friend, Scope of War, SOTU

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Some recommended reading – do your homework.

Saving the World By Stopping the Pentagon’s Programs
By Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNet

All that work against nuclear proliferation – gone, gone, gone. Another way we make the world a more dangerous place.

Then there is “Complex 2030,” a proposal to consolidate and update the entire nuclear complex, including the opening of a new plutonium “pit” facility capable of producing 125 new bombs a year. Estimated price tag: $150 billion over 25 years. The Bush administration and the Department of Energy argue that the overhaul is necessary to maintain the country’s deterrence and close aged plants, but arms control experts who have read the fine print say otherwise.

“The current nuclear stockpile is not in need of replacement, all of the existing nuclear weapons sites would still be in operation under the new plan, and the fundamental environmental problems of weapons production would not be solved,” states a joint report issued by more than a dozen nuclear watchdog groups, including Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Furthermore, the increased design, production and testing capabilities of Complex 2030 could spark a new nuclear arms race.”

…The major nuclear powers cannot continue to simultaneously refine their arsenals while keeping the rest of the world in 1944 by threat of force; only a madman thinks threats and preemptive strikes constitute a coherent or sustainable nonproliferation strategy. Nor can we continue to allow the production of fissile material and expect it to remain forever out of dangerous hands. We cannot have our yellow cake and eat it, too.

If we don’t come to grips with the dead-end of the nuclear double-standard, and begin soon the brave and historic grapple with the nuclear genie, we race toward a climax as awful as it is certain.

Take a look at Payson’s blog entry (Think Progress)on Chuck Hagel’s claim that the White House originally wanted the 2002 Iraq War Resolution to cover the entire Middle East. No-one else picked this up from the men style column at GQ? It ought to be on the front page.

Scooter Libby and Me
By Nick Bromell, The American Scholar, posted at AlterNet

Childhood friend of Scooter Libby’s shares questions he wants to ask him, and comments on the differences between liberalism and fundamentalism as they affect current US policy. This is worth a read just for the clear explanation of the difference between truth and the Truth (How did I miss Lynne Cheney’s article “The Roots of Today’s Lying Epidemic: The English Department Virus”? ). Oh, on lying?

Keep an eye out for fact checking updates on the State of the Union Address. The discussion on Charlie Rose was pretty good, and ABC has collected some citizen comments. To my ears, all Bush is saying…. is give war a chance.

Flu-like Symptoms? Diagnosis Needed

Flu-like Symptoms? Diagnosis Needed

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Maybe I spent too much time wallowing in viral topics for my dissertation, but I’m gradually getting a little concerned. I’m trying to disentangle coincidence, influenza, and another virus with “flu-like symptoms.”

The flu virus is spreading fast in the Southeast, with Georgia, Alabama and Florida reporting the highest activity, the CDC says. See the CDC weekly flu map.

James Brown died early Christmas morning. Phyllis Brown (widow of DeKalb County Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, who was shot down in his driveway on the orders of his political opponent) has died – at 52 – with “flu-like symptoms.” (By the way, isn’t that odd? Brown-Brown? I’m assuming that the king of soul and the woman who wouldn’t give up aren’t related – anyone know for sure?).

Late last week, Ben (6) was sent home from school on the last day with a temp of 104. The doctor’s offices were completely mobbed with sick children (and adults) and we were there for hours. He’s still sick, and both John and I are heading in the same direction. Several friends and their children – same thing. I’m taking extra precautions and we’re got a semi-quarantine going here. I’m walking around disinfecting doorknobs and trying not to be obsessive.

Ben tested negative for both influenza and strep throat. We were told that it was an unidentified virus with “flu-like symptoms.” It started with high fever and a sore throat, and moved into dry coughing and sinus congestion. I’ve got albuterol on hand if he starts wheezing, but I’m concerned because he doesn’t get sick very often – and when he does, he doesn’t get high fevers like this.

Where is the diagnosis for what seems to be a somewhat dangerous and pervasive non-flu virus? Is anyone tracking this? Are the flu-like symptoms disguising another possible epidemic? These are the things that keep me up at night. I can’t find any regional stats at the CDC web site. Comment if you have any information.

(W)retched

(W)retched

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I spent much of the last thirty hours or so in a state of utter wretchedness. And retching. And intensified misery thinking of W. And retching. And wretched.

I don’t know whether it was food poisoning, or a virus, or what.

Even worst than the nausea and vomiting was the horrible alternation between the sweats and the shivers. I would just about start to get warm and then I would be soaking the sheets. Then I’d fling off the sheets and I would just about start to cool off and I would get clammy and start shivering. It felt like whatever it was would take any opportunity that it could for a quick exit out of my body – up, down, out – whatever. I took a hot shower at 3:30 am trying to feel better, and very nearly passed out.

The back of my throat was burning. Any attempt at even a sip of water was punished severely.

Finally, a few sips of ice-cold coke stayed down (it has very nice anti-nausea qualities if you stir out the carbonation). Oh, that felt like heaven. A few hours later, some diluted Gatorade. By last night, I was woozy and weak, but not sweating or shivering. It’s mostly done, at least now I can regulate my body temperature. Today, my neck hurts and I still have that light free-floating nausea but I think I’ll be ok.

I was really wondering if I should get medical help, but I hardly ever bother with that anymore. By the time all the driving and waiting is done, it’s not worth the basic advice and possible diagnosis/remedy; I would have been better off staying home. This time, it would really have been too much to even try to see my doctor.

Whatever it is seems to be on the tail end (double entendre alert) of resolving itself.

(W)retched.

Religion as a Virus: Dawkins on Religion

Religion as a Virus: Dawkins on Religion

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Richard Dawkins (Oxford prof., father of meme theory, author of The Selfish Gene) argues against irrational, militant religion in the two-part Channel 4 UK documentary “The Root of all Evil?” (Jan. 2006).

Dawkins goes too far by including all forms of faith – not all are in direct contradiction to independent thought and constructive doubt! (Please chime in on this – esp. Progressive Faith Bloggers!)

Still, his arguments are very persuasive in terms of the malignant, dangerous, and destructive forms of “faith” that we see once again today – both here and abroad.

This from the Channel 4 description:

He describes his astonishment that, at the start of the 21st century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth. Science, based on scepticism, investigation and evidence, must continuously test its own concepts and claims. Faith, by definition, defies evidence: it is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science.

In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, in fact, says Dawkins, they bring intolerance, violence and destruction. The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but, he argues, is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress – to become more enlightened and more tolerant.

The Root of All Evil? Part 1 – The God Delusion
The Root of All Evil? Part 2 – The Virus of Faith

Here is Part 1:

The God Who Wasn't There The Selfish Gene : 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author The God Delusion