FEBRUARY 7, 2010
THE NEW GOLEM
T hanks to O.J. and the CSIS series we all know that DNA is used to solve crimes. We can do this because each person’s DNA is a unique blend of four compounds called nucleotides: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). The A compound always pairs with the T compound; C with G. Put them all together and you have a genome.
A-T...G-C: Four letters in two pairs that taken together can and do represent every single life form that has ever existed. Or more importantly, that ever will exist.
The human genome consists of 3 billion base pairs. The blueprints for the human genome and that of many other species have been read. The DNA sequence for the human genome was completed in 2000, perhaps the single most important scientific advance in our lifetime in terms of knowledge that will literally change our lives.
Genomics is the science and practice of controlling DNA. Today, DNA researchers are on the verge of creating new life, starting at the microorganism level but ending who knows where. Expect breaking news on this sooner than you could ever imagine, and when you hear it, ponder the following.
Jewish tradition speaks of a magical creature called a golem. This was a creature that was fashioned out of clay and brought to life by reciting a specific combination of words and letters or by inscribing a specific word on its forehead.
Golems were usually created to do the heavy lifting since they were physically very strong. Inevitably it would begin well and end badly. The golem would get out of control and have to be destroyed.
Something to think about as we venture forth into our brave new genetic world.
FEBRUARY 3, 2010
THE SILENT SNOW
I live in the mid-Atlantic region where the winters have been so mild over the last few years that a reasonably hard winter comes as something of a shock. This year's winter has been reminiscent of the winters of the 1950's that I grew up with in New England.
In those days, it was not unusual for snow to be on the ground for weeks on end. Temperatures would get so cold that the manual transmission grease would thicken into an unmovable glob inside the gearbox. If you were forgetful enough to leave it in gear when you parked the car the night before then you had to sit there with your foot on the clutch until the engine warmed the grease sufficiently to allow you to put it in neutral.
What I loved best was how quiet it was. Snow seems to absorb sound, allowing us to experience the primeval silence that existed before the machine age, a silence broken only by the sounds of nature, be it the gentle burbling of a stream freshly quickened by melting snow or the harsh screech of a blue jay that carries with it the hint of dangers unseen.
Winter is a season that has teeth. Winter thins the herd. It kills off the germs and the weeds, and it will kill you too if you get give it half a chance. Or drive you mad.
Below is a link to a dramatization of a haunting short story writen by Conrad AIken, entitled "The Silent Snow, the Secret Snow." Written in the 1930's, the story deals directly with the very modern topic of youthful alientation and circles around the topic of a disease that was unknown and unnamed in those days: Autism, a disease that today overshadows so many young lives and families.
JANUARY 31, 2010
THE HEALTH CARE REFORM MESS
L et's start with a simple statement. You can't expect people to help you do something they don't want to do. Seems obvious enough, but President Obama's whole strategy on passing health care reform was predicated on exactly the opposite, getting Republicans to help him pass reform measures they adamantly opposed.
When you put it that way, you have to ask yourself, "What was the president thinking?" It seems obvious now that Mr. Obama should have said: "To hell with the Republicans. We have the votes, let's get 'er done." It is what his predecessor would have done, in fact did do time after time.
But suppose he had done that, would it have guaranteed success? Maybe. Maybe not. Here is another simple statement to ponder. You can't get what you want if you don't know what you want.
Unlike the Republicans, who are Borg-like in their top-to-bottom discipline, the Democrats are an unmanageable confederation that simply could not come up with a plan they could all agree on. Instead, they argued among themselves and frittered away the golden months after an election when anything is possible.
Here the fault likes with those who insisted on pursuing the perfect instead of settling for good enough. What was good enough? Anything! Any kind of initial steps to tackle health care reform would have started a process that over time would lead to more and better reforms.
In the end, the reformers insisted on going for the whole enchilada right now instead of trusting in future generations of politicians to carry on the work they began. The result to date has been a toxic stew of failure and lowered expectations that if they are really lucky might result in the kind of bill they could have had months ago.
As Shakespeare wrote of another political stalemate, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."
JANUARY 30, 2010
SATURDAY MORNING SPECIAL
JANUARY 28, 2010
GLOOM AND DOOM: JAPAN
C ount me among those who liked the president's State of the Union speech, especially the part when he confronted the Supreme Court about their dumb-ass decision. Makes you appreciate how small the government really is when you can get every branch in the same room and still have space for a few friends.
The president also came up big when he directly chastised both parties and told them they needed to quit messing around and do the country's business. I can't figure out who I am sicker of, the "do-nothing" Republicans or the "let's do everything at once" Democrats. Both positions are unrealistic and unproductive.
These are very troubling times and the current crop of politicians is sadly lacking in the kind of tough pragmatism that characterized doers like Sam Rayburn or Lyndon Johnson or for that matter Tom DeLay. What they all need to remember is that if things aren't getting better then they are getting worse. Case in point, this little clip:
JANUARY 27, 2010
STORM CLOUDS
T hink you don't already have enough to worry about. Well, here are three looming nightmares any one of which could seriously throw 2010 into the dumper.
Russia: Vladimir Putin is bent on restoring some semblance of the former Soviet Union, using energy as his leverage. God help anyone who gets in his way. The one battle he can't win is demographics. The decline in births among ethnic Russians continues to accelerate. Meanwhile, potential environmental catastrophes abound. Impure water in Russia's cities is a disaster waiting to happen. The Aral Sea is disappearing before our very eyes. The Siberian permafrost is melting and releasing methane into the atmosphere. That is one of those tipping points that could push the climate over into uncontrollable change. We're back in the USSR, boy, they don't know how unlucky they are, boy.
Japan and Greece: As near as I can tell both of these countries are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, something that just doesn't happen in good families of nations. Should either or both countries do so, the impact both real and imagined on an already precarious global economy would be enough to drive everything else off the front pages. This is by no means a certainty, but the bankruptcy scenarios are in play and one can only guess at the mountains of money that would be redirected to deal with what would really be an unprecedented crisis: An entire country (or two) going broke.
The United States: Again, I don't profess to understand the details, but from everything I can read we could be facing an enormous aftershock in the U.S. residential and commercial real estate markets this summer. President Obama has signaled an end to support for banks to keep mortgage rates down. What happens after that is anybody's guess, but it could get very ugly. We could be facing yet another situation where mountains of money will be shoveled into fighting yet another economic crisis.
All of these problems may fade away if governments rise up and face them head on. I wouldn't bet on it. I'm thinking it is a pretty safe bet that at least one will come to pass. This is on top of the problems you read about every day. Something to think about as you listen to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight.
JANUARY 24, 2010
A LAST CHANCE POWER DRIVE
T he creative process is a crooked path with many forks that the writer must pursue or pass up along the way to the final destination, whatever that might be. You don't choose the path. It chooses you. You just have to let it.
That's why my main character ended up owning a 1971 Olds 442. It wasn't there when I started writing; now it forms the core of the ending, a suicide rap into the truth behind a runaway American dream.
This particular path ran from Bruce Springsteen to "Born To Run" to muscle cars to a memory of an old buddy in 'Nam who was fixated on the Olds 442, a car he planned to buy as soon as he got home.
I could understand his need for speed. After I got back to the world it wasn't long before I bought my own suicide death trap machine. I had this tremendous energy inside me that could only find release at the edge, a high speed run down a winding road leaning the bike deep into the curves. That’s not where I am now, but those feelings are still there, waiting for that one last chance power drive into destiny.
In a way, that's the point of the book, to explore the ways in which ordinary people respond to extraordinary events. We are a delicate balance of instincts, memories and intelligence. Each of us carries within us our own unique blend, so the outcome can never be guessed ahead of time. Unless we understand what was there before, can we ever understand what came after?
Look at Haiti. A lot of folks thought the Haitians would descend into chaos after the earthquake. By and large it didn't happen. We underestimated the character of the Haitian people because we didn't understand where they had been so we couldn't know how they would handle things. Looks like they did okay. Better than okay.
I can only hope that when my time comes, folks will look back and think the same about me. He did okay. As for the guy in my book . . . well that remains to be seen.
JANUARY 20, 2010
WHAT A REVOLTIN' DEVELOPMENT
I ndependent voters in Massachusetts have sent a resounding message to Washington: "No more." No more spending. No more reform. No more big government. It is a classic case of future shock all over again.
The prime beneficiaries of all this are the Republicans. That fact alone is enough to make you gag when you realize that for six long years the Republicans cut taxes, raised spending, fell in love with every war that came their way, and let the financial markets be just be as bad as they wanted to be.
Ronald Reagan said that he would spend the Soviet Empire into oblivion. Well, the Republicans under Bush adopted the same strategy against our own government, intentionally putting it into such a deep hole of debt that the size of government would be forever after constrained by fiscal necessity. Or so they thought. They didn't reckon on a global economic meltdown.
President Obama came in with a mandate to save an economy that looked to be teetering on the brink of a second Great Depression. He also had his own agenda: Health care and energy. He tried to pitch health care as budget reform but the message was never heard over the rantings of the know-nothings and tea parties.
Despite his urgings to get this wrapped up in 2009, the Democrats in the House and the Senate diddled around in the pursuit of the perfect at the expense of the good enough. Well, that wasn't good enough. They let the Republicans sow discontent during the summer, and now the Democrats are reaping the bitter harvest of their inaction.
As if things aren't bad enough, we face the doubly galling prospect of the Republican gloating over the one swallow that makes their spring. But let us never forget that it was Republican's lethal combination of lower taxes, lower regulations, and increased spending that caused every problem we face today.JANUARY 13, 2010
THE BOSS AND THE BIG MAN
I '’ve just finished reading a book entitled "BIG MAN: Real Life & Tall Tales," written by Clarence Clemons and Don Reo. Clemons is best known as the saxophone player for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, although he has also played with the Grateful Dead and Ringo Starr, among others. Don Reo is a long-time toiler in the vineyards of television comedy and an old friend of Clemons.
I've read a couple of other memoirs of musicians who played in rock bands (The Dead and The Eagles) and the amount of angst was surprising. In one way it was reassuring to know that these guys were just as miserable as anyone else. On the other hand it was mildly disappointing to be reminded of man's capacity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory no matter how much fortune smiles upon you.
You don't get that feeling reading BIG MAN. Clarence Clemons seems to be a thoroughly likable and altogether decent sort of chap. This is not the memoir of an angry or frustrated man. I'm not saying he doesn't have issues, but he is not a brooder. He is deeply and continually aware of and appreciative of the life he has been given to live.
If you listen to this clip of "Born To Run" you will hear Bruce at the beginning talking to the crowd. He says "Remember, in the end nobody wins unless everybody wins." I wonder what would happen if the politicians started thinking that way?
Good night Wendy, wherever you are. I hope you got to walk in the sun.
JANUARY 10, 2010
WHAT'S IN A WORD?
W ords are the gene pool of our intellect. Like our biological genes, words contain within them a history of what went into their making and they contain the future in their expression of new combinations of thought and insight.
Given that our edge as a species lies in our ability to reason, you'd think that words would be treated with respect rather than the carelessness that has become so commonplace in our national dialogue.
Maybe that is what drives a writer to write, the appreciation of the value of words, an appreciation that fuels the passion to use words to dig into the past and to the make visible a future perhaps undreamt of until it took shape inside the writer's brain.
But it begins with a respect for words and the spaces between them, a sense of words as discrete bundles of intellectual energy that singly and collectively contain the accumulated wisdom of an entire species, from its earliest days until now.
What's in a word? Everything . . . and more.
JANUARY 7, 2010
IT'S BEEN TOO HARD LIVIN'
T oday’s e-mail contained a reply to piece I wrote several years ago and reposted a few months back. The piece told the sad story of Rodney McAllister, a young boy who died in the worst way imaginable, alone in the dark of night on a playground in St. Louis. No other piece that I have written, except maybe for the one on Paul and Gage Wayment, has struck so deep a chord within me.
At the core of both stories is a fatal moment of indifference, that moment where a stranger passing through could maybe have made the difference between life and death had they but stopped for a moment and decided to do something instead of ignoring what was plainly a time and a place gone wrong.
In my reply I said I would keep Rodney in my prayers. But sometimes it takes more than that. Sometimes you have to put yourself out there, in the flow, with all the risks that entails . . . knowing that you may never know if you really made a difference. You have to do that and not get lost finding your own way back from Edge City.
It isn't easy. I guess it says something about our society that the people we pay to do that — the teachers, the case workers, the cops — receive salaries that are dwarfed by football coaches and reality show "stars." Awful. Really, there's just no excuse.
Good night and good luck. We're going to need it.
