I received the following e-mail from 10 Downing Street today, in response to the petition I signed asking the PM for an apology to Alan Turing, one of Britain’s greatest mathematicians.

2009 has been a year of deep reflection – a chance for Britain, as a nation, to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before. A unique combination of anniversaries and events have stirred in us that sense of pride and gratitude which characterise the British experience. Earlier this year I stood with Presidents Sarkozy and Obama to honour the service and the sacrifice of the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we marked the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willingness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing.

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ – in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence – and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison – was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.

Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.

I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.

But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate – by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices – that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.

So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.

Gordon Brown

The following from SBE Council (a nonprofit, nonpartisan small business advocacy organization).

I support Obama’s healthcare plan in general, but I do agree with SBE that this needs to be addressed specifically.

On Small Biz “Exemption” in Obama’s Health Plan
October 8, 2008
Business News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       

On Obama’s Health Plan, Questions Still Remain for Small Business ?…new “exemption” and “meaningful share” need to be defined

Washington, D.C. – Presidential candidates Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama talked about their health care proposals in the debate last evening. According to the nation’s leading nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to enabling small business growth and entrepreneurship, the new small business exemption now included in the Obama health care plan is certainly interesting, but requires clarification. In addition, the details on how small firms can qualify for the tax credit still require more information. After all, there are strings attached to the tax credit, according to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council).

“While it appears that Senator Obama has included a new ‘exemption’ for small businesses in his health care plan with respect to the ‘play or pay’ component, we have questions about what type or size business will be exempted. In addition, it would be nice to have details regarding Senator Obama’s definition of a ‘quality health plan’ and what he regards as a ‘meaningful share’ of costs that employers must cover in order to qualify for the tax credit he proposes,” said SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan.

According to SBE Council, the “exemption” is a relatively new addition to the plan as the group has carefully read and followed both candidates’ plans on a range of issues impacting small business. In a Q&A feature of Barack Obama’s health care plan on the campaign website, it reads: “Employers who do not offer meaningful coverage to their employees will have to contribute a percentage of their payroll to help offset the cost of providing coverage to all Americans.” It adds, “Some small employers will be exempt from this requirement.”
Kerrigan said that Senator Obama needs to define what types or sizes of small businesses will be exempt from the payroll tax penalty if they do not provide health coverage.

The central feature of Senator Obama’s health care proposal for small businesses is the refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by the firm. In order to receive the credit, however, “small businesses will have to offer a quality health plan to all of their employees and cover a meaningful share of the cost of employee health premiums,” according to the plan.

Kerrigan commented: “For many small businesses, high costs remain an issue. If, by definition, a quality plan means expensive gold-plated coverage, the tax credit may not help all that much.”

SBE Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan small business advocacy organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For addition information, please visit http://www.sbecouncil.org/.

If you don’t like paying taxes…

• Don’t drive on paved streets or highways.
• Don’t call 911.
• Don’t flush your toilet.
• Don’t bring your garbage to the curb.
• Don’t fly in an airplane that uses air-traffic controllers.
• Don’t use the court system.
• Don’t call the police when you get robbed.
• Don’t use the US Post Office, send all your letters via FedEx or UPS.
• Don’t ask for a farm subsidy for not growing crops.
• Don’t ask for a taxpayer subsidy to do business in a city or state.
• Don’t buy a sports franchise and ask the taxpayers to build your stadium.
• Don’t send your children to public schools.
• Don’t attend a state university.
• Don’t expect a social security payment.
• Don’t let Medicare pay your bills if you are over 65 or disabled.
• Don’t look for a government contract to bolster your defense industry business.
• Don’t look for a government.
• Don’t run for political office where your salary is paid for by the taxpayers.
• Don’t accept government research findings that subsidize research for your industry.
• Don’t be an airline and expect the government to bail you out.
• Don’t be a car company and expect the government to bail you out.
• Don’t be a steel company and expect the government to bail you out.
• Don’t be a company that pollutes and expect the taxpayer to bail you out.
• Don’t make use of police services.
• Don’t be rescued by fire department paramedic team.
• Don’t call the fire department.
• Don’t expect federal assistance if a natural disaster destroys your home or business.
• Don’t expect the military to defend your country.
• Don’t visit national parks or hike in national forests.
• Don’t eat USDA inspected meat, cheese, eggs or produce.
• Don’t take any medications tested and approved by the FDA.
• Don’t drink, bath or otherwise use the water from municipal water systems.
• Don’t look at or relay a weather report.
• Don’t look at a NASA generated picture.
• Don’t expect a unit of measure like a gallon of gas to be a full gallon.
• Don’t expect an elevator to work correctly or not fall.
• Don’t expect a red light to work.
• Don’t use the services of a doctor who is licensed through the state.
• Don’t expect research into medical problems such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, aging, prostrate, menopause, etc.
• Don’t use the public library.
• Don’t go to a state university affiliated hospital.
• Don’t go to a state university.
• Don’t watch state college sports.
• Don’t apply for government grants.
• Don’t use your state’s convention centers.
• Don’t go to a state, city or municipal-run airport.
• Don’t ask for rural electrification.
• Don’t ask for a business loan from the small business administration.
• Don’t ask to use the G.I. bill to go to college.
• Don’t allow Al Gore to sponsor legislation to turn a military computer network (DARPANet/ARPANet) into the public-accessed Internet.
• Don’t drive a car that benefits from government safety regulations.
• Don’t use electricity generated by TVA or some government-owned and maintained dam or facility.
• Don’t use currency printed by the US Treasury.
• Don’t use a bank or credit union that insures your deposits through the FDIC.
• Don’t buy or build a house that requires the efforts of county deed offices or needs building permits and inspections.
• Don’t get married, have children or die and expect the government to keep track of all the certificates.
• Don’t go to a beach kept clean by the state.
• Don’t use public transportation.
• Don’t visit public museums.
• Don’t go hunting, fishing, or camping on government property.
• Don’t cross a bridge.
• Don’t use truckstops or public restrooms.
• Don’t expect the government to protect the copyright for the works you create.
• Don’t move to any other developed nation, because the taxes are higher in all the others, except South Africa.
• Don’t expect your tap water to be clean and germ free.
• Don’t expect any workplace safety standards, labor laws, or minimum wage.
• Don’t use any gasoline, oil, or natural gas that was discovered by the USGS.
• Don’t live in New Orleans, Sacramento or any other city protected by a levee.
• Don’t expect zoning laws.
• Don’t expect clean air, clean water, clean soil, etc.
• Don’t expect to OWN anything, like your house, car, etc. (the government keeps track of titles).
• Don’t expect anyone to plow your roads when it snows or sweep them when they’re dirty.
• Don’t expect to eat in restaurants that have been inspected to ensure cleanliness and the safe preparation of food.
• Don’t expect your children to be able to ride the bus to school.
• Don’t try to adopt a child through your county or state government.
• Don’t expect the state or county to pay foster parents to take care of the children left abandoned or orphaned.
• Don’t go to your book store and try to find a book by its ISBN number.
• Don’t expect the court to appoint a taxpayer-paid attorney to represent you (or your child) when you are accused of a crime.
• Don’t call or go to the US Embassy in a foreign country when you get in trouble.
• Don’t get a passport or try to get out of the US without a Passport.

Source: Missourians for Tax Justice

Well, we just got back from our annual family vacation. This year we spent a week at Paradise Point in San Diego. Everyone had a great time and came back tanned and mellow.

Thanks to all the San Diegans for being so hospitable.

Check out some of my photos taken during the week.

Wishing everyone a happy Independence Day holiday. Enjoy your day off!

I just read this is on STLToday.com, the web site of the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

“Thanks to the recent passage of House Bill 820, the names of members of the state’s execution team are now a state secret. Newspapers, like this one, that believed it is a matter of public interest when the state’s execution doctor tells a federal judge that he sometimes makes up the execution protocol as he goes along, now can be sued for disclosing the identities of members of the lethal injection team. The bill also prohibits medical licensing boards from penalizing health care professionals who take part in executions.”

[Link to article]

But that not really the point of this post. Reading this article, it occurred to me that by doing this, we are further isolating ourselves from the act of carrying out the death penalty. It’s easy to favor “state-sanctioned murder” when you don’t ever have to see it performed.

I propose that all Missourians register with the state concerning their position on the death penalty. Those who are in favor will have their names placed in a lottery from which the state’s executioners are selected. So, every citizen who approves of the policy will have a chance to kill another human being with no consequences.

If you don’t have the stomach to do it yourself, then you really can’t be for it.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (King James Bible, John Chapter 14, Verse 6)

This particular verse is the mainstay of the fundamentalist evangelical movement. It basically says that all you have to do is believe in Christ, establish a personal relationship with him, and accept his as your savior, and you’re saved.

This conveniently allows you to go through life ignoring everything else that Jesus taught regarding the importance of loving others.

“The way to God is through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Intellectual acceptance of Christ is not enough. You must come to him determined to turn from what displeases him, with a total trust in Christ’s saving power for you. Christ promises those who turn to him: ‘Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed from death to life’ (John 5:24).” – Billy Graham

“I am the way, the truth, and the life”…

This verse is used by fundamentalists to explain that (1) only those who believe in Christ will be saved, thus excluding the majority of the world’s population and (2) all you have to do is believe…it’s not necessary to DO anything.

It is important to realize that in the New Testament, there are many general statements like this, most of which can be controverted elsewhere, if you just keep reading. Most importantly:

-And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
-He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
-And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
-And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

(Luke 10, Verses 26-28)

-Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7, Verse 21).

Clearly Jesus says that loving your fellow man, just as you love your god, is the key to salvation, and that is the great commandment. It’s not enough to just say “Lord, Lord” to be saved. You must love your neighbor. Unfortunately loving your neighbor is not something that fundamentalists care to do, as evidenced by their acceptance of ultra-conservatist social policies and general attitude of intolerance. Part of the problem is the word “love”.

-And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13, Verse 13)

The Greek word “agape” is usually translated as “love” in newer translations of the Bible, whereas the King James version translates it as “charity”. Translating agape as love means that you can “love” your neighbor without doing anything… whereas “charity” clearly communicates the imperative of action.

Charity got a bad name during the Protestant Reformation. The idea of faith versus good works was a central issue. Many protestants believed that through its doctrine and practices (such as selling indulgences), the Roman Catholic church was stressing good works over faith. The end result of the movement of Luther and other reformers was that charity/good works was de-emphasized and the idea of “love” was stressed. This was a tragic consequence of the reformation and has persisted in many of today’s Protestant movements, especially those fundamentalist churches rooted in Puritanism which dominate the religious and social landscape today.

NASA administrator Michael Griffin, on NPR’s Morning Edition, May 31, 2007:

“I’m aware that global warming exists. I understand that the bulk of scientific evidence accumulated supports the claim that we’ve had about a one degree centigrade rise in temperature over the last century to within an accuracy of 20 percent. I’m also aware of recent findings that appear to have nailed down — pretty well nailed down the conclusion that much of that is manmade. Whether that is a longterm concern or not, I can’t say.

I have no doubt that … a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with.”

It’s hard to believe that such an educated scientist could be so completely out of touch with reality. Later on Day to Day, Jim Hansen, a climate change expert at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies called Griffin’s comments “remarkably uninformed”.

“Time is really running out,” Hansen stated. “If we don’t begin to make some changes in our emissions, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we’re going to get some really large climate changes.”

Action is required now. Talking about it won’t solve anything. “Long-term, aspirational goals” won’t cut it.

Related News – Comments on latest US initiative on climate change

“This is a transparent effort to divert attention from the president’s refusal to accept any emissions reductions proposals at next week’s G8 summit…After sitting out talks on global warming for years, the Bush administration doesn’t have very much credibility with other governments on the issue.” – Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust.

“This is a deliberate and carefully crafted attempt to derail any prospect of a climate change agreement (at the G8 summit)…The prospects of him getting this to some form of conclusion in 18 months are extremely slim…Basically we should see this as a delaying tactic to keep the climate change issue off his back in terms of any real decisions until he leaves office (in early 2009).” – Tony Juniper, Friends of the Earth UK

I have a Bacon Number of 3 because I appeared in an episode of the Dave Allen show (which might have been called Dave Allen at Large, not sure) with Dave Allen, the Irish comedian, on BBC Television when I was a kid in the 70’s. According to The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia (see http://oracleofbacon.org),

Dave Allen (VI) has a Bacon number of 2.

2) Dave Allen (VI) was in Aspel & Company (1984) with Dustin Hoffman
1) Dustin Hoffman was in Sleepers (1996) with Kevin Bacon

What’s your Bacon number?