SeniorJunior

...Purely Natural Another explanation for Polarization (And another plug for epigenetics) A liberal friend said she was hard-pressed to " ... understand what the Right is so worked up about. In America, particularly right wing America, the issues are not important, the strength of the conviction is key.  They are just bat shit crazy." Thus, her measured explanation of the right’s philosophy is: “Bat shit crazy.” Purely polarized, she is. Crazy.  Batshit Crazy. I say:  Whether one or the other — a person moved by issues or one moved by their own depth of conviction — is in the formulas of their DNA and, more importantly, the formulation of their epigenomes .  As I follow the leading discoveries of epigenetics I am ever more convinced of such previous heresies as heritable environmental influences.  If your peers in your early adulthood (or your parents in your childhood) were fire-breathing happy warriors for some position or the other, you,  and your of...

 It's the Religious, Stupid One of my Conservative pals sent a questionnaire around to a bunch of us fellow old guys. Here's how I answered the 10 questions. (I'm sure you are breathless to hear.) The Abortion Questionnaire Q #1: When does life begin? Olde Scooter: Life is ongoing.  Egg and sperm are both alive.  A fertilized egg is alive.  Moot question, unless you mean that moment when “God places a soul in the zygote,” a purely religious concept, so it depends on what your belief is, and it is only that — a belief. Others have different beliefs, but yours prevail? Q #2: When are human rights (right to life and the protections of the Constitution) conferred upon a fetus? Olde Scooter: A legal question.  Depends on what the applicable laws are in the various political entities. Q #3: Who has the moral and legal right to end that life? Olde Scooter: The mother, or a doctor following either medical necessity or the mother’s decision.  Q #4: Should the 'imp...