May 2, 2009 archive

 by Al Bratton

While Bible-Thumping Creationists continue to teach that God’s Intelligent Design is responsible for the origin of Earth and Man, science continues to trump their efforts.

“Ten Amino Acids Thermodynamically Favored”

from Talk Reason.org

In the famous Miller-Urey experiment, amino acids, the “building blocks of proteins,” can be relatively easily produced by simple, natural processes. Ten of the 20 life building amino acids were created in conditions similar to the atmosphere of a young planet Earth.

Bottom line:

“…if these 10 amino acids were the basis of life on Earth, and they form so favorably, then there’s a very good chance that life on other planets may have originally used the same 10 amino acids.”

[…]

“…the fact remains that life here on Earth might have a lot in common with life elsewhere….”

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(Orange version of this diary.)

The immigrant labor movement in this country has come full circle. The immigrants are from different countries and the jobs have changed some but the issues are the same as they ever were.

On a sunny April day, I paid a visit to my favorite bakery in San Franciso, the Arizmendi Bakery. Amongst the the beautiful baguettes and the sumptuous scones, I saw a sign stating that the bakery would be closed on May 1 to celebrate Labor Day – the same day it is celebrated in Europe and many other places.

Since Arizmendi Bakery is a worker owned cooperative it didn’t surprise me that they would chose the May 1 observation. (I always figured the US had a different date for cold-war reasons). It turns out there’s an important reason why the world celebrates Labor Day is on May 1:

It’s to commemorate a hard fought, yet forgotten victory for American and immigrant workers that took place right here in the United States: the May 1, 1886 Haymarket Protest in Chicago.

So why doesn’t the US celebrate this?

That is a saying my mom used to use a lot.  Or maybe she didn’t, and it was my brother who said my mom said it.  Being the youngest of six children, well I don’t always have the facts straight.

But I could picture her saying it, as she had a tough life, yet always appreciated anything to be optimistic about.  Granted, she wasn’t a credulous person, so we couldn’t just make stuff up and lift her spirits.  But she was always ready to acknowledge a sincere effort.

I was fortunate to have her live long enough for me to be a comfort to her — when I was in my 30s.  For most of my childhood and adolescence, we were at loggerheads and it was a frustrating time for both of us.  But eventually I broke free of her authority (a story in itself) and when I returned on my own terms, we had so much to say to each other.

She loved it when I’d use stories from what we called “the Blue Book,” Jewish Wit and Wisdom, edited by Nathan Ausubel.  She loved stories, and there were some very wise stories in that book.  I could actually feel the light going on in her head when I’d apply one of the parables in the book to whatever situation she was talking about.  Made me feel good.

My mom was not in good physical health by that time, and yet she had a lightness of spirit in her later years that was never evident during the difficult years when she was struggling to raise six children with a problematic husband and no money.  (Not to diss my father, because he was quite an interesting character, but this story’s about mom.)

She told me once her biggest fear was not of suffering misfortune, but becoming bitter over it.  I thought that was very wise of her and was glad to see she won that struggle.  Her ability to find the light in the darkness increased even as her body wore out.

Anyway, her birthday would have been Sunday, May 3.  She would have been 93 (born in 1916).  She died in 1992, doesn’t seem that long ago, but time is funny that way.

Happy Friday to all.  It’s raining here in the Big Apple and I’m still taking the subway … so there, Joe Biden!