Alabama Supreme Court Ruling on IVF and Personhood

 The Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling has an obvious reconciliation. Let the sleepwalk commence:

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that IVF embryos are persons, with protections of the state. Reuter's summarizes so: 

The 8-1 majority of the court found that it was a long-established precedent that "unborn children" are "children" for the purpose of the 1872 wrongful death law at issue in the case. It said that any doubt about that was removed by a 2018 amendment to the state's constitution, which declared that it was "the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children."

John Oliver had a great take on this ruling, and some "established" federal laws related to this. Worth a watch.

My observation is that to have  IVF technologies be viable (which, being an imperfect technology that many embryos are created so that some may be implanted and eventually 🤞 become babies), and also to codify the conflicting Catholic-aligned "conception equals life” as the Alabama Supreme Court has recently held, there only needs to be a slight change in personhood laws currently being introduced by several  right-thinking state legislatures: 

An embryo  in a womb is a child, an embryo not in a womb (e.g., freezer, test tube, etc.) is not a person. It is the combination of a fertilized egg in a woman’s womb that defines the start of personhood and protections arising therefrom.

There. Simple as that. I'm sure pen has already been put to paper on draft bills with similar language in at least 9 states.

There are two obvious outcomes from this, which on the face seems to be a win (for the IVF side, at least): it absolutely legalizes full-on “test tube babies”, a la Orwell’s 1984. They are totally legal, but upon “birth” aren’t human—and this is actual 2nd tier of homo sapiens that Capitalism needs to continue to thrive. The other outcome is Margaret Atwood's Gilead. Women’s wombs are the only place where humans are created, and that is their sole purpose and the state has control over it once there is a person therein. Conception means live birth or prosecution for manslaughter or other negligent homicide. 

The extreme right’s will is done thanks to the ball being returned to the states' congresses by the Alabama Supreme Court. Anywhere there is a supermajority and GOP governor, expect to see this happen in '24. 

As the IVF ruling challenges mount (someone will have to find standing) its very possible that as personhood (and therefore citizenship) are the purview of the US of A and not the single "S" of Alabama, an appeal could quickly be before the SCOTUS.   Like they don't have other, just as pressing, matters before them. 

SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Trump Immunity Claim

2/28 /24 8:20p 

 The WaPo, in a story about the SCOTUS taking up the Cheeto’s immunity claim, concludes with,

“If Trump is elected president in November, he is expected to end the prosecution and has argued that voters should serve as his ultimate jury.”

There seems to be little disagreement that he could, as President, absolutely end the prosecution on Jan 21, ‘25. But he’ll not be sworn in until late in the first month of 2025. A week shy of 11 months from now. So what if:

1. The trial starts before 11/5? Say, August. Lots of time for motions. The press almost forgets to cover the election for the trial. Except that Trump is campaigning as a martyr, and of course there is nothing better for ratings and clicks than campaign speeches on a courthouse’s steps.
2. The trial concludes quite as expected in Dec. He is found guilty of some felony. The specifics, it turns out, are quite irrelevant but for the societal impact and potential descent into chaos. But in these circumstances the country doesn’t immediately dissolve in civil war. Most notably because:
3. The citizenry, having lost its senses, and because of a completely misguided and fanciful Social Media campaign to “Protect Trump”, elects the Cheeto to President. He is President-elect. There is peace on the streets, though emigration to Canada surges. I put this, quite cynically, 3rd in the list and following the court verdict owing to a long delay in elector assignment due to long planned GOP shenanigans and monkey business. December 11 is when the electors complete votes in all the states. The left wring their hands and Antifa tries scattered ‘protests’ (cover for attempts to incite chaos and anarchy), but it doesn’t stick. Proud Boys want to go use violence against something, but all skirmishes are put down—police have been preparing for this for years—and the Right already won, okay? So why get out of your basement into the early winter?
   3a. We disregard his voters who claim the Cheeto didn’t lose the last election and was always secretly in control of the US Government and Military. Thus explaining how aid to Ukraine has been suspended and the economy is better now—better than when he was still/previously/always???—POTUS, and therefore is ineligible to serve a 3rd term. But we point it out because it is always funny to watch this cohort go blank-faced when presented with this paradox of their own making. Thank you, Jordan Klepper.
4. The Sentencing Phase of the Cheeto’s trial concludes on January 7, the day after Kamala Harris certifies the Electoral College vote, keeping the bile in her throat as she does so, but upholding the tenents of our democracy. The Cheeto’s sentence? Some amount of prison time is required for this scenario to play out completely—I’m glad you’re still with me here. Let’s be really Hollywood and say the sentence laid down by US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan is long enough so where the first parole hearing could absolutely not take place before Jan 20., 2029. 
   4a. The Cheeto demands release because he’s the President now. He claims to pardon himself. The District Court for the District of Columbia takes up the issue as to whether a President Elect can pardon themselves. They won’t hear oral arguments until well past thend of this list. Likewise appeals are paralyzed as everyone expects the President if/when sworn-in to undo all of this. The right rather wants this test of Presidential authority as it makes the coming suspension of other legal and democratic norms easier in the coming months.
5. And so, in the game of 3-Dimensinal chess that he plays against himself, Donald J. Trump is remanded to federal custody on 1/9. [Gosh that felt good to write, even if fiction.] How can this be? Because he has the perfect trusted 2nd in his pocket. No Mike Pence, the Veep-elect is completely and absolutely loyal, and will sidestep the proven-untrustworthy courts to free him and then install him as president. 
6. His Vice President Elect calms the nation during this “Constitutional Crisis”that The Cheeto will run the country quite effectively from prison, and that as the titular president they will execute The President’s every whim until he is released on pardon. This is all telegraphed in the clear, the intent proudly uttered from podiums and before cameras everywhere. The President-Elect gets one tweet (‘X’) out before being rendered incommunicado, confirming the VP-elect’s statement. He is, as always, in complete control. He wants something that only the best mob bosses in US and world history have done: runnthe game from prison (for a couple weeks, anyway). 
7. No civil war takes place, conspirators go back to their keyboards to continue the incremental loss of their minds, and so it is that:
8. On Jan 20, 2025, Ivanka Trump is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States. Her husband is installed as the VP. After the parties are over he is sent to New York to try to unwind some 2024 payments the family business made to the state.
9. Ivanka, cushioned by some favorable ‘mainstream media’ reporting, chooses to not commute her father’s sentence as she walks away from the desk set up with his pardon and a bunch of souvenier pens up in the Capitol rotunda behind the inauguration ceremony. Fox News loses its mind, but people are tired. Focus is on the parites and photo ops with America’s first female president—and doesn’t she look great in that Nancy Regan homage red dress! QAnon gets a brief bump with some numerological explanations as to when DJT will return and begin his 1,000 year reign.
10. While this is reaching a fever pitch Cheeto experiences “sudden death syndrome” (a Russian ailment) in prison. The internet, but nothing else, explodes. Pictures of DJT and Jeffery Epstein fly into chat rooms and there is a brief spike in the sale of red yarn and pushpins at Dollar Generals around the country. Ron Desantis slow walks the investigation and challenge of the Tallahassee Federal Penitentiary’s role in #46’s timely demise.
11. Trump II has a fairly conservative but uneventful term. Women’s reproductive rights are restored, the SCOTUS gets another conservative (but women’s right’s progressive) member when Justice Thomas takes up John Oliver on his motor home and $1M/yr pension offer to retire. There is graft, but Ukraine funding is restored and raised, Israel’s military funding is held-up and the Gaza war enters a cease-fire the next day. Trump holds no truck with Congress’ extreme right wing and embraces the moderates of both parties (both houses being led by Democrats) and as her first act rejoins the Paris Climate accord and the Iranian Nuclear Proliferation treaty.

    Now isn’t that a nice story?

    To quote Harlan Ellison, “And fuck you, too.” :)

iPhone phone spam blocker

The iPhone doesn't have the "block calls from this number" that Android and other smart phones have. If you want to block a number, you have to buy a $5/mo (or more) service from AT&T.  There are apps which can block calls, like iBlacklist, but they're expensive-ish, (for apps) being $12 or more.

What you can do on your own is this:

1. Download a "silent" ringtone.  Here's one.  Save it in iTunes (Firefox, choose to Open it in iTunes). 
2. Sync your phone. If this is the first ringtone in your iTunes, you'll see a new tab called "Tones" in your iPhone panels where you choose what to sync. Sync over the new silent tone. It's called "Silent Ringtone".
3. From your incoming calls, find a spam phone number (or enter it as a new contact if you know the number)
4. Set the First Name to "9-[Spam Numbers]".  You put the "9" on the front so it sorts down to the bottom when you're browsing contacts. Make it a pirate-eye-patch frowny if you want. 9^{  
5. Choose for rington your new "Silent" tone.  Your custom tones sort to the top of the list, so it should be above "Marimba" (Apple's default) at the top of the list. 
6. Set the Vibration to be none. The "None" vibration is at the bottom of the Vibrations list. Do the same for Text tone and vibration, in case the spammer tries to send an SMS. 
7. You can even assign a spammy picture for it, in case you're looking at your phone when the silent call comes in (or you happen to be on another call and pull it away from your face to check when you get that momentary interrupt for a new call).
8. You can't do it when you're setting up the initial number, but if a new spam call comes in, add it to Existing contact and keep adding numbers to your "9-[Spam Numbers]" contact.

Dark Knight Rises IMAX on a Dome? No!!!

When Is IMAX a buzzkill?

This post generates this post:

http://collider.com/dark-knight-rises-imax-theaters/180944/

I've heard buzz about people who, wanting to get the most immersive movie going experience, are laying down their money for tickets to an IMAX theater to see Batman: Dark Knight Rises. There have even been specific reviews for the IMAX version, such as this New York Times article. Big-screen IMAX is certainly a thrilling experience.  I once saw a NASA Shuttle mission lift-off on IMAX that literally moved me to tears.

But not all IMAX are equal, and not all IMAX films are created for all IMAX theaters.  The distinction is especially acute when you consider the "dome" IMAX theaters.  To the point: Before you buy movie tickets for the San Jose Tech Museum, browse this thread:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-hackworth-imax-dome-theater-san-jose
 

Note there are "1-star" and "5-star" reviews. And not just the usual Yelp 'haters' nor trolls. The difference between the experiences can almost always be attributed to the specific film they went to see. Sadly, this correlates inversely to their expecations of said experience.

Few seem to touch on or know the difference about these IMAX theaters, and their expectations are out of sorts and they are frequently disappointed in the movie, but it is usually not the fault of the film (whether you like the story of latest Dark Knight or not withstanding).  The fault lies with the distributor to use an inappropriate projection system used for the film. More cynically, the true root of the problem is distributors trying to draw an audience wanting to get the most out of a special film experience which is the problem.

All IMAX is not IMAX is not OMNIMAX.

It can be confusing when trying to find out if seeing an IMAX movie at the Hackworth Dome is going to be really great or really horrible.  Usually this is because people around the web are talking about something very different, about types of IMAX that don’t even involve a dome. Notice, for example, even in this posting from Chris Nolan fans where they don’t talk about the difference between dome and flat screens, but if you were thinking “True” IMAX was the Domed version, it could be misleading. Here, as in most all of the posts I've read around the web, they’re not talking about dome vs. flat, they’re talking about BIG IMAX and “semi-IMAX”.

It could very well that most people don’t know about domed IMAX theaters, because they’re actually pretty rare.

So what’s the difference and why does it make a difference?

First let me tell you I have some background in this.  I was an associate of the American’s Cinematographers Society (ASC) when I was in film school back in the 1970s and early 80s. Studying film formats and production techniques was part of the curriculum.  And yeah, it goes back that far.  The original was  “OMNIMAX”. It was the dome version; the flat version actually came later. The company (Canadian) branched out to flat screens, called them “IMAX”, then renamed the domed ones for brand identity.  They are NOT the same, and the only reason they’re showing regular release Hollywood movies on the dome is because (I suppose) people mistakenly think it will be a better experience than seeing it on a regular flat screen. It really isn’t, it’s much worse.  It is sad that the dome theaters [nearly always at museums] do this for the money, but that’s another issue.

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX#IMAX_variations

“...uses films shot with a camera equipped with a fisheye lens on the camera

that squeezes a highly distorted 180° field of view onto the 65 mm IMAX film.”

Now, read this about the IMAX flat screens: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX#Theatre   (same page, pgf above).

To see a movie in the Dome (which is what is at the Tech Museum), the movie must be shot (as said above) with special “Dome” or “Fisheye” lenses and can’t be shown on a regular screen.  It would literally appear as a circle on the square screen. The reverse, with the flat IMAX (big) image being shown on the dome happens, because the projection equipment is compatible and the theaters can make some more money, especially on big box office hits. But it is a HORRIBLE experience.   Imagine shooting a video projector picture on the inside of half of a Yoga balance ball.  The edges would be all distorted. if you were sitting close to the middle, you would have to look side to side to see what was happening.  Close-ups would look grossly distorted.  Horizontal lines bend.

Here are some professionals talking about dome vs. flat projections.

I can tell you from personal exposure, that it is an unhappy experience that will give you a headache and literally ruins a good movie. Now, I can also tell you that I saw Avatar and Tron 2 on the (semi-) IMAX at AMC Vallco (both happened to be in 3D) and they were great experiences. I also saw movie of a Space Shuttle launch on a large (“true”) IMAX screen at Cape Canaveral and also at Paramount Great America in Santa Clara. They were great.   I’ve seen dome movies at the Tech, the “Climbing Mount Everest” and “The Great Barrier Reef” and they were AMAZINGLY good.  Like, after seeing the Everest movie I thought, “Okay, cross that off the bucket list, I don’t have to climb Everest now!”

Sincerely,  I want everyone to have a good time.  I’ve seen the Dark Knight Rises, and can well imagine what it will look like on the dome. The outdoor sequences overlooking the  city or flying will be interesting on the dome, but all the sequences with dialog, with a couple of people on the screen, up close, will look only bizarre and cartoonish.

So you don’t think it’s just me, here’s a reddit post. Talking about (though missing the dome/flat IMAX distinction) the same thing.

Almost everything you read on the web is contrasting the "semi-", “fake” or “upgraded” flat-screen IMAX theaters (also called “LieMax”) to real *but also flat*  screen true IMAX screens.   The Dublin Regal Cinemas,  Lowes Metreon in San Francisco Yerba Buena park, and one more in Fresno  are the only true IMAX flat-screens around the Bay Area. 

That said, the “IMAX” (lie-max, whatever) screens at Mercado and Vallco are pretty good, at least as entertaining as the Century 21’s big/wide screen, and a lot better than many of the smaller “shoebox” theaters.  That said, if you sit close, they’re all pretty much the same.  Holding my iPad on my lap with a HiDef movie is about the same as watching it on a 46” screen in Blu-Ray on the other side of the room. 

Of course, in the theater the sound is better (is it?) but that's another post.

And then there's the issue of shooting in IMAX, producing an IMAX print or digital distribution, and what does that mean, really.  Look at the link that opened this blog entry, and see that "over one hour of The Dark Knight Rises was shot with an IMAX camera".  Soooo... when you mix/match IMAX with 35mm...what? You downsample the IMAX? You upsample the 35mm? You can switch scenes and see an immediate change in resolution, depth of color?  Well, perhaps.  It gets complicated, too much so to conflate it all with the dome issue, which is really the point of this.  

Porsche 3.8L 997 S X51 Upgrade kit = $538/hp

I was browsing Suncoast Porsche's parts specials the other day [this blog post was originally published 8/2/2012 --cm] and saw this piece of eye-candy.

Eye candy, yes. It is Porsche's 3.8 Liter M97 "Metzger" engine. A jewel of a motor, improved over the M96 which had inital problems with intermediate shaft wear and seal designs. Fixed during evolution, as is Porsche's time-proven method, the standard 3.8L produces 355HP and 295ft.lb torque. Which is nearly 93.5 HP/Liter, a very high specific output for a normially aspirated engine. 

 But there's a more to this truffle than meets the eye. For this represents the X51 "kit", an upgrade option to the standard beast of an engine. Usually this is a checkbox option when you order a new Porsche--if you know about these sorts of "X" options, and if your wallet can stand being lightened another ten and a half grand for that tiny little "X". 

 Well, this isn't about the option code you get on your in-trunk sticker. It's what you see and don't see in the picture above that makes the X51 option actually much more like the rocket plane monniker than it sounds. In the picture above, you can see the carbon-fiber air cleaner. This covers larger air intakes, a seven percent increase in cross-section area on the throttle bodies and intake manifolds. Remember that number. There are also two new sport exhausts that flow free-er and with a concordant deeper tone. Connecting those two ends are some pieces in the inside of the engine. Starting with enlarged intake ports in the heads, to match the larger manifolds. The engine has to be able to get the more air which is now available into the head efficiently, so different camshafts are used with a profile matched to the intakes (seeing a theme here?) following that are larger exhaust ports, naturally, and matched larger headers feeding those new mufflers. 

End-to-end, what Porsche has done with the X51 is to add more air, in and out, and more air=more power. How much more power? The 355 HP goes to 381. That's, let's see, 26 more HP. I can hear you now, "Waitaminnit! Didn't he say above something about $10 grand?" I did, and more on that below. But let's stay focused on all that engineering goodness. You see, that rise is one of 7%. Hmmm. Exactly the size of the increase in the cross-section of the throttle bodies. Big deal? Well, yeah, it kinda is. Because that means that the actual efficiency of the engine--if we're to believe Porsche's published numbers--was increased to the theoretic limits allowed by the change. Which is very cool. To be sure, there's a DME (computer) change that goes along with, which must in order to balance the fuel to that greater airflow. Porsche could have (as many aftermarket "tuners" do) rebalanced that map to offer even a little more power, but guess what? With what they did, they don't have to change the EPA sticker on the car. Yep. It gets the same gas mileage for that extra 26hp. It's more efficient, you see. Free power.

 
Well, not totally free, of course. Because what the "more air" buys you, really, is the ability to rev the same pistons higher before that air just won't move any faster. The redline moves from the stock 3.8L engine at 7200 rpm to 7400 rpm. And at 7200 rpm is where the "HP Meter" moves from 355 to 381. Peaked at peak RPM, which is good, but makes you go "hmm". Because I know my own 3.8L Porsche Carrera S engine has spent only mere seconds of its long life at 7200 rpm. I bounced it off the rev limiter a couple of times when I first got it, and then have only been "there" a couple of times since, on purpose. Because you know that a candle that burns twice as fast, only burns half as long. 

 With engine internals, the ratio of running at higher revs to taking life out of your engine is nowhere near 1:1, it's like putting your finger down on the fast forward button of your engine's longevity when you get above 6500 rpm or so.  However, he additional torques from 3600 to 6300 rpm, which is much more frequented territory, is probably very, very tasty.

And of course it isn't anywhere near free in the actual, pull out your wallet sense either. You see, this is a "kit", as sold (in 2012) by the SunsetCoast Porsche People. The kit is usually $16,073 when you buy it standalone, not attached to a car build sheet order. Gulp. But here, today, you can get it for a mere...$6995.00 Hey! That's a bona-fide discount bargain, right? Wow! 

Okay, but that's not the whole story, you see. The base kit is $7k. But that doesn't include the sport mufflers, because you could have ordered those separately (for the sound, and maybe 1-2hp more power--not worth Porsche talking about). So if you need those, that's another $2000 But it comes with a cool profiling switch where you can open those cans up with a button on your dash when you roll into the show-n-shine. Or just $1500 more if you can do without that button, but really, how could you resist that?

 
So $9k in parts and you're still ahead for the upgrade, right? Well, no. Because that's just the parts, and as beautiful as they are, they come in boxes, not already on the engine (not included) as in the picture. No, you have to have a Porsche mechanic install the parts. Okay; technically, you could do this yourself. Maybe there's a You Tube video on how to do it yourself. But you probably don't want to do this as the cost of a newbie mistake could be very, very high. Suncoast & Porsche advise that this is a 50 hour job. With Porsche shop rates at $100 per, that's a cool $5k and you can see why, at $14,000 for this upgrade that had you bought it at the outset you would have paid less, your Certificate of Authenticity would reflect the option, and you could have financed your lust for power over your 36/48/60/72/84 months.

 
Moreover, at this price, you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it? What's the bang for the buck here? Well, it is precicely $538 for each bang, er, HP achieved. Yes. For $538 HP you get exactly one additional HP out of your engine, and you get that 25 more times, cash on the barrelhead. Or Visa, whatever. That's a lot of scratch. But you have to understand that this was adding to an engine which was already extremely well engineered in the first place--there wasn't a lot on the table. In fact, I would wager that it is pretty much 26hp before you have to crack open the bottom end and start throwing titanium pieces and cubic yards of dollars at the engine. Is that possible? Why, yes, it is, as the magnificent Porsche GT3-RS 3.8L shows us. Same motor, same volume, different internal bits, higher redline sum to more power. And cubic yards of money.

 
So we don't end on what appears to be a sour note let's think some more about what the upgrade gets you. By the way, the above isn't sour, really. As the man says, "You can have fast, durable and cheap. Pick two." Divide both sides by "cheap" in this instance and you can see the Porsche math in this equation. But I digress. What the upgrade gets you, with your 381hp, is entry into a very rarefied club. This is the 100hp/L club of engines. For street cars there are the aforementioned even more expensive versions of this Metzger engine, other, newer Porsche "M91" post-Metzger engines currently coming out of Stuttgart for the current crop of "R" cars which also have this feature. Casting about the web (2012), I find a very short list:

• Honda S2000 (F20C engine) = 2.0L, 240hp (very, very impressive)
• BMW M3 (E36) = 4.0L v8, 404hp
• Lotus Elise tuned Toyota 1.8L = 190hp
• Ferrari V8 (Italia) 4.5L = 452hp

There may be a few others, but you can see what kind of list this is. Oh, and of course there are manufacturers that take others' engines (like Lotus with Toyota) and pump them up before putting them in their own cars, but I suspect the EPA cycle isn't the same, to say nothing of longevity.

Two Minutes

Two minutes apart. April 22 of this year.

CoolIris - Very cool

Though there's a lot to like about Adobe's Photoshop.com, the king of the online slideshow has to be cooliris.

Here's my slideshow, drawn from my Facebook gallery. Simple, elegant. Speaks for itself.