You have got to read this article on the virus at Discover!

How did I miss this before????

Unintelligent Design
A monstrous discovery suggests that viruses, long regarded as lowly evolutionary latecomers, may have been the precursors of all life on Earth
by Charles Siebert, Photography by Jörg Brockmann
From the March 2006 issue, published online March 15, 2006

Now the viruses appear to present a creation story of their own: a stirring, topsy-turvy, and decidedly unintelligent design wherein life arose more by reckless accident than original intent, through an accumulation of genetic accounting errors committed by hordes of mindless, microscopic replication machines. Our descent from apes is the least of it. With the discovery of Mimi, scientists are close to ascribing to viruses the last role that anyone would have conceived for them: that of life’s prime mover. …

The discovery of Mimivirus lends weight to one of the more compelling theories discussed at Les Treilles. Back when the three domains of life were emerging, a large DNA virus very much like Mimi may have made its way inside a bacterium or an archaean and, rather than killing it, harmlessly persisted there. The eukaryotic cell nucleus and large, complex DNA viruses like Mimi share a compelling number of biological traits. They both replicate in the cell cytoplasm, and on doing so, each uses the same machinery within the cytoplasm to form a new membrane around itself. They both have certain enzymes for capping messenger RNA, and they both have linear chromosomes rather than the circular ones typically found in a bacterium.

“If this is true,” Forterre has said of the viral-nucleus hypothesis, “then we are all basically descended from viruses.”

Claverie says, “That’s quite a big jump in our thinking about viruses—to go from their not even being organisms to being all life’s ancestor.” …

“The general public thinks genetic diversity is us and birds and plants and animals and that viruses are just HIV and the flu. But most of the genetic material on this planet is viruses. No question about it. They and their ability to interact with organisms and move genetic material around are the major players in driving speciation, in determining how organisms even become what they are.”

We have been looking for our designer in all the wrong places. It seems we owe our existence to viruses, the least of semiliving forms, and about the only thing they have in common with any sort of theological prime mover is their omnipresence and invisibility. Once again, viruses have altered the way that we view them and, by extension, ourselves. As it turns out, they are not the little breakaway shards of our biology—we are, of theirs.

So it’s not only language…. I’ve been thinking along these lines for a long, long time. It’s so fun to see that I haven’t been the only one. Maybe there’s a contagion-effect among minds, too?

This is very, very exciting scientific research.

Please comment if you know of any new developments!

In Santa Fe, Michael told me that at some point Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson had gotten married. Huh? Whew. Can anyone confirm? I guess they’ve been an item for some time – I don’t know how I could have missed that. Two of my favorite talents, but so very different.

I’ve been listening to a lot of both of them in the last few days. I’ve really been enjoying the music from Anderson’s “Strange Angels.” Then I discovered her series of public service announcements. Heh-heh. I’m going to post one a week.

Until then, here’s some of my faves.

I think my favorite is “The Dream Before” – about fairy tales (Hansel and Gretel here), Bellamy’s angel of history, and “progress”:

And I adore “Strange Angels”

I couldn’t find “Closed Circuits” – which I also love, but no blog post on this – at VirusHead – would be complete without…. “Language is a Virus from Outer Space.” (grinning)

And “Smoke Rings” – que es mas macho?

And of course – “O Superman.” Two versions – I like the delivery of the first (close up) one better, but it looks like it was part of some kind of documentary. Oh hey – does anybody know what the name of this was or where I might get it? The second video is the full version -a very powerful performance.

I’m lingering on Lou Reed, too, especially the tracks on “New York.” I’ve always thought he had a really sexy voice. When we saw him in Paris, I wore black boots and a mini-skirt (and looked at an Parisian audience swearing tee shirts and jeans – so disappointing).

Here’s an interesting video that was made of “Satellite of Love.”

Lou Reed and John Cale singing “Nobody but You” (about Warhol) on the Letterman show.

And a Reed classic – “Sweet Jane”

I couldn’t find a video of “Sick of You” anywhere. It has always been my very favorite Lou Reed song. It’s a bit dated now in terms of the references, but I still enjoy it just as much as I always did. Note the Rudy Giuliani comment – hmmm. The bit on the President’s head works a little differently now than it did for Reagan.

I know this song stone cold – I’d love to perform it sometime, but it’s not the kind of song that is likely to show up on karaoke, and I doubt I could put together a back-up band anymore (lol) – so I sing it on the deck, iPod to my ears. My neighbors must really wonder about me. Anyway, here are the lyrics (emphasis added).

“Sick Of You,” Lou Reed

I was up in the morning with the TV blarin’
Brushed my teeth sittin’ watchin’ the news
All the beaches were closed
The ocean was a Red Sea
But there was no one there to part in two
There was no fresh salad
‘Cuz there’s hypos in the cabbage
Staten Island disappeared at noon
And they say the midwest is in great distress
And NASA blew up the moon

The ozone layer has no ozone anymore
And you’re gonna leave me for the guy next door?
I’m Sick of You, I’m Sick of You

They arrested the Mayor for an illegal favor
Sold the Empire State to Japan
And Oliver North married William Secord
And gave birth to a little Tehran
And the Ayatollah bought a nuclear warship
If he dies he wants to go out in style
And there’s nothing to eat
That don’t carry the stink
Of some human waste dumped in the Nile

Well, one thing is certainly true
no. one. here. knows. what. to. do.
And I’m Sick of You, I’m Sick of You

The radio said there were 400 dead
In some small town in Arkansas
Some whacked-out trucker
Drove into a nuclear reactor
And killed everybody he saw
Now he’s on Morton Downey
And he’s glowing and shining
Doctors say this is a medical advance
They say the bad makes the good
And there’s something to be learned
In every human experience

Well I know one thing that really is true
This here’s a zoo and the keeper ain’t you
And I’m sick of it, I’m Sick of You

They ordained the Trumps
And then he got the mumps
And died being treated at Mt. Sinai
And my best friend Bill died from a poison pill
Some wired doctor prescribed for stress
My arms and legs are shrunk
The food all has lumps
They discovered some animal no one’s ever seen
It was an inside trader eating a rubber tire
After running over Rudy Giuliani

They say the President’s dead
No one can find his head
It’s been missing now for weeks
But no one noticed it
He had seemed so fit
I’m Sick of it!!!

I’m Sick of You
I’m so Sick of You!
bye, bye, bye
bye, bye, bye

We had revisited the D.H. Lawrence Ranch that we had so enjoyed on our honeymoon. (I think those photos might be on Ben’s camera, so I’ll post them later. We have a history of problems with photos of the place.)

This time, we also had a horrible event. Ben was bitten on the head by an old dog that lives on the property. When we were in the house, Ben sat down on the floor with the dog. When he lifted up his arm to pet him, the dog was spooked. John intervened immediately, and the woman who works there was horrified. It was our fault – we all should have known better, including Ben himself. Ben was quite frightened, and the dog really did get a pretty good bite in, but luckily it was on the forehead (not his nose or any other fleshly part). The dog was healthy, which we reminded ourselves when Ben got sick.

I think we picked up the virus in Chimayo – maybe even from the holy water at the Sanctuary (wouldn’t that be something) although we also ate at the nearby Rancho de Chimayo Restaurant. Everyone there was sick or had been sick, and the surrounding towns were all infected too, according to anecdotal gas station testimony. I wonder whether anyone was tracking this thing. It was unusually contagious – possibly an experiment?

John had already had a difficult night and morning at Taos Ski Valley. Austing Haus, the hand-built hotel where we had stayed on our honeymoon, was closed. We were really hoping to see Paul, the owner, but he is fighting cancer. We stayed next door at the Columbine Hotel – which he also built – instead. We ended up having hamburgers at a sort of bar, and going to sleep.

We camped out at the Georgia O’Keefe Ghost Ranch. It wasn’t what I had imagined – who would have thought that a ghost ranch would be a religious retreat? We managed to get the tent up, at least.

We were vomiting and having some frighteningly liquid diarrhea for a couple of days. I spent several hours with Ben at the camp rest room – before it hit me too.

Then the thunderstorms came. John, who was almost recovered, went hiking as the storm approached, and got these great photos.

It cleared up in time for us to go to the July 4th fireworks at the Pueblo, but Ben was still pretty rough, and I was starting to feel bad too. We built a fire. Ben watched a movie on his DVD player in the tent. John and I listened to songs on my iPod. There were people all around us, including a paleontologist at the next site. We never saw her, but it looked like she was planted there for the summer.

This is Lake Abiquiu, near the Ghost Ranch.

John climbed globular cliffs on a side trip from the ranch (you can see him as that tiny point of orange at the top). This was next to a big amphitheater in the rock cliffs.

I’m not sure where this monument was now – I just like it.

We finally gave up, and headed back to Taos to have a night at a hotel. I was ambivalent about the nightly “tribal dancers.” The hotel promoted it as though they were paying, but it turned out that they were funded through donations.

The dancers were very talented, especially this young boy and the drummer-chanters. I have purposely not chosen a clear image here. Among other things, the spirit of his movement is better captured with this.

On our honeymoon, we had been invited to the Taos Pueblo after John encountered a teenager and his grandfather on a mountain path near Taos Ski Valley. It was to be the first real occasion to honor the Vietnam vets – this was nine years ago. What we witnessed at that event bears little comparison to this “hotel performance.” However, they perform the basic styles of some of the dances, and each dancer had designed their own costume. Still, the whole performance held a creepy sort of Lawrence Walk air that really depressed me.

Some recommended reading – do your homework.

Saving the World By Stopping the Pentagon’s Programs
By Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNet

All that work against nuclear proliferation – gone, gone, gone. Another way we make the world a more dangerous place.

Then there is “Complex 2030,” a proposal to consolidate and update the entire nuclear complex, including the opening of a new plutonium “pit” facility capable of producing 125 new bombs a year. Estimated price tag: $150 billion over 25 years. The Bush administration and the Department of Energy argue that the overhaul is necessary to maintain the country’s deterrence and close aged plants, but arms control experts who have read the fine print say otherwise.

“The current nuclear stockpile is not in need of replacement, all of the existing nuclear weapons sites would still be in operation under the new plan, and the fundamental environmental problems of weapons production would not be solved,” states a joint report issued by more than a dozen nuclear watchdog groups, including Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Furthermore, the increased design, production and testing capabilities of Complex 2030 could spark a new nuclear arms race.”

…The major nuclear powers cannot continue to simultaneously refine their arsenals while keeping the rest of the world in 1944 by threat of force; only a madman thinks threats and preemptive strikes constitute a coherent or sustainable nonproliferation strategy. Nor can we continue to allow the production of fissile material and expect it to remain forever out of dangerous hands. We cannot have our yellow cake and eat it, too.

If we don’t come to grips with the dead-end of the nuclear double-standard, and begin soon the brave and historic grapple with the nuclear genie, we race toward a climax as awful as it is certain.

Take a look at Payson’s blog entry (Think Progress)on Chuck Hagel’s claim that the White House originally wanted the 2002 Iraq War Resolution to cover the entire Middle East. No-one else picked this up from the men style column at GQ? It ought to be on the front page.

Scooter Libby and Me
By Nick Bromell, The American Scholar, posted at AlterNet

Childhood friend of Scooter Libby’s shares questions he wants to ask him, and comments on the differences between liberalism and fundamentalism as they affect current US policy. This is worth a read just for the clear explanation of the difference between truth and the Truth (How did I miss Lynne Cheney’s article “The Roots of Today’s Lying Epidemic: The English Department Virus”? ). Oh, on lying?

Keep an eye out for fact checking updates on the State of the Union Address. The discussion on Charlie Rose was pretty good, and ABC has collected some citizen comments. To my ears, all Bush is saying…. is give war a chance.