Today is the first day of SkepchickCON at CONvergence. CONvergence is the largest fan run fantasy and science fiction convention in the US and or World and possibly Universe, depending. It is held in a suburb of Minneapolis. One gazillion people are in attendance. There are many activities and events, and a double-decker parallelogram of “party rooms” operated by various organizations including but not limited to the Skepchicks, whom you know from the web site Skepchick.

Among the activities are panels where interesting people sit in front of a room of interested people and conversations and stuff happen. The Skepchicks have for four or five years now run a series of back to back panels that is informally named “SkepchickCON” and I’ve been a panelist for this event for the past couple of years.

The first panel, today, was run by a core group of Skepchicks including my dear friend and esteemed colleague Rebecca Watson. But the fun actually started before the panel at lunch when several Skepchicks, my BFF Desree Schell and some guests met up. The first thing we needed to so was to rendezvous. Desiree and I arrived at TGI Fridays thinking that Rebecca and her people were already there. A quick glance did not produce results. La Matron came over to help. “We’re looking for a party,” Desree said. “Blue hair.”

La Matron, “Oh, blue hair. Because of CONvergence?” (referring to the Science Fiction and Fantasy convention next door which has a lot of blue hair and stuff).

“Well, that too,” responded Desiree.

Anyway, eventually every one arrived and we had an excellent lunch although the thing I remember most clearly about the food was Desiree’s plate full of meat. Many topics were covered during the ensuing conversation. I don’t know why I kept track, but I noticed that on six separate occasions said something like “Man I want to kick his/her ass” or “… made me want to kill him..” and that sort of thing. All metaphorically speaking, of course. No one at the table needed instructions on basic rhetoric. Adults all.

The panel was called “Skepchicks save the day and your money.” This is a regular panel, IIRC, in which each of several Skepchicks covers a particular current instance or example of woo, or category of woo. Chocolate that makes you live longer, power bracelets, and numerous “health and beauty” scams were covered, and covered brilliantly. Oh, and vagaina coloring substance.

Tomorrow we will do the first of two panels on climate change, a panel on internet trolls (I’ll be the troll) and at 10:00 PM PZ Myers and I will go head to head on the topic of female orgasms. He’s against, I’m for. Figures.

There will be much more on the following day. If you are at Convergence and you see the schedule, don’t assume I’ll be at all the panels I’m listed for … I think there was supposed to be some culling after the mass sign ups during early planning and I probably shouldn’t be on all the ones I’m on. But, since I’m on the program, if I’m listed I’ll at least be in the room in case there was a particular question you had in mind that only I could address to your satisfaction.

The event goes through Sunday.

UPDATE: They are not letting me out of doing any of the panels. Oh well. See you there!

The following document was written by Benjamin Franklin in 1754, and is said to have been influenced by the structure of the Iroquois Confederacy, of which Franklin was well aware.  This is essentially the first draft of the Articles of Confederation and closely reflects Franklin’s contribution to the Constitution of the United States.

The Albany Plan of Union

It is proposed that humble application be made for an act of Parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general government may be formed in America, including all the said colonies, within and under which government each colony may retain its present constitution, except in the particulars wherein a change may be directed by the said act, as hereafter follows.

1. That the said general government be administered by a President-General, to be appointed and supported by the crown; and a Grand Council, to be chosen by the representatives of the people of the several Colonies met in their respective assemblies.

2. That within — months after the passing such act, the House of Representatives that happen to be sitting within that time, or that shall be especially for that purpose convened, may and shall choose members for the Grand Council, in the following proportion, that is to say,

Massachusetts Bay 7

New Hampshire 2

Connecticut 5

Rhode Island 2

New York 4

New Jersey 3

Pennsylvania 6

Maryland 4

Virginia 7

North Carolina 4

South Carolina 4

---

48

1. — who shall meet for the first time at the city of Philadelphia, being called by the President-General as soon as conveniently may be after his appointment.

2. That there shall be a new election of the members of the Grand Council every three years; and, on the death or resignation of any member, his place should be supplied by a new choice at the next sitting of the Assembly of the Colony he represented.

3. That after the first three years, when the proportion of money arising out of each Colony to the general treasury can be known, the number of members to be chosen for each Colony shall, from time to time, in all ensuing elections, be regulated by that proportion, yet so as that the number to be chosen by any one Province be not more than seven, nor less than two.

4. That the Grand Council shall meet once in every year, and oftener if occasion require, at such time and place as they shall adjourn to at the last preceding meeting, or as they shall be called to meet at by the President-General on any emergency; he having first obtained in writing the consent of seven of the members to such call, and sent duly and timely notice to the whole.

5. That the Grand Council have power to choose their speaker; and shall neither be dissolved, prorogued, nor continued sitting longer than six weeks at one time, without their own consent or the special command of the crown.

6. That the members of the Grand Council shall be allowed for their service ten shillings sterling per diem, during their session and journey to and from the place of meeting; twenty miles to be reckoned a day’s journey.

7. That the assent of the President-General be requisite to all acts of the Grand Council, and that it be his office and duty to cause them to be carried into execution.

8. That the President-General, with the advice of the Grand Council, hold or direct all Indian treaties, in which the general interest of the Colonies may be concerned; and make peace or declare war with Indian nations.

9. That they make such laws as they judge necessary for regulating all Indian trade.

10. That they make all purchases from Indians, for the crown, of lands not now within the bounds of particular Colonies, or that shall not be within their bounds when some of them are reduced to more convenient dimensions.

11. That they make new settlements on such purchases, by granting lands in the King’s name, reserving a quitrent to the crown for the use of the general treasury.

12. That they make laws for regulating and governing such new settlements, till the crown shall think fit to form them into particular governments.

13. That they raise and pay soldiers and build forts for the defence of any of the Colonies, and equip vessels of force to guard the coasts and protect the trade on the ocean, lakes, or great rivers; but they shall not impress men in any Colony, without the consent of the Legislature.

14. That for these purposes they have power to make laws, and lay and levy such general duties, imposts, or taxes, as to them shall appear most equal and just (considering the ability and other circumstances of the inhabitants in the several Colonies), and such as may be collected with the least inconvenience to the people; rather discouraging luxury, than loading industry with unnecessary burdens.

15. That they may appoint a General Treasurer and Particular Treasurer in each government when necessary; and, from time to time, may order the sums in the treasuries of each government into the general treasury; or draw on them for special payments, as they find most convenient.

16. Yet no money to issue but by joint orders of the President-General and Grand Council; except where sums have been appropriated to particular purposes, and the President-General is previously empowered by an act to draw such sums.

17. That the general accounts shall be yearly settled and reported to the several Assemblies.

18. That a quorum of the Grand Council, empowered to act with the President-General, do consist of twenty-five members; among whom there shall be one or more from a majority of the Colonies.

19. That the laws made by them for the purposes aforesaid shall not be repugnant, but, as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of England, and shall be transmitted to the King in Council for approbation, as soon as may be after their passing; and if not disapproved within three years after presentation, to remain in force.

20. That, in case of the death of the President-General, the Speaker of the Grand Council for the time being shall succeed, and be vested with the same powers and authorities, to continue till the King’s pleasure be known.

21. That all military commission officers, whether for land or sea service, to act under this general constitution, shall be nominated by the President-General; but the approbation of the Grand Council is to be obtained, before they receive their commissions. And all civil officers are to be nominated by the Grand Council, and to receive the President-General’s approbation before they officiate.

22. But, in case of vacancy by death or removal of any officer, civil or military, under this constitution, the Governor of the Province in which such vacancy happens may appoint, till the pleasure of the President-General and Grand Council can be known.

23. That the particular military as well as civil establishments in each Colony remain in their present state, the general constitution notwithstanding; and that on sudden emergencies any Colony may defend itself, and lay the accounts of expense thence arising before the President-General and General Council, who may allow and order payment of the same, as far as they judge such accounts just and reasonable.

I grew up with Andy Griffith. I think Opie and I are about the same age. I didn’t have an Aunt Bea but I did have a Great Aunt Tillie. All neighborhoods were small towns in those days. We had an Otis, we had a Floyd and he had a red and white pole, although we didn’t have a Barney. Andy’s family was non-traditional and he was in North Carolina and no one, in those days, was passing legislation against them. Also, I watched the show from a city in New York with more African Americans than the small North Carolina town he protected and nurtured with his easy going ways. This later caused confusion for me. Only a little, though.

And this joke, do you remember this joke? It’s Barney talking: “Andy, Andy, come quickly! Opie’s in the attic with Aunt Bea and he’s got a gun!” (Maybe that was just the Viet Nam War vets I was hanging around with…)

I know a lot of younger people remember Anje from his later work portraying a lawyer, but I always think of him as the arch-typical small town Sheriff in an imaginary South that is not where In the Heat of the Night was set.

Andy Griffith died this morning at the age of 86. Hat tip: Ashley Miller.

This is very very cool. A little gruesome of you are not used to this sort of thing.

I wonder if it had ant insurance.

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Here is a valuable discussion about the following video and related topics.

Antonin Scalia wrote a dissenting opinion for today’s Obamacare decision; the majority opinion upheld the Affordable Care Act. But, it appears that Scalia thought he was in the majority at the time he wrote the opinion, used terminology appropriate to that situation (referring to the other opinion as the dissent) and then forgot to change the text.

This is a little scary for two or three reasons. One, it looks like this may have been a very close decision. If Romney is elected, the USA might as well fold up shop. Two, Antonin Scalia and his staff are on drugs or something. Three, if the Supreme Court can mess up the language of documents that control the law like this, cats will soon be sleeping with dogs.

The astonishing details are here at Brad DeLong’s blog.

UPDATE: Here’s the full text of the decision.

Amy Howe of the SCOTUS Blog writes:

In Plain English: The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn’t comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life. From the publisher:

If it weren’t for mitochondria, scientists argue, we’d all still be single-celled bacteria. Indeed, these tiny structures inside our cells are important beyond imagining. Without mitochondria, we would have no cell suicide, no sculpting of embryonic shape, no sexes, no menopause, no aging.

In this fascinating and thought-provoking book, Nick Lane brings together the latest research in this exciting field to show how our growing insight into mitochondria has shed light on how complex life evolved, why sex arose (why don’t we just bud?), and why we age and die. These findings are of fundamental importance, both in understanding life on Earth, but also in controlling our own illnesses, and delaying our degeneration and death. Readers learn that two billion years ago, mitochondria were probably bacteria living independent lives and that their capture within larger cells was a turning point in the evolution of life, enabling the development of complex organisms. Lane describes how mitochondria have their own DNA and that its genes mutate much faster than those in the nucleus. This high mutation rate lies behind our aging and certain congenital diseases. The latest research suggests that mitochondria play a key role in degenerative diseases such as cancer. We also discover that mitochondrial DNA is passed down almost exclusively via the female line. That’s why it has been used by some researchers to trace human ancestry daughter-to-mother, to “Mitochondrial Eve,” giving us vital information about our evolutionary history.

Written by Nick Lane, a rising star in popular science, Power, Sex, Suicide is the first book for general readers on the nature and function of these tiny, yet fascinating structures.

This book comes highly recommended. I’ve not read it yet. Have you? It’s in the mail.