Proof that life doesn't begin at conception

“Life begins at conception.”  This is a phrase that has been used repeatedly by many, including a recent Presidential candidate and two Vice-Presidential candidates in 2012.  On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, former Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee indicated that he believed life begins at conception.  Rallies have recently been held where the protesters waved placards saying life begins at conception.

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Mr. Huckabee and others would probably flunk any biology class.  There are numerous reasons why life does not begin at conception.  Here are a few.

Plants.  There is no conception in the plant world, yet most people would agree that plants are alive.  Some may argue that there is pollination, which could be considered a surrogate for conception, but that doesn’t address the issue of plants that reproduce vegetatively.  Strawberry plants are an example of plants that don’t necessarily reproduce through pollination and seeds.  They frequently spread via runners which produce new plants without ever being pollinated.

One might say they meant only animals when they talk about life beginning at conception.  Except, there are animals that reproduce by parthenogenesis.  There is no genetic material exchanged between a male and female to produce viable offspring with parthenogenesis.  Snails, aphids and whiptail lizards are examples of animals that reproduce without conceiving.  But these animals are life and alive.

The life begins at conception crowd might be hollering now claiming that they meant human life begins at conception.  

Explaining the basics of biology that should have occurred to this group of people when they were in the sixth grade is rather feeble.  Conception occurs when a sperm cell from a male of the species meets an egg cell of a female of the same species.  There is one way for conception to occur and that is when both the sperm cell and the egg cell are living.  If either one, or both, of those cells are dead, conception does not happen.  The cells involved in conception have to be alive in order for conception to occur.  Life begins before conception, as the cells involved in conception have to be alive.

When does life start?  Many biologists will tell you, and Mike Huckabee as well, if he is listening, that life began 4.6 billion years ago.  And life is a continuum, an ongoing process that has neither a beginning nor end.  Where would you draw the line for where life begins when life is a series of changes that are passed from one organism to its offspring through many biological processes?  It would be very difficult to put a finger on any one process and say here is where life begins.

If life begins at conception then one can say that Jesus did not live.  Christians such as Mr. Huckabee believe in what has been written about in the Holy Bible, and that book says that Jesus mother was a virgin.  She had not had sex, therefore conception could not have happened.  If life begins at conception, then Jesus never lived.

Dolly the sheep was never alive, if you believe that life begins at conception.  Dolly was the first mammal cloned by humans.  There was no conception involved in the development of Dolly, so it follows that Dolly was never alive.  This is one more example of proof that life doesn’t begin at conception.  Life is a continuum.  

What happens when humans are cloned.  It is a matter of time before people are cloned and there is no conception involved in the human development.  If somebody killed a cloned person would they get off of any charge of murder because they could claim that the clone was never alive?  What about an entire army of clones?  Killing them, at least to people who believe life begins at conception, would not be a crime, and you could send them into battle with no qualms about any of the “deaths”. 

There is no single point where life begins.  It occurs continuously, changing from a living single cell to a multicellular organism.  Whether the living organism is a human, a snail, or a plant, life progresses through a series of changes.  There is no one point where life begins, for it is an ongoing process with no beginning, and perhaps no ending, as evidenced by the living cells of Henrietta Lacks sixty years after her death.


 "There never was a time when you or I did not exist. Nor will there be any future when we shall cease to be." 

--  Bhagavad Gita

Earth Day comments

The following was originally published in the Stump on the OregonLive.com website a while back. Unedited.

On a spring day in 1970 I bicycled to my high school as I usually did, rain or shine.  This was a semester where my first class started second period, so I was one of the last students to arrive.  I usually had my choice of where to park at the bike rack, as there were maybe ten other bicycles in the rack at a school with 2,000 students.  But on this particular sunny spring day I was shocked to see about 200 bicycles in and around the bike parking facilities.  There was no place to park, and I wound up leaning my bike against the side of the school, a distance from my usual site.

That was the very first Earth Day, and since then, I have occasionally wondered what happened to those 200 bicyclists?  What do they do during Earth Day now— buy compact florescent light bulbs?  Set their printers on duplex?  Combine their errand trips so they aren’t making as many trips to the strip mall?

It seems that there is more traffic now then there was in 1970.  Where are all the bicyclists?

On that first Earth Day in 1970 fifty-five percent of the population was registered to drive motor vehicles. In 2003, according to the US Department of Transportation, 67 percent of the population is registered drivers.  In 1970 there was less than one vehicle per driver.  Today there are one and a quarter vehicles for each registered driver.

Clearly, the trend is toward more drivers and more vehicles.

In 1970 there were very few sport utility vehicles.  Today, approximately fifty percent of the vehicles sold are SUVs and pick-up trucks.

I suspect this all has something to do with the increase in population, but not entirely.  For example, in 1998 only 14 percent of the population under 18 years of age owned a motor vehicle.  In 2008, a mere ten years later, about 43 percent of that segment of the population owned a motor vehicle.  Why should somebody under 18 even need a motor vehicle?  Can’t they share their parent’s car or truck?  Couldn’t they continue to travel as they had before they (or their parents) bought the vehicle?

Bicycles should be a major part of the transportation infrastructure of the twenty-first century.  Yet, most Americans think of them as quaint relics from the past.  I have been bicycling for over fifty years, and I still can’t get over how great it is to bicycle.  In addition to being efficient, inexpensive, and I can fix nearly anything that may go wrong with the bike, I can also get a physical workout, which helps to keep me healthy.

There’s no doubt that Earth Day has made more people more aware of environmental problems over the past forty years.  But has it made a difference?

“Widening roads to overcome congestion is like loosening our belt to solve obesity.” -John Norquist, former mayor of Milwaukee

Home is Africa

They call it Africa, We call it home.

Most Americans lump all the countries of Africa into one country:  Africa. The ignorance that most Americans display regarding the fifty plus countries that make up the African continent is appalling.

Years ago I went to a doctor's office. The nurse noticed that I had been in Peace Corps, and asked me in what country I had served. I replied, "Botswana" and she got a little testy, said something such as, "I don't care about that--what country where you in?" I responded, "Africa" and she was okay with that. I'm not sure what she had thought I had first said, but by lumping Botswana into Africa, I had appeased whatever disgusting thing she thought I had said.

Later, the physician came in, and there was a similar conversation. "Where were you?" Again, I said Botswana, and the look on the physician's face was of confusion. He ultimately said, "I assume that's somewhere in Africa?" These comments were from two supposedly educated people, a nurse and a doctor.

There is a big difference between Morocco and Swaziland, for example. But there seems to be no problem for most people in lumping the two into a pseudo-country called Africa.

The capital of Senegal, Dakar, is closer to New York City, then it is to Johannesburg, South Africa. Maybe Senegal should be considered a part of North America, and let South Africa be a part of Africa.

Culturally, a person can cross the border of any country, and be in a different country (amazing), with a different language, different money, different cultural norms. Imagine somebody traveling to Italy, and you say, "Oh, you went to Eurasia?" It's hard to envision somebody lumping Italy with Thailand, or even an adjacent country such as France. Oh, you went to France? No, Italy. They might use the same currency, but that is about where the similarities stop.

It all seems to be part of a cultural bias of Americans. Throughout their educational years, students in America are taught about ancient Greek and Roman civilization. Chances are there is absolutely no mention of the great past civilizations that were occurring south of the Mediterranean.

Some companies have jumped on the African bandwagon. Certainly companies may be in many countries in Africa. It makes sense to be proud of your location. A bank that may have branches in Namibia, Uganda, and Nigeria, would want to use one saying for all the different countries in which they are doing business.

There were no national boundaries during the evolution of humans. Studies and research over the past one hundred years is showing that humanity originated on the continent of Africa. That continent is now divided into a bunch of countries,

Some of the oldest, or earliest, proto-humans, Australopithecus africanus have been found in South Africa. The Cradle of Humankind is located near Johannesburg. When these remains were first reported, anthropologists, mostly from western Eurasia and North America, were reticent to believe that human beginnings were in Africa. There was a cultural, and perhaps, racial bias, against believing that humanity began in some place other than Europe or Asia.

We are all from Africa. It is the place we can all call home. You just don't know it.

The Four Summits

Occasionally, I have been known to hike to the summit of nearby peaks. Not sure when I got the notion to summit more than one peak in a day, but I started thinking that a self-imposed challenge would be to summit four peaks in one day.

The logical place was in the Anthony Lakes area of the Elkhorn Mountains of northeast Oregon. I had been on a couple of the peaks separately, but never more than one on any one day. I think the very first year I did what was to become The Four Summits was in 2007. I figured I could climb Gunsight Mountain, hike the ridge to Angell Peak, along the ridge to Lees Peak, then drop down to Hoffer Basin, climb up the ski run known as Avalanche to the ridge, pick-up the trail and follow it to the summit of Lakes Lookout.

In October, 2007 I attempted the four summits, hiking with Maia the dog. She was perfectly okay up Gunsight, but then climbing up the ramp to Angell, she would walk in front of me, then lie down, right in my way. She did this numerous times, so after we topped the second peak, we called it a day and headed back to the vehicle.

Angell Peak, Gunsight Mountain, Lees Peak and Lakes Lookout from Bear Butte

A month later I soloed the four summits, as planned. There was a trace of snow, but no other hinderances. Gunsight. Angell Peak. Lees Peak. Lakes Lookout. Like clockwork, I completed the four summits in six and a half hours. There was 1,002 meters of elevation gain over the 10.7 kilometers. Not bad. I did the four summits once a year, usually in the autumn, every year since. Only once, in 2012, has anybody gone with me. Not sure if it was inexperience, or the unknown, but in 2012 my daughter decided to go with me. She seemed to enjoy it.

This year the notion entered my mind that there were other summits that could be done in groups of four. 17.9 kilometers and 1501 meters of elevation and eight and a half hours later I had completed the four summits in the southwest Wallowa Mountains.

I left the trailhead at Buck Creek and was on the summit of Burger Butte within two hours. The weather was nice, a typical early fall day, crisp but sunny. I wandered down and over to Sand Pass, then up the trail to Mule Peak, where Riley was staffing the lookout. About a half hour later I was on the summit of Granite Butte. Then down to Burger Meadow, up to Burger Pass and over and up to China Cap. From China Cap it was all downhill back to the vehicle.

Now I'm contemplating other Four Summits. What could it be? Where will it be? If past Four Summit trips are any indication, they will invariably be solo trips. Time to get hiking.

Carpe Hikem. Seize the hike!

The next Vice President of the United States

The other day, while cycling through the downtown of one of my favorite towns in Oregon, I noticed a Presidential campaign bumper sticker. The sticker did not indicate a year; there was no mention of 2016. But it was on a vehicle with an Oregon license plate. This isn't Kentucky, so it could not have been for the Senate race where Rand Paul went to Washington. The sticker said simply, "Rand Paul."

He could have been running for anything. He hasn't declared his candidacy for any position. But he is positioning himself for being a candidate. Make no mistake. He is running.

Rand Paul is not the only person running for President in 2016. You could come up with several likely candidates: Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio quickly come to mind.

These people are positioning themselves on the national stage during the federal government shutdown of October, 2013. This is an easy, inexpensive way to gain name recognition, and for voters to become familiar with them.

What of the Vice President position? It's easy to point to people and say--Hey, that person is maybe running for President. To be running for Vice President is harder to spot. And the people that come to my mind are mostly female. I just think the next Vice President will be female, and maybe it is also time for a female Presidential candidate as well. Could there be two, three or four females as the major party President and Vice Presidential candidates? Yes, and soon.

Geraldine Ferraro was the first female of a major party ticket, in 1984 when she ran as second fiddle with Walter Mondale. They were trounced at the polls by President Reagan and his VP George HW Bush. It was twenty-four years later before another woman was on a major party ticket. Senator John McCain selected Governor Sarah Palin in 2008 and they were beaten in the election by the Obama/Biden ticket. While there was a lot of negative press about Governor Palin (much of it justified) it will not be another twenty-four years until another woman is on the ticket, either as a candidate for President, or Vice President.

Representative Cathy McMorris Rogers.  Can you say Vice President McMorris Rogers? She is a rising star in the Republican Party, from a blue State (Washington), and could very easily be selected as a VP candidate.

Senator Kelly Ayotte. Another rising star of the Republicans, she is from New Hampshire. A small State both in size and electoral votes, NH could help sway some of the New England states to the Republican candidate.

Governor Susanna Martinez. Rumour has it that Republicans have difficulty attracting both women, and latino voters.  What better way to try to lure those groups to your cause than the Governor of New Mexico.

These are just a few of the possible candidates for the Vice Presidential pick for the Republicans. What about the Democratic party?

Senator Jeanne Sheheen. Another New Hampshire-ite she holds the distinction of being the first woman to be elected as a Governor and as a Senator.

The junior Senator from North Carolina, Kay Hagen.

The junior Senator from North Dakota, Heidi Heitkamp.

Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, might bring some southern cred to a ticket, especially if the Demos pick Senator Elizabeth Warren as their candidate for President.

But that is a whole 'nother story.

Untill 2016...

Don't say it. Don't denigrate people you don't even know.

Non-essential government employees.

There is a phrase I would like to see go by the wayside.

First, in a democracy, things are determined in a group setting.  In this case, the Congress of the United States. There are many interests involved in the decision making process. Everyone has an agenda. One persons essential activity is another persons waste of government money. But to label a group of people non-essential denigrates that group. Congress, in their finite wisdom, has determined this group of government employees to be useful and needed by the country.

Government money is being spent to do research on honeybees in France, and a Presidential candidate in 2008 thought it was horrible that taxpayer money was going to such a waste. It doesn't matter that somebody is doing research on honeybees in France. Somewhere along the line it was determined that in researching the cause of colony collapse disorder in the US, it might be necessary to see what is happening to honeybees on their native turf. Knowledge and lessons learned in France can provide clues to the problem here in the US. Many crops are dependent on honey bees for pollination. So, it was determined to spend money, hard earned taxpayer money, on researching the cause of the decline of honeybees.

A person working for the government on the cause of colony collapse in honeybees should not be called a non-essential government employee. Somewhere, somebody decided it was necessary for the good of the country, for the good of the people, to research honeybees. Your food, my food, depends on honeybees.  Non-essential, my foot!

There are derogatory names for all sorts of different groups of people. I won't list them. Go to any middle school playground and you will most likely hear some of those names.

Usually, we grow out of calling people names. It is time for the people using the phrase "non-essential government employee" to recognize that this is a demeaning, derogatory and insulting phrase to many of the 800,000 federal employees who are currently out of work, no fault of their own.

Exactly how would you feel if you were labeled "non-essential?"

You are a loser. You are a slacker. You are a second-class citizen.

It is not a good feeling. There are a lot of hard working, conscientious employees of the government of the United States. Don't denigrate them!