Tossing out Sheep that Disobey

click for full article

Evolution debacle (5-7)

Yesterday at one point I had MSNBC's "Connected Coast to Coast" on as background noise in the living room. At the end of it Ron Reagan went on a rampage about the Kansas school board giving credence to creationism or "intelligent design". Not surprisingly I got up this morning and came across it on the show's webpage when browsing MSNBC.

The state of Kansas is poised to vacate the Age of Reason. If all goes according to brain-addled plan, the Kansas school board will soon vote to water down the state’s public school science curriculum, minimizing Darwinian evolution and giving credence to a half-baked, non-scientific notion variously called “creationism” or “intelligent design.”

We dealt with the issue recently on our show and I got a little steamed, as I’m prone to do when faced with shameless lies told at the expense of innocent children. Evolution, of course, has mountains of evidence on its side—the fossil record; genetics; observations of rapidly mutating species in nature in the lab, as well as some compelling new computer models. I challenged our creationist guest to provide similar evidence for his point of view. He couldn’t... because there isn’t any. But it got me thinking: education that ignores the facts could be a lot more fun.

For instance, generations of school kids have been taught that George Washington and his troops defeated the British after crossing the Delaware River in wooden rowboats. Plenty of scholarship backs that up. But we don’t have any of the actual boats, do we? Who’s to say that Washington didn’t ditch the watercraft and instead cross the river on the backs of specially trained dinosaurs? No evidence for that - but in Kansas, we don’t need no stinkin’ evidence.

How about math? The diameter of a circle equals twice the radius? Nah, in my new new math, the diameter of a circle equals time to order out for pizza. Doesn’t sound like mathematical science to you? Yeah... and what’s your point?

All that’s necessary for ignorance to triumph is that people who know better step aside and get out of its way. We might want to consider that as we sit back twiddling our thumbs and playing politics while Kansas spirals into the Dark Ages, dragging its unwitting children with it.

It was a subject they had earlier in the week apparently, and a little further down the page there were brief comments by viewers, which I always enjoy reading. When I see a newspaper the first thing I do is open it to the opinions section. There were two responses that caught me the most:

I do have one question of the pastor who is your guest. Would he be willing to let evolution be taught as a viable explanation of creation in his church's Sunday school? I doubt it. Why not? Because Sunday school is not the appropriate venue for science. Likewise, schools are not an appropriate venue for religion.
--Michelle Duncan, OKC, Okla.

A theory is not simply an idea, an educated guess. In order for a theory to BE a bonafide theory, there has to be scientific evidence to give it weight. There is data and scientific evidence to support the theory of evolution. Creationism, or intelligent design, is an IDEA based on hopeful theology, rather than a theory based on scientific evidence. If our schools are going to teach creationism (and misrepresent it as a scientific theory) then they should also teach Hindu creationism, Native American creationism, Voodoo, Buddhist, Babylonian, Egyptian, Shinto, Hebrew, etc. Pink flying horses, elephants and great turtles carrying the universe, serpents in the Garden of Eden. If we teach one, we should teach them all.
--Jacki Gansch, Columbus, Ohio

The whole matter, a "backwards slide to the dark ages" as I've heard people call the danger posed by the eminence of creationism and/or ID (depending on if you consider them two separate ideas), got me wondering: Where would "they" go next if education standards returned to the so-called " dark ages" (i.e. greater dominance of mythological superstitions than today) at "their" behest?

[sarcasm alert]

Would there next be a push for the banning of all surgical medical procedures and medications because humans are "playing god" by using them? "If you're going to die then you're meant to die", "Why prolong your glorious trip to paradise?" being the rationale. You're born with or contract a malignant disease? Too bad. "God's will". No cure for you!

#3: Captured

Found an interesting photo essay that was inspired by the recent capture of who is supposedly the #3 man in Al Qaeda that includes a number of other operatives and an unaffiliated foreign leader: "Disadvantages of Pissing off America"

Though, what's interesting is how he replaced the former #3 commander when he was captured. So, the question is, who will fill the vacuum of power within the Al Qaeda hierarchy, and will he be a more dangerous commander than his predecesor?

Another Major Bombing and a Convoy Trip

MSNBC headline

BAGHDAD, Iraq — An Iraqi carrying hidden explosives set them off inside a police recruitment center in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 50 people, according to the U.S. military.

Police said the final death toll could be much higher, and the Al Arabiya television station, quoting medical sources, said 60 Iraqis were killed.

>> Source Article [FOX NEWS]

But few people here will really give a shit. News like that has cascaded in off and on for two years. Mere numbers now. No faces. No images of victims to give people a grim understanding of what happens in each attack. All we get here are pictures of wreckage, verbal announcement of casualties (which frankly don't do the dead justice), and depending on circumstances around the incident such as timing or scope, the networks bring out retired military commanders to insist that this is a sign of "winning".

If these are signs of how we're winning, I'd hate to see what losing looks like.

But you have to respect the resolve both sides have put into their efforts, and the sacrifices made, even if they don't in the end add up to what people would want them to. And even the will power it takes to take part in the conflict for whichever side.

Semi-related piece:

...We are about to take a ride down Route Irish, the road that links the Green Zone with Camp Victory, the Coalition base surrounding the Baghdad Airport. Last week, as best we can tell, fifteen people died and seventeen were wounded on these six-and-a-half miles of road. In the past 48 hours there have been around 30 car-bombs in Iraq, almost half of them in Baghdad. It is enough to give pause.

The briefing ends. In silence, we turn to our assigned vehicles. As each arrives at his assigned seat for the ride, a light banter begins between the officers and the enlisted crews as the officers place their gear inside. Then each man draws from his ammo pouches a magazine of ammunition. The rhythm of metallic clicks as we chamber rounds in our weapons lasts for thirty seconds or so.

Leaving the Green Zone via Checkpoint Twelve involves the inevitable weaving through a serpentine. I am in the lead vehicle, my personal preference, which I indulge when appropriate, though I am sitting in the back seat this time. I am just a passenger for this ride. We accelerate slowly to provide the cars and HMMWVs behind us a chance to clear the weave and get on the ramp. I check my watch. Red Zone. It is 08:06:03.

Mostly you get small arms in this first section of the road. Quadisiya is the name of the section of town we pass first, on the right. The buildings are moderately well-off structures for Iraq. They are mostly two story affairs with flat roofs, though sometimes you will see strange architectural flares such as the bright green Japanese-style entry-way roof on one house about a half mile out of the Green Zone. We drive over a cluster of empty .50 cal shell casings and belt-links in the middle of the road, maybe a hundred rounds worth. Recent. We keep accelerating.

The road starts climbing. I hate this stretch, though it has been peaceful lately. What unsettles are the guard rails and fencing, all twisted and torn. Inward for the railings. Outward for the fencing. For about half a mile the road is lined with this unmistakable evidence of not just one, but dozens of IEDs in this short passage. This section of the road is raised and curving, so there is a touch of the claustrophobic as well. There is no where to go if you are hit.

>> "On the Road to Victory" [MSNBC]

Political Cartoons

It's been a while since I had one of these cartoon compilation posts. Figured what the hell, I don't feel like writing about anything right now anyway.