Former Midnight Oil rocker named Australia's environment minister
Australia is so much cooler than us (no "global warming" pun intended, honest).
Hitting Home
This is what I - and most of the residents of my town - came home to today. Last week a soldier who grow up in our little borough was killed in Iraq. Though he had been living in New Mexico he was still connected to the people here, having come back during some time off this winter and speaking to the students at his former grade school (which is across town and not the one the nine-year-old attends). The kids there had adopted him and had been sending him care packages.
Folks were asked to put their flags out this week in honor of the fallen soldier. Most people around here already fly their flags all the time anyway, but the missus and I have struggled with the message flying our flag sends.
Since most of the houses on our block had them, we had put up our flag when we moved to this block in 2000. When 9-11 happened, even more people put their flags out, and we kept ours up.
But than the US got mixed up in this phony-baloney war and Old Glory suddenly seemed to equal support for the war. Somewhere in there, a couple years ago I guess, we ended up taking ours down - probably after someone took the anti-war ribbon magnets off of our cars. We've been looking to replace it with this, a combination of stars and stripes and the peace sign. We never got around to it though, and then the request for the flags to come out this week was made. Then someone put this small flags all over town and the decision of what flag to fly was seemingly made for us, at least temporarily.
I think the missus and I are okay with this tribute, which is both intimate - with it's modest note on each flag - but also large-scale since it must have taken thousands of flags to cover all the streets around here. Its simple message doesn't come off as pro-war or anti-war, it allows you to mourn this death regardless of what angle you're coming from.
I never met the guy in that picture, but it makes me very sad looking at it. I doubt he and I had very much in common. Perhaps this guy supported the war or maybe he just wanted to serve his county and somehow ended up in Iraq instead. I don't know. I struggle with seeing gung-ho soldiers and their families (especially when the family is still - or more - for the war even after their child is killed in action). I know that most of them serve because they feel it's the right thing to do, and I'm glad that there are people out there braver than I am that are willing to do that.
At the same time, some of them get stuck in that might-makes-right mentality and end up enabling the "deciders" to fight whatever war they want, whenever they want. And in the end, I think that weakens both our country and our armed forces. Brave men and women aren't going to keep enlisting to fight these made-up wars.
The missus and I are still determined to get that peace flag, hoping that it will express how much we still love our country and how much we still hate the war. How supporting "our troops" doesn't equal supporting the war. For now, we'll have to settle for this bumper sticker (which is available free from the John Edwards campaign). I taped it on the inside of window, since I didn't want it to be removed like the last one. Not everyone is as tactful as the folks who put those little flags out today.
Last Gasp
To prevent their opinion section from appearing - God forbid - too liberal (the same "liberal" editorial page that called for Bill Clinton to step down during his sham impeachment trial), the Philadelphia Inquirer goes out of its way to ensure that conservative columnists get equal time.
Usually this is comic gold, since the conservative view is often presented by such national asshats as Jonah Goldberg and Linda Chavez. Once in a while you even get some local economist who still pines for St. Reagan's Voodoo Economics and writes up a piece on why kicking puppies is good for the economy. Sometimes I think the Inquirer is in on the joke - you want conservatives? sure, we'll give you conservatives - the dumbest conservatives we can find! ahhh, ha, ha, ha, ha!
The Weekly Standard's Jonathan Last, though, has been given a somewhat permanent Sunday opinion column that acts as the counterpoint to a liberal point-of-view - usually written by an Inquirer staff writer. This often gives him a bigger stage than the usual syndicated nutcase. His columns are hard to avoid in the Sunday Op-Ed section, try as I might.
Today, in a piece entitled, "Conservatives Must Regroup," Last lets us know that those dirty libruls may have won the gay marriage debate, but when they come for his "religious freedoms" they'll have to rip them from his cold dead hands, or something to that effect.
Existing law is well-suited to be used against religious groups that object to gay marriage. Consider a church (or mosque or synagogue) that declines to marry a gay couple, or extend extra-ecclesiastical services (such as camps, counseling or adoption) to gay couples.
If such a group receives government funding, it will lose it. And groups that do not receive direct funds could lose their tax-exempt status.
So that's the gist of the story - Last looks past the fact that you can find words in the Bible to back almost any belief, no matter how misguided, and thinks that "God said it, I believe it, that settles it" should be part of our Constitution.
In the most troubling case, the Boston chapter of Catholic Charities ceased its work in aiding adoptions last March. In 2003, the organization stopped placing children with same-sex couples in accordance with new church doctrine. This brought it into conflict with the state's recently imposed gay-marriage law. Catholic Charities takes no money from Massachusetts taxpayers - in fact, it saves them money. In order to offer adoption services, organizations must be licensed by the state government.
But because the church would not recognize gay marriage, its license was not renewed. In Boston, the Catholic Church is now out of the adoption business.
So a diocese hides their discrimination behind their "belief system" and pays for it. If the diocese cannot come up with a logical reason for why it won't allow gay couples in their program - other than "because we say so" - than maybe they shouldn't be in the adoption business. Again, there's far too many ways to justify all sorts of crazy ideas with the Bible - have you listened to Pat Robertson lately? - to allow any organization to hide behind it.
Here are the article's best parts:
Conservatives are right on the substance of the issue: Gay marriage is a sympathetic cause, the proximate effects of which would likely be good for society, but the unintended consequences of altering a 5,000-year-old institution will be enormous - and likely very bad for society. [emphasis mine]
Wait, stop. I have never, ever, ever, heard any conservative say that "gay marriage is a sympathetic cause" or that it "would likely be good for society." I would love to see where Last saw or heard that.
Let's continue:
Look at the Netherlands, which went from legalizing gay marriage in 2000 to debating the merits of "plural marriage" in the blink of an eye. Last month, a Dutch political party formed around the goal of decriminalizing pedophilia.
First off, the only people I've ever heard talking about legalizing "plural marriages" in the US are from Utah, not exactly a bastion of liberalism (Last's idea of allowing a Church to legally follow any of their beliefs would most likely, in Utah at least, bring back those dreaded plural marriages). Secondly, I am truly amazed that it took Last until almost the end of his column to bring out the ol' pedophilia argument.
When conservatives bring up pedophilia and bestiality and incest as being the next stage of marriage protection battles, what their really saying is that they see homosexuals as being just as immoral as the worst sexual deviants. It shows that their whole argument has nothing to do with "protecting marriage," it's all about eradicating homosexuality. They see gayness as a crime, right up there with pedophilia. Never mind that gay marriages would require two consenting adults, unlike pedophilia and any other scary scenario the right try to bring up, it's all the same to them.
Despite what Last threatens, there already are people in America who believe that it should be legal to have sex with minors. I'm sure that there are people who think we should bring back slavery, too. That doesn't mean that logical people have to listen to them, and I seriously doubt their ideas are getting any traction in the weird old queer-loving Netherlands.
You know, I bet there's even a few priests right here in the US of A who don't see anything wrong with having sex with minors. Come to think of it, I think I heard something about that very thing happening in the Boston diocese. Isn't that the same diocese that thinks they're the best judges when it comes to protecting adopted children?
But the gay-marriage fight is already lost. Now is the time to dig the trenches around religious liberty. It will require modifying state antidiscrimination laws. And it will require passing a federal Church Amendment-style conscience-clause protection to guard the rights of religious groups against the inevitable.
God help us, no.
I Get No Kick From The Inane
I know that this might be a bad time to bring up my little Division III alma mater, what with the big boys (and girls) of Division One playing their big bad b-ball tourney right now, but when you're a Prof you're a Prof all the way.
Major, major happenings at my old school. How do I know? Because I received an email today from my alumni association (their motto: damn you, Caller ID!) with this subject line:
Major Announcement at Rowan University
Holy Smokes! Major announcement? Last time there was a major announcement about Rowan it was still Glassboro State College, and it was to announce that some rich guy named Hank Rowan was donating $100 Million bucks to the school (one year after I graduated, of course).
As you may have heard, there’s more exciting news at Rowan University—and it’s big!
No I haven't heard! Christ, I've been up at Rutgers all week! What, what?!? What's the exciting news?
Below is a letter President Dr. Donald Farish sent to the campus community today. We thought it would interest you and provide you with insight into the latest news at Rowan.
The president is announcing it? Wait, let me sit down for this. Nope, I can't. Can't. Sit. Still. Just go ahead and tell me.
Dear University Community:
That's me!
If you have picked up a newspaper, watched television or listened to radio in the last several days, you know that once again there is a major development at Rowan University.
Major development? Now it's starting to sound like a murder investigation. That certainly would be big news, but exciting? I guess, if you're into that who CSI thing. Personally, I've never understood why that stuff is so popular but that's just me...
But just in case you haven't heard, I'm writing to tell you about the latest news at Rowan:
Oh, right. Sorry. The news. Go right ahead. I'm ready.
Our agreement with Major League Soccer to pursue constructing a stadium for a professional soccer team at our West Campus at the Rt. 55/Rt. 322 junction in Harrison Township and Glassboro.
Oooooookay, I'm not sure what soccer has to do with the big news, but continue.
MLS hopes to have a team playing just a mile from our main campus by 2009. We’re still in the preliminary stages, and nothing is cast in stone, but that’s a very gratifying (and a bit overwhelming) possibility.
Seriously? That is the big news? Major League Soccer? Not even guaranteed, just the possibility of Major League Soccer? Maybe. Could happen. Maybe yes, maybe no. Don't hold your breath.
Come on Dr. Farish, there's got to be more, right?
And there will be more.
Phew, I knew it. Okay, hit me.
We have started a search for a master developer to construct athletic fields for our athletes (and public and private schools and youth organizations), student housing, restaurants and retail outlets. The $800-million to $1-billion Rowan West project will be the largest mixed-use, commercial and residential project in Gloucester County. Best of all, tuition dollars will not be used to pay for the work.
Oh, hey, that's... great. I mean, who doesn't think that a college should be in the "mixed-use, commercial and residential project" business? Other than athletics, is there any other reason for a college to exist? Let me think about that... sports... retail outlets... restaurants... nope, I can't think of anything else a school is supposed to be doing. But I can't shake the feeling that I'm forgetting something.
All right, so the next paragraph does show an education angle to the project.
The project will have a dramatic impact on the campus even beyond what I've already mentioned. We envision being able to create new programs, such as hospitality management, sports broadcasting and allied health. By freeing up money, the project will enable us to construct more academic buildings on our main campus. And we expect to be able to welcome more students to Rowan, a move that will help meet some of the burgeoning demand in New Jersey for a college degree.
But enough of that crap, let's get back to the sports.
When we started discussing expansion plans for Rowan a few years ago, we could only dream of an opportunity like this.
Really? You dreamt of a MLS franchise in South Jersey? Sometimes I have dreams about being back at college registration - naked and unable to sign up for any classes. Scary? Sure, but still a good bit better than dreaming about soccer.
Needless to say, we are thrilled with the possibilities this agreement means for us. We'll keep you posted as the project progresses.
Oh, please do.
[Before I get hate mail, let me just say that I kid 'cause I love. Go Profs!]
Telegraphing It In
Painting, painting, and more painting. And basketball coaching. And refereeing. You don't want to read about any of that, and I don't want to write about it. So let's try something different today.
There was news this week that Western Union's telegram service has stopped STOP Nearby Moorestown, NJ used to be home to a Western Union telegraph office STOP Most youngun' probably do not realize that, pre-fax machine, there were large cubicle farms filled with ladies receiving and sending telegram messages STOP But I knew, because two of my sisters worked at the Moorestown office in the mid-seventies STOP Both sisters are loyal Long Cut readers STOP For today's post, I thought I would ask them some of their Western Union memories STOP
GO:
JANIE: My favorite story: The 3 inch man. Our daily prank pervert calls. Each day around 3:30pm the calls would begin with the same question. "What would you do with a three inch man?" Best response I ever heard? My friend, Narcie, who responded, "I guess I'd find him a three inch woman."
DONNA: There was the nasty letter sent by a Christian fundamentalist type upset about the movie, Life of Brian. She was really obnoxious. I had her spell all the words out and apparently her spelling wasn't as good as her preaching, so the telegram went out protesting the new movie, "Life of Brain."
JANIE: One time I took a mailgram to be sent to a ridiculously large amount of people notifying them of a public meeting. Can you see it coming? Yep, I accidentally invited them all to a pubic meeting.
JANIE: After talking to Gene Kelly's secretary and telling her how much I loved Gene Kelly, she put him on the phone with me.
DONNA: A guy called from New York City. We were instructed to ask what section of the city the caller was from. When I asked that, this guy got FURIOUS. He yelled that people from the Bronx deserved as much respect as those from Manhattan. Huh?? So, he cursed me out a bit and hung up. I took my next call and guess who it was? He told me he was from NYC and wasn't very nice when I asked him whereabouts in NYC.
JANIE: I had to call a customer on Thanksgiving and tell him he had a telegram from someone sending him a greeting. "The greeting says Gobble Gobble twenty eight times." "Okay, then read it." "Seriously? Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble."
DONNA: There were brushes with fame. First, I spoke to Paul Rodgers of Bad Company. They were playing in Philly that night. I told him I loved their music and he asked me what song was my favorite. I couldn't think of a single song of theirs. He did leave me two tickets at the gates for the show. Lousy seats, but it was pretty cool. I also talked to Lorne Michaels. This was at the height of SNL mania. No tickets from him, but he was a really nice man. Oh, I also received a call from an actress named Liv Ullmann so that makes 5 high points of my job there. I know nothing about her except Liv Tyler was named for her.
JANIE: I spoke to actress Celeste Holm. She was very gracious and I became a fan.
JANIE: There were two basic jobs for an operator. Taking telegrams and calling people with telegrams. I used to love calling them although the worst was when you'd have to call someone and notify them of a death in their family. They always read the same way... we regret to inform you that (name) expired on (date). It always seemed so cold to read that to someone.
DONNA: 5 minutes into every shift, my hand was the first one raised when they asked for volunteers to go home.
JANIE: I became famous for walking into the room with my hand already up. Thus being the first to volunteer to be light-loaded (sent home early). Having gone from full time to part time and then regularly being light-loaded, I basically worked to earn the money I needed to drive back and forth to work.
JANIE: The job was horrible. Long hours of just sitting and taking crap from customers. There was a lot of pressure to sell copies of each telegrams too. And let's not forget the embarrassment of having to raise your hand to be excused to use the ladies room and then clocking out to do so.
That was fun, I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I have. Big thanks to my big sisters!
Why, I may just have to outsource my blogging duties more often.
He Feels Great! Me, Not So Much
I'm not too sure if he's even known outside the Philadelphia area, but around here, Pat Croce is huge. His wiki page isn't very descriptive, but all you really need to know is that he's a larger-than-life, pull-yourself-up, let's-go-bungee-off-a-bridge, self-help guru. The guy started out as a trainer for some local pro teams, did some radio work, became president of the Sixers for a while (resigning after an unsuccessful and highly publicized coup attempt for his boss's job), started a chain of pirate-themed putt-putt courses, had a Dr. Phil/Trading Spaces-like TV show called Pat Croce: Moving In for about a year, and has written books with titles like I Feel Great and You Will Too!, 110%, Pat Croce's Victory Journal, and Lead or Get Off the Pot.
All that in-your-face exposure and most of Philadelphia still can't get enough of the guy. He can do no wrong.
But now, now, this self-help guru has decided to team up with icky Donald Trump in an attempt to get a slots parlor built in Philly.
I've never been a big fan of gambling and I'm extremely skeptical of the economic benefits Pennsylvania is promising these slots will bring in, but there's no stopping these parlors from being built. I'm resigned to seeing these pathetic little things popping up all over the place, but I'm really bummed that Croce somehow thinks this is a good idea for the people of Philadelphia.
I haven't seen anyone questioning Pat on the apparent hypocrisy of a self-help motivational speaker going into the blow-your-pension business. I'd love to hear his side of the story.
Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
More timely bullet points:
- Big week for Springsteen news (and an excuse for even more bullets!):
- It was thirty years ago today that Bruce fronted both Newsweek and Time.
- A 30th Anniversary edition of Born to Run (which was the reason for Springsteen being on the cover of Newsweek and Time thirty years ago) is coming out next month. Three discs with plenty of never-before-released goodies, thus forcing all Bruce completists into replacing their perfectly good Born to Run CD (which had replaced their pretty good Born to Run cassette, which replaced their horribly scratched-up Born to Run album).
- Sirius satellite radio has announced a 24/7 all-Bruce station on their network. Ehhhh... that's kind of stalker-like creepy, but I would still have it as a pre-set if I could actually afford satellite radio (do satellite radio receivers even have presets?).
TypePad, the blogging service I use, has been annoyingly buggy lately. Not Blogger-level annoying, but annoying nonetheless. From what they're saying on the company's own blog, it sounds like growing pains are the cause of the recent glitches. Many more glitches and TypePad won't have to worry about the problems caused by being too popular, WordPress will (not that I'm threatening to leave TypePad, who could ever leave a cute couple of kids like Mena and Ben?).
- A big running-related pet peeve of mine (right up there with nipple rub) is when a race doesn't post their results online. A lot of times I need to leave right after a race and can't wait around to find out my finishing time. This past Sunday was just like that - the missus needed me home quickly after my 10-miler so she could get the eight-year-old to choir practice, and on top of that I was missing the some of the Eagles game. So I rush home, find out that there won't be any online results, and grumble about not knowing my results. I did get to see almost all of the second half of the football game, though. Yesterday I come home from work to a package from the race sponsors - a medal for third place in my age group! That's my second medal in a month (and only my third ever, all for the same thing - 3rd in age group). I still don't know my official time, though.
- It's official now - my World Series pick was right. I ended up going 5-2 in my post-season predictions. Not bad. [Long Cut commenter (and big sister) Donna reminded us of another reason to root against the Astros: Dubya's folks - the people who are to most to blame for his train wreck of a presidency - are season ticket holders and are frequently shown on the ballpark's big video screen (sometimes even seen kissing - bleehh).]
- Some links I've been meaning to write about:
- 80’s Rock Concerts (via Howard) - Some blogger is posting scans of his concert ticket stubs from the 80's. Now I'm going to have to go up into the attic and see if I kept some of mine.
- Badmash Short Bush-bashing skit from Andy Dick. Yes, that Andy Dick. He's is back and it's funny Andy, not freaky Andy (though, like most things Andy Dick does, the joke goes on a bit too long).
- The top 40 magazine covers of the past 40 year - I'm not too sure about some of them belonging here, but still pretty interesting to see.
- Families of Prisoners (via Blinq) This is a great idea - families of prisoners who are sick of having prison visiting rooms as the backdrop to all their family pictures can have non-correctional services settings photo-shopped in. Why stop at prisoners? With Christmas family newsletter season approaching, what family couldn't benefit from more exotic family photos?
- Building on Paige's post about musical artists she feels are a tad over-rated (though I don't agree with her hating on Sufjan Stevens): I don't get what people love so much about Mike Doughty. Then again I didn't much care for his old band, Soul Coughing, much either. Somebody enlighten me.
- I'll end all these bullets with with a shocking, SHOCKING, headline: Exxon Mobil, Shell Post Record Profits. Who'da thunk it?
Now, who's going to be the first to tell me where I stole the title of this post from?
Thank You Miss Rosa
Rosa Parks, civil rights icon, dead at 92.
"Sister Rosa"
by The Neville Brothers
December 1, 1955, our freedom movement came alive.
And because of Sister Rosa you know, we don’t ride on the back of the bus no more.
Sister Rosa Parks was tired one day
after a hard day on her job.
When all she wanted was a well deserved rest
Not a scene from an angry mob.
A bus driver said, "Lady, you got to get up
cuz a white person wants that seat."
But Miss Rosa said, "No, not no more.
I’m gonna sit here and rest my feet."
Chorus
Thank you Miss Rosa, you are the spark,
You started our freedom movement
Thank you Sister Rosa Parks.
Thank you Miss Rosa you are the spark,
You started our freedom movement
Thank you Sister Rosa Parks.
Now, the police came without fail
And took Sister Rosa off to jail.
And 14 dollars was her fine,
Brother Martin Luther King
knew it was our time.
The people of Montgomery sit down to talk
It was decided all gods’ children should walk
Until segregation was brought to its knees
And we obtain freedom and equality, yeah
Chorus
Thank you Miss Rosa, you are the spark,
You started our freedom movement
Thank you Sister Rosa Parks.
We’ll sing it again
Thank you Miss Rosa, you are the spark,
You started our freedom movement
Thank you Sister Rosa Parks.
So we dedicate this song to thee
for being the symbol of our dignity.
Thank Sister Rosa Parks.
Chorus 2x
Step Away From The Vehicle
The Whit, the weekly newspaper of my alma mater, reports that "something new is rolling around Rowan University" and that new thing happens to be "the latest purchase made by the Rowan University Public Safety department."
And the Public Safety (aka: Campus Police, aka: the Man) Department just can't control their enthusiasm about this latest purchase. Just look what it offers:
- Allows officers to get closer to the students
- Can go outside and just about anywhere
- It's quiet and allows for "sneaking up on people"
- It has zero emissions, so it's environmentally friendly.
Cool - it's a bike, right? It's got to be a bike, that would totally make sense. I mean, the only other thing it could be would be one of those stupid Segways that nobody ever bought. But, I mean, c'mon, tuition goes up every year, professors are being replaced with adjuncts, the alumni organization's aways begging for more money - there's no way the campus police could get away with buying what is pretty much a $5000 toy, right?
Oops. $5000 for a toy. It turns out the Rowan police already had patrol bikes, but they "fell in love with" the Segway so much that they just couldn't resist getting one.
In fairness, I haven't listed all of the selling points laid out in the article. At $5000, the Segway cost about a fifth of what a patrol car would cost (never mind that a bike would cost about a fifth of what a Segway would cost), and since riders "are a head taller than everyone else," Segways offer "officers get a clear line of sight in crowds, parking lots and pedestrian environments" (never mind that an officer coasting on his bike standing up would also be a head taller than everyone else).
Here are some things about Segways that weren't mentioned in the article (but were in a Whit editorial in the same issue): they're slower than bikes, they put officers in the position of always looking down on students (not very good for police-student relations), they can't go off-road like a bike, they don't offer the opportunity for officers to stay in shape while working (like a bike would), and, oh yeah, they cost Five Thousand Dollars!
To this I'll add just one more - they, and the officers riding them, look extremely dorky (see photo).
This is just such an absurd waste of money for Rowan that it makes me want to never give any money to the Alumni fund drives again.
Not that I have ever actually given any money to the Alumni fund drives.
But still, y'know, if I did.
[Photo credit: The Whit]
Make Lemonade
I try to act all high and mighty just because the missus and I gave a little money to the Red Cross, and the eight-year-old goes and shows us up. He and his little punk friends set up a lemonade stand and collected $72 for the victims of Katrina. The missus took them up to the Wawa to turn it in and found out that they are matching Red Cross donations made at their stores, making it a $144 gift.
Dang, the kid's good. The little punk.
All Over Creation
Just so you don't think that the missus has a monopoly on blog-rants (though she's had some really good ones lately), I thought I would go off on something stupid that's been in the news lately: "Intelligent Design."
The front page of Tuesday's Philadelphia Inquirer had the story of how our President, a man whose name is not often used in the same sentence with the word intelligent, thinks that "Intelligent Design," the belief that the world was created by a higher power, should be taught in public schools. In public school science classes.
Bush coming out and saying this didn't really get me upset because, c'mon, it wasn't a surprise at all. The only surprising part was that he did just come out and say Creationism should be taught, though I'm sure that's next.
No, what upset me is that in today's Inquirer, Arlen Specter, not someone who usually panders to the religious right, pretty much said, sure, teach Intelligent Design, what could it hurt?
"My own instincts are to teach everything and let people take their choices," the Pennsylvania Republican said, responding to questions on the topic. "My instinct is not to object to people hearing all sides of all issues, no matter how much I disagree with them."
Fine, so let's teach everything. Let's teach that Noah took two of every creature in his arc, let's teach that the sun god Ra created everything, let's teach that throwing a virgin into a volcano will keep it from erupting. We should teach that when God was handing out brains, some folks thought he said "trains" and asked for a slow one. That when God was handing out noses, some though he said "roses" and asked for a big one. I think some people still believe the Sun revolves around the Earth, who are we to disagree? And let's teach all of this in our Science classes. Teach everything and let the students decide, where's the harm in that?
Scientists have worked hard to prove Evolution, as much as it can be proven, but hey, we don't believe you, so, even though we have no proof, and science is all about proof, we want equal billing in Science class. I hate these people, and I actually think that there may have been a God behind everything (though nowhere near as much as what these people think - dinosaurs and humans living at the same time?!? Oooooo-kaaaaaay.). But beliefs belong in Theology class, not Science class.
Duncan Black summed it up pretty well over at Eschaton:
Obviously most people who believe in some form of supreme deity are lowercase intelligent design believers of some kind, but that's entirely different from being believers in the "science" of uppercase Intelligent Design. People are free to believe, if they wish, that aspects of the universe including life suggest to them the presence of some form of divine hand. But that's spirituality and faith, not science. There is no genuine science of Intelligent Design and it has no place in science classrooms.
Did I mention that I hate these people? This is all just a way to get Creationism back in the schools. The thing is, the religious right are doing it the only way they know how - by secularizing it. They pushed for Christmas displays on public property by arguing that it's become a secular holiday, they pushed for putting the Ten Commandments in courthouses by saying they've become part of secular law, and now Creationism has become secular science as "Intelligent Design." They claim everything is secular, then complain that we're becoming a godless nation that's bent on taking the "Christ" out of Christmas. You can't have it both ways, folks.
God, I hate these people. Or, Ra, I hate these people. You know, whichever you believe.
Running On Empty
Am I to believe that America's whole space program has been halted by a faulty gas gauge? I had this same problem in my old Ford Explorer, and here's all NASA needs to do:
Put a Post-It note over the gauge so their mechanic knows they're not really on "E."- Figure out how many miles the shuttle gets on a tank of gas.
- Set the tripometer to "00000" next time they fill the tank.
- Refill when they come close to their limit and start all over again.
Christ on a bike, this isn't rocket science, people.
Oh, wait...
B.I.O.-graphy
I went down to the BIO 2005 protests yesterday, and like most of Philadelphia, I'm still trying to figure out what happened. If you haven't already heard, a small scuffle between protesters and the police broke out during the demonstration. One of the policeman, Paris Williams, collapsed and died of a heart attack while trying to contain the crowd. Police are trying to determine what impact, if any, the scuffle had on the officer's death. To his credit, police commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson seems to be keeping an open mind, saying only, "We're not blaming anybody for what happened. Right now, the whole circumstances are being investigated."
If reports are correct, the officer collapsed at 12:40. I was there taking pictures from about 12:50 to 1:40, and there was no sign that anything newsworthy had happened. By the time I arrived, the crowd seemed loud but controlled and the police officers appeared unfazed by the protesters.
The protesters seemed very cool with me walking amongst them and snapping pictures, especially when you consider that my camera makes me look like a tourist and my work clothes probably made me look more like "the man" than the bleeding-heart liberal that I am.
Anyway, I've set up a photo album of the protest here. The protesters were to meet at Love Park at noon, so I went there first. Some protesters were there, but not until I followed the news helicopters to the convention center did I find the real protest.
Short Shrift
1. I find it funny that on the cover of its "Best Places to Live" issue, Philadelphia Magazine puts a McMansion so lacking of any homeyness that I would never want to live in it. Unless, of course, someone wanted to buy it for me. I'd be cool with that (then I could just turn around and sell it).
2. Even Michael Jackson says, "that's just too weird": State teacher commission probes wound-licking practice by coach. (Via The Morning News.)
3. While I'm nowhere near being on pace to finish my 52 new (to me) films in 2005, I am glad that we used a valuable spot on our Blockbuster-by-Mail queue for a Pee-Wee's Playhouse DVD. You know, for the kids. These shows were jam-packed with both creativity and brilliant humor. The kind of humor that kids laugh at even as it goes right over their heads. You don't get much of that on Dora the Explorer. And the show is completely timeless, other than the Jheri-Curl on Cowboy Curtis (Laurence "Larry" Fishburn). We had to quickly change the subject when the seven-year old asked why the show isn't on the air anymore, but other than that the show has proven itself as one of the rare shows that the whole family can happily watch together. We already own Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, and I have a funny feeling that the Easter Bunny might already know about the kids' love of all things Pee-Wee.
4. After reading the first chapter, I've decided order the book I posted about yesterday, Jason Headley's Small Town Odds. While I wouldn't compare it to Richard Russo's work just yet, it's a good enough story to give it a chance.
5. If you haven't looked at my sidebar lately you might not have noticed that I added my Amazon Wish List (or maybe you did and you've just chosen to ignore it). I've also added a photo album with my pictures from the October Kerry Rally. I dig how TypePad organizes their photo albums.
Update: I had to go back into this post to fix a typo, so I'll add one more thing while I'm here:
6. "tom petty in pink underware" - Someone got directed to my blog today by typing that into Google. Serves me right for for checking my StatCounter. I mean, sure, I have the picture they're looking for, but I'm not going to actually publish it. I'd have to take it down from over the living room fireplace and scan it.
I'm kidding, of course. We don't have a fireplace.
Thompson Gunner
Now would be a good time for me to ask why so many people thought Hunter S. Thompson, who killed himself yesterday, was considered a great journalist. I never cared for his writing (lately he had been writing incoherently for ESPN's website) and never understood what his fans saw in his work.
Just asking.
Update (5:18 PM): Since no one took me up on my offer to explain the appeal of Hunter S. Thompson and since I've had time to read a few tributes to him today, I'll say what I don't like about the guy:
- He was a hedonist, and I really hate anything hedonistic.
- His lifestyle diminished his work. Everything he wrote, no matter how true or how brilliant, can be dismissed as the ramblings of a drug-addled nut-job. He's not someone whose words you want to use to support your argument when debating someone.
- I don't think he said too many brilliant things. I know he "told it like it was" but I don't think it took much brilliance to declare Nixon a cancer on America. Yes, Nixon was re-elected, but Thompson was writing for the Rolling Stone crowd, and I doubt many of their readers were Nixon fans to begin with.
- I get easy bored when reading profanity-laced writing. Grow up and get a real vocabulary.