Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Flag Burning

I think I'm pretty patriotic when it comes to America. If they call for me to go fight, I'll go without hesitation. If there's a major war going on, depending on where I am, I'll either be designing laser guided bombs (Mencia: It's the ASIANs fault. Who the hell do you think designs those bombs?) or I'll go join the military. Likewise, because I'm patriotic, it means I'm believe in the constitution. Likewise, I believe Flag Burning ammendment is wrong.

First thing is first, most of the people who are burning flags are over there. Not over here.

Second thing:
Since when is it wrong to protest against the government? Sure it's just burning flags, but burning flags is a sign of protest. A sign of discontent. A way to get the government to go, "I wonder what they're protesting about." More specifically, the burning of the flag is like the burning of the government. When someone burns it, it means theres something wrong. By saying we're not allowed to burn flags, means we're not allowed to protest against the government. Why is it that I cannot protest against the government? Does this make my website against the law?

Yes, I know that it's not really protesting against the government, but what you have to realize is that to restrict flag burning, is infringing upon the freedom of speech, the one thing that seperates us from Red China.

I also realize that burning a flag probably means you don't like the government. But because we're in America, we're forced to deal with the bad side of Democracy. The ability to critisize everything and anything. Likewise, we cannot be punished for such actions.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Bush is really starting to scare me

Aside from the incompetence
His thing about, "God told me so."
Abortion
Gays

He's taken a new step towards the breaking of the constitution which really scares me (click link for full story).

"For people to leak that program and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America, makes it harder to win this war on terror."

"The American people expect this government to protect our constitutional liberties and at the same time make sure we understand what the terrorists are trying to do, You try to follow their money. And that's exactly what we're doing and the fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror."
-Both said by George Bush himself.

Republican Peter King actually suggested Mr. Bush to prosecute the New York Times.

And for all you idiots who can't figure it out yet:
The fact that Bush critisizes a newspaper, saying they shouldn't do it, and then actually having someone urge the administration to cancel it, is a sign of unconstitutional actions. Namely, the Freedom of the Press. Granted, some of the things we release is a little boneheaded (Black Hawk Down: You need night vision goggles to see painted targets), but we can't do anything because of what we call the first ammendment. Quite possibly, the most important ammendmant. Thinking that we should start restricting it, makes us no better than those Red Chinese people I despise. This attacks our very views of liberal democracy, and strikes at the heart of the constitution.

And the last time I checked, the terrorists don't want to attack our constitutional liberties. If anything, the terrorists want to kill us. How can we be opresssed if the terrorists aren't in our government? The only one who can opress us is the government (Such irony, especially with prosecuting NYTimes).

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Games and the slippery slope

As you know, many people support not only the censorship of video games, but the banning of video games. For instance, Jack Thompson blames shooters such as Halo as training toolers for next generation Columbine. He also believes that many of today's world is warped by the world of gaming. Crimes are caused by Grand Theft Auto, etc.

My opinion? It's unjust, and it doesn't affect kids. But that's for another article.

What you may also know is that some states ban the sales of certain rated computer games. By taking these off the shelves, it reflects one things. Censorship. Yes, Censorship. This occurs on TV, since we're not allowed to put in high quality porn during peak hours. The internet is also the same thing with the new .xxx domain. But isn't the freedom of speech, expression, and information what seperates us from the Chinese? I should hope so.

By restricting these things, they rail out against what makes America so great. When is it so bad that I cannot play the games that I want? Call me a warped son of a bitch. Call me the next generation colmbine. Hell, call me a pedophile (RE: The Sims. Apparently Jack Thompson doesn't know anything about computers either). But one thing sets me different than the people who say this: I believe censorship is bad. And by this, I hope that America will understand how this is censorship.

So I leave you with this.
"Censorship started with little things, when the government controlled cartoons and the Radio. Then it went to the regular TV, school system, and finally the print."
-A badly remembered quote from Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Anti-intellectual Television

Thinking back of my childhood, I remember watching TV. Some of my favorite shows included the Animaniacs and the Pinky and the Brain. Thinking about it, I realize that many things were a lot funnier than what I took them to be. Sure, I thought it was humorous back then, but even now I think it's humorous.

For example, I remember a part where you see Noah playing with a paddle ball, and he's talking to god. Those of you who have read this the entire time (if you exist), may remember,

"What about spiders?"
"ESPECIALLY SPIDERS."

Now, I can remember bits and pieces of that episode. One of which that I remember was Noah saying

"So I pretty much have to go 40 days and 40 nights in the cold, rain, this area is supposed to flood, and then I can get into heaven. Though I heard the food isn't very good up there."
*Noah gets zapped for saying that*

Now just thinking about that, made me realize the hilarity of that comment. The fact is that that statement is utterly hilarious. Of course the food isn't going to be very good in heaven, glutton is a sin. Now extending that thought, you realize that heaven can't be that good, because the things that we enjoy about life itself is a sin. Money. Power. Sex. Food. Gloating. Since you're in heaven, you're not allowed to do any of this. They're all sin.

Pinky and the Brain had a similar thing. I remember one where the person rings a bell, and both Pinky and the Brain does some sort of acrobatic trick. Keywords: Bell.

Bell = Pavlo.

You know, that experiment with the Pavlo ringing the bell and the dog coming to it?

So what does this have to do with anything? Read the title: Anti-intellectual Television.

Now a days, television no longer reflects the value of being well read. The boob tube has been taken over by reality TV, which has no hidden knowledge under it. It asks no philosophical questions, it does not relate to sociology, to science, not even to history. How the hell does American Idol relate to any of this? It doesn't. What it does serve is entertainment for the idiots of America.

So now I go back to the words that you should have remembered in the beginning of this essay:
back to my childhood. I turn on TV, and now I see spongebob. I saw spongebob two years ago, I didn't get anything. I see spongebob now, I still don't get anything. Why? There's nothing to understand. Like I stated before, there isn't any underlying intelligence behind whats on TV now. For the lack of better terms, its about two buffoons going around with their life. Kids find it funny, but to an adult, there is nothing fun to watch about it. It's just about this sponge character making a fool out of himself.

At least with the Animaniacs, it critisized everything about society. Even shrinks!

Such TV is now a forgotten cause. Renments of it still live on, such as the Simpsons, and Futurama. Why, a few days ago, I saw an episode of the Simpsons making fun of the movie, "The good, the bad, and the evil." Shows that require intelligence are dying. I mean, they even cancelled Futurama, which also did a good job making fun of society.

They say Shakesphere is a good interpretation of life back then.
Now, the Simpsons is the good interpretation.

But with this anti-intellectual society that's going on, such shows are dying out.

Of course, there are modern shows that still reflect intelligence, such as Battlestar Galactica.
A. It talks about greek mythology
B. It talks about the relation between polytheism and monotheism
C. Discrimination.

Such things are applicable to todays society. Spongebob? No.

This is why I switched to watching Japanese TV. Their cartoons have underlying messages behind them, and by watching it, sometimes I do feel like the idiot. For instance, Ergo Proxy deals a lot with mythology. The doctor is named freaking Daedalus (shame on you if you don't know who that is), but at the same time, I do not understand the symbolism behind the talking statues, Real, or the two demolished cities. Had I understood it, my appreciation for the show would dramatically increase.

Mythology not your taste?
Kino's travels often asks sociological questions. One of the most memorable questions talks about religion. One holy book was written for one city. But the combination of it spreading, and people talking about it, gradually led to the utter anihilation of a city. Sound familiar? Shoot yourself if it doesn't.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Orson Scott Card and Michael Crichton, Bad for Humanity

Media, and authors especially, must be very responsible, knowledgeable people about the topics they write about. It's too bad that Orson Scott Card and Micheal Crichton, two very famous science fiction writers, have no idea what they're talking about. These two are nothing more than very good writers, but they are not scientists, have no idea what science is, and are both doing a disservice to actual science for the public.

Let's start with Micheal Crichton. Skip past his books, which, while entertaining, are mere stock science fiction. Let's go to his public advocacy, in this case, of global warming (or lack thereof). His views, shown in his book State of Fear, include evidence, but not strong evidence, as it has been refuted by specialists in the field, including Dr. Jeffrey Masters, chief meteorologist at The Weather Underground. His evidence, therefore, is still very much under dispute.

The problem is that people are beginning to accept what he says as fact, simply because he wrote it into an "action-thriller" book. He has been called to testify in a Senate committee hearing. He has giving speeches attacking not just global warming, but the entire idea that the environment needs to be protected. But with his evidence itself still under dispute, how can he claim them as definitive sources?

As for Orson Scott Card, I think the essay I linked to says it all. What gives Card the authority to dismiss all of science as "invent[ing] plausible stories of automatic processes by which natural events, systems, and objects come to be as we see them"? What gives the authority to dismiss science, the process, as science, the Aesop's Fables of the Modern Day? Nothing. He creates a straw man position of science, and proceeds to "destroy" it. No wonder, considering that he is indeed an active member of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Leave the theories of what might happen to the earth and what has happened to those who have actually studied the subject. Gain an actual background first, see their reasoning, and you'll see why evolution has become a dominant theory in science. It's not because it's convenient or because it's the atheists pushing it out. It's because rationally, it has been shown to be the best explanation for the data collected.

Even science fiction authors have a responsibility, and that responsibility is to not purposely destroy the foundations of science. Every time Chrichton writes an implausible story about the spread of a deadly virus, panic can ensue. Every time Card writes for the creationists, they get more irrational.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Bush gets WTFPWNED. Must See Tv!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4973617448770513925

Skip the first 50 minutes.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Conservative Media Defeat Educational Experience

It’s normal for teachers to ask students to participate in projects. It’s part of an important learning process. Sometimes these projects might draw complaints from the students for their difficulty, but rarely do parents or others complain about the actual project being done. That all changed for the worse when a mock trial that put President Bush on trial for "crimes against civilian populations" and "inhumane treatment of prisoners" was conducted in a Parsippany High School AP Government class.

The right became very angry. Conservative media pundits everywhere were in a fit. Freedom of speech and educational value be damned, they weren’t going to let this go on. How dare these students even suggest that any laws limited President Bush’s powers? Who would even think that our President, the savior of democracy, freedom, and apple pies, be put on trial? The answer is that the trial is an important exercise of free speech, educational freedom, and a vital lesson on the powers of the executive branch.

The trial is indeed a very important exercise in the powers of free speech. Criticism of government officials is necessary to the democratic process. Public discourse helps to inform the citizens of the country on important issues and sides that parties are taking. Even views that some would consider extreme, such as Bush being put on trial, need to be tolerated in order to further public discussion and discourse on important topics. Limiting this trial would be sending a message to the future citizens of America saying that criticizing our President at all would be wrong, and that anything that tells us to the contrary is treason.

But more importantly, the trial should continue to protect academic freedom. When parents and outside administrators are allowed undue influence over the classroom, the end result is a bad education. Teachers aren’t allowed to teach the material because they always have the threat of parents hanging over their heads. Tests would be abolished because of whiny students complaining to their parents. Nothing would ever get done in a classroom again. Public schools would truly become failures.

But lastly, people must learn more about the United States government, especially about the powers of the President. In fact, the only thing that the majority of the US knows about the President is his name. Furthering knowledge on the powers of the executive branch will make these students better citizens for the future.

Why would such an issue become huge then? It’s because the conservative talking heads tacitly think that if Bush were to be put on trial, he would be convicted. In their minds, the evidence against Bush is very strong. They don’t want a trial, even a mock one, to reach a verdict because they fear the chance of a guilty verdict. What is ignored is the fact that without this trial continuing as it should, neither side of this debate, including the defense of Bush, will become known to the public. People will just assume that Bush would have been guilty had the trial gone on. If the conservatives really believed in the innocence of their president, then they would have let a verdict be rendered, and if they had, then there’s a chance that they could have won. It’s too bad that this event, as usual, was botched by the Republicans who overreacted.

Idealism and what's wrong

In today's society, especially in the government, people follow idealism rather than what is right. I am probably guilty of this, but nevertheless, it's not a good thing. What I mean is, that if what you're trying to follow doesn't work, stop following it. For instance, if you believe that cutting taxes while fighting a war will not affect the US economy, which it clearly is, change your policy and raise taxes. Learn from your mistakes.

Too many people will not admit they're wrong when it comes to certain issues. And way too many people will not change what they're doing if something is wrong. Going back to another one of Mr. President's issues, cutting taxes for the filthy rich does not give them an incentive to create companies to produce jobs. Mr. President is very bent on this, and he will always follow this down to his grave. But what you have to realize is that, he dismisses any criticizm that goes his way. So of course he's not going to listen to you. Figures, Mr. President doesn't even watch the news.

Which leads me to my next point. Our current president doesn't seem to be out there for the people of the United States. More or less, Mr. Bush is only following his own set of ideals. If he quit firing those critisizing him, maybe he'd see the flaws in his policy, and maybe he would change. Of course, if you did that, many people would probably start poking at your political agenda, but isn't helping your country worth more than your second term? Is sticking with your policy which continues to draw America down for your second term worth it? If you really care for your country, you'd learn from your mistakes, you'd learn what's going on in the world, and you adjust. You're actually out there for the people, not your own warped ideas. The people may not like the fact that you flip flop a lot, but if it's for the good of the country....and it produces results, so much the better.

This is why I hold George Bush Seinor in higher respect than I do George Bush Junior. George Bush Seinor actually taxed the Americans, and fought a war correctly. He did what was right for America. Much of President Clinton's success comes from Bush Seinor. George Bush Seinor was not elected for a second term. BUT, he did good for the United States. Knowing that the general public wouldn't like the high taxes, he followed his advisors, and realized that fighting a war with less taxes would be bad. Something our current Bush does not realize. Now George Bush Seinor...HE, was out for the people. He wasn't there to win his second term, it would seem he could care less. What he did was for the better of the United States, and that's all that really matters about being the president.

Now, I'm not specifically picking out George Bush Junior, he just serves as a decent example. There are many people like this.

1 + 1 will NEVER EVEVER equal 3.
However, a lawyer can always explain how it does.

Keep an open mind.
Don't follow idealism when it fails.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Geneva Convention

Yes, I still live. And so will this website.

We, Americans, have this little thing we must follow during the times of war. This is called the Geneva Convention, which is basically the rules of the battle field agreed upon by almost ALL nations, including our enemies. Outlined in the Geneva Convention, are many things such as, do not kill civilians, do not torture, etc.

So in a war, both sides are expected to follow this little piece of paper. Say, if we ever had a war with our allies, like Great Britain (even though that's never going to happen), both sides would follow the Geneva Convention. They kill our soldiers, we kill their soldiers. No nukes are thrown, and no carpet bombing entire cities unless they have war factories. Civilian losses are low. It would only be a duke out between two armies.

Well, I have one really big problem with this piece of paper. Not many countires follow it. Britain does, so war with them would be better than say..a war on Iraq. They don't follow the Geneva Convention. I'm not even sure if they know what the Geneva Convention is. So, we have a problem here. They can run airplanes into towers, use chemical warfare, and do whatever they want to antagonize the US civilians. Yet, we can't do anything less than say, "Get onto the ground!" to Iraqi civilians.

Now, the terrorists know this. So they put emplacements on hospitals, churchs, and stuff. We can't destory it, because of this piece of paper. But they like ramming air planes into our towers. We can't carpet bomb them, or do anything. Sometimes we are a little ignorant of their emplacements, and we bomb them anyways. So....We just get labled has horrible animals. Well, it was your fault you were putting a fire team on top of a god damn mosque. If you don't want to get it blown up, move. Mind you, if you don't want to get shot, stop shooting back.

Now, this basically means their not following the rules of warfare. Why should we? Why are we even playing? It's pretty much like playing against a person online with an AIMBOT. A really....bad...aimbot. Now I'm not saying Iraq is beating us, since we have certainly beaten the bulk of their army (or at least the stupid ones who stood and fought). But why should we stick with these rules while they don't?

Another thing. Human sheilds. They use women and children in order to protect the guys with the guns. When we hit them, they are like, "Oh no. That is so bad." Now lets sit down and thing. Wall. Guy behind wall with gun. You have gun. He is shooting you. What do you do? Any sensible guy, would just open up. Now, a human sheild is the same thing. If your going to be an ass and hide behind a human, you will get shot. Or atleast the CS players will. Damn hostages getting in the way.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Boys falling behind in education

I was reading about this in Newsweek a few weeks ago, and quite frankley, I don't see what the big surprise is. Call me sexist, but this is largely due to the product of femminization. Yes. I said it. It's called the Femminization of America. Too bad Masulization of America doesn't sound quite right. The reason why males are dropping behind in education, is because Americans now look more towards a girl than a guy. Naturally, you will prefer one gender over another. For example, a teacher may call on 10 boys, but only seven girls. It's a small stretch, but Natural selection dictates that even a small advantage will cause a great stretch.

Now, I'm not saying that this is bad. Heavens no. I don't care. It was bound to happen some day. In this society, men are not allowed to beat their wives. Rape is considered male only, and there are more career women around (no offence ladies, just trying to draw a point). Women of today are also finding more control in society. They are allowed to vote, they can pursue their own careers without anyone dictatating them, etc. These all contribute to the Femminization of America.

So how does this tie into edumecation? Simple. Before the Femminization of America took place, the Males dominated the school system. More males graduated, more males went to college, and males made money. As an old sexist term may outline, "A women's place is in the kitchen." However. Now that America no longer has this male dominated society, the Women have more freedom to do as they wish.

However, the main contributing factor to the Femminization of America comes from Education. As you may realize...even today, the majority of the Elementry school teachers are Women. Many of those women were young during the Women Rights movement. Because of that, they naturally choose the female over the male. Hard to see, but as I said before, even a small advantage is meaningful.

What does this mean in the long run? Women start to gain the advantage over men. They do better in school. More women go to college. This my friend, is a product of the Femminization of America.

Now, it's not like I'm trashing out against that such as how Tyler Durden would do. I don't see the morals beating wives, or locking them in the households. I don't see why they shouldn't pursue their careers, nor do I see why they shouldn't go to college, or why they shouldn't vote. This would eventually happen when the women started asking for rights. Not saying they shouldn't have any, but this isn't anything to be surprised about.

The Femminization of America, is the reason why boys are falling behind in education. No more, no less.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Omnicent vrs Omnipotent vrs Logic

Okay, so we have Omnicent, and Omnipotent.
Omnicent: All knowing
Omnipotent: All powerful.
Logic: You should know what this is.

Given:
God = Omnipotent
God = Omnicent

If god is Omnicent, god knows his future def: Omnicent
If god is omnipotent, he can change his future def: Omnipotent
However, god already knows that he will function: Omnicent
change his future.
But at the same time, god can make it so he function: Omnipotent
can not know his future.

Something is wrong here.

Lets throw in free will.

Free Will: Ability to make choices.
Given:
God has free will:

God already knows his future Def: Omnicent
God has free will Given
God's future is already set out for him. Def: Omnicent

Something is also wrong here. Do you have free will if I tell you that you must do this and that? In god's mind, he knows that he will do this and that, and any changes in his thinking he already knows (Adams Gods Debris).

Okay, we'll throw in people.

Given:
People have free will.
God gives you the choice of hell or heaven.

God already knows the future Def: Omnicent
People have free will Given
God gives you the choice that you Given.
can go to hell or heaven.
God knows what your choice will be Def: Omnicent

This also makes no sense, because god isn't giving you a choice. He knows where you're going to go beforehand.

And so. I leave you off with this thought.
And another one.

"First, we postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving?
I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls entering hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and all souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant.
There are two possible conditions:
One, if hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase exponentially until all hell breaks loose.
Conversely, if hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over.

We can resolve this question with the 1990 postulation of Theresa LeClair, the girl who lived across the hall from me in first year residence. Since I have still not been successful in obtaining sexual relations with her, condition two above (hell freezing over) has not been met, and thus it can be concluded that condition one is true, and hell is exothermic."

Monday, January 23, 2006

Stop trying to justify yourself unless you're actually in it.

Recently, many politicians justify the War in Iraq as, "to free the people," and, "Saddam is a dictator." However, what you fail to realize is that, those two justifications coming from a politician (Bush as an example), is just playing the people. I offer my condolences to those who have lost their sons, daughters, brothers, mothers, etc in Iraq, and I can understand why you would say both of them. You would say such things because you lost a family member or a close friend on a fool’s errand. And by saying this, it makes you feel better that he hasn't died in vain.

I agree with that. What I don't agree is the politicians saying that it is fully justified to say such things. And that we're fighting for American Freedom. Look Mr. President; unless your daughters are blown apart, or decapitated on the front lines, you have NO right to say, "We did this to protect our freedom." You have nothing to justify with your loss. Why? Because you havn't lost it.

Now, I'm not going all out Michael Moore on this, because quite frankly, I hate him as much as the next republican (Yes, it IS possible you jackass). Especially after he started asking mourning senators if they would send their sons to Iraq when that actually did happen and they actually did die. And then saying, "SEE? HAHAHAHHA THEY DON'T WANT TO SEND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS OFF TO IRAQ!!!!"

Michael Moore, do some research before you make it more painful for those who DID lose family members.

But really. Unless you HAVE, you have no right to say, "For freedom." Because quite frankly, people who lost close people want to justify their act. And yes, I did say Justify, because the War in Iraq is a Fools Errand.

1. It's not for American Freedom. American Freedom is staying here fighting off the Ruskies when they invade.
2. It's also not freeing the people of Iraq. Okay, maybe it is, but there are countries that are in dire need of such, "liberation." Iraq is by far not the worst of it.
3. Saddam oppressed his people. Blah blah blah. African war-lords oppress their people. They make Saddam look like a benevolent dictator.
4. I'd rather let the terrorist train in their camps with paper targets than give them actual combat experience.
5. It's not for oil. And I remember the days when we were pissed that we were spending more than 2 bucks a gallon.

So really. I hope you've learned from this, that justifying the war in patriotic words is just disgraceful. You have no right to do so. Those who DID lose family members do.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Republicans cheer and I lose a few more brain cells.

Anti-porn laws.

First thing: It's depressing that people actually fight for this.

Anyways.

1. Several of the highly conservative people are considering the restriction of the internet. Namely, porn. This is under the, "Child Protection Act," which will be hitting the courts soon. And all I have to say is, I think American politicians are being especially retarded when they came up with the idea of this.

As a disgruntled disheveled person would say,
"Don't you have anything better to do?"

Making laws against porn is a new low for America.

2.
Parents, your kid is FINE if he sees a set of breasts. Okay? He's not going to socially impaired, he's not going to be mentally scarred, there JUST BREASTS. I mean, there are things out there that you should be wary of. Such as internet stalkers, hackers, that guy who comes and goes dumpster diving through your trash. THERE IS STUFF THAT CAN HARM YOUR CHILD. Porn is among the ones that wont.

Furthermore, if you're going to complain about this, you only have yourselves to blame. If you're so worried about your child seeing porn, don't give them internet access. Or better yet, hang over their shoulders while they're on the net (Would probably solve net-stalker issues). You get my point?

3.
The government budget is better spent on other things than this. If you're so bent on solving the internet problem, give it a security overhaul. The internet is crawling with these viruses and stuff because the creators of it never thought the internet would go public. More or less, it was just a research tool that everybody would use (similar to JSTOR). You can fix that with the government budget. But passing bills like this is just a waste.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Intelligent Design is NOT SCIENCE

For those of you readers (If any of you still remain), who believe in Intelligent Design as science, get that out of your head. Because it's not. Even if Intelligent Design is the reason of our existence, it is still not science.

Science:

The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomenon.

Intelligent Design:

A theory that nature and complex biological structures were designed by intelligent beings and were not created by chance

Now look at the definition of Science closely, and the definition of Intelligent Design. There is no observation, identification, description, or experimental investigation. The closest thing Intelligent Design comes to is theoretical explanation, but that alone cannot hold intelligent design up as science.

As I will state again
Even if Intelligent Design was the reason of our existence, it is still not science. Therefore, it should not be taught in science.

What many of you must realize is that people use Intelligent Design as a panacea of all scientific flaws. For example, one of the leading arguments of Intelligent Design is the bumblebee. The basic premise surrounding the entire controversy is that a bumblebee does not agree with the laws of aerodynamics. It shouldn't fly.

However, recently (as in this month), scientists have discovered how a bumblebee flies. The bee basically functions as a racecar. It burns a lot of energy to achieve flight.

So as you can see, many people use Intelligent Design to patch up holes. However, what you must realize is that there are things that Science has yet to discover. If we do not have the information now, you cannot say, "Hey look, this is Intelligent Design!"

Furthermore, Intelligent Design cannot be considered a theory. A theory must correlate with several boundaries.

The theory must be:

· Guided by natural law,

·Explanatory by natural law,

·Testable against the empirical world,

·Tentative, and

·Falsifiable


Now, right then and there, Intelligent Design cannot work with any of those definitions given. It is not guided by natural laws, nor is it explained by natural laws. The entire point of Intelligent Design is that some thing or some one came down and created nature. That is purely artificial. Intelligent Design is not even testable, for the reason that we have nothing to test with. Darwinism at least has observation and can place animals in a scenario where we can observe how they change. But Intelligent Design has neither.

Furthermore, it cannot be falsifiable. Even with the lack of any evidence, we still cannot get around the entire problem of.....something that leaves no traces behind. For example, the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

"Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs. We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease. accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course"

What is sad about this example is that it fits every description of Intelligent Design. So by teaching Intelligent Design, you can also teach the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The only difference of either, "theory," is that one has a somewhat accepted name, and the other one is outrageous.


Furthermore, there is no legitimacy behind ID. Like I stated before, it is just a panacea of all scientific holes that have yet to be discovered. They state that there is evidence, but the flying spaghetti monster also has evidence behind its existence.

" I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t.

You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average global temperature over the last 200 years. As you can see, there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature."


Yeah. That's it.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Stop Complaining about Engineers

Year after year, companies complain about the lack of Engineers.

Well, stop complaining.

Truth be told, many view the engineering department to be a waste of time. In America, no one wants to be an Engineer. They're not paid enough for what they do. Your Engineer, has to be making at LEAST 70k a year on a 9-5 basis (Not even Masters here). Why? Because there's a lot of work gone into an Engineer. If you're going to study 10+ hours a day and get a 40k job, it's not worth it. Many ask, "Why is that Business Major making more money than me? Why does that person with a Teaching Degree have a job already?"

Business, you're partly to blame for this. You over-pay your management section, and you outsource your RnD section.

Another problem with being an Engineer is the entire American mind-set. Some may realize that foreign countries, especially those from the East graduate more Engineers. Reason being, the people in the East like engineers. Here, the engineers get the crap kicked out of them. For example, in Japan, the person who does well in school is respected. The people here who are bright are the one's who write pathetic posts on friday nights. Main point being: America, you are to blame for your lack of Engineers.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Saturday, December 31, 2005

Who Needs A Military When There's McDonalds?

It is a well established fact that as of this writing, no two countries that have a McDonald's in them have gone to war since that McDonald's opened. This theory has stood true in the Middle East, South America, and other conflict heavy regions such as the former Soviet Union. Historical enemies, such as France and Germany, or China and Japan, have yet to go to war after McDonald's introduced them to fattening American foods. The key word in that last sentence was American.

The greatest strength America has lies not with its military power, but rather with its economic and cultural strength. The way to peace throughout the world and excellent foreign relations isn't to fight a "War on Terrorism," but to instead promote US culture everywhere to make other countries more receptive to the US message. If they begin to consume the US culture, they will be more receptive to US ideas.

The US should turn its attention away from using military might for its foreign policy to using its economic might to make the people of countries like the US. If the Cubans began getting Big Macs, they too might turn towards democracy.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Beggar Republicans and Deficit Spending

Before the Republicans managed to gain control back in the late 70's , they were known for quite a few things. First, they were known as war hawks. Second, they were anti-affirmative action (and some, against other races in general). Finally, they were anti-social service spending. But most importantly of all, Republicans were known to be fiscally responsible, wanting to cut so called "wasteful" spending by the government.

Those days are over. Today, after a takeover of the House, Senate, and Presidency since 2002, we see that the Republicans, when it comes to fiscal policy, have no fucking clue what they're talking about. For years, Republicans have been decrying "tax and spend" liberals. Now they've shown that they don't "tax" and "spend", they just spend other people's money. For years now, the Republicans have been driving up a deficit, a deficit that we will have to pay later. By we, I mean my generation and following generations.

And they have the balls to say that it doesn't matter! That's the worst part. It's as if they failed basic economics entirely, or lack the competency to even hold office. According to them, the deficit doesn't matter because:

1.) Everyone loves America's economy
2.) Reducing it would hurt our economy
3.) It's needed for lower taxes

Each one of those is total bullshit, and here's why:

1.) Everyone loves America's economy

They do, but only right now. Other countries' economies are on the rise, and at the rate some of them are going, America has the distinct chance of not being the only superpowerful market in the world. It's only because our economy is extremely powerful that foreign companies invest heavily in it. Without these investments, we wouldn't be able to finance our debt at all and our economy would crash. Here's where two problems come it. First, current foreign investment, at best, can only finance a deficit at half of our current rate. Secondly, if another country arises that comes even close to rivally the US's economic strength, we're screwed. No other nation is racking up nearly as huge a debt as the US currently is, and therefore would carry much less risk. Foreign investments would suddenly go towards that other country, and we sink. We have to prepare for this possiblity.

2.) Reducing it would hurt our economy

So would not reducing it. As the debt gets larger, interest rates have to go higher in order for the US Treasury to better finance this massive debt. These interest rates will rise higher and higher, making loans harder on the average American.

3.) It's needed for lower taxes

The current share of the national debt for each person is over $27,000. For every single member of the US, that is the amount, from young babies to the oldest senior citizens. An average family of 4 owes over $100,000 in debt to foreign nations, thanks to the spending of the Republicans. That's a lot of money that will have to be paid in taxes.

Haven't the beggar Republicans done enough? Can't they find a way to finance their fiscal policy? It's time to find people who truly are fiscal responsible and don't just claim to be.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Farm Subsidies Suck

$143 billion. That's the amount the American public has paid to failing agriculture industries in the United States. How much growth has resulted from this investment? $0.

That's right, none. Agricultural economic growth has been seen out of this at all in the last 10 years. American tax dollars have given $143 billion in help to US farmers, and yet it takes Ben and Jerry to save small farms. This is just sad.

Why are farm subsidies so bad? It's because no matter how the agricultural season turns out, the government loses. Shortages on the crops? The federal government loses as farms across the nation default on loans. Surpluses in crops? The federal government loses as well. How? It's because the farmers are afraid of inflation, and have all crops set at an "ideal" 1929 adjusted price. Guess what the US government has to do? It has to buy up all of the surplus so the price stays the same. Either way, we lose.

That's $143 billion wasted for nothing. There must be something done. I propose an immediate end to all farm subsidies now and the removal of "ideal" price. We can't afford to waste $143 billion again.