Oh, ignorance…

So, Slashdot has run a few stories in the past few days about global warming.?? According to a recent poll, 71% of Americans are now ready to believe that global warming is real and is a problem.? This is after researchers, for years, have said that it’s a problem.? Science Magazine, in Dec. 2004, reported that out of 928 scientific papers published in research periodicals, 75% accepted the “consensus view” that global warming is caused by humans, while the other 25% didn’t say either way; none of them said explicitly that humans are not the cause.

So, with overwhelming evidence, why is it that many people refuse to believe it? I mean, there’s a girl in my class that refuses to believe that global warming is caused by human involvement!? She admits that it’s happening, but says that it’s caused by the “natural cycle” that Earth goes through between ice ages. Perhaps most disturbing, researchers are finding it difficult to report their findings due to pressure from the Bush Administration, being told to remove references to global warming from web sites and their reports.

…so wtf?!? I mean, so far as the Bush Administration goes, they just want to keep us under an oil-based economy so they keep getting kickbacks from the Middle East, but why does the American public go along with it?!? Are the just stupid? What is with that remaining 29% that makes them not believe that humans are the primary cause of accelerating global warming?

…as with many social issues, I guess I just don’t get it…

LNSEMSF

Courtesy of Steve Hosack, I present to you the Leonard Nimoy Should Eat More Salsa Foundation official website. If any of you actually have souls, you should join.

From the site:

“We here at the LNSEMSF believe that Leonard Nimoy is excellent, and salsa is excellent, and if Leonard Nimoy would eat more salsa, he would become an unstoppable force of excellence. For anybody doubting this belief, we have researched the projected level of Leonard Nimoy’s excellence with and without salsa.”

They even have data to support their findings.? I’m in awe…

Inspiration

So yeah, new theme…and I’m still toying with it… I was inspired by Kai and Goodspeed to try messing with a new theme for once. The banner at the top is random, so it’ll put up a random banner at the top with each refresh…also, if you click on the oval at the top of each posting, it’ll minimize and then maximize the post (which is useful in the archived posts…). Also, there’s a built-in feature for random pictures to show up in the right-hand column, but I haven’t quite figured it out yet.

Anyway, new stuff…instead of studying…w00t to me… Happy Christmas Break, Truman folks!

Coldplay = Bad

Okay, seriously…Coldplay sucks…they really do…they are absolutely no good and their “music” is heavily overplayed. It makes me not want to listen to radio ever (not that I do often…but since there weren’t any good stations in Kirksville for my five years there, I’ve been trying to listen in St. Louis…).

I don’t really know why I bring this up, honestly…I guess I’m just wondering why people like them? They aren’t original, the guy sings way too high pitched for comprehension…there are various blog postings from people who hate them…some more amusing than others… Here’s even a review by the New York Times (June 5, 2005) that just trashes the album and the band…

The band plays and writes songs for the high school crowd, just like the boy bands did…songs made to make money…to make little high school girls fawn over them with their sappy, uncreative lyrics, most of which have been ripped off other, better songs… Frequently, Coldplay is considered to be a lesser, sappier, Radiohead imitator… They haven’t been innovating like the Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Matthews Band (and the other “jam bands,” like OAR, or even the Grateful Dead), or even U2…so what gives?! Coldplay is just a lighter version of Nickelback…seriously…same music, but slower and more depressing…

So…why the hell do people like them so much? Please. Answer me that. I don’t understand. I mean, I guess I don’t understand why the “boy bands” were so successful a few years back…but I can go with hearing the “Macarena” again rather than another Coldplay song…

Well played…

step up on soap box

From an article at ABC News regarding the most recent “Intelligent Design” trials in Dover, TN (which you all should be paying attention to…since the U.S. Constitution itself is being undermined and trivialized…), the following was quoted. “Miller” refers to Kenneth Miller, a biologist at Brown University; “the statement” refers to a reading that the faculty at Dover’s public schools have to read prior to discussions on evolution in science classes, also offering an “alternative” textbook that was referred to by me in a previous posting…:

The statement read to Dover students states in part, “Because Darwin’s theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered.” Miller said the words are “tremendously damaging,” falsely undermining the scientific status of evolution.

“What that tells students is that science can’t be relied upon and certainly is not the kind of profession you want to go into,” he said. “There is no controversy within science over the core proposition of evolutionary theory,” he added. On the other hand, Miller said, “intelligent design is not a testable theory in any sense and as such it is not accepted by the scientific community.”

During his cross-examination of Miller, Robert Muise, another attorney for the law center, repeatedly asked whether he questioned the completeness of Darwin’s theory.

“Would you agree that Darwin’s theory is not the absolute truth?” Muise said.

“We don’t regard any scientific theory as the absolute truth,” Miller responded.

Well played, Miller…well played… Indeed, the beauty of science is that things can be proven and disproven, including Newton’s Laws (and in some instances, they’ve been proven wrong…quantum physics, for example…). Intelligent design advocates, however, are unwilling to allow for proof/disproof (because what they advocate cannot be proven or disproven). Therefore, by definition, what they advocate is not science at all and has no place within the science classroom (except for mention that theories alternative to evolution exist…I have no problem with that…it’s just treating theories other than evolution as “just as plausible”…’cause there aren’t any…).

…I just love how the Constitution is being tossed around like it’s nothing by folks…it was written for a reason, protecting civil liberties and separating church and state. It was done for a reason. That’s the way it should stay, or we may as well rename our country as “Saddam’s Iraq: where you have to believe what I tell you or I kill you.”

step down from soap box

Oh, arrogance…

You know, I’m sure I’ve had some arrogant moments in my lifetime…but seriously… I was watching “The Daily Show” tonight and Stephen Colbert did his usual “This Week in God” bit, generally talking about Hurricane Katrina and how multiple conservative Christian groups were trying to give evidence that it was a sign from God… During the clip, he showed a few clips from our good friend Pat Robertson…

…who apparently…now has his own diet shake…I kid you not…

Have you been by Pat Robertson.com lately? I certainly have… It’s kinda funny just to read the links off the main page, where multiple links are directed at clarifying statements that the idiot has made (…about Hugo Chavez, during an interview with George Stephanopolis, another regarding Liberia, etc.). The man really is full of himself, and certainly has a lot of people believing him… I really wish I could say that he has his heart in the right place, but I can’t…I just think he’s insane…

I guess when I open up the newspaper next week and see that good ‘ol Pat took some people on a “religious outing” to Waco, TX. with the FBI in tow, I won’t be too terribly surprised…