In some countries a woman is stoned for not wearing a tent. Welcome to America.
> String theory is an attempt to unify various theories under one umbrella but it unfortunately is not testable and hinges of the existence of dark matter and dark energy.
String theory is not testable so far and certainly disprovable. As it is disprovable, it is a valid scientific theory. If you read/. you know how this argument applies to ID. Where the problem arises is trying to dress up 'faith' as 'science', as if science could threaten faith, and constantly moving the goal posts when the arguments crumble. I think people are justifiably wary when faith moves into the secular realm. One man's heresy is another man's pop song.
> Too much of the so-called "science" we see today is nothing more than new age philosophy combined with pseudo-science.
If you include string theory in the above statement you don't do mathematics. Wrong, possibly, new age philosophy, no (.. well, maybe, whatever floats your boat).
>science was merely a study of how things work, not why we are here or whether there is a good.
I'd take issue with the 'merely' but other than that what's your point? Does string theory address why we are here? (it may try to redefine 'here' but that's a different issue)
> I am a theist who views the science of today with a sceptical eye and only trusts theories which have observable proofs that do no depend upon other assumptions.
Good luck with that. See: Godel. Also, as a 'theist', are you differentiating between 'new age philosophy' and 'old age philosophy'? Curious where that goes.
bashing creationist pseudoscience is going to be fashionable on any science site AFAIK all Christians don't buy the pseudoscience but I believe in Newton so I'll stay out of that however I do think we should change Dec 25 to 'blaim America first' day
As a messenger years back I watched two high end video techs snow a room full of ad agency suits at $400 an hour while editing a toy commerical. One kept saying: "I've got 14", and the other would reply from behind the control desk "I've got 15". At one point I grinned at them as this had been 30 minutes of downtime that shouldn't have been billable. They grinned back as they knew I didn't have any where near the authority, or motivation, to mention it to the suits. It went on for over an hour.
> These guys are always attaching their names to feel-good petitions and liberal/left wing causes.
So says 'Adult film producer ' ?!?
Perhaps the 'liberal / left wing' attracts those with higher IQs and knee jerk tough guy high school libertarian responses come from fat white guys? If I want medicine, I'll take the Nobel guys. I make my own porn, thanks anyway.
I've always wanted to be the human torch so sign me up! Lack of caffine has rendered me unable to come up with other Van Allen refs from SF etc... Anyone?
I find you have to engage different kids differently. Of course with underfunding, overcrowding and no school supplies this probably isn't possible. The problem I see with teaching for the test is they seem to retain less information so in order to drag all students through a #2 pencil afternoon (they still use those?) no application is taught, the mind isn't engaged and it's emptied ASAP. There are sociological and political problems here but in the interest of sectarian detente on/. I won't launch into that rant.
In NYC the Public Schools are broken. Teachers have to buy their own supplies. Mayor Bloomberg's (like the company, not the mayor) corporate management style has resulted in elementary school students being taught nothing except taking tests. I'm a private music teacher and I try to sneak some math in, especially for the younger kids. When I ask them about what they're learning in math or science they used to discuss it with me for a while (giving us both a break from scales and theory) - for the past year they just shrug and say 'studying to take the test.' The overpaid Bloomberg cronies at the Board of Ed actually spy on the teachers to make sure they aren't deviating from the 'lesson plan'.
Between the pharmaceutical companies and the bureaucrats kids today are being used as test subjects. I'm considering home schooling.
The current 'government' of Iraq would have their heads on pikes outside of Bagdhad in the first few hours after the last US chopper left. Do a little critical thinking. Outside of Kurdistan there are very few Iraqis that want us there, and that includes the Iraqi Civil Resistance who are the closest thing to what the administration claimed to be promoting.
My guess, and it is pure speculation, is that if Bin Laden had stated: "I want you to help me re-elect George Bush President of the United States" it would have been even bigger news.
> statements that are misleading, misstated, or simply false.
Should I point you at the wikipedia article for 'humor'? Or 'satire'? Did my original post appear to be an attempt to rewrite history? Spread FUD before the midterms? If so slashdot, and wavering Republicans, have been saved by your historical knowledge. Imagine if my mime had gotten started. My guess is I had you for a moment and you had to go check;-> BTW Putin did endorse Bush.
> Imagine how powerful and persuasive the progressive left would be in this country if we were known for rationality and integrity in our arguments.
Gotta break it to you. I'm from the left and I work traveling all over: blue states, red states and red parts of blue states. The left is also known for no sense of humor at all.
> The progressive movement in America needs more Paul Krugmans and fewer Michael Moores.
Agree with you on that. Moore should have stopped after Roger and Me. The left needs less show business and more local politics.
> Last but not least, I don't think your patronizing and insulting tone is appropriate, and it discredits you in this discussion.
On that note thank you for the link to wikipedia. Off topic read some of Bin Laden's earlier, over the years, statements.
> would not have comprised an endorsement, per se.
Excellent counselor, point to you. As we've reached the end of this thread without invoking Godwin's law or George Orwell I won't speculate on why you felt the need to split these hairs - or were you actually unsure what Bin Laden said on tape in 2004(?). Next time, I'll be sure to check wikipedia for a proper definition. NRN
They don't teach critical thinking in red states? Or history, I guess. The timing of the tape was an obvious endorsement. The failure of Republican foreign policy has been a huge win for the Islamists. Do some reading about Bin Ladens previous statements. Or go back to your tv, your call. Putin actually did endorse Bush which I think is a first for a Russian ruler.
> Then memory doesn't serve. Bush was not endorsed by bin Laden.
What exactly would you call releasing that video tape two days before the election? (or do you remember?) Evil, yes, but Bin Laden is not stupid. On it he said that the safety of the west was in our own hands, but in America it played as 'be very afraid'. George Bush is the greatest recruiting poster they could hope for, far better than the Israeli flag.
NY's had the handgun law - Sullivan Act - since around 1911 - however the NYPD surrendered portions of the city during the 70s and 80s and it was a pretty spooky situation, like parts of LA today. You can get a carry permit through a judge for various reasons and we have occasional scandals with some movie star getting a permit through a friend on the cops.
Note the Sullivan act only applies to guns small enough to hide. You can buy/own rifles etc... As this isn't car culture and we are face to face with each other all day the handgun ban licensing isn't IMHO a bad idea. The rest of the US everyone is in their cars and it's different. I'd hate to be worrying about some psycho on a packed subway car with a nine - criminals use thier guns for business not drunken arguments. It's weird enough driving around the US and having road rage guys wave their guns around - though I'm not a gun control guy.
We have less to do with the rest of the US than with Europe and Asia. All the worlds cusines cheap and delivered. Don't need a car so take that off your balance sheet. My part of town is covered with hot European expatriate chicks and all the cool kids from fly over country. Plus we still get to use the Constitution and Bill of Rights! (sort of-insert Bush joke) 24 hour subways so take that, London. Cheapish beer and taxis. More live music than is doable. Tall buildings and not too many crackhead bums.
Actually Rome probably has better food but that's just me. And Beijing is cool but there are always visa problems.
> If you didn't like the news today go out and make some of your own.
Is my sig - not the comment - though it is probably somewhat on topic.
It was the sign off from a radio news show in the 70s - The Last News Show - Skoop Nisker. As I didn't understand the rest of your question I'll leave it at that.
Reminds me of The Stainless Steel Rat. When the blogging gets tough, so do the remaining bloggers. When I was in China in the 90s they had blocked cnn.com but only the front page.
> makes it clear that the Bush administration will not sign any treaty that limits America's ability to put weapons in orbit."
This is a policy to ensure a space arms race. Depending on your line of work there's not really any money to be made with international cooperation.
That said, as a US citizen, we pay the military guys to think about this stuff (and they should) and we used to have the diplomatic core at least occasionally think about preventing this stuff. But don't worry, after the next election we'll get this current crowd nice cells with an occasional view of the moon. Oh wait... the voting machines. Never mind.
> What makes this particularly interesting is that Erlich is a Republican
Chances are there are more factions in the Republican party than one. Just as all Democrats aren't 9/11-conspiracy-liberal-terrorist-loving-wackos not all Republicans are Katrina-bungling-WMD-lying-oil-industry-lapdogs.
Erlich probably wants to seperate himself from the current administration. Or maybe he just wants to do the right thing (although, in politics, that's a stretch)
sadly I suspect that, once the numbers are done on ROI, the $ for click through model will wither. Probably end up being eyeballs and actions (I pay you to run my banner and/or I pay you when someone actually spends the money)
Too bad as clicks make lowend blogging a minimum wage job - almost.
All this blather about the founders ignores that the United States has evolved significantly since the writing of the Constitution. At that time, only property owning white males could vote. 'tyranny of the majority' was another way of saying 'we have to protect our massive land holdings'. And, let's face it, 'states rights' has always been a codeword for what? Name an issue, besides localized institutional racism, that has involved 'states rights'. Ok, gay marrage and some water issues in the west.
Every single argument against the popular vote comes from the right wing. What if the liberals got control of the country? (Well, they might lower the deficit) Entitled white 'Christian' males want to keep their insitutional upper hand.
> 1) The problem with Maoism isn't collectivism per se, it's killing everybody who gets in the way of the collectivist scheme.
Top down collectivism creates some problems, inefficencies (see: some socialism) or plain murder (see: Soviet Union). It's wrong to write off all collectivism, however. See: Mondragon (can't resist that link here) for one example. As a US citizen without a stock portfolio I would prefer the UK's national health to my current method of not getting check ups.
>2) I think there's a generational gap here.
And a fear of demystification. A writer turned blogger has told me 'the internet has ruined journalism', as his business model was based on limited access to publishing. Teachers should rightfully be wary of kids cloning wikipedia articles, but telling them not to use wikipedia or the internet at all (a horror story a student has recently related) is from a terror of having their exclusive gate keeper position made redundent (see: music business lawyer)
>3) (And I don't feel like changing the subject header.) Who the hell cares what Jaron Lanier thinks, except for other Wired-ish blowhards?
His 15 minutes are long up but maybe this whole internet thing has changed that ratio. I think the internet may have rendered Warhol irrelevant had he lived long enough.
Slashdot Mirror
In some countries a woman is stoned for not wearing a tent. Welcome to America.
/. you know how this argument applies to ID. Where the problem arises is trying to dress up 'faith' as 'science', as if science could threaten faith, and constantly moving the goal posts when the arguments crumble. I think people are justifiably wary when faith moves into the secular realm. One man's heresy is another man's pop song.
> String theory is an attempt to unify various theories under one umbrella but it unfortunately is not testable and hinges of the existence of dark matter and dark energy.
String theory is not testable so far and certainly disprovable. As it is disprovable, it is a valid scientific theory. If you read
> Too much of the so-called "science" we see today is nothing more than new age philosophy combined with pseudo-science.
If you include string theory in the above statement you don't do mathematics. Wrong, possibly, new age philosophy, no (.. well, maybe, whatever floats your boat).
>science was merely a study of how things work, not why we are here or whether there is a good.
I'd take issue with the 'merely' but other than that what's your point? Does string theory address why we are here? (it may try to redefine 'here' but that's a different issue)
> I am a theist who views the science of today with a sceptical eye and only trusts theories which have observable proofs that do no depend upon other assumptions.
Good luck with that. See: Godel. Also, as a 'theist', are you differentiating between 'new age philosophy' and 'old age philosophy'? Curious where that goes.
bashing creationist pseudoscience is going to be fashionable on any science site
AFAIK all Christians don't buy the pseudoscience but I believe in Newton so I'll stay out of that
however I do think we should change Dec 25 to 'blaim America first' day
As a messenger years back I watched two high end video techs snow a room full of ad agency suits at $400 an hour while editing a toy commerical.
One kept saying: "I've got 14", and the other would reply from behind the control desk "I've got 15". At one point I grinned at them as this had been 30 minutes of downtime that shouldn't have been billable. They grinned back as they knew I didn't have any where near the authority, or motivation, to mention it to the suits. It went on for over an hour.
OT? sort of I admit.
"Everyone on the earth is unique, ..."
except this one guy
> These guys are always attaching their names to feel-good petitions and liberal/left wing causes.
So says 'Adult film producer ' ?!?
Perhaps the 'liberal / left wing' attracts those with higher IQs and knee jerk tough guy high school libertarian responses come from fat white guys? If I want medicine, I'll take the Nobel guys. I make my own porn, thanks anyway.
I've always wanted to be the human torch so sign me up! ...
Lack of caffine has rendered me unable to come up with other Van Allen refs from SF etc
Anyone?
I find you have to engage different kids differently. Of course with underfunding, overcrowding and no school supplies this probably isn't possible. The problem I see with teaching for the test is they seem to retain less information so in order to drag all students through a #2 pencil afternoon (they still use those?) no application is taught, the mind isn't engaged and it's emptied ASAP. There are sociological and political problems here but in the interest of sectarian detente on /. I won't launch into that rant.
In NYC the Public Schools are broken. Teachers have to buy their own supplies. Mayor Bloomberg's (like the company, not the mayor) corporate management style has resulted in elementary school students being taught nothing except taking tests. I'm a private music teacher and I try to sneak some math in, especially for the younger kids. When I ask them about what they're learning in math or science they used to discuss it with me for a while (giving us both a break from scales and theory) - for the past year they just shrug and say 'studying to take the test.' The overpaid Bloomberg cronies at the Board of Ed actually spy on the teachers to make sure they aren't deviating from the 'lesson plan'.
Between the pharmaceutical companies and the bureaucrats kids today are being used as test subjects. I'm considering home schooling.
The current 'government' of Iraq would have their heads on pikes outside of Bagdhad in the first few hours after the last US chopper left. Do a little critical thinking. Outside of Kurdistan there are very few Iraqis that want us there, and that includes the Iraqi Civil Resistance who are the closest thing to what the administration claimed to be promoting.
My guess, and it is pure speculation, is that if Bin Laden had stated: "I want you to help me re-elect George Bush President of the United States" it would have been even bigger news.
;-> BTW Putin did endorse Bush.
> statements that are misleading, misstated, or simply false.
Should I point you at the wikipedia article for 'humor'? Or 'satire'? Did my original post appear to be an attempt to rewrite history? Spread FUD before the midterms? If so slashdot, and wavering Republicans, have been saved by your historical knowledge. Imagine if my mime had gotten started. My guess is I had you for a moment and you had to go check
> Imagine how powerful and persuasive the progressive left would be in this country if we were known for rationality and integrity in our arguments.
Gotta break it to you. I'm from the left and I work traveling all over: blue states, red states and red parts of blue states. The left is also known for no sense of humor at all.
> The progressive movement in America needs more Paul Krugmans and fewer Michael Moores.
Agree with you on that. Moore should have stopped after Roger and Me. The left needs less show business and more local politics.
> Last but not least, I don't think your patronizing and insulting tone is appropriate, and it discredits you in this discussion.
On that note thank you for the link to wikipedia. Off topic read some of Bin Laden's earlier, over the years, statements.
> would not have comprised an endorsement, per se.
Excellent counselor, point to you. As we've reached the end of this thread without invoking Godwin's law or George Orwell I won't speculate on why you felt the need to split these hairs - or were you actually unsure what Bin Laden said on tape in 2004(?). Next time, I'll be sure to check wikipedia for a proper definition.
NRN
They don't teach critical thinking in red states?
Or history, I guess. The timing of the tape was an obvious endorsement. The failure of Republican foreign policy has been a huge win for the Islamists. Do some reading about Bin Ladens previous statements. Or go back to your tv, your call. Putin actually did endorse Bush which I think is a first for a Russian ruler.
> Then memory doesn't serve. Bush was not endorsed by bin Laden.
What exactly would you call releasing that video tape two days before the election? (or do you remember?)
Evil, yes, but Bin Laden is not stupid.
On it he said that the safety of the west was in our own hands, but in America it played as 'be very afraid'.
George Bush is the greatest recruiting poster they could hope for, far better than the Israeli flag.
> I also think that al-Qaida would vote G.W.Bush:
If memory serves GWB was endorsed by both Osama Bin Laden and Vladimir Putin in the days before the 2004 election.
Which has to be a first.
NY's had the handgun law - Sullivan Act - since around 1911 - however the NYPD surrendered portions of the city during the 70s and 80s and it was a pretty spooky situation, like parts of LA today. You can get a carry permit through a judge for various reasons and we have occasional scandals with some movie star getting a permit through a friend on the cops.
... As this isn't car culture and we are face to face with each other all day the handgun ban licensing isn't IMHO a bad idea. The rest of the US everyone is in their cars and it's different. I'd hate to be worrying about some psycho on a packed subway car with a nine - criminals use thier guns for business not drunken arguments. It's weird enough driving around the US and having road rage guys wave their guns around - though I'm not a gun control guy.
Note the Sullivan act only applies to guns small enough to hide. You can buy/own rifles etc
> The 2nd amendment is pretty well neutered in NYC.
Having lived in NY when it wasn't - 1970s -> 1980s - I actually prefer it this way. You can keep, just not bare and conceal.
There's been some issues with public assembly, too.
We have less to do with the rest of the US than with Europe and Asia. All the worlds cusines cheap and delivered. Don't need a car so take that off your balance sheet. My part of town is covered with hot European expatriate chicks and all the cool kids from fly over country. Plus we still get to use the Constitution and Bill of Rights! (sort of-insert Bush joke) 24 hour subways so take that, London. Cheapish beer and taxis. More live music than is doable. Tall buildings and not too many crackhead bums.
Actually Rome probably has better food but that's just me. And Beijing is cool but there are always visa problems.
> If you didn't like the news today go out and make some of your own.
Is my sig - not the comment - though it is probably somewhat on topic.
It was the sign off from a radio news show in the 70s - The Last News Show - Skoop Nisker. As I didn't understand the rest of your question I'll leave it at that.
Reminds me of The Stainless Steel Rat. When the blogging gets tough, so do the remaining bloggers.
When I was in China in the 90s they had blocked cnn.com but only the front page.
> makes it clear that the Bush administration will not sign any treaty that limits America's ability to put weapons in orbit."
... the voting machines. Never mind.
This is a policy to ensure a space arms race. Depending on your line of work there's not really any money to be made with international cooperation.
That said, as a US citizen, we pay the military guys to think about this stuff (and they should) and we used to have the diplomatic core at least occasionally think about preventing this stuff. But don't worry, after the next election we'll get this current crowd nice cells with an occasional view of the moon. Oh wait
Anyone else think of the great science fiction novel Earth Abides by George R Stewart?
> What makes this particularly interesting is that Erlich is a Republican
Chances are there are more factions in the Republican party than one.
Just as all Democrats aren't 9/11-conspiracy-liberal-terrorist-loving-wackos not all Republicans are Katrina-bungling-WMD-lying-oil-industry-lapdogs.
Erlich probably wants to seperate himself from the current administration. Or maybe he just wants to do the right thing (although, in politics, that's a stretch)
sadly I suspect that, once the numbers are done on ROI, the $ for click through model will wither. Probably end up being eyeballs and actions (I pay you to run my banner and/or I pay you when someone actually spends the money)
...
Too bad as clicks make lowend blogging a minimum wage job - almost.
mod redundant - I just felt like posting
All this blather about the founders ignores that the United States has evolved significantly since the writing of the Constitution. At that time, only property owning white males could vote. 'tyranny of the majority' was another way of saying 'we have to protect our massive land holdings'. And, let's face it, 'states rights' has always been a codeword for what? Name an issue, besides localized institutional racism, that has involved 'states rights'. Ok, gay marrage and some water issues in the west.
Every single argument against the popular vote comes from the right wing. What if the liberals got control of the country? (Well, they might lower the deficit) Entitled white 'Christian' males want to keep their insitutional upper hand.
> 1) The problem with Maoism isn't collectivism per se, it's killing everybody who gets in the way of the collectivist scheme.
Top down collectivism creates some problems, inefficencies (see: some socialism) or plain murder (see: Soviet Union). It's wrong to write off all collectivism, however. See: Mondragon (can't resist that link here) for one example. As a US citizen without a stock portfolio I would prefer the UK's national health to my current method of not getting check ups.
>2) I think there's a generational gap here.
And a fear of demystification. A writer turned blogger has told me 'the internet has ruined journalism', as his business model was based on limited access to publishing. Teachers should rightfully be wary of kids cloning wikipedia articles, but telling them not to use wikipedia or the internet at all (a horror story a student has recently related) is from a terror of having their exclusive gate keeper position made redundent (see: music business lawyer)
>3) (And I don't feel like changing the subject header.) Who the hell cares what Jaron Lanier thinks, except for other Wired-ish blowhards?
His 15 minutes are long up but maybe this whole internet thing has changed that ratio. I think the internet may have rendered Warhol irrelevant had he lived long enough.