Darwin's Legacy

With the continued media coverage of the fallout in the rulings about Kansas and Dover, I thought it best to provide something more than my casual rant.

E.O. Wilson is one of the world's preeminient biologists and a pulitzer-prize winning author. In Harvard Magazine, he ruminates on Darwin's contribution to science and its impacts beyond those borders. He argues that 'scientific humanism' may be the only solution out of the supposed dichotomies between 'god-centered religion' and 'atheistic communism.' To me, this smacks of oversimplification as it grounds all of humanity in our biology and leaves culture and societal forces in the ether, as it were.

Still, it is a worthwhile article that should be read by more people than it will be.

Je me souviens

There will be no ranting today, no silent rage, no hating of Kansas or any other state.

Today there is only remembrance. I am here today because they were there then.

Fueling my silent rage (yet again)

"In addition, the board rewrote the definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena."

...all because six Republicans from the Kansas Board of Education think that astrology, alchemy and magic are also valid fields of science.

Oh, and they approved the introduction of Intellent Design into the science curriculum yet again...

Can somebody please pray to their lightning god to strike them down now or something?

(Courtesy CNN)

I am Jack's Zen Revelation

It's funny where inspiration or revelations come from. Particularly when it comes after a drinking invitation and in the shower, you just have to pause and wonder.

But onto the meat of this post.

A few weeks back, I was lost, without purpose. And a convergence of events led me to question re-evaluate my position in life. In so doing, I invoked Rabbi Hillel's three questions. The universe opened up for me tonight and I've the answers:

1) If I am not for myself, then who is for me?

No one and everyone. And that is the point.

2) If I am only for myself, what am I?

This one needs a longer explanation. Throughout my life, any TV show (Babylon 5), music (NIN), movie (Fight Club) or book (A Prayer for Owen Meany) that involved the theme of self-sacrifice had a particular resonance with me. For example, on one episode of Babylon 5, the character states,

"The Third Principle of Sentient Life is the capacity for self-sacrifice."

Of all the lines ever spoken on that show for example, this one always stuck with me. As my university career progressed, I volunteered less and less because of circumstance. It happens, that's the way it unfolded. I accept that. As I grew older, I felt more empty inside. Upon reflection, the only times when I could feel good about myself was when I was able to help somebody about anything, big or small.

That was it. And as the prospects for personal relationships grow smaller, I realize that this is the my calling. While it may not be the ideal answer, it is the one given to me and I have been asked to accept it. For that, I will have to learn to be content. And of course I have to learn it. It is not an easy road. True altruism never is. Jesus, the teacher, showed me that. The result of a Catholic upbringing. And so I take this road less travelled, in my own small way.

So to answer the second question, "What am I?" The answer is simple,

"I am one who serves."

3) If not now, when?

That's obvious. It IS now. It begins today.

A Sudoku of epic proportions

I guess anyone designing games involving squares will eventually move themselves towards a cubic version of the game.

And so, my friend Danna has led me to a cubic version of Sudoku. I haven't worked on Sudoku enough for me to tackle this right now. but damn is it impressive.

A likely unlikely ally

According to an interview conducted by Associated Press,

a representative from the Vatican stated that religion is compatible with science and that a dialogue needs to be maintained so that science doesn't lead us down the road to the 'A-bomb' and religion isn't lead to fundamentalism.

This has been, in these two stories HERE and HERE, been interpreted as a denunciation of Intelligent Design and a support of evolution.

I would disagree in parts. Just because John Paul II's states that, "evolution is more than a hypothesis is more than proof" does not mean the Catholic Church believes in evolution completely. They just think it's plausible, moreso than Intelligent Design AS a science. But as a belief, that's exactly what they believe. I guess it's still debatable whether one can believe in the mechanics of evolution and still uphold a creator as source of evolution. I don't think they're incompatible, but I also don't think Evolution proponents should make make this a bigger deal than it really is.

Overreach, much?

According to the Washington Post,

the FBI have the authority to basically examine your life all in the name of defending freedom.

WOW. the story of this current administration gets better and better.

When a Hummer makes ME smile...

and no, it's not what you're thinking, so stop it.

I'm actually referring to this post from California where high gas prices have caused Hummer dealers to be overstocked with inventory. To hide this fact from potential customers, they moved the merchandise to a 'secret' location that was eventually found by the bloggers. They posted pictures of rows upon rows of unsold non-military Hummers...

and boy does that make me feel all warm and tingly inside (once again, think of something else...) to see these blackholes of gasoline remain on the lot. And while these urban tanks aren't contributing any new greenhouse gas emission/air pollution to California, it's already impacted the environment because of the resources consumed to build these monstrosities.

So, my question is, wouldn't it be great if these cinder blocks of the road (I'm running out of clever names for the damn Hummer) get recycled into say, Smart Cars? Hell, you could probably get 8 smart cars out of 1 Hummer! Yes, I know that they're made by two different companies, but a man can dream, can't he?

WHY MUST THEY FUEL MY SILENT RAGE (that's no longer silent!)

Courtesy of the CBC:

U.S. Senate votes for drilling in Arctic refuge

Hey, hey Dubya! Remember about a month ago when oil prices were much higher than they are now, and wait, what was it that you said?

Oh yes, this: "We can all pitch in by using, by being better conservers of energy"

...and I'm not kidding you, but I think Jon Stewart, me and everyone else who cares one whit about the environment had an aneurysm that night because those words and you saying them just didn't connect in our logic processes and our brains just collapsed on itself.

Well, I think that your Senate just ignored the hell out of you today. That, or you really didn't mean what you said about conservation because you're all just a bunch of assholes who couldn't care less about it deep down inside.

And of course, a wildlife refuge is one of the last places where human presence is scarce and truly is a refuge habitat for wildlife. But let's blow THAT idea out of the water by throwing down oil platforms...because now the animals can find refuge underneath an oil rig...AWWWWW...isn't that precious!

And in trying to find the Bush quote, I bumped into this little ditty:

Few energy benefits to extra daylight, observers suggest as Ont. follows US.

I talked about this before HERE. Where the hell was I when this was passed? This is what I get for not paying attention. I had really, really hoped that our government wouldn't be so dumb as to follow the US's lead because the supposed benefits are so trivial and the new problems that arise will create new headaches for everyone else! God, didn't anyone see that Simpsons episode where they solve one pest with another and then to get rid of the second pest they bring another, ad nauseum? To think, I had such hopes that common sense would prevail over this. Boy was I wrong.

What a crappy way to end the night.

FEMA, Google, Forbes. Take your pick.

Because I'm not particularly well versed in the Gomery revelations or the legal wherewithal to discuss the Alito nomination, I decide instead to pick on the incompetent, the behemoth, and the rich:

I'm homesick! This place sucks! Courtesy of Boing Boing and CNN

So a democrat on a committee investigating FEMA's feeble response to Hurricane Katria released a series of emails that then management chief Michael Brown was sending to contacts outside of Lousiana...and boy are they hilarious. Particularly amusing are those about his attire,

"Tie or not for tonight? Button-down blue shirt?"

and

"Please roll up the sleeves of your shirt, all shirts. Even the president rolled his sleeves to just below the elbow. In this [crisis] and on TV you just need to look more hard-working." (italics mine).

The capper of course is, "Can I quit now? Can I come home?" that he sent to the deputy director of public affairs. Granted, there's a chance this was taken out of context, but seriously. You're on the ground supposedly directing a relief response and you sound like a 12-yr old homesick camper. WTF? and WHY is he still being paid? WHY? WHY? WHY?

Play fair, Google! Courtesy Boing Boing and Forbes

Google started the Google Print Library Project, whose aim is to provide snippets of the entire library of several US universities free online. This is not new. Rather, five publishing companies have come together to sue Google to halt this project.

This is a piece written in the Washington Times opposing the project. While I agree the definition of 'snippet' will need to be defined precisely (if not already done so), there's definitely a tone of fear of technology beneath it. Hell, I half-expected these two to come out and say that Google is communist because they want to provide free content...

Instead, we have this Forbes piece that argues that the Print Library Project may not be as scary as it seems. At the very least, it doesn't try to scare me into thinking that agreeing with Google will destroy the print industry as we know it. And managed properly, this online archive would be a great asset for students, researchers or infojunkies like me.

Communcation? Hello? What? Courtesy Forbes

This is a series of articles dealing with, well, communication. It runs the gamut of communication issues: in science, culture, etc. Plus interviews with the likes of Walter Kronkite, Stan Lee and Wil Wheaton! I'm still painstakingly reading through this, but do browse. There's gotta be an article or interview there to your interest.


And that's all the communicatin' I'm doin' tonight. Now i just need a good sign-off line like, "Good Luck, and Goodnight" but y'know, not plagarized.