Comment: Don’t vote for scientific ignorance – opinion – 25 July 2007 – New Scientist

Comment: Don’t vote for scientific ignorance – opinion – 25 July 2007 – New Scientist

This is interesting, in an “Oh god, we’re all going to die!” sort of way:

WHEN 10 Republican candidates for the next US president were asked in their first Presidential Debate in May whether they believe in evolution, three of them – Kansas senator Sam Brownback, Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Colorado representative Tom Tancredo – answered no.
……..
Huckabee, for example, openly stated that he does not know if the Earth was created in six days, 6000 years ago…..

If a potential president is unwilling to accept the fundamental results of chemistry, physics, biology, astronomy and geology, …… then how can that individual be expected to assess the complex scientific and technological issues that will form the basis of US policy over the next eight years?

Lawrence Krauss poses an interesting question. If a presidential candidate is unwilling to accept the overwhelming evidence of all modern sciences, which all tell the same story about the age of the Earth and the Universe we observe, then how can we trust them to make informed decisions regarding science?

The problem with George W. Bush isn’t that he’s an idiot, he’s not. He’s an intelligent, educated individual. The problem is, he’s removed from reality. Anything that crops up that isn’t part of his view of the world is simply ignored. This is clear from his science policy.

He’s used this to ignore climate change, approve editing of science papers by people not scientifically trained, used it to veto bills on stem cell research and generally contribute to the impending crisis that America is facing; that they have nowhere near enough scientifically trained persons to run their scientific facilities, research departments and probably not enough to become science teachers and lecturers and train the next generation.

We’ve become a culture that celebrates stupidity. Look at Jade Goody (or any Big Brother contestant). We celebrate the fact that she’s stupid. Actually, she’s got what you might call street smarts, but she’s not academically intellectual. This is not a bad thing, but the fact that she’s become famous, partly from being perceived as stupid, is deeply worrying.

The real question is not do you believe in god? The real question is, do you believe in progress? Progress should be defined that just because we can do a thing, does not mean that we must do that thing. But all scientific knowledge has come from progress from great thinkers who have sought to increase their understanding.

No-one ever made progress by standing still.

9 people file lawsuit against TB flyer – Yahoo! News

9 people file lawsuit against TB flyer – Yahoo! News

Andrew Speaker is being sued by nine people on the plane he returned to the US on, because he had TB and may have infected them.

The article is interesting, but not the whole story. Initial test showed that Speaker had XDR TB, an extremely drug resistant form of TB. As such he was a serious health risk to others, and his own treatment would prove difficult. People with XDR have about a 50/50 chance of survival, and even if they survive the disease, there’s abother 50/50 chance they will remain carriers of the disease for years.

In effect the US government told Andrew Speaker, a native of Atlanta to “stay in Europe and die” because of the disease. They wouldn’t risk flying him home.

And yet, it was all a mistake. Speaker doesn’t have XDR TB, only MDR TB, a multi drug resistant, but still treatable form of TB.

I’m not condoning his actions. If Speaker really had XDR, then he put dozens of people at risk on the flight. But the US actions aren’t exactly squeaky clean here either.

Airbus A380

Is it me, or is the new Airbus A380 not the most ugly passanger jet ever?

That’s it. No other thoughts on the matter. Just wanted to say it. God, it’s ugly…

Transformers (2007) – Full cast and crew

Transformers (2007) – Full cast and crew

Amazing! No, not the film. Haven’t seen it yet. I was just thinking that it’s amazing that in this age of CGI special effects, that some people still take such pride in their work and speciailse in specific aspects of CGI trickery. I mean, there’s a guy in the credits called Christopher Moore who’s a flame artist.

He just does the CGI flames.

Still, there must be enough work to keep him paid if he can specialise in just fire.

Makes you think. Fire was mankind’s first great invention. When we were first able to make fire, we took a step away from the animal kingdom and towards being human. And now there’s a man who sits in an office, at his computer and creates fire. All day.

Blades lose appeal on relegation

BBC SPORT | Football | Premier League | Blades lose appeal on relegation

I don’t get this. Normally, I don’t follow football that much. But it seems pretty clear cut. West Ham broke the rules in signing Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. They admit it, the premiership organisation admits it, everyone knows it.

Sheffield United launched an appeal after they went down on the last day of the season and West Ham stayed up. West Ham had earlier been fined £5.5m for their handling of the duo’s deals.

So they get fined, fine. But they don’t get points deducted from them. Points they undoubtedly won because they had those players on their team. There’s no clearer example of turning a blind eye to the rules.

You’re not being kind and helpful, you’re just obeying the law…

Curry’s advert on TV right now. You’ve probably seen it. Three people talking about how to help customers when they deliver a new washing machine or fridge.

One guy suggest blasting them into space.

Then someone suggests why not take away the old machine, recycle it and take away the packaging for the new machine.

It ends with the new company motto “Thinking of you”

Thing is….they’re not being nice. They’re not being environmentally friendly. They’re not being ecologically responsible. They’re simply obeying the law.

They’re required to take the old machine away and recycle it, since it’s too large and bulky for the average consumer to manage. They’re required to take away the packaging from the new machine.

Nothing they’re doing is any more or less than their legal minimum requirement. They’re just making this advert to try to show themselves being nice, when in fact they’re simply being legal.