Mississippi Science Under Attack

If it weren’t for the damage it could do to students, this proposed “disclaimer” that a moron named Gary Chism wants to put into biology text books would be purely risible.

The State Board of Education shall require every textbook that includes the teaching of evolution in its contents to include the following language on the inside front cover of the textbook:
“The word ‘theory’ has many meanings, including: systematically organized knowledge; abstract reasoning; a speculative idea or plan; or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are based on both observations of the natural world and assumptions about the natural world. They are always subject to change in view of new and confirmed observations.

This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things. No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life’s origins should be considered a theory.

Evolution refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced living things. There are many topics with unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not mentioned in your textbook, including: the sudden appearance of the major groups of animals in the fossil record (known as the Cambrian Explosion); the lack of new major groups of other living things appearing in the fossil record; the lack of transitional forms of major groups of plants and animals in the fossil record; and the complete and complex set of instructions for building a living body possessed by all living things.

Study hard and keep an open mind.”

But not so far open that your brains fall out, Mr. Chism.

So that’s what “Change” means

It means blowing off the Medal of Honor recipients for the first time since Eisenhower.

Update:

The American Legion does not feel offended or snubbed. That could be because they have something Obama only pretends to have:

Class.

Life in the Socialist Lane

I call carpool, or HOV lanes the “socialist lane” since it’s real estate I’m paying for, taken from me at gunpoint, and given to those the government favors. For that reason i find them immoral, and hate them.

Some interesting research claims that they may have a beneficial smoothing effect on traffic.

The authors observed what they called a “smoothing effect.” Drivers were less tempted to change lanes, because there were fewer options available, and the “discharge flows” actually increased. When the carpool lane wasn’t activated, lanes saw anywhere from 9% to 13% worse performance in VPH (vehicles per hour). When considered in terms of “people hours traveled,” the activation of the carpool lane provided a benefit on the order of 30%. The authors note that if this “smoothing effect” is not observed and quantified, long highway delays might be incorrectly attributed to the carpool lane.

This is not a vindication of socialist lanes but, rather, yet another indictment of the bad driving I observe all the time. I have always believed, and data keeps bearing this out, that traffic jams are caused, or at least exacerbated, by incompetent driving more than by road capacity. Let’s hope that this isn’t used as further justification for stealing lanes. In fact:

As the authors note, it’s worth investigating how signage and striping might reduce “disruptive” lane changing. “Disruptive lane changing,” they add, “might also be reduced in some cases by sorting drivers (and vehicle classes) across lanes according to their preferred travel speeds; or in other cases by inducing a more even distribution of flows across lanes.”) We already have seen “variable speed limits” to help smooth out flow in a linear sense; maybe someday we’ll have “variable lane assignment” to smooth it out across the highway.

A commenter on the linked site makes a good point.

Is a “variable lane assignment” similar to the “no passing on the right” mandated on the German Autobahn?

If so, after having experienced the famous Germanic driving discipline first-hand, I would like to say, “yes, please”.

If drivers were trained to standards on following distance, speed and lane choice, most of our traffic jams would evaporate. Tailgating is probably the number one culprit. Pilots are required to demonstrate competence to an instructor every 24 calendar months. The same should be required of people who want to exercise the privileges of their drivers licenses.

Unclear on the Concept

Ahh, Europe, that shining example of sophistication. In Holland, the courts are going to try Geert Wilders for the non-crime of “hate speech“.

A Dutch court has ordered prosecutors to put a right-wing politician on trial for making anti-Islamic statements.
Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
“In a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to… draw a clear line,” the court in Amsterdam said.
Mr Wilders said the judgement was an “attack on the freedom of expression”.

So far so good, right? “Hate speech” laws are clearly wrong. Anybody should be able to make “anti-Islamic” statements. Except get a load of what else Geert wants.

A year earlier, Mr Wilders described the Koran as a “fascist book” and called for it to be banned in “the same way we ban Mein Kampf”, in a letter published in the De Volkskrant newspaper.

So the trial should never happen in the first place but, if it does, I hope both sides lose.

I hope I’m still patriotic

in Obama’s America.

Is there anyone who still believes the Constitution was created to ensure each citizen liberty and the ability to pursue happiness rather than a guarantee of happiness — and a retirement fund, health care, a job, an education, a house … ?

Yes, two important historical events transpired Tuesday: The first was the peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected politician to another (an uninterrupted streak we often take for granted). Then there was the first presidency of an African-American, which proves we can transcend our unsightly past.

After that, what we had was just another election. We conduct one every four years. For those of you not shouting hosannas, it might have occurred to you that we are suffering from a rampant sickness in American life that casts government as the author of your dreams and an Illinois politician the linchpin of your hopes.