Boom’s babbling

I was reading, today, about how ID “scientists”, to use the term loosely, are finding a variety of reasons to explain why they have not published any papers or research using ID as a working theory.  They claim that have “secret work which will be published soon” or that “they are unwilling to put time into such work as they are afraid the grants will be withdrawn”. They have been offered grants from the Templeton Foundation, who “In pursuing research at the boundary between science and religion, the Foundation seeks to unite credible and rigorous science with the exploration of humanity’s basic spiritual and religious quests.” [from the templeton.org website].

I was reminded of the line from Ghostbusters, when the leads have been ejected from their jobs on campus, Ray Stantz says “Personally, I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities, we didn’t have to produce anything! You’ve never been out of college! You don’t know what it’s like out there! I’ve *worked* in the private sector. They expect *results*. ”

I realized that the ID snake oil salesmen have found the perfect niche.  They don’t have to actually produce any scientific work.  They can dump out their pop science books aimed at the ignorati, lecture, etc., without having to actually accomplish anything.  Their followers don’t have a clue about science, in the first place, so they don’t have a clue about how research actually occurs; if, like Michael Behe, they actually admit, under oath, that there is no more scientific merit to their fluff than to horoscopes and atsrology, their followers will ignore it and blame the evil atheistic, activist judge (who they were, of course, praising at the onset opf the trial).

No work, no worries.  Much cushier than actually accomplishing anything.

Panel approves subpoenas in page scandal 

From the article:
Speaker Dennis Hastert said he accepted responsibility for any earlier failures to investigate former Rep. Mark Foley’s sexually explicit computer messages to teenage pages. But he resisted pressure to step down.

“Ultimately … the buck stops here,” the Republican speaker said, borrowing the famous phrase of a Democratic president, Harry Truman.

I am getting sick of politicians “taking responsibility”, when all the phrase means to them is “trying to look good”.  Taking responsibility means doing something, or accepting a negative condition, not just “maintain the status quo”.  From the evidence we have seen so far the buck didn’t just stop at Hastert, it may well have gotten a quick laundering and then was hidden, forever, in the hopes of the GOP leadership that seemed to have been told about the problem years ago.

I feel the same revulsion I did when I heard that people were voting for George II because he was the “moral choice”.  If Bush and his GOP slimebuddies represent “morality”, then I will do my best to be immoral.

I noticed, this week, that the neocon talk shows were in full attack more, with Rush Dimbulb saying:

I’m just thinking out loud here. What if somebody got to the page and said, you know, we want you to set Foley up. We need to do a little titillating thing here. Keep it and save it and so forth. How would you get a kid to do that? Yeah, who knows? You threaten him or pay him. There’s any number of ways given the kind of people that we’re dealing with and talking about here.

Hannity claimed that Clinton’s actions were equivilent because Monica Lewinsky was “barely 19″ when she was with Clinton.  According to the Starr report, Lewinsky was over 22 when she first met Clinton.  If Hannity cannot tell the moral difference between having sex with a college graduate in her 20’s and trying to seduce a 16 year old, I cannot pretend I am surprised, but it certainly reinforces my earlier opinion about neocon “morality”.

Periodically I have to remind myself that not all Christians are represented by the moral vacuum that is neoconservatism.  In the tragic story about the slaying of the Amish children, we find that:

(From an AP news story:)
In the aftermath of Monday’s violence, the Amish have reached out to the family of Roberts, 32, who committed suicide during the attack in a one-room schoolhouse.

Dwight Lefever, a Roberts family spokesman, said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them. Among Roberts’ survivors are his wife and three children.

“I hope they stay around here and they’ll have a lot of friends and a lot of support,” said Daniel Esh, a 57-year-old Amish artist and woodworker whose three grandnephews were inside the school during the attack.

I guess there are still a few Christians who remember “turning the other cheek” and realize that there is more to “Christian morality” than being pro-war, anti-abortion, and anti-gay marriage.  I must have missed the pro-war, anti-gay parts of Christ’s teachings when I was still attending church.  I remember a lot of passages about the poor, about abandoning your possessions, and about loving your enemy, but I missed the “Capitalism is Holy, Science is Evil, Gays Must Burn” passages.  Must have been a defective Bible.

Since I value my opinions highly, I have decided it is time to toss my BS out for all the world to ignore.

This post is just to let you know a little about me.

I am in my late 40’s, married for 25 years this November, the father of 2 teens, one in college (currently in England, and not a teen for much longer) and one in high school.  I enjoy games, roleplay, miniature, board and computer; movies, books and music; arguing politics, religion or sports; British sit-coms, heavy metal music, science fiction and fantasy books and movies; surfing the net; good food (preferably spicy); good coffee and good beer (not wanky flavored versions of same); basketball, baseball, American football and soccer (as I write this, I am watching Man U play Tottenham and am becoming increasingly convinced that it is wrong for one person to be as young, as talented, and as %$##%^ good looking as Cristian Ronaldo).

I have been an atheist for about 30 years; an Indiana University fan for almost as long (I don’t think there is a connection); I have recently signed up for Setanta sports on DirectTV and am becoming intrigued by rugby (both Union and League) as well as Aussie and Irish football (of course, once the new TV season begins, I will lose control of the remote to my wife, but that’s life!) I don’t consider Country to be music, nor racing to be a sport.  I think that reality TV is the latest and greatest sign that the “end is upon us”.

 Oh, well, enough babbling for now, I need to work on finishing up an album of my daughters pictures from school, for the family to see, and I need to get some sleep, so I will get back to work.

Oops, one last comment.  On a team as talented as Man U, I am becoming very impressed with Giggs, a player I was unfamiliar with 2 weeks ago.