Friday, July 28, 2006

What Happens When You Put An Idiot In Charge?

This, apparently.


MorphoDyke blathers on and on about "Darwinism" and evidence, and whatnot.

After all that, I was left wondering, "What the Hell is your point, Freakshow?"

A whole page of yacking, yet she never really said anything...

Unless you take all that and reduce its complexity to "Darwinism is dead".

Evidence, anyone? Some science, perhaps?

Nope, just a propoganda piece. "We got us 600 engineers." That's it.

What a truly crappy piece of writing. Some journalist.

I did pick out one quote that I want to look at. Part of it, anyway.

The most common argument I hear for Darwinism - the absolutely darling must-have story in the pop sci media - is “We have found evidence for Darwinism!

We found it - in the eye of a fly - in the butt of an extinct anteater - in the lies guys tell about sex.” And we have more, too! Watch this space!”

The fatal problem, as any journalist knows, is: An apparently convincing case can be constructed if the only requirement is to assemble evidence for one’s own position. The case can then be aced by bullying anyone who knows contrary evidence into silence.


Let's leave aside the whole journalist thing, and how she might have any idea of what a journalist may or may not know. Anyone with a brain can see she's no journalist. "I knew Jack Journalist, MorphoDyke, and you're no Jack Journalist."

Let's also leave aside her attack on "Darwinism". (I know you guys don't like that term and why, so I try not to use it myself.) It is interesting to note however, that she's bitching about evidence while presenting exactly none of her own. But I digress.

I'm going to skip the fly eye, and only correct one little thing about the butt. If she knew anything at all about biology, she would know that butt belonged not to an extinct anteater, but to the common Snuffleupagus. Idiot.

Which leaves us with one little phrase in this huge pile of dung.

"the lies guys tell about sex."

Now see, this would be an interesting way to start our Science Friday. Do guys lie about sex? Why? How? Do they lie to the person in their bed, or just to their friends ABOUT the person in their bed? Do they lie about themselves? Before the deed, or after? What about girls? Samey same? What effect does sexual preference (or lack thereof) have on the behavior?

See, THESE things would be worth a real journalist's time to investigate. This stuff would be worth tracking down some scientists. Lay some source material on me, boys. I'm going to do a little investigative reporting here, and I'm starting with an experiment.

Oh, Kate? Are you busy at the moment Darling?




21 Eloquent Orations:

On 7/28/2006 09:41:00 AM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

For a journalist, someone who's supposed to know about writing, she ain't so good with the quotation marks, is she?

That'd get you fired in a second at any reputable news source, I'd imagine.

Just thought I'd point that out.

 

On 7/28/2006 10:48:00 AM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Halftime report by Kate -

Bet you didn't know that science experiments had those, did you?

Luckily, I happened to stop by a little shop the other day and pick up a few crucial pieces of lab equipment.

Janie can't exactly give the halftime report just now... she's a little tied up at the moment.

We've finished the first part of the experiment about lying about sex. Does "I'm going to explode" count as a lie in this? Or is that just an exaggeration?

I've been telling her about how bad it is to release premature results, and she's showing remarkable restraint.

A quick note about our experiment... it's a single blindfold experiment, so the results may need to be adjusted for bias.

As long as I have her in the lab, though, we're going to look at another science question. "What is the effect on intensity of multiple orgasms when the subject really really really has to pee." Inquiring minds want to know.

We may need to research the Richter Scale before she is free to discuss the results of that one.

The sacrifices I make to teach this girl some science. I'll tell you. She seems pretty appreciative, though.

Gotta go, see you at the post-game.




Kisses,
Kate

 

On 7/28/2006 12:04:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Well, whoever said science isn't fun, just didn't have the right teacher.

Whew...

Alrighty then. Anyone have some source material here? Like real science papers by scientists?

Add it here, I really am interested.

Kisses,
JanieBelle

 

On 7/28/2006 02:05:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

So many words but nothing interesting at all!!!

 

On 7/28/2006 02:39:00 PM, Blogger blipey waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

It is interesting to note however, that she's bitching about evidence while presenting exactly none of her own. But I digress.

I know you meant, "I digress from the point I would like to make." However, I think this is telling of much of the present layperson's thinking about science, education, and well...thinking in general.

Too many people think that the presentation of facts and the actual study of things, anything, is a digression from their "real" lives. If what we learned in school was to actually be interested in what went on around us and to be intellectually honest, we wouldn't be in the current pissing contest about Evo/ID, abrubt climate change, sex education in schools, etc.

Is good education a cure-all? No, of course not. There will always be wingnuts with an agenda that requires them to lie and weedle their way into power. But, a truly educated society is in a position to safely dismiss and/or ignore said wingnuts.

Conspiracy theories based on poor educations makes for decent Hollywood summer fare, but not for a good life-plan.

 

On 7/28/2006 02:50:00 PM, Blogger blipey waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Oops. Forgot to say, "Love your pic, AJ." Kick ass.

 

On 7/28/2006 02:51:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

I know you meant, "I digress from the point I would like to make." However, I think this is telling of much of the present layperson's thinking about science, education, and well...thinking in general.

Yes, I perhaps should have been more clear.

And your point is well made.

Too many people think that the presentation of facts and the actual study of things, anything, is a digression from their "real" lives.

Yes, exactly. There are a lot of folks who don't really care to know anything more than "how much is gas this week, and what time does the movie start?" That's a shame. Seems it was some wise man or other who said, "When you stop learning, it is time to die."

I don't remember who, exactly. Sorry.

Is good education a cure-all? No, of course not. There will always be wingnuts with an agenda that requires them to lie and weedle their way into power. But, a truly educated society is in a position to safely dismiss and/or ignore said wingnuts.

I don't suppose it is of much use to try to talk sense to the fundies, but it seems a better strategy to prevent them from becoming fundies in the first place. Interesting science teachers might be a good start.

OT, but how is the Fringe Festival thing going?

Kisses,
JanieBelle

 

On 7/28/2006 02:57:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Oops. Forgot to say, "Love your pic, AJ." Kick ass.

Yes, it is very cool.

Speaking of which, anyone else notice that Dave's pic disappeared from UD? The link is still there in his profile, but the pic itself is gone from UD.

Guess GirlyMan didn't want the previous administration using up space. How rude.

:-P

 

On 7/28/2006 02:59:00 PM, Blogger blipey waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Off Topic

My show was not well attended, but what do you expect? No advertizing, no nothing as I was just a fill in.

Did make me work on some stuff and polish it up, though. It's much closer to a good show now than it was a month ago when I was just thinking about it maybe being a show.

Did get a job for next year, when I get back from touring, though. Good things fall in your lap sometimes.

 

On 7/28/2006 03:08:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Sorry to hear your show wasn't well attended.

[EDIT-apparently the recent comments code doesn't like to have emoticons too close to the beginning of the comment]

:( :-X

but happy to hear you polished the act and lined up a gig for next year!

:) :-)

Kisses,
JanieBelle and Kate

 

On 7/28/2006 03:22:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Hi AJ!

Though I've heard of Bjork, I can't say I've seen the video.

Love the pic, though.

Kisses,
JanieBelle

 

On 7/28/2006 05:47:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Wow. That was powerful.

Thank you for pointing her out to me, AJ. I'd heard of her, but never really paid much attention.

For all the hardness of the robots, it was incredibly soft and sensual.

Not at all what I expected.

:-k
JanieBelle

 

On 7/28/2006 05:58:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Wow. Talk about less travelled paths.

Bjork Video Gallery

Some really off-beat, wonderful stuff there.

I highly recommend Pagan Poetry. I haven't gotten to them all yet, though.

Kisses,
JanieBelle

 

On 7/28/2006 06:10:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Ok, back on topic.

Lies about sex. Do you tell them, and if so, what lies and why?

Have you ever been lied TO, and if so, what lies and why?

And what other studies are there on this? Like, can I just go to the library and say "hey, gimme all your scientific papers about lies and sex."

Are there particular researchers that focus on these sorts of things? Who should I be looking for?

Kisses,
JanieBelle

 

On 7/28/2006 07:04:00 PM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

AJ said: I guess "Evolution and Sex" sounded too boring

Not at all AJ. I just want to gather more than one source.

I'm looking for all sorts of angles, and I'll certainly check out "Why We Do It: Rethinking Sex & the Selfish Gene".

And I'm guessing that given the title and your comment, it's a reference to Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, at which I will also take a look.

In fact, I'm thinking a trip to BAM is in order tomorrow. Either that or all the way to Wilmington to B&N.

I really do appreciate the heads up on that, AJ.

Kisses,
JanieBelle

 

On 7/28/2006 11:17:00 PM, Blogger DaveScot waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

, my jpegs are still on ud's server.

Check out this sunset from my boat.

 

On 7/29/2006 04:47:00 AM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Sweet Dave! Nice view!

It doesn't get any better than that, does it?

Glad to see you haven't been shown the door over at UD. The way things are going over there, we assumed the worst.

Kisses,
Kate and Comatose Janie

 

On 7/29/2006 05:29:00 AM, Blogger DaveScot waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Kate

A lot more has been made of what transpired on UD than what really transpired on UD. I was tired of moderating and sick of the evo/id controversy. It just goes on and on, the same things are said over and over, and people rarely change their position on it. So, me not being a quitter and Bill not being a firer, I gave him a public ultimatum that challenged his authority on his own blog with the choice of let me have my way or find someone else for the job. I suspect we both got what we wanted (I know I did). The only surprise was Morphodyke. I'd thought one of the existing editors would take over for me.

I bet Bill was a bit taken back when Morphodyke brought Davison back in the fold. Bill thinks Davison is a nut. Those are his exact words - a nut. He humored me with Davison, not saying a word about it until I figured it out for myself, and now he's in the position of having to humor O'Leary while she goes through the same exercise.

 

On 7/29/2006 05:39:00 AM, Blogger DaveScot waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

Did you check out the sunset pic at full resolution? Five megapixel. Not only does that bird resolve into a vulture but you can also see his reflection in the water directly below. Some sunrises are even more amazing. The best are in the winter for some reason. I wish the digital camera would get good night shots. The moon over the water can be breathtaking. It can probably do it but it but the boat moves too much even on a still night for the longer apeture time required to gather enough light. I'd need to put it on a tripod on shore I think.

 

On 7/29/2006 05:45:00 AM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

If she visits his blog anytime soon, or After the Bar Closes, I think she'll get the picture in a hurry.

Have you seen this?

We've been keeping our mouths shut, because we don't want to sway the office pool. We know MorphoDyke and Davison both read the Office Pool thread here, and we don't want to screw you out of a chance to win.

He just can't hide his true colors, though, can he?

Kisses,
Kate

 

On 7/29/2006 05:52:00 AM, Blogger JanieBelle waxed damned near poetic whilst opining...

I just checked it out again, and saw the little magnifier glass thing. I missed it the first time.

It's a really sweet shot.

Try the tripod thing and send us some pics.

I've never had any luck with my digital at night. It's all automatic and it does a piss poor job at night. I'm thinking about getting a better camera for more control. I might hold off, though. I want a new telescope, and if I do that, I'll get a CCD camera for taking astronomy pics.

We'll post them here, of course.

Kisses,
Kate

 

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