Ponderings of a Scientist

Check out Tizzom’s post!  I very much agree, but don’t have enough time to do justice to the issues as Tizzom has.

Any thought on what the Republican scandal of the week will be?  So close to the election I’m sure some begrudged person will let something leak!  Oh boy I can’t wait to see how the GOP turns this one around to blame the leftists….

To all my readers if you think “mainstream conservative” is an oxymoron, please vote in November.  I don’t care if you call yourself a; liberal, democrat, republican, or monkey - most American’s do not find today’s “conservates” (think money loving, financially irresponsible, greedy, war mongering, etc.) mainstream at all.

And… if I hear one more republican try to blame the democrats for their recent demise I think I’m going to drive my car off the road (and since I’m now responsible for two lives, that wouldn’t be good!).  I swear NPR is broadcasting so many Republican interviews just to make us non-mainstreamers angry enough to vote, but I can’t take it anymore!  Yesterday, I heard Carl Rove’s interview on all things considered and according to him; “You (Robert Siegel) are entitled to your math, however the math says the Republicans will win both houses of Congress.”  and he went on in this pompous tone for God-knows how long, I shut off the radio!

I hate our current group of politicians!  I hate that this country is divided down partisan lines, thanks to the antics of politicians and the media!  I’m not even that much of a fan of our electorial options in November, but I think new has to be better than old.  So I will be voting against the incumbents this year and will hope dearly that we get some campaign finance reform before the next election (yeah right!) so we have a chance of seeing some quality candidates!

I thought the GOP had finally come to its senses and was going to make a stand against G.W., but instead they squacked for a few days about wire tapping (House) and detainee rights (Senate), but then just rolled over and took it when it came vote time.  This really ticks me off, not only are both of theseto be laws practically unconstitutional, but it seems the GOP just made a stink to play politics; get their names in the press as opposed to the administration and hope it helps their election races.  I’m so sick of this game.  Politicians are fueling a fire that is burning a deep divide between the far right and left of this country.  Should not they be leading my example.  Get your acts together ladies and gents and start legislating - that’s what we pay you for! And to all you out there as frustrated as I, don’t just complain, VOTE!  Show those whining lazy bastards what we think - vote them out of office.  I’m sick of paying each of them hundreds of thousands of dollars to play around.  I say, “Start representing your constituents or get out!”

Let us take a minute to ponder this statement, “non-profit organizations (i.e. churches among others) are not allowed to promote specific political candidates.”  Now let’s think about the G.O.P, hum could they be connected to churches; I’m sure you’ve heard of the term Religious Right!  So why the hell is this liberal church in California being investigated by the IRS, and may lose their tax exempt status?  Because they take a stand on social issues.  We’re walking a fine line here, what is the difference between having a social view and a political view and what’s the difference between having a viewpoint and supporting a specific candidate?  Ah stupid, stupid!

NH Primary Day!!

So how many people have heard about the fictionous story of pre-911 through the Iraq war era, to air on ABC? I actually heard one of the production advisors (a republican also on the 911 commission) say to the NPR afternoon news host that “it isn’t all true, some scenes were changed to 1) be more interesting or 2) represent what SHOULD of happened!” Then he went on the say the phase that inspired the title of this post. Apparently, this guy forget they were producing a historical document, not a fictional tale. It seems to me that he is entitled to his opinion and if he wants to share it he should write a book. When a reader picks up a politically minded book he/she likely understands they are getting a biased view, however casual TV watchers don’t understand the distinction between unbiased truth and opinions. The ABC program is going to be seen by millions of Americans and taken as completely honest by many of them and that’s just not cool.

However, Ted Koppel is cool! I totally give the guy props for leaving network news and heading over to public news. His special on the pre-911 to Iraq era will air tonight on the Discovery Channel. While it will likely be liberally biased, I trust this production to tell the truth much more so than the ABC show and to announce when they are opining vs. just passing the whole thing off as fact.

After all this time you think I would have something to say…hum…haa…eek..aah YES

Happenings:
Condo - moved in still painting and staining
Job - still cool, very busy, students start visiting next week
Pleasures -  now that we aren’t so busy I’ve been running more and finding new running routes, woot!  I’ve also been reading some good marine science/natural history books: “Entanglements” by Tora Johnson and “The Lobster Coast” by Colin Woodard.
Annoyances- Comcast is extra dumb, not only did they keep the Zipy waiting for two hours today, they also sent me an email saying my bill is ready to pay, but then wouldn’t let me log in, because my old account no longer exists!  Well, how do they expect me to pay the final bill from the old house?  Stupid, stupid, stupid. Oh, and WordPress is doing some annoying spacing things, so if there are ackward extra or lacking spaces in this post blame the software not the user.  Well haha Comcast I know something you don’t!  Anyone up for Red Sox in our basement?
Thoughts:

As an educator, I have to say “Go Detroit Teachers!”  I know it’s killing many of them to be striking, rather than teaching, but they really have no choice.  The school district wants to cut their pay by 5.5% this year and another 5.5% next year and freeze their benefits, this atop pay freezes and cuts the last few years - how much can you cut from a $30K salary before our teachers become the working poor?  For anyone not following the story, essential G.W’s school voucher program has bankrupt the Detriot school system, because as many parents have chosen to send their children to out of district charter and private schools (a legit parental decision) their childrens’ federal funds leave the Detriot district. Every child that leaves a public school, via the voucher system, takes with them school $1,500 of funding, leaving limited money for the remaining students.  In fact, last year, Detroit teachers spent their own money to purchase toilet paper among other things.  How do we solve this problem?  I’m not sure.   I support a parent’s right to send her child to a vouchered school, however, I can’t stand what it is doing to our public schools.  Unfortunately, the more students that leave, the worse the effect, because dollar for dollar it costs more to run a school for 50 students versus 500.  Likely, Detriot will end up in a worse position when everything is said and done, because more parents will  remove their child from Detroit, rather than have them sit in auditoriums all day, not learning, while the strike works itself out.

A big boo to the oil companies for finding a new way to further rob our natural resources.  Just what we need more oil rigs in the Gulf of TMexico!  My biggest fear is that this new discovery will dissuaded people from conserving.  Global WARMING will get worse, our cities will sink, smog will rob our children from breathing without asthma, but hell we can still look real cool driving our Hummers in laps around Main Street blaring 80s hairbands.

oh wait, I have only 5-10 minutes to write this before going for a walk downtown to watch the Red Sox.  Quickly:

Again G.W. proves himself a silly, silly man (if only he didn’t have such a serious position).  He placed sanctions on a handful of companies today, located in India, Cuba and Russia, because they have sold “sensitive” nuclear related products to Iran, while at the same time Congress is voting on G.W.’s legislation to give nuclear related products to India (didn’t they refuse to sign non-proliferation treaties?)!

Organism of the Week: Red Langur Javan Leaf Monkey

“This monkey hails from the tropical rain forests and tropical dry forests of Indonesia where as an herbivore it lives on a diet of leaves and fruits. This species comes in two color varieties, which are found in different locations on the island of Java in Indonesia. They are very dexterous, able to move through the branches with ease, plucking at favoured fruits and leaves. These animals typically weigh around 15 pounds. Active in the daytime, Javan langurs live in groups, moving through the trees, walking along branches on all four limbs, looking for fruiting trees and choice leaves to eat. They range through the trees from low down to the upper canopy and rarely spend time on the ground. Like most primates, they make a range of calls, although the most obvious is the cackling alarm call uttered when potential danger (often a person) is sighted. ” - http://www.rbrc.org/call2recycle/animalspotlight/popups/info_pages/MONKEYInfo.htmlClick Here for more recycle animals! 

Pet Peeve of the Week:

People that think the left hand highway lane is for cruising 2 miles above the speed limit. Those people then refuse to acknowledge another car behind them and continue driving in the left lane.  The left lane is for passing only!  Passing on the right is illegal and is pet peeve # 1 1/2 for this week.  The only time right hand passing is acceptable is when pet peeve #1 is in place.

Yet another reason Zipy needs a new job: “A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that poorly run meetings strain workers’ health… The study also found that while many people complain about meetings, a large number secretly enjoy the confabs and derive a sense of well-being from the interactions.” - As reported in National Geographic  

I have a subscription to Science News magazine.  The magazine is a weekly, summarizing important journal articles and other findings from a wide range of scientific disciplines.  These are some highlights:

1.  G.W.’s FY07 budget cuts ~3 million from EPA’s library budget, forcing multiple libraries to close and limiting EPA scientists’ and the public’s access to environmental documents.  The kicker - the library system brings in a profit of close to ~30 million a year.  Um, you do the math!

2. A group of ecologists and economists measured the energy effectiveness of producing biodiesels from soybeans and corn.  Accounting for the costs of production, including farming equipment, pesticide and soil treatment use; and the manufacturing costs to refine the product, then comparing those figures to the amount of energy yielded, corn ethanol provides 25% more energy then it consumes and soybeans provide 93% more energy than the process uses.  Additionally, soybeans per unit of energy gained require 1% of the nitrogen, 8.3% of the phosphorus and 13% of the pesticides required to grow corn.  Compared to burning traditional gasoline, corn ethanol reduces greenhouse emmisions by 12%, soybean diesel reduces emmisions by 41%.  So why do American car companies favor corn?  Could it be all the subsides we give the corn farmers (I mean the big businesses that own the corn fields - and some of the car companies - and some of the mainstream media).

Not mentioned in this article, but also interesting: sugarcane biodiesel is supposedly the best out there.  Countries in South America are producing more than they can use, so why don’t they import to the U.S.?  Oh yeah, we have a 100% tariff on sugarcane biodiesel!  Um, protecting the corn field owners again?

3.  Scientists have created a new atomic clock based around the ultraviolet electromagnetic wave oscillation of a mercury ion.  Compared to the gold standard cesium atomic clock, this new clock is 10 times more precise, erring only 1 second every 70 million years.  This new clock has all sorts of applications.

4.  Just incase you were worried, you will be happy to know that a group of chemists have developed a taste sensor that can distinquish among 18 commercial beers.