Category Archives: Uncategorized

Dysentery Mary

"I don't want to get too close to you, I've got that stomach thing that's going around."

Now, I'm no epidemiologist, but I think you might have a better chance of not spreading "that stomach thing" if you didn't come in to work at all. Just my layman's opinion, of course.

Stick to cartooning

Scott Adams, of Dilbert fame and fortune, just can't make up his mind about the whole Intelligent Design vs. Evolution debate:

    To me, the most fascinating aspect of the debate over Darwinism versus Intelligent Design is that neither side understands the other side's argument. Better yet, no one seems to understand their own side's argument. But that doesn't stop anyone from having a passionate opinion.
    For example, Darwinists often argue that Intelligent Design can't be true because we know the earth is over 10,000 years old. That would be a great argument, supported by every relevant branch of science, except that it has nothing to do with Intelligent Design.

That'd be a good point, if that's what "Darwinists often argue". Surely, "Darwinists" (his use of this label is a strong sign that Adams is sympathetic to the I.D. argument) don't think the earth is less than 10,000 years old, because things like the fossil record, geology, cosmology, etc. all point to the earth being billions of years old, and "Darwinists" generally accept what science has discovered. But, the 10,000 year-old earth claim is what you hear from Young Earth Creationists, not from I.D.ists. Intelligent Design is much more subtle about what it claims; it doesn't stick to a Biblical timeframe, or many other Biblical literalisms, by design. I.D. just says what we see is too complex for it have happened by any natural mechanism, therefore, [a, though really the Christian] God Made All This. Many who preach I.D. accept an old earth, as long as God Made It All. So, to "Darwinists", the fact that the earth is older than 10,000 years only proves that Young Earth Creationists are wrong, not I.D.. What was that about understanding the argument ?

    The other problem for people like me is that the “good” arguments on both sides are too complicated for me to understand. My fallback position in situations like this has always been to trust the experts – the scientists – of which more than 90%+ are sure that Darwin got it right.

    The Intelligent Design people have a not-so-kooky argument against the idea of trusting 90%+ of scientists. They point out that evolution is supported by different branches of science (paleontologists, microbiologists, etc.) and those folks are specialists who only understand their own field. That's no problem, you think, because each scientist validates Darwinism from his or her own specialty, then they all compare notes, and everything fits. Right?

    Here's where it gets interesting. The Intelligent Design people allege that some experts within each narrow field are NOT convinced that the evidence within their specialty is a slam-dunk support of Darwin. Each branch of science, they say, has pro-Darwinists who acknowledge that while they assume the other branches of science have more solid evidence for Darwinism, their own branch is lacking in that high level of certainty. In other words, the scientists are in a weird peer pressure, herd mentality loop where they think that the other guy must have the “good stuff.”

    ...

    I'd be surprised if 90%+ of scientists are wrong about the evidence for Darwinism. But if you think it's impossible, you've lived a sheltered life.

So, Adams is uncomfortable making up his mind based on the science, but is apparently convinced by the controversy that the I.D.ers have a good case ?

Stick to cartooning, Mr. Adams.

Kansas = Dumb

    At the risk of re-igniting the same heated nationwide debate it sparked six years ago, the Kansas Board of Education approved new public school science standards Tuesday that cast doubt on the theory of evolution.

    ...

    In addition, the board rewrote the definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.

There, I just rewrote the definition of "Kansas". Take that, morons.

Sucka Oowop

    I start to flinch
    As I try not to say it
    But my lips is like the oowop
    As I starts to spray it

That's the chorus of A Tribe Called Quest's "Sucka Nigga". Long a favorite of mine from their stellar Midnight Marauders record. But, up until yesterday, at around 4:30, I didn't know what "the oowop" was. You see, hip as I am I'm not familiar with gangsta slang (and honestly, I don't even know if "oowop" is gangsta slang, per se, but let's just assume it is). I always assumed oowop was like the "ooh-wop" in doo-wop music - like maybe Q-Tip just wanted to smile, snap his fingers, lean in a little bit, tap his foot and do some Doo-Wop backups, singing the N-word instead of "dooooh-wop!" I know that makes no sense. I've always known that. But it didn't matter because I still got the gist of the rest of it : he's a tiny bit uncomfortable when he starts to say the N-word but goes right ahead and says it anyway, a lot. That's what the whole song is about - the kids like the N-word, so there all you scolds and relics! Don't need to know what an "oowop" is to figure that out.

Well, anyway, after twelve years of not knowing or caring was an oowop is, I decided to look it up. And well, an oowop is an Uzi. That certainly makes a lot more sense.

Oowop. I bet nobody says that anymore.

And then, a half hour later, I'm driving home from work and listening to WNCU because WUNC is doing their fall drive-listeners-away pledge drive and if I hear those fuckers say "Call us at nine one nine, nine six two, nine eight six two. That's nine one nine, nine six two, nine eight six two. Again, nine one nine, nine six two, nine eight six two. Give us a call!" one more time, I'm gonna drive my fucking car into a wall. And since WNCU targets an African-American audience (at least with its talk show choices), I'm listening to the panel talk about things like Andy Rooney's recent announcement that he prefers the word "Negro" over "African-American", and that the premiere of the new Boondocks cartoon used the N-word something like 15 times - the panel was not amused. I guess nobody has solved that issue yet, despite Q-Tip's 1992 optimism.

So, it was a day of poking my little white head under the tent and glimpsing the world of black identity politics and the debate over which terms are acceptable and which aren't. Whew... a bit over my head there. Maybe tomrrow I can read a couple of paragraphs about another delicate subject - the Israeli-Palestine issue, maybe. I'm sure I'll have a lot of useful things to say about that. Are there any catchy songs about it? If so, can I just skim the lyrics and wait a decade or so to really think about them ? Hope so.