02.18.06
Pirates and Emperors
Pirates and Emperors is an amusing short animation poking fun at US Foreign Policy.
11.29.05
Galileo’s Daughter
I just read the fascinating and well written short book Galileo’s Daughter, a historical account of the life, work and trial of Galileo Galilei during the early 1600s told mostly through the letters sent to the renown scientist by his cloistered daughter translated for the first from the original Italian. The book is worth reading in part for the concise yet thorough account of Galileo’s life as well as for the quality and poetry of the language, both in the modern text and in the transcription of the antiquated correspondence. What struck me as particularly poignant though is the similarity of language used by the Catholic church that opposed Galileo’s support for the Copernican view of celestial manners and the arguments being currently made for ‘Intelligent Design’ as a method of opposing evolution and promoting creationism in US schools. Galileo’s design and manufacture of early telescopes allowed him to see a level of detail that convinced him Copernicus was right in supposing the earth revolves around the sun, an observation that was vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church on the grounds it contradicts the literal interpretation of the Bible and considered heretical. At the time scientific findings were subject to religious oversight and censorship and Galileo, a devout Catholic, worried the holy church he held with absolute love and respect would be humiliated if it continued to uphold an order of the universe he believed would come to be disproven. Progressive elements in the church softened their stance by allowing scientists to theorize under the strict requirement they admonish non-endorsed opinions as being ‘only theories’ and ‘unproven’, much as the ‘intelligent design’ cadre is attempting to force doubt over scientific knowledge by legislating doubt over evolution. Compromising a position as this may seem it is little more than a desperate attempt to force an unlikely myth based belief over a logical scientific based one in an attempt to maintain control and a semblance of infallibility over an increasingly sophisticated public. In the case of the motion of the planets, the mounting evidence that the universe did not revolve around the earth on celestial spheres continued to be subdued by the Catholic Church until 1822 when Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems and other scientific texts were finally removed from the list of banned books. It amazes me how little people today seem to have learned from the mistakes that have been made for centuries.
Good to be in DC
The folks over at JibJab.com who brought us This Land is Your Land have a new re-interpretation of a classic song out at their web site. Go check them out.
07.23.04
This Land is Your Land
With the election hoopla fast approaching it is surprising that we are not seeing more political phunies being produced. I was quite amused by this version of This Land starring Bush and Kerry.
05.13.04
The rumsfeld video
A nice little video at Moveon.org shows Rumsfeld caught in the middle of a lie. It may not be anything terribly big, but it is still a pleasure to know that sometimes these guys do get caught.
03.02.04
Multnomah County to Offer Gay Marriage Licenses
Saw a suprising news article on the KATU web site today. According to the article:
The Multnomah County Clerk’s office plans to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples starting tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. at their office located at 501 S.E. Hawthorne.
Taking a look at Oregon’s marriage law, it states that marriage is a civil contract entered between males who are at least 17 years old and females who are at least 17 years old.
Way to go Multnomah county. Here is hoping the licenses stay valid through the inevitable legal challenges.
02.04.04
Portland is the #6 Most Stressful City in the USA
I was surprised to see a study at BestPlaces.net that states Portland ranks #6 on the list of America’s most stressful cities (out of 331 metropolitan areas evaluated). While the study mentions reasons why the top five cities (Tacoma WA, Miami FL, New Orleans LI, Las Vegas NV and New York NY) are so stressful for people and the ranking criteria it does not go into any specifics of why Portland ranked so high in the list.
01.20.04
State of the Union Drinking Game
The presidential state of the union address upon us I thought it was time to dig up the updated State of the Union Drinking Game:
The general rules of this game are no different from any other drinking game. A drink is either a shot or a good gulp from a beer (or cider). Different events call for different numbers of drinks and all you do is watch the speech and play along. If all goes well, you’ll be unconscious by the time they show the other party’s response.
GAME TIME
This year, President Bush’s State of the Union address is scheduled for January 20, 2004 at 9pm (Eastern). It should be broadcast on all major networks and cable news/political networks.
For online coverage, go to http://www.c-span.org/executive/stateoftheunion.asp.
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10.03.03
Schwarzenegger the Misogynist
For anyone wondering what I meant when I called Schwarzenegger a Misogynist in the rant The Lion’s Den: The Failure of Democracy, I offer this selection of quotes and articles:
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“When you see a blonde with great tits and a great ass, you say to yourself, ‘Hey, she must be stupid or must have nothing else to offer’, which maybe is the case many times.” July, 2003 Esquire Magazine interview.
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