"We're not even trying..."

I'm really struck by the lucidity of this interview with economist Jeffrey Sachs, and I'm somewhat optimistic if frustrated too. But it also makes last week's freak show presidential look all the worse, and illustrates my point about electing officials who (don't need to be scientists or economists) can exhibit the courage to stand up to special interests and make rational decisions consistent with evidence that can benefit all of humanity.

Worst. Movie. Ever.

There is a horrible movie out right now, masking itself as a documentary, called Expelled. The movie, starring former Nixon speech-writer/comedic hack/shill for eye drops, Ben Stein, is a gigantic heaping turd-pile of misinformation. The film's premise is that "academic elites" (whatever those are) are unfairly keeping intelligent design from being taught in the classroom, thereby suppressing (what they believe to be) viable alternative viewpoints. Among the many specious claims made by this film is that Charles Darwin was a raging anti-semite and his theory of evolution is responsible for the holocaust. Actually, I'm being far too fair by calling that claim "specious". Calling it "fucking stupid and grossly inaccurate" is actually more appropriate, as it ignores the fact that anti-semitism by Christians pre-dates Darwin by at least seven centuries.

Primarily, Expelled likes to push the absurd notion that people who support the theory of evolution (you know, REALITY) have acted unfairly towards creationists. What's ironic, and also sad, is that the opposite is actually true. Take the case of Chris Comer, a science teacher in Texas who was forced to resign for refusing to remain neutral about evolution! Yes, America! Here is what happens when religious lunatics are given an inch. They will gladly take that mile every time. Basically this is the equivalent of staying neutral on whether the Earth revolves around the sun, or the existence of unicorns.

On the bright side, the makers of this film have done themselves few favors. They have proven themselves to be liars, stolen music without acquiring the legal copyrights, and have foolishly prevented critics from seeing the movie. Fortunately, though, there are no shortage of bad reviews out there. What is funny is that you know a movie made by Christian fundamentalists is especially bad when even Fox News thinks it sucks ass. Rotten Tomatoes gives Expelled a rating of "9". Go fucking figure that Christianity Today is one of the lone approvers.

This is a fight that isn't going away anytime soon. No matter how ridiculous ID advocates and creationists continuously make themselves look, battles over the teaching of evolution are still being fought throughout the country. To get a sense of how this battle has been fought, and how embarrassingly fraudulent the ID advocates and creationists are, turn to this actual documentary from NOVA about the 2004 case in Dover, Pennsylvania.

Oh Dear

It's been proposed that our presidential candidates should have a public debate about science. I'm not so sure I'm in favor of the idea though. It's unrealistic to expect any of them to possess any in-depth knowledge about a particular subject. After all, they are politicians who attended prestigious law schools. Not exactly the kind of people who can wax at length about quantum physics. What I can hope for is that one of these people emerges as someone who has the courage to support policies that are in line with current scientific evidence, and not succumb to the bad ideas of special interests.

Sadly, this week I was especially disheartened when it was discovered that all three candidates support research that attempts to find a link between childhood vaccinations and autism. Aye! Maybe it's too much to ask, but it would be nice, really nice actually, if for once a candidate wouldn't worry about pissing off an organization that presented said candidate with a nonsense questionnaire that plays into a false and trumped up "epidemic" that happens to run counter to peer-reviewed scientific evidence.

The fact of the matter is that the criteria for determining whether a child is autistic has changed drastically in the past fifty years. In short, (and this link can certainly provide more detail into this) children who may have been diagnosed as mentally retarded, or something else, are now being diagnosed as autistic. This has NOTHING to do with mercury levels, or vaccinations. This is simply bad medicine that belongs on the junk heap with homeopathic medicine, astrology, and religion.

Ok, I admit that I watched "Rock of Love"

So sue me. It was a total train wreck of a show, but there's a guilty pleasure in watching all these people make complete fools of themselves for the amusement of the general public. And I can't say enough good things about the finale. It had puking, AND pretentious footage of Brett Michaels looking all introspective while sitting on the beach!

Surprisingly, Brett doesn't come off too narcissistic in this interview, and that's in spite of quote's like this..."It (the show) has been kept as real as possible."

Diabolical Duo

Above is the image from the Associated Press that appeared on the front page of CNN.com yesterday evening. I can't look at this without being reminded of that scene at the end of Return of the Jedi when the The Emperor shoots blue lightening bolts out of his hands at Luke Skywalker with Darth Vader standing behind him."If you do not accept Catholicism, you will be destroyed."

You know what day it is