"To restore science to its rightful place"

It's not that I'm infatuated with the words of Potus44, but Barack Obama's inaugural address (that I've already addressed) hit quite a few notable notes. One of which was the promise to "restore science to its rightful place". He also said,

"Promoting science isn't just about providing Resources-it's about protecting free and open inquiry... It's about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it's inconvenient - especially when it's inconvenient.

That's a breath of fresh air, indeed. But the real question and challenge will be: What exactly is this Rightful Place? The previous administration acted as though they believed that science belongs after political expedience and the Bible, not necessarily in that order. They fired or censored anyone whose carefully calculated conclusions disagreed with their prejudged opinions. It will be a long time cleaning up the resulting mess. Mike the Mad Biologist posted: To Restore Science to Its Rightful Place, We Need to Redefine Elitism. In brief, science is not easy to follow once you reach the discoveries of The Enlightenment and beyond. It takes a certain amount of education and dedication to know good science from pseudoscience. And this is anathema to American principle of Democratic Populism, the idea that all men are not only "created equal", but are in fact equal.

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Time to Change Congress – – again.

Change Congress? Didn’t we just change control of Congress? Well, we did change the party that controls Congress, but we haven’t yet changed the money that controls the politicians who control Congress. Barack Obama will have an uphill claim, guaranteed, because politicians are not going to judge his proposals based on their merits. There is always the money, which feeds their cravings for reelection. What if all federal politicians learned that potential donors took this pledge: “I'm pledging not to donate to any federal candidate unless they support legislation making congressional elections citizen-funded, not special-interest funded.” This link will take you to a speech by Lawrence Lessig, who explains the urgent need to “Change Congress.” As long as members of Congress keep themselves in a position where they can be influenced by large contributions of money, we shouldn’t trust them.

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Sex, movies and videogames

Movies are a staple of American culture. Videogames are another staple. And yes, movies that feature videogames constitute ultra-special moments for those who are fans of both. What are some of the top movies that have utilized videogames as part of their story lines? Nick Smith of pwnordie.com has taken away much of the guesswork by compiling video-gaming excerpts from National Lampoon's Vacation, Back to the Future II, Superbad, 40 Year Old Virgin, National Lampoon's Vacation and many other popular movies. If you follow this link to Nick's site

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What should we do about Demon Dolls?

What is the xenophobic American religious right up to these days? Once in a while, I tune into the local all-Christian talk radio to try to understand the Christian Right a bit better. I tuned in again tonight on my way home, and I was rewarded with one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories. It was a real-life Twilight Zone. To better understand what was going on, listen to this 10-second long YouTube and consider what this doll is saying, if anything. If you guessed that the doll was saying "Islam is the light," you win the grand prize. I didn't win the grand prize. I listened to the radio discussion all the way home, compelled on by the insanity. The show included three religious conservative women, all of them very upset with this doll. The doll, which is called "Baby Cuddle & Coo Doll," is made by Mattel and, according to the women on the radio, the doll is an evil attempt to indoctrinate our innocent children to take up the cause of Islam. The women on the radio described this evil doll in many ways (they were quite upset); for instance, this doll is an attempt at "stealth jihad" . . .

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