The People speak on how to reduce the budget deficit
The People would like to cut our warmongering expenses and to preserve most social programs. Rachel Maddow comments on other "liberal" trends recently measured:
Happy Ponzi Day!
Charles Ponzi was born 129 years ago today, so I guess that makes it Ponzi Day today. The man for whom the pyramid scheme was named though, was a chump. Today's schemers have been many times more successful. By the time Ponzi's scheme peaked in 1920, Wikipedia notes that "he had made $420,000 ($4.59 million in 2008 terms)." See what I mean? $4 and half million isn't even enough for today's ponzi artists to get out of bed. For example, let's look at the currently best-known ponzi artist, Bernie Madoff. The amount missing from Madoff clients' accounts was nearly $65 billion, although that includes fabricated money-- actual losses total about $18 billion. Even at $18 billion though, that's still almost 4,000 times the ponzi scheme than Ponzi himself. Madoff made headlines again this week, saying that “It’s unbelievable, Goldman … no one has any criminal convictions. The whole new regulatory reform is a joke. The whole government is a Ponzi scheme.” And who better to know Ponzi schemes than the man who bested Ponzi?
Featured Wikipedia photos
Have you ever viewed Wikipedia's featured photos? These are the "images that the community has chosen to be highlighted as some of the finest on Commons." This is a terrific collection of many hundreds images, all of them under the Creative Commons license. If they do not appear on this page, click the title of the post if you don't see the full attribution for the photos below.
Yes, more quotes
I constantly copy and paste quotes, and you'll find many of them under the category "quotes." Here are some more for my growing collection: "The Gish Gallop is an informal name for a rhetorical technique in debates that involves drowning the opponent in half-truths, lies, straw men, and bullshit to such a degree that the opponent cannot possibly answer every falsehood that has been raised, usually resulting in many involuntary twitches in frustration as the opponent struggles to decide where to start. It is named after creationism activist and professional debater Duane Gish" "Citing the Bible as evidence for anything is like saying that the sun is in fact a chariot of fire that races across the sky because we read about it in Greek mythology." - Stephen Ban “Regrettably, I have anecdotal evidence that lawyers stop laughing at a judge’s jokes after the judge’s retirement.” -Judge Robert Clayton II, commenting on his approaching retirement. "Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" — Isaac Asimov "Capitalism, in its purer forms doesn’t reward people for their hard work with success. It rewards people less for what they contribute to the economy and more for what they own and control." - "Niklaus" at DI Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped. - Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977) A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life – Charles Darwin I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it. - Harry S Truman "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep." - Saul Bellow "You have not converted a man because you have silenced him." - John, Lord Morley "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Winston Churchill [More . . . ]
Excellent websites present the basics of evolution and the scientific method
The University of California Museum of Paleontology and the National Center for Science Education have offered an excellent remedy to the increasingly vocal anti-science chorus one hears in the United States. This remedy is a website called "Understanding Evolution." The site is a link-rich resource for both teachers and for the general public. From the About page:
Understanding Evolution is a non-commercial, education website, teaching the science and history of evolutionary biology. This site is here to help you understand what evolution is, how it works, how it factors into your life, how research in evolutionary biology is performed, and how ideas in this area have changed over time.Consider these pages to get you started: "What is the evidence for evolution" and "Misconceptions about natural selection and adaptation." And why stop at evolution while you're in the learning mood? Why not also explore the scientific method at a related site titled "Understanding Science." As was the case with "Understanding Evolution," "Understand Science" was produced by the UC Museum of Paleontology of the University of California at Berkeley, in collaboration with a diverse group of scientists and teachers, and was funded by the National Science Foundation. Here's an excerpt from the About page:
The mission of Understanding Science is to provide a fun, accessible, and free resource that accurately communicates what science is and how it really works. The process of science is exciting, but standard explanations often miss its dynamic nature. Science affects us all everyday, but people often feel cut off from science. Science is an intensely human endeavor, but many portrayals gloss over the passion, curiosity, and even rivalries and pitfalls that characterize all human ventures. Understanding Science gives users an inside look at the general principles, methods, and motivations that underlie all of science.At this site, you'll find answers to such questions as "What is science?" and "Why science matters." At this site, readers can also access information "correcting misconceptions" about science and teachers have access to numerous resources. [caption id="attachment_16827" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image by Zabiello at dreamstime (with permission)"]
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Both of these sites are both well-written and well-designed. You might want to keep these links handy for those increasingly frequent occasions when you hear evolution-ignorant and science-ignorant folks spout off the that the earth is 6,000 years old or that "evolution claims that people came from monkeys."