Mitteldämmerung

It's a known thing that the increasing media conglomeration has resulted in decreased focus on hard news coverage, but I think that it has been useful in proving one very important thing: the much-vaunted "invisible hand" isn't always the best solution. In this case, the blind appeal to ratings was a rather inevitable result of a bill that amounted to the enabling of a news monopoly. After all, when the various news agencies were forced to coexist, they had to compete in terms of actual quality, and if one failed in this duty, the others would outperform them. Now, though, there's an emphasis on sheer speed and sensationalism. This appears to stem from the new rules, where media outlets compete through buyouts and attempt to corner the market, simply squeezing out their opposition.

This wouldn't be a major issue, except for the fact that in our culture, the average person is less than adept at doing their research. We're a little different, since this is our field, but for the general public... Well, just picture us trying to keep track of all the latest chemistry journals and you'll get the general idea. As a result, people tend to treat whatever the media puts out as important and relevant, regardless of how silly or distracting it really is. (Let's face it, when a network owned by Rupert Murdoch claims that the big, faceless, monolithic media is somehow biased against them, it lacks the ring of truth, given how many outlets he personally owns.) Further, this dumbing-down is nothing less than a death spiral: as the main news sources appeal to the lowest common denominator, the public gets less informed, the denominator drops even lower, and the media dives down after it.

Some people have proposed blogging as an antidote for this, allowing for a more varied outlook on events. This seems to almost affirm an emerging business trend called 'crowdsourcing', but corporate strategy is WAY outside my department, so I can't really comment there. Still, Sturgeon's Law is always important to remember, and with blogs, it appears in full force. After all, with absolutely no quality controls in place, people can make any claim they please, about any topic, and have no real evidence for any of it (case in point, yours truly). Still, there is one very major upside to independent sources such as blogs: they get people engaged. It's been said that you can't get rid of problems, only trade them, and if temporary insanity is the price to pay for a more aware, a more informed, and a more inquisitive populous, that's a worthy trade indeed.

The Teabagger Socialist-Free Purity Pledge

(Courtesy of DailyKos via Pharyngula)

The Teabagger Socialist-Free Purity Pledge

I, ________________________________, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of a socialism-free society and heretofore pledge my word that I shall strictly adhere to the following:

I will complain about the destruction of 1st Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights.

I will complain about the destruction of my 2ndAmendment Rights in this country, while I am duly >being allowed to exercise my 2ndAmendment rights by legally but brazenly brandishing unconcealed firearms in public.

I will forswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls. Also.

I pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:

*

Social Security
*

Medicare/Medicaid
*

State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)
*

Police, Fire, and Emergency Services
*

US Postal Service
*

Roads and Highways
*

Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)
*

The US Railway System
*

Public Subways and Metro Systems
*

Public Bus and Lightrail Systems
*

Rest Areas on Highways
*

Sidewalks
*

All Government-Funded Local/State Projects (e.g., see Iowa 2009federal senate appropriations--http://grassley.senate.gov/issues/upload/Master-Approps-73109.pdf)
*

Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)
*

Public and State Universities and Colleges
*

Public Primary and Secondary Schools
*

Sesame Street
*

Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children
*

Public Museums
*

Libraries
*

Public Parks and Beaches
*

State and National Parks
*

Public Zoos
*

Unemployment Insurance
*

Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services
*

Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, State or Federal Government (pretty much all of them)
*

Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)
*

Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)
*

Use of the Internet, email, and networked computers, as the DoD's ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking
*

Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies
*

Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies
*

If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forgo my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care

I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist

locations, including but not limited to:

*

Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History
*

The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments
*

The government-operated Statue of Liberty
*

The Grand Canyon
*

The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials
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The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery
*

All other public-funded socialist sites, whether it be in my state or in Washington, DC

I will urge my Member of Congress and Senators to forgo their government salary and government-provided healthcare.

I will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America.

I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.

I will protest socialist security departments such as the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Justice and their socialist employees.

Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.

Upon reaching age 65, I will forgo Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.

SWORN ON A BIBLE AND SIGNED THIS DAY OF ____________ IN THE YEAR ______________.

Signed: ___________________________ ___________________________


While the above may not exactly reflect the teabaggers' position (sorry, couldn't resist), a public health insurance option is essentially no different from any of the above items. I'm not asking those of you opposed to such a program to change your minds, but please, for the love of any gods you may or may not believe in, learn what "socialism" actually is before you go spouting off about how inherently evil it is.

Stop me if this sounds familiar...

I was wandering the Internet the other day, and I came across an interesting letter. It was written by a fairly prominent physicist named Richard Feynman, back when he was serving as a tech adviser for a film back in 1958. As I was reading the letter, it occurred to me that it seemed very familiar.

Mr. Ralph Bown
Advisory Board in Connection with Programs on Science
New York, New York

Dear Mr. Bown:
Thank you for your formidable letter describing the legal interrelations. Who is the "designee"? Is that me or am I an advisor, or what the hell? Put it in clear one-syllable words, please.
Anyway the Warner guys have an author named Marcus. He has come to my office on two occasions each for about half a day (so you owe me one day's pay more). The purpose was to get more complete detailed explanation of some of the scientific matters in the report I wrote (like simultaneity in relativity, how short times are measured, etc., etc.). He is very intelligent and I was successful in explaining a great deal to him.
Although the gimmicks, etc. were not on the agenda, he told me about them, and left a document describing his plans. I made no comment on these ideas, telling him they are not my business.
(On the other hands, my hair stood on end as I read the "ideas" for presenting the material. But I kept my hat on and it wasn't noticed. It will relieve me a little if I can say a word to somebody so I can let out steam. So please don't consider the following as a valid for official opinion. It is just me letting off unofficial views and is to be kept safely within these parentheses).
(The idea that movie people know how to present this stuff, because they are entertainment-wise and the scientists aren't is wrong. They have no experience in explaining ideas, witness all movies, and I do. I am a successful lecturer in physics for popular audiences. The real entertainment gimmick is the excitement, drama and mystery of the subject matter. People love to learn something, they are "entertained" enormously by being allowed to understand a little bit of something they never understood before. One must have faith in the subject and in people's interest in it. Otherwise just use a Western to sell telephones! The faith in the value of the subject matter must be sincere and show through clearly. All gimmicks, etc. should be subservient to this. They should help in explaining and describing the subject, and not in entertaining. Entertainment will be an automatic byproduct.)
Don't worry, I'm keeping my hat on and will limit myself to scientific advice only.

Sincerely,
R. P. Feynman

He was talking about the play of science in the entertainment industry, but so much of what he said seems to reflect the very argument we have about the news media today! We've been treating this conflict between information and entertainment as though it were a recent thing, but this makes it pretty clear that the two ideals have been at loggerheads for the past 50 years and longer. Maybe science was an early battleground, and we're only now seeing the effects elsewhere, or maybe the internal conflict in the news media has always been there, and we just didn't notice until now. Either way, this is not a recent phenomenon, and I think we need to start taking the long view of this if we want real answers.

Some people are content to shoot themselves in the foot the old-fashioned way. Others insist on using an automatic.

I was going to stick with my usual strategy of just picking out something weird from the week to comment on, but with so much stupid shit going down, I can't pick just one. So without further ado:


1: In an event that, at this point, we all know about, Rep. Joe Wilson had a teensy little outburst at President Obama's speech last night. Now, I have no problem with him disagreeing, and I have no problem with him making it known publicly, but there's a time and place. Further, the claim that Obama was lying was more than a little out of line, since the specific portion of the speech he objected to is confirmed in section 246 of the bill currently making its way through the House. In fact, the bill outright states that affordability credits will not be provided to illegal immigrants.

A good friend put it best: "I'm one for revenge, so a well timed, lingering fart by Al Franken during a Mitch McConnell filibuster seems in order."

Adding to the fun, though, is the fact that since this little exchange, Wilson's opponent, one Rob Miller, has received massive - and rapidly climbing - campaign contributions. (See HERE or HERE) When you consider his strong track record of poorly-considered outbursts, I'm going to recommend the GOP muzzle him before he takes down the entire party.

For more fact-checking of his claims, go HERE


2: A couple of weeks back, Glenn Beck went off on this group of ostensibly "militant" group of young black men, as seen here (relevant part starts around 1:10):



Now, however, it's been revealed (not by Beck, of course) that this oh-so-dangerous junior military was, in fact: a group of high-school step dancers rehearsing. No, seriously, check it out:



If you check out the (many, many) videos on Youtube of this, you'll see that wearing camo pants is pretty common for things like this. Hardly the high treason Beck claims to fear. Honestly, I've always thought he was at least bright enough to hide the racist crap, but lately, he's just waved it out for all to see.


3: Speaking of waving things out for all to see, this one has much less relevance to real politics, but it was so damn funny that I had to include it. Apparently, Sacramento assemblyman Michael Duvall (married w/ 2 children) has been found to be in bed with a lobbyist. Not surprising on its own, but when you consider that it's literal, things get more interesting. For added fun, it was discovered when ol' Mikey didn't realize his lapel mike was on and talked about the affair to a colleague. Quite vividly, in fact! Some choicer excerpts:

"She wears little eye-patch underwear <...> So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And
 so, we had made love Wednesday--a lot! And so she'll, she's all, 'I am going 
up and down the stairs, and you're dripping out of me!' So messy!"

"So, I am getting into spanking her. Yeah, I like it. I like spanking her. She goes, 'I know you like spanking me.' I said, 'Yeah! Because you're such a bad girl!'"

Honestly, if Wilson needs a muzzle, this idiot needs something else entirely. For the entirety of the story, go read the article HERE. For even more entertainment, here's the news story, complete with audio clip:




EDIT: I know I've gone on long enough, but Jesus, this stuff just keeps on coming:
So, Sean Hannity says, "[Obama] said tonight that insurance executives are bad people." Okay, not true, but whatever. But then he immediately shows a clip of Obama stating, "Insurance executives don't do this because they're bad people; they do it because it's profitable." Hannity's not even bothering to hide the fact that he's full of crap on this one!

You Can't Stop the Signal

Not long ago, the marching band of a school in the small town of Sedalia, Missouri introduced a new t-shirt design:

The shirt was intended to portray the way that music has changed throughout the years, but the reference to evolution caused creationist parents to react in a very typical way: they threw a tantrum. The superintendent, seeking to simply bypass the controversy, opted to pull the shirts. The local paper responded by putting a poll about the shirt onto their website, the Sedalia Democrat. (no political affiliation, despite the name) By the time the poll closed, the results stood with fully 97% of respondents holding that the critics and the district were overreacting, with only 3% claiming that there was anything wrong with the shirt.

What's notable, however, is that the poll received a response of more than 6,600 votes. For a point of reference, the standard response to their polls is only around 150 votes. Not only that, but responses were coming in not just from the town, but from all over the world, including Germany, England, and Australia, among others. What, then, would explain this odd turn of events? A significant part of the explanation lies in the linking to the poll on the noted science/politics blog, Pharyngula.

The practice is known as poll crashing, and it's a common feature on blogs across the internet, for reasons ranging from a desire to influence the results to simple boredom. Pharyngula blogmaster PZ Myers explains his motivations for the practice as follows:

"It's a regular feature of the blog: someone, somewhere puts a poll on the Internet, which will accumulate responses that someone will use to justify a position, despite the fact that these things are grossly unscientific and arbitrary,” he said. We look for such polls, and 'pharyngulating' just means that readers of the Pharyngula blog go there to vote."

Now, depending on the person, one might view this as a respectable goal, as dishonest and underhanded, or simply as a waste of time. One thing that cannot be denied, however, is the growing influence to the global community that things like this represent. This, no less than the "Twitter Revolution" for Iran, demonstrates the new world of global politics we have entered into. When such a small-town matter can gain the attention of people worldwide, it has become clear that the notion of provincial politics is a thing of the past. It may seem cliche to claim that "the world is watching", but the new power that the internet provides makes it more true than ever before.

Sedalia Democrat article on poll results