Science is thrilling – except in our schools

This article confirms a sore-point with me, that science isn't taught properly. Of course, neither is history or civics or a number of other topics. All of these are important and relevant to being an educated citizen of the world -- and by "educated" I mean minimally aware of how the world works so you can meaningfully participate in improving your community, your country, and the world.

I think that science, like math, gets an added dose of stultification because of its analytic nature. Instead of showing the creativity, the purity, the logic, the beauty; instead it's all about memorizing the periodic table and maybe some simple experiments. Sure we all need to learn how to *do* science but we all need some perspective of where this leads and why it's important.

Here's a great comparison:

It's as if art classes consisted solely of learning how to perform individual little brushstrokes, without ever stopping to look at a painting.

And if you think that science is only important for scientists, you definitely need to read this article.

Two-tiered Justice in America

See if you can guess if your tier has any insider ties that allow you to skirt the law. This Salon article nails the issue of retro-active immunity -- either for politicians or the corporate elite. Just because they get to make the laws does NOT mean that they can break them and then expect a pardon -- wink wink; nudge nudge.

What all of this is really about -- the reason why political elites like Nancy Soderberg are so eager to defend it -- is because they really do believe that lawbreaking isn't wrong, that it doesn't deserve punishment, when engaged in by them rather than by commoners. People who defend telecom immunity or who say that it's not a big deal are, by logical necessity, adopting this view: "Our highest political officials and largest corporations shouldn't face consequences when they break our laws as long as they claim it was for our own good." That's the destructive premise that lies at the heart of this deeply corrupt measure, the reason it matters so much. Just like the pardon of Nixon, the protection of Iran-contra criminals, and the commutation of Lewis Libby's sentence, this bill is yet another step in cementing a two-tiered system of justice in America where our highest political officials and connected elite can break our laws with impunity.

Before you vote McCain

I don't believe in "one issue" voting unless the candidates are close enough in other areas that they don't pose a significant concern for the fate of our nation but if this TruthOut article is telling the truth (and I don't have any reason to doubt that it is) then McCain's stance on healthcare reform ALONE should be enough to clearly demonstrate that he's not our man. Read the whole thing but here's a snip:

John-Care is a plan to get rid of the employer-based insurance that most of us rely on presently. Senator McCain would eliminate the tax deductibility of employer-provided insurance, in effect requiring employers who offer insurance to take money out of workers' paychecks for their tax liability on their health insurance. Needless to say, this will make dealing with insurers even less attractive to businesses. Most employers will soon get out of the health insurance business and leave it to workers to buy their own plan.

Hopefully back in business

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a month since my last post. Things have been too busy for me to read up on current events much less bring them to you [yes, I know that I'm assuming here that someone is actually reading this stuff -- let a man dream]. It seems that there's some light coming in even if this isn't quite the end of the tunnel so I'll try to leave a tasty morsel now and then. Hopefully, the sidebar content has been enough to make it worth checking in every now and then.