Friday 24 October 2008

Workout notes 4000 yards; 500 warm up, 10 x 100 on 2 (25 fly, 75 free, 1:44-1:46), 10 x 100 (25 side, 75 free, 1:48-1:50, with one 1:54) on the 2, 10 x 50 (3g, free) on 1 (50-52, one 54), 5 x (100 paddle, 100 free) 17:46.

This felt ok; not great, but ok.

Sad political note Obama’s grandmother (maternal) might not see Obama make it to election day.

Science You’ve heard about how the quantum world is different from what we experience; for us, an object is there or it isn’t. We don’t have to worry about collapsing its wave function. So there is the joke: “is the moon really there if you can’t observe it?” Of course it is, but why? It turns out that the reason isn’t merely because the moon consists of a huge number of particles, each of which has its own wave function. It is also because the moon is interacting with other things in the universe (e. g., photons from stars); it isn’t isolated.

For a better discussion of the above, go to Cosmic Variance.

America, Liberalism, Socialism and all that
It seems that any time a liberal politician wants to make the tax code “more fair” the conservatives cry “class warfare” and “socialism”. Sometimes that cry is more effective than it otherwise should be; Mano Singham recounts how the tax system is tilted toward the wealthy and how the conservatives complain if any attempt is made to make it more fair. Then the conservatives do a good job of convincing those who aren’t that well off that they have something in common with those who are (even if they really don’t).

That is masterful politics. But it isn’t working as well this time around; Cenk Uygur points out that the United States is fundamentally more liberal than many think, even if the politicians are a bit more conservative than the electorate.

Friendly Atheist has a nice post about how North Carolina Republicans are linking “the homosexuals” with “the atheists” to provide some sort of a super bogeyman to scare North Carolina voters.

Now what exactly is scary about homosexuals and atheists? I suppose that you have to be a conservative to know that.

Interestingly enough, John McCain and Sarah Palin have an interesting definition of “elitist”:

Citizens McCain and Palin on “elitism”:

WILLIAMS: Who is a member of the elite?

PALIN: Oh, I guess just people who think that they’re better than anyone else. And– John McCain and I are so committed to serving every American. Hard-working, middle-class Americans who are so desiring of this economy getting put back on the right track. And winning these wars. And America’s starting to reach her potential. And that is opportunity and hope provided everyone equally. So anyone who thinks that they are– I guess– better than anyone else, that’s– that’s my definition of elitism.

WILLIAMS: So it’s not education? It’s not income-based? It’s–

PALIN: Anyone who thinks that they’re better than someone else.

WILLIAMS: –a state of mind? It’s not geography?

PALIN: ‘Course not. [...]

MCCAIN: Well, in our nation’s capital and New York City. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived there. I know the town. I know– I know what a lot of these elitists are. The ones that she never went to a cocktail party with in Georgetown. I’ll be very frank with you. Who think that they can dictate what they believe to America rather than let Americans decide for themselves. [Emphasis added.]

You mean:

1. Those that think atheism is evil and that people should believe in their deity?
2. Those who think that a woman shouldn’t be the one to decide on whether to have an abortion or not?
3. Those who think that homosexual couples shouldn’t have the same rights as heterosexual couples?
4. Those who think that those who disagree with them are traitors and anti-America?

America and Religion: is the United states going to get more religious, stay the same, become less religious, or break down into two warring factions: the secularists and the fundie-theocrats?

Check out the chart at Professor Moran’s blog.

Of course, some fundies see every problem through a religious lens; example: the financial crisis is blamed on atheists! Check out Science Avenger’s post; some of the comments that he has reproduced are hilarious!

“If, as Melanie says, the current financial breakdown is a moral crisis, which she then attributes to ‘militant atheism’, how is it that there is a financial crisis in the USA, which is still a deeply religious country? How come their bedrock Christian values didn’t save them from this malaise? Or is the problem entirely due to atheist bankers? [...]

“Atheists make up a tiny percentage of Americans, perhaps 5%. There are virtually no atheists in prisons. We caused all these problems? Get a life.” [...]

“Can you really be serious? Morality is so obviously improved by atheism, as Norway and other predominantly atheistic nations demonstrate. The places with problems are those who cling to superstition. Morality is impaired by religion, not the other way around (Palin is a great example of this).”

Follow the link to the article and many more comments on it.

As a bonus, Science Avenger’s article about how John McCain became the Republican nominee (e. g., the rest of the candidates were a sorry lot) and how he had to make himself a worse candidate to placate his base.