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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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Friday, March 04, 2005

THE DECLINE OF THE WEST CONTINUES….NOW IN BRITAIN

Read it and weep, my friends

ONCE they were a byword for mindless docility. But cows have a secret mental life in which they bear grudges, nurture friendships and become excited over intellectual challenges, scientists have found.

Cows are also capable of feeling strong emotions such as pain, fear and even anxiety — they worry about the future. But if farmers provide the right conditions, they can also feel great happiness.

When I saw this, in the science section  of Britain’s Sunday Times, I thought it must be April 1.  No, THIS IS A REPORT on a “scientific conference”, don’t you know?  A conference held by “Compassion in World Farming, the animal welfare lobby group.” 

How do you suppose coverage would differ if a smokers’ rights lobby group held a “scientific conference” that downplayed the dangers of second-hand smoke?  Can you imagine it being reported in the science section?  Would the major media report with a straight face material comparable to this:

Christine Nicol, professor of animal welfare at Bristol University, said even chickens may have to be treated as individuals with needs and problems.

“Remarkable cognitive abilities and cultural innovations have been revealed,” she said. “Our challenge is to teach others that every animal we intend to eat or use is a complex individual, and to adjust our farming culture accordingly.”

  Chickens have needs and problems…..a British Univeristy has a professor of animal welfare…..who knew? 

Meanwhile, Terri Schindler Schiavo has less than two weeks to live.  Of course, she’s only human…....and a real bother to her husband’s desires to get on with his new life, along with his “fiancee” and their two kids! 

Posted by Earl on 03/04 at 02:59 PM
Miscellany • Politics • Life Issues • Comments •

HOW DARWINISM IS GOING TO LOSE ITS HEGEMONY.

It’s pretty well known that in the U.S., people who believe that there is a some form of intelligent designer behind what we see all around us in the universe and our own biosphere vastly outnumber those who believe that there is no ultimate cause, just the interplay of matter and energy.  However, it is the belief of the latter small minority that is enshrined in the textbooks, as well as in every public school classroom that the ACLU has been able to intimidate by the threat of a lawsuit.

This Darwinist hegemony began in a Dayton, TN courtroom back in 1925, when the Scopes trial made monkeys out of those who opposed the teaching of Darwinism.  Today, there is a concerted effort to get our masters in black robes to balance the presentations a little, by letting science teachers explain that there really IS evidence that Darwinism isn’t very good at explaining - despite fulsome promises of future breakthroughs.  This insurgency is going to be helped immeasurably if it begins to make the following insight central to their efforts: 

...there are essentially two separate theories advanced by Darwin. The first is that the process of the world attaining its current form was characterized by evolutionary transitions in its phasing, which built themselves into permanence by providing in each instance a fitter form or functionality. The second (theory) is the idea that this could have happened by itself without a conscious design.

 
JAY D. HOMNICK calls these Darwin 1 and Darwin 2.  We currently have a lot of evidence that is most easily explained by Darwin 1.  On the other hand, there is NO scientifically credible evidence of which I am aware for Darwin 2.

The Darwinist strategy has always included muddying the waters about distinctions of this sort—Stephen Jay Gould famously said that if you are going to accept the advances in refrigeration, transportation, and space travel that science provides, then you’ll just have to accept that they’re right about Darwinism, too (very rough paraphrase).  This is a real howler of a category error, of course, but it’s hard to get that into sound bite form.  Perhaps Darwin 1 and Darwin 2 will catch on, and every child in America will learn to do a bit more critical thinking…...we can hope.

Posted by Earl on 03/04 at 02:02 PM
Science • Intelligent Design • Politics • Comments •

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE…..

I’ve always been suspicious about “speed-reading”, ever since some kind soul arranged for us to have a short course back in 9th or 10th grade.  Stories of people whizzing through books or newspapers at thousands of words/minute brought two things to mind:  Why?  and   To what Purpose?

The first question has to be answered by each individual, of course—I don’t read solely for the sake of dumping all the words into my head.  Part of the pleasure is the slowing down from what else is going on in my life…..like work, chores, e-mail (WHO said that!?), etc.

My suspicions about the answer to the second question seem to have been supported in this
TELEGRAPH ARTICLE where we have testimony from experts

Her response to the South American novel reminds me of Woody Allen’s joke: “I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in 20 minutes. It involves Russia.”


which certainly bolstered my prejudices.  Perhaps more convincing to those on the fence would be the opinion of Professor John Stein of Oxford University’s Sensorimotor Control Lab and Dyslexia Unit

It’s perhaps controversial of me to say this, but in my opinion they’re not really ‘reading’. They’re picking up the gist.”

 
I’m feeling better about my own reading speed already….how about you?

Posted by Earl on 03/04 at 01:48 PM
Miscellany • Comments •

AMERICAN FEMINISTS *ARE* BUSY, AFTER ALL…....

Now we know what makes feminists in America upset—women don’t appear on the LA Times editorial page as often as men do!!

Political pundit Susan Estrich has launched a venomous campaign (links here and here and here) against the Los Angeles Times’s op-ed editor, Michael Kinsley, for alleged discrimination against female writers.

Terri Schindler Schiavo has less than two weeks to live, because her husband (living with another woman with whom he has two children) won’t spend her jury award on rehab so she can learn to swallow, choosing rather to go to court to get permission to cut off her food and water.  But, Susan Estrich has MUCH more important issues to scream about! 

READ IT and then TRY to take them seriously…..!

Posted by Earl on 03/04 at 01:27 PM
Comments •

WHY ISN’T EVERY FEMINIST IN THE WORLD SCREAMING ABOUT THIS….....?

Here’s a husband who has engaged in a multi-year struggle to kill his wife!!  She is profoundly handicapped, and in front of the jury who gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars, her husband pledged to provide all the rehabilitation that Terri Schindler Schiavo could use.  Once he had the money, no significant rehab was done, despite expert testimony that Terri could benefit, and might even learn to swallow, and so be fed by mouth.

Instead, the “husband” has spent his time, energy and money in court, attempting to get permission to kill his wife—“death by dehydration”—while he is shacking up with another woman, who has borne him two children!!  Where are the feminist voices? Is this not a CLASSIC example of “oppressive patriarchy”, especially when you consider that Terri’s parents are eager to relieve her husband of her care, demanding nothing but his release—not even the money given by the jury? 

READ HERE a short history of the case written in 2003, AND HERE the recent USA Today story about her parents’ efforts to save her life.  FINALLY, HERE is Terri’s website, with a plea for as many as have the compassion to contact Amnesty International about her case.

I repeat—where are the feminists?  Is it women who are suffering and being abused that concerns them?  Or is it really all about ideology?  Are they willing to allow a husband to kill his wife, simply because he’s doing it “medically”, and “legally”?  Even though she has loving family who would care for her and surround her with the best they could provide for the rest of her life?  Why should we take seriously anything that Gloria Steinem EVER says, if she won’t speak out on this case?

Please contact AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL about Terri Schindler Schiavo.  But, you need to hurry—the judge’s most recent deadline is March 18—on that Friday, her “husband” will be allowed to remove her feeding tube, and begin the 5 or 6 day process of killing her.  Without EVER having given her the chance to learn to swallow—a simple act that would keep her safe.  If you can swallow on your own, you can’t be killed—but if you need a tube, the court can sentence you to death, and the fact that there are those who would care for you is apparently meaningless.

Who “owns” Terri Schindler Schiavo, Ms Steinem, and anyone else who identifies as a feminist?  Right now, the court is saying that Michael Schiavo owns her, and has the power of life and of death.  What does American feminism have to say about this?

Call AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.  Do it now…....

Posted by Earl on 03/04 at 01:05 PM
Comments •
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