Science: Challenging Your Perceptions Like Never Before

Several years ago, there was a big hullabaloo about an ancient Martian rock found in Antarctica which may or may not have contained fossils of ancient Martian life. Although the discovery drummed up speculation and questions, there was enough doubt to keep the rock from being "Earth-shattering." Today's news goes a step further.

As MSNBC reports, "New observations of Mars' interior have revealed a crater hidden from the surface and new information about ice below the polar cap... [and] points to the chemical signatures of past water on Mars, adding to other evidence suggesting a wet past. "

Speculation from the BBC report states, "It is thought the greatest reservoir of retained water on Mars could be found beneath the surface, perhaps providing a habitat for microbial life. "

With each new discovery, the center of the universe seems to be getting a lot larger. Earlier this year the discovery of water jets on Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons, gave the scientific community more to ponder, and for years there has been talk of oceans on moons of Jupiter as well. The new info about Mars, however, is much more exciting since it is within our grasp to learn more.

Perceptions are changing about our place in the universe and how important we really are in the really, really big picture. Our own identities, however, should not be shaken by these new findings just because our place is shifting a little bit... or should it? Sometimes it's hard to FACE the kinds of change science brings.

Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind... Again?

Last week I posted some info and links for the Green Party. This week I turn my attention to the Libertarians, who received 397,265 votes (0.32%) in the 2004 election, taking fourth place, just behind Ralph Nader, who ran on an independent ticket. Although the 2004 percentage decreased from 0.36% in the 2000 contest, the counted votes increased from 384,516, for a gain of over 12,500. The numbers have fluctuated around the 0.50% or less for several elections, but the 1980 Libertarian, Edward Clark, brought the numbers to a party high of 921,128 (1.06%). In the 1972 race, with only 3,674 popular votes, Libertarian John Hospers took one Virginia electoral vote away from Richard Nixon. Thanks to Dave Leip's Atlas of US Pres. Elections for the info.

The first time I heard about the Libertarian party was in the 1976 election. I was a seven-year-old trying to make sense of the voting process. I accompanied my father into the voting booth and asked him why so many names were on the ballot. Besides Democrat & Republican, the Libertarian title was the only party name that caught my attention. Libertarian sounded like liberty, and that was a big deal for a kid during the bicentennial. By 1977, I no longer cared.

Then came a pro-military, war-hawk friend in high school. All through school he was likely to have a book about military weaponry under his arm at any given moment, and talked about how his license plate starting with the letters CIA was a harbinger of things to come. During our senior week immediately following graduation, I remember that he indulged in something fun and smokey, which I found very out of character. By the end of the summer he was decked out in tie-dye and sported the Shaggy-look. Shortly after college, he came into the little record store where I worked and asked for my signature on a petition for something having to do with the Libertarian Party and he said he was running for office. He's still involved, it seems. Way to go, Brotha!

Originally, what I thought of as the reason for joining the party was to end drug laws so we can all toke up at will. Anyone who ran for office as a Libertarian I assumed also had a subscription to High Times. Over the last few years I've realized the party is much more complicated, and not so much a haven for huffers and snorters. It's really a group committed to freedoms, and is reminiscent of Thomas Jefferson's philosophies.

From the official site, I found the following positions:

• The Libertarian Party's anti-crime plan would do what the Democrats and Republicans have not done:
  Respect the victim's rights and make criminals pay full restitution.
  Hold all criminals responsible for their actions.
  Double the police resources available for crime prevention without any additional government spending.
  Reduce the number of criminals at large on our streets.
  Defend the most effective crime deterrent available, the private ownership of guns.
  Create jobs, end welfare dependence, and improve education.
• Government, both federal and local, is the greatest single polluter in the U.S. This polluter literally gets away with murder because of sovereign immunity. Libertarians would make government as responsible for its actions as everyone else is expected to be. Libertarians would protect the environment by first abolishing sovereign immunity.
• If Americans truly want to help other countries, they can best do so not through failed foreign aid programs, but by improving the U.S. economy, so that U.S. businesses have funds to invest abroad, and pursuing free trade policies.
• Countries like Chile, Mexico, Britain, and Australia have successfully made the transition from their failed Social Security systems to healthy systems based on individual retirement accounts. In Chile, over 90% of workers have opted out of the government-run system. It's time America did as well.
• With less government and lower taxes, you could keep more of what you earn. It would be easier to start new businesses, build new homes, and fuel stronger economic growth.

The official website is very well organized, and the list of current holders of local offices is astounding in Pennsylvania and California as well as a few other states. As with the Green Party, the Libertarians are working mostly at a grassroots level despite the often "also ran" status of national elections. I don't really agree with the Libertarians on many issues, but I have respect for them overall. Keep up the good fight and "party hearty rock & roll!"

The Church Advances

I thought I'd throw in a diversion for this evening.

This is by SEYMOUR M. HERSH from the New Yorker. I found it via Eric Alterman's article for MSNBC, While we were away: U.S. Constitution, still MIA.

“The President is more determined than ever to stay the course,” the former defense official said. “He doesn’t feel any pain. Bush is a believer in the adage ‘People may suffer and die, but the Church advances.’ ” He said that the President had become more detached, leaving more issues to Karl Rove and Vice-President Cheney. “They keep him in the gray world of religious idealism, where he wants to be anyway,” the former defense official said. Bush’s public appearances, for example, are generally scheduled in front of friendly audiences, most often at military bases. Four decades ago, President Lyndon Johnson, who was also confronted with an increasingly unpopular war, was limited to similar public forums. “Johnson knew he was a prisoner in the White House,” the former official said, “but Bush has no idea.”

I've heard recent reports about the Whitehouse planning to reduce troops significantly within the next few month, maybe bowing to pressure, but I wouldn't point and call Bush weak for bringing the war to a logical conclusion. With Hersh's article, however, I'm worried that the conflict may continue indefinitely.

Love & Death

First, I'd like to thank JB & BPW for their kind words regarding my last post. We all eventually go through loss, and knowing that we are ultimately not alone in suffering makes it easier to get through it. Thank you.

Now personal work begins. So far, I haven't really started to deal with my grandmother's death. I've been avoiding deep contemplation about it because I know that during the viewing on Thursday and the funeral on Friday there will be nothing BUT dealing with it. Until then, I'm going to live in emotional stasis.

I grew up Catholic and attended a Parochial school for 7 years. After I graduated college I started to lose my faith, but I started dating a Catholic girl of a VERY Italian Catholic family and kept that faith going for a few more years. It wasn't until the late 90's, with a greater understanding of science, reasoning and human nature, that I really started to doubt the existance of God.

I've written on all of this before, but this is the first time since my current philosophy that I've had to deal with the death of someone important to me. I've surrounded myself, just by dumb luck association, with a number of friends who share a similar view with me on the myth of the afterlife. Most of them had gone through their "What is the point of living? How do I deal with death?" phases when they were young, so the typical reply when I ask them, "How do you face death?" is "There's nothing I can do about it, so why think about it." It has never been very comforting, but the words of my religious friends fall completely flat on me.

I used to find the Family Circus version of of life & death made sense (although I never thought it was very funny). Now it's just a myth, along with the Crying Madonna that has hit the news again this week. If it keeps people from being to wrapped up in grief, maybe there is some good in believing the lie. It isn't my reality, however.

My grandmother was 92 and in a great deal of pain. I think she mentally prepared herself for the end. I can at least find solace in that. I wish there were meaning in life. I wish there were a "world without end" for the lives of everyone but the Hitlers and such, but the only truth I have is that my life is now, and this is the only chance I have to spend time with people I care about. Bruce Springsteen has said often that he treats everyday like it is his last. I'm going to listen to a of Bruce's songs: Reason to Believe, My Father's House, the Price You Pay & Wreck on the Highway, then I'm going to work on my own way to find comfort by thinking about the kind of person my grandmother was, and how she made my father into the great person that he is.

Sad News From Mahackemeck

My mother called me this morning to tell me that my grandmother died. She had been suffering for the last few days. Despite many ups and downs over the past year, she became too sick this week, passed away last evening.

My father's mom was a wonderful woman with an incredible work ethic, which she passed to my father. Although she did not have a very much money, and became very frail in recent months, she always remained rich in spirit and strong in character.

Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?

With only 50 weeks to go until the midterm election, I've been rumaging through the lists of political parties trying to decide which one suits me best. For the past few years, I've been registered as a Green Party member, but I've primarily voted the Democratic ticket, with the exception of that 2000 Presidential race when I voted for the big spoiler. Luckily, Pennsylvania was won by Gore, because if my vote had mattered enough to sway the election, like the Florida & New Hampshire Green voters, I would have had to take my own life (or at least inhaled next to an Amish man). Luckily, my vote meant nothing.

At the same time that the 2000 race was too close for such silly vote-wasting, I have a soft spot for 3rd party candidates. It's that underdog kind of thing. Granted, very few of the minor candidates believe they will win, except in those really wacked-out cases, but their spirits and desire to have their voices heard is really a testament to what makes this country great... besides our "all you can eat" buffets.

In tribute to that underdog spirit, I'm going to attempt a "Party of the Week" entry every Tuesday until the 2006 elections. We are 50 weeks out now, and there aren't nearly that many parties (without getting into the Nazi and Klan parties that I refuse to link), but I'm going to find a way to make this work. This week, I will explore my own party: The Greens.

We'll start with information stolen from Wikipedia.

There are Ten Key Values of the Green Party (expanded from the worldwide Greens' Four Pillars)

1) Community-based economics (Sounds a little like communes of the 60's)
2) Decentralisation (i.e. the end of BoxMarts and the return of local made & consumed)
3) Ecological Wisdom (another phrase for love yer mother)
4) Feminism (Which works for me because if a woman is making less money than me, she must be making minimum wage)
5) Grassroots Democracy (like the old adage "all politics is local... unless you have a couple million to spend)
6) Non-violence (let your body go limp and you might not smash against the pavement so hard when the mobs trample you)
7) Personal and Global Responsibility (Sounds suspiciously like a Catholic "you made your bed..." kind of thing)
8) Respect for Diversity (because we're all God's weirdos)
9) Social Justice (this really means a step toward Socialism)
10) Future Focus/Sustainability (Saving our oil so future generations can continue to polute where we leave off).

This list explains why the Greens have my heart, if not necessarily my vote in the next election. I love the idealism, but are all ten points really so practical?

The Greens are world-wide, and in the USA there are actually two factions: The larger, more official of the two, Green Party of the United States, and the more radical Greens/Green Party USA. In 2000, Nader ran with the former. The disorganization that gives us two Green Parties is a clue to why there will probably never be as big an impact on American politics as the group had in 2000. I wouldn't bet my own money on a Green candidate winning that magical 3% in a general election that is needed to get Federal matching funds. But again, the spirit is a hell of a thing.

Again from Wikipedia:

"The Green Party has shown its strongest popular support on the Pacific Coast, upper Great Lakes, and northeastern United States, as reflected in the geographical distribution of Green candidates elected. Californians have elected 67 (all of them in nonpartisan-ballot elections) of the 204 office-holding Greens nationwide as of January, 2004. Other states with high numbers of Green elected officials include Pennsylvania (27), Massachusetts (23), Maine (13), and Wisconsin (19). Wisconsin has the highest per capita number of Green elected officials in the country, and the highest victory rate at over 60% over the state party's 20 year history."

At the same time, the numbers for Presidential elections has remained below 3% every Presidential Election year. In 1996, Nader & the Greens won 685,297 (0.71%). While the 2004 election saw 119,859 votes (1%), it was down from the 2,883,105 (2.78%) of the 2000 election. Of course, everyone was so afraid that Bush could win again (tell me he didn't), that many who would have voted Green at the turn of the milennium (including myself), avoided "the throw-away vote" with hopes of getting Bush out. Still, I have doubts that the numbers will ever rise to the 2000 levels again. Greens are a party of local politics primarily. If you join the party, prepare to stay focused on your hometown.

Learn a little more about the Green Party in your own state with links here. Personally, I'm too lazy to go to a meeting, so let me know if there is beer involved if you join your local chapter. That might make me a more active member. In the meantime, I'll keep looking at other minor parties.

Flintstone! You're Fired!!!

Ever wonder why there are constant stories in the news about Home Depot customers (1 & 2)being treated poorly by workers? Well, if the management at these stores is anything like the GM & Assistant Manager at the store I started working at 3 weeks ago, it's because the whole staff is constantly on edge and CRA-ZAY!

Last week, after only the start of orientation & training, I was subjected to the line, "I'm very disappointed in you!" I hadn't even had the training (nor any hours on the floor) that I needed to take over the department I was supposed to run, and I was told that I wasn't doing a good enough job. This was an example, I thought, of things to come, so I quit.

Somewhere in the history of the boss-worker relationship, the "parenting" concept became acceptable, but I've never exactly understood how that came to be. With the staff that I was responsible for at the bookstore, I could never have imagined treating them like anything less than equals. There is no chance of winning the respect of someone who is not treated with respect.

I've known several people who claimed that, "working for yourself is the way to go." Then again having that much responsibility is a killer. I was friends with one guy who owned his own business, but had to sell drugs on the side just to make a living. He eventually got caught. His store went out of business.

I know very few people who really love their jobs. The only one I'm sure who does is a local county constable. He spends his day arresting people. He carries a gun and rides around in a car with flashing lights and a siren. I guess that could be fun. In the meantime I've got an interview for another retail management job. Ugh! Let's hope upper management is a little better this time around. I gotta write a best-selling book or win the lottery or something. Bosses suck.

Indigo Girls & Boys: Boring Music, Bad Science

Ever hear of the Indigo Children? The first I heard of them was on an Anderson Cooper 360 segment from November 14th. I didn't really think much about it because it seemed to be the type of ridiculous time filler that news programs show once in a while. In the segment, near the end of the program, I heard the following:

"Teens like Sandy claim they're part of a special generation born after 1978 known as "indigo children" for the deep blue auras that psychics say they see around them. Indigo children have high IQs and tend to be rebellious and oversensitive, they're often also said to share specials gifts, heightened intuition and psychic abilities."

I had a laugh and switched the channel to something on A&E about alien abduction, or on Lifetime about women who love too much, I think. One line from the show stuck in my mind, though, "Their parents claim they are a new breed of human."

A few days later, I overheard one of my coworkers talking about the same topic (I believe she saw the same segment), so I had to talk to her about it a little to get her take. She has a daughter whom she said is sensitive to almost everything, having bad reactions to all kinds of food and chemicals, but that she's extremely intelligent and intuitive. My coworker said that she thinks her daughter might be an Indigo Child.

I wanted to say to her that I thought it was scary to me that the idea of her daugter being an Indigo Child was anything less than an act of turning a real problem into a way of not having to worry about her illness any longer. It wasn't my place to impose my skepticism on her happy place, so I just told her that I hope her daughter gets well.

Needless to say, I believe there are explanations for everything that may seem spooky about these kids. The overactive imagination of a child is nothing compared to an adult's overactive imagination. The youngins make it up, and parents want to believe. Life is just easier and more interesting that way.

Don't Kick the Habit

Many of my posts point toward a singular attitude of mine: I don't like it when people push religion down my throat. There was even a situation a few years ago when a couple of missionary-types (the guys with the ties who walk down the street looking for converts) walked up to my father and me, as we were trying to fix my car, and wanted to talk about salvation. My father said, "just keep moving," but I had to take the, "Screw you! There is no God!" approach. It was one of my typical infantile attitude moments. For the record, however, I'd like to say, I'm not so anti-religion as I may seem.

I read an article today that reminded me of the respect I have for many in the service of the Higher Calling. Sister Mary Scullion, as reported by MSNBC, is one of those who put my faith in those with greater faith than my own. She is an activist to end homelessness in Philadelphia, and I was moved by the article, which I believe everyone should read. I was never thrilled with the thought of missionaries whose good works tend to be secondary to their coversion tactics (read Things Fall Apart if you want an example of fantastic fiction writing about it).

When I was a kid, I went to a Catholic school and was held by the faith. As I grew older, I lost much of that faith, but I kept a respect for most of the nuns that I knew. Most of them were a little scary, but they really pursued the life that they preached. Nuns, unlike Pat Robertson, live a life of poverty. Talk about your glass ceilings! And one credit to the Catholic religion that has not been shown enough amid the controversies over some Priests, is the devotion of nuns to the faith. I have never heard of a single case where a nun accused of anything worse than being strict. They really are the only part of the Church that gives me pause to think "there might have been some magic in that old blue habit they found."

Love, God, Murder

Ah! The power of the press to take on an interesting angle!

On ABC News this evening, I watched the report about David Ludwig, 18, and Kara Beth Borden, 14, the current Bonnie & Clyde story. The young couple (at least the boy) are accused of killing Borden's parents in the small, unassuming town of Lititz, PA, home of Sturgis Pretzel House. Wilbur Chocolate, arguably better than Hershey's (also PA-born), began in Lititz.

The story these children is the usual tale of the tragedy of kids gone wrong, but there was a bit of unnecessary spice added in the televised story (unfortunately missing from the current web version). On TV they added the bit about how both children were homeschooled.

For the record, I am anti-homeschooling, but c'mon people! Isn't it a little ridiculous to assume that something about the homeschooling drove these two to murder? Then again, I have met some really wacky families who homeschool. It's fast becoming the education of choice for zealots in Southcentral PA.

Why did this confused kid find murder a reasonable act? Well, there had to be something in his mind that was allowed to ferment into darkness, but opening homeschooling to the criticism that it creates murderers is much to far-fetched. Homeschooling destroys community values, but it usually doesn't create murderers.

Hey, Sportsfans!

In the Midsummer of 1992, I went to my friend Darrell's house with a case of beer and we switched on the television for the event that would spark a long-lasting fanaticism for me. It was the Democratic National Convention. I got drunk, hooting and hollering the entire night. That election year was not the first time that I voted, but it was the first time I got excited about politics.

A couple of weeks ago, at a dinner my aunt and uncle had for me, I was asked if I followed any sports. "No," I admitted, "my favorite sport is politics." Within the last few years, especially, I've given up at least 5% of my waking time thinking about politics. This, embarrassingly, is about 1% more than I spend thinking about sex. Either I'm past my prime, or I've been brainwashed.



Over these last few months, I get excited everytime I see a new poll with Bush's approval ratings going into the gutter. Although I had expected for more indictments in Fitzgerald's investigation, I hope for more to come within the year. Everyday I jump on the internet to find some scrap of information that might give me a glimpse into the future of the political movement in the USA, something that will shut the wingnuts down for a while, but like all sporting events, excitement is fleeting for these reports and the long hard trek of the season (which is 1-6 years, depending on the races you follow) has many hills and valleys.

A couple of posts ago, I gave a list of 3rd parties that may never have a chance to change the political landscape, but I love to see them swinging. I'd love to see my old Democrat Blue back on top again, but not as they are. I know politics is corrupt by nature. I hate it just as much as everyone who's registered Independent. My dream, like they guy who wished steroids were out of the game, but hates the criticism of his hometown team, is that one day there will be a party without corruption, with views fairly inline with my own, and with a chance at winning a few seats somewhere, that I can throw all of my support behind.

In the meantime I'll forgive John Kerry for being out of touch and Hillary Clinton for being an elitist, but since I've moved, it's time to select my party affiliation again as my voting district changes. I may stay registered in the Green Party for a little while longer.

In Case You Missed It

I just got home from a little job training in NJ, and I'm happy to report (for anyone who may have missed it) that the Dover schoolboard members responsible for pushing ID have been VOTED OUT!!! Check out the Washington Post and two local papers (YDR, YDisp) for the story. Thanks to the National Center for Science Education for the links. We still have to wait for the Judge's decision on the case, which will be in December or January, before the policy can be touched, but I have faith that it will go well based on her final comments at trial's end according to the Panda's Thumb:

At close, Pat Gillen remarked to Judge Jones, “Your honor, by my reckoning we have been here 40 days. That seems an auspicious number.” Jones replied, “So it seems, but it was not designed!” At which point the courtroom burst out in applause. Jones let that go on for about 15 seconds, then adjourned the court. And that finished off the testimonial, in-court phase of this case.

On the down side, in Monkey-gummy, Ala. - The state school board voted unanimously Thursday to keep a disclaimer in biology textbooks that describes evolution as "a controversial theory"

Also...

According to the Seattle Times, "Evolution theory could be subject to more criticism in Kansas science classrooms under new standards adopted today by the Kansas State Board of Education."

AND...

Pat Robertson strikes again!! Seriously, this guy is crazy. Does he really think he has a direct line to God? I tell you this much, if there is a God, He can't possibly take Pat Robertson serioiusly. Really, this is what he said:

“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected him from your city,” Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, “The 700 Club.”

“And don’t wonder why he hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for his help because he might not be there,” he said.

Is it any wonder we chose evolution over intelligent design? I would take the word of a mad scientist over that of a freaky televangelist anyday.

VOTE... for whatever

I have a few things about moving & starting a new job & silly things such as that, but I'm going to save that for another day when I'm not so sleepy. Tonight I have to drive to New Jersey for new job training, where I'll be stuck for 3 days without internet access (I just can't seem to catch a bloggin' break). In the meantime, I thought I'd salute Election Day with a list of some of those OTHER political parties that I found on DIRECTORY OF U.S. POLITICAL PARTIES. I think most of these are in Minnesota and California, but there may be a growing chapter near you.

I sometimes get little fantasies that one or more of these parties could actually make a difference somehow. I'm just a fan of the wrench in the works. Some of their ideas are interesting. Some of them are just out there ...

Take a look at some of their sites and feel free to jump ship from your usual mainstream politics, because the message it sends will be promptly ignored now that you won't be able to vote in primaries (at least in my state).

America First Party (Followers of Pat Buchanan's version of the Reform Party)

American Party (Another group of conservatives who are "very Christian")

American Heritage Party (I'm beginning to see a pattern here)

American Reform Party (the history of this one shows why third parties never have a chance)

Communist Party USA (Still pinko after all these years)

Constitution Party ("...work to restore our government to its Constitutional limits and our law to its Biblical foundation" Nutters!)

Family Values Party (Oh! This is just ridiculous!)

Grassroots Party ("grass" meaning marijuana)

Green Party (I'm in this one for no reason at all)

Libertarian Party (everyone I meet claims to be Libertarian, but their candidates go nowhere)

Labor Party

Light Party (New Age)

Natural Law Party (Scientists taking over)

New Party

The New Union Party

Peace and Freedom Party

Prohibition Party (still sober all of these years, but I couldn't get their site up)

Radical Women/Freedom Socialist Party (the name says it all)

Reform Party (still voting for Ross for Boss!)

There are also several Nazi and Marijuana parties listed, but it's time for my nap, so I'm not going to bother listing them.