Bill Nye The Pundit Guy, Part 2

Bill Nye speaks the truth here, as much as the fundies don't want to listen.

Bill Nye, host of the popular nineties children’s show Bill Nye the Science Guy, is warning parents to not teach their children creationism because, he says, it does them a disservice by undermining their scientific understanding and development.

In a short video for Big Think, Nye says that despite being the seat of some of the world’s greatest technological innovations, America is still home to so many who refuse to accept the fundamental scientific theory of evolution. If that belief is passed on to future generations, he said, America would be deprived of the scientists and engineers it will need to stay technologically competitive down the road.

“I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution, and live in your—in your world, that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in our universe, that’s fine, but don’t make your kids do it, because we need them,” he said. “We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future.”

Not in the GOP future, Bill.   That future is full of ignorant, manipulated, cynical suckers who do what they are told.  And the GOP platform adopted this week at the RNC Convention gives away the game plan.

Science, critical thinking, those are for people who question the status quo and the world around them.  You need not apply those to Republicans in 2012.

Hurricane Todd

The real storm in the Republican Party isn't Isaac, but Todd Akin.  If Republicans actually follow through with this plan, McCaskill wins for sure.

Republicans are desperate for Todd Akin to drop out of the Missouri Senate race after his controversial comments about legitimate rape. Nearly every top Republican, including Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, have publicly called for him to quit.

This morning on ABC News, however, Mary Matalin — a well-connected GOP operative — suggested that Republicans would run a write-in candidate to defeat Akin. Matlin said that, if necessary, Republicans would “transfer the money” to Ann Wagner — a former chairwoman of the Missouri GOP who is currently running for Congress — to run as a 3rd party or write-in candidate. 

Wow.  Is Matalin this dumb?  I thought she was supposed to be a political analyst.  A write-in campaign would split the vote so badly that McCaskill could win with 40% or even 35% of the vote, something she'll be able to get easily.

But here she is pushing the centrist nonsense.  The Tea Party backlash against that would rip the Missouri GOP in half.  I guess I shouldn't be complaining, after all it's the GOP shooting itself in the head.

But damn, pundits are stupid.

StupidiNews!

• Tropical Storm Isaac is now over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and following a track very similar to Katrina as the seventh anniversary of that storm approaches New Orleans.
• A series of rule changes at the Republican convention in Tampa is causing controversy as Ron Paul supporters are crying foul after being stripped of status.
• South Carolina's voter ID law goes to federal court on Monday, with the state's bloody history of voter suppression weighing heavily on the case.
• With oil production in the Gulf Coast shut down due to Isaac, oil and gas prices have jumped to their highest levels since April.
• Voting for the 2012 Robot Hall of Fame continues through the end of September, and robot fans worldwide are being asked to vote.

Last Call

Meanwhile, Syria is all but in name trapped in a bloody civil war where hundreds and thousands are dying.

On Sunday, 60 people were killed in Damascus and its suburbs, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. The LCC said 21 people, including an entire family, were found dead in the Damascus suburb of Daraya.

It said 47 people were killed Sunday in Daraa, the town south of Damascus near the Jordanian border where Syria's uprising began.

CNN spoke by Skype to an activist named Osama, who said the army was executing families in their homes in Daraya and stealing some possessions.

He said shelling began last Monday and the military closed all the ways in and out. He kept contact with people inside Daraya through the Internet.

He was told the army moved into the neighborhood on Friday and began sweeping through buildings where families were taking cover.

At least 50 bodies were found in one apartment basement, he reported.

Saturday's death toll included more than 200 bodies found in Daraya, but it was unclear when those victims were killed.

I talk about how our political system is broken and how America is in trouble, and I am humbly reminded that perspective is everything, and as bad as the GOP is, they are nowhere close to the al-Assad regime in the evil, repugnant bastard department.

And so it goes.

Re-Birther Of The Uncool, Part 7

On Saturday's Up With Chris Hayes, Chris discussed Romney's full birther conversion with an excellent African-American panel consisting of The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates, MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry, Ill Doctrine blogger and DJ Jay Smooth and comedian and "Totally Biased" host W. Kamau Bell.  Ezra Klein called it "one of the best things I've ever seen on cable news" and I'd have to agree.

There's more at the site, or at Ezra's link, but it's worth watching. Also, Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes discussed Romney's obvious birther trolling on Maddow's show Friday night...also worth a watch. Finally, Bon and I discussed Mitt the Birther on this week's Podcast vs. The Stupid.

Give it all a gander, folks.

Deaf Man Hears Music For The First Time

The 23-year-old filmmaker, whose life has largely been visual until now, still struggles to adequately explain the rush of new sounds echoing through his head. He compares them at one point to seeing a high-resolution photograph for the first time. Later, he describes the sensation as being exposed to a color you've never seen before.

Finally, with a broad smile on his face he offers this analogy: "It's like the first time you kiss a girl. It's like that."

The experience came as he cruised around his Orange County, Calif., neighborhood with friends soon after getting the new hearing aids. He had always wanted to really hear Mozart, so his friends put on "Lacrimosa," the brooding work the composer completed on his death bed in 1791.

"I was in the car and it was quite an experience," recalls Kyle Sinnott, Chapman's best friend since high school. "He was nodding his head and moving his fingers. He cried at one point, and the same goes for everybody in the car. Everybody let out a tear."

I cannot imagine what life would be like without sound.  Most of us couldn't.  However, this man knows and has seen both sides.  It's interesting to read his journey, and the full article is very thorough.  It describes the confusion and the irritating inability to just mute the world.  Unlike what we see, what we hear has layers and distortions that we can't just turn off.  Babies sound funny to him, and I'm sure downtown traffic can be maddening.

Still, it's a heartwarming story, enjoy!

Oops! Were You Using That Kidney?

An Ohio nurse accidentally put a kidney in the trash, prompting the University of Toledo Medical Center to suspend its live donor program as it investigates the incident.

Doctors tried to resuscitate the kidney, which came from a live donor, but it was rendered unusable.

“We cannot fathom the disappointment that those impacted have experienced over the course of the last week. The University cannot begin to express the sorrow that we feel that this unfortunate incident occurred. We apologize sincerely,” Dr. Jeffery P. Gold, University of Toledo chancellor and dean of the College of Medicine, said in a statement.

It's unfortunate, and would  be devastating to everyone involved.  Those who lost the donor and the person awaiting the transplant.   It's hard to fathom what goes on during a transplant.  It will be interesting to learn what the investigation reveals.  Right now we don't know who is to blame.

Best wishes to the person who is still next in line.

Florida Frenemies

Former Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is now backing Barack Obama, causing howls of betrayal from the state's Republicans.

As America prepares to pick our president for the next four years — and as Florida prepares once again to play a decisive role — I'm confident that President Barack Obama is the right leader for our state and the nation. I applaud and share his vision of a future built by a strong and confident middle class in an economy that gives us the opportunity to reap prosperity through hard work and personal responsibility. It is a vision of the future proven right by our history.

We often remind ourselves to learn the lessons of the past, lest we risk repeating its mistakes. Yet nearly as often, our short-term memory fails us. Many have already forgotten how deep and daunting our shared crisis was in the winter of 2009, as President Obama was inaugurated. It was no ordinary challenge, and the president served as the nation's calm through a historically turbulent storm.

The president's response was swift, smart and farsighted. He kept his compass pointed due north and relentlessly focused on saving jobs, creating more and helping the many who felt trapped beneath the house of cards that had collapsed upon them. 

But it's the Tea Party that has really turned Crist off:

As Republicans gather in Tampa to nominate Mitt Romney, Americans can expect to hear tales of how President Obama has failed to work with their party or turn the economy around.

But an element of their party has pitched so far to the extreme right on issues important to women, immigrants, seniors and students that they've proven incapable of governing for the people. Look no further than the inclusion of the Akin amendment in the Republican Party platform, which bans abortion, even for rape victims.

The truth is that the party has failed to demonstrate the kind of leadership or seriousness voters deserve. 

Ouch.

How much Crist's endorsement of Obama will help, I have no clue.  It's not like he had a whole lot of political capital in the blood red Marco Rubio/Rick Scott Florida.   But there's a reason why Dem Sen. Ben Nelson and Barack Obama are running a tough race in this supposedly now permanently red southern state, and it has everything to do with what Crist had to say about the GOP.

Coming on the doorstep of the Tampa convention, that's going to get noticed.

Last Call

Yet another poll shows Todd Akin disintegrating in the Missouri Senate race.  I'm beginning to think it may be over for the guy no matter what he does.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has the results of the 50-41 lead for Claire McCaskill:

U.S. Senate challenger Todd Akin's support in Missouri has plummeted since his remarks a week ago about "legitimate rape" and pregnancy, putting him 9 points behind Sen. Claire McCaskill in a race he was previously winning, according to a new Post-Dispatch/News 4 poll.

More than half of Missouri voters now view the Republican congressman unfavorably, the poll indicates, and fewer than one in five view him favorably.

Akin's fall is especially dramatic among women. They were about evenly split between Akin and McCaskill in a similar poll at the end of July, but women now oppose him by almost 20 percentage points. Even in rural areas where Akin retains the lead, his support has dropped significantly from a month ago.

"I was undecided ... Now I'm not supportive of him," said Bonnie Walker, 75, of Queen City, who was one of the poll respondents. "It's such a negative for Missouri."

Akin, long a staunch opponent of abortion rights, was comfortably leading McCaskill, the incumbent Democrat, before the recent controversy. A Post-Dispatch/News 4 poll in July, before the Republican primary, showed Akin ahead of McCaskill by 5 points in a hypothetical matchup, 49-44.

In other words, what was shaping up to be a cakewalk for Akin is now turning into a bloodbath for McCaskill.  Akin's support among men is still dead even, 46-44...but women now prefer McCaskill 55-37. 

The poll also finds Mitt Romney ahead in the state by 7 points, 50-43.  Tying Romney to Akin isn't working.  Yet.

We'll see.

Fly Him To The Moon One Last Time

Arguably the most famous astronaut in human history has passed.  Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, died this afternoon at the age of 82, after undergoing heart surgery earlier this month.

"We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures," Armstrong's family said in a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WKRC.

Armstrong underwent heart surgery this month.

"While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves," his family said.

"For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."

Many Americans and even the history books omit how Armstrong earned his wings saving the Gemini 8 crew some three years earlier.  After the first successful docking of a spacecraft in orbit, the Gemini 8 capsule nearly met with disaster.

As Gemini 8 tumbled wildly at 17,500 miles per hour, Armstrong decided the problem had to be a stuck thruster. He and Scott shut off each of the spacecraft's 16 orbital maneuvering system thrusters one at a time. Thruster Number 8 did not respond.

"All we've got left is the reentry control system," Armstrong told Scott. Armstrong believed those thrusters, more powerful than standard thrusters because they positioned the spacecraft for reentry, would override the stuck thruster.

"Press on," Scott said.

Both astronauts wavered on the edge of losing consciousness. At first, nothing happened. After turning the system off, then on for a second time, the reentry thrusters responded.

Armstrong guided the capsule to a water landing in the Pacific where the Navy deployed to snag the reentry vehicle.  His quick thinking and cool head made him the obvious choice as mission commander when the Apollo 11 mission launched in 1969, where he became the first man on the moon.

Here's to you, Neil.  Not very many people get to be the first person on another celestial body.

Podcast Versus The Stupid!

And we're back on schedule with PVTS #4, Mitt The Birther.  Bon and I discuss reasons why Romney has gone the full birther (hint:  screw the middle and the undedecideds, it's all about turnout) and why it means for the race.

Listen to internet radio with Zandar Versus The Stupid on Blog Talk Radio

Give it a listen!

Van Damme Funny

So that the current state of things don't drive us crazy, enjoy a little amusement. I love me some Jean-Claude on a Saturday afternoon.

 

Paul Ryan Visits Springfield

The reception wasn't warm.

From the News-Leader article:

Brigitte Channel, also of Springfield, said she was protesting not only Ryan, but other Republicans such as Todd Akin who spoke last weekend about abortion.

"They are both advocates of not letting a woman have a choice," Channel said.

The dominoes are falling.  It isn't a lot right now, but a lot of Missourians are disgusted.  A lot of people are starting to realize the line of reality has been crossed.  Recent events have splattered mud on the Romney campaign at a time when they need goodwill the most.  Todd Akin has pulled a Palin as it were, and it couldn't have happened at a better time.

Epic win.  

By the way, you may have heard about the FBI investigating threats against Todd Akin.  It wasn't me, honest.  I was at work with a legit alibi.

Bite Of The Golden Apple

The Samsung/Apple patent case came back from a jury, and Samsung just got its head handed to it.

A federal jury in California on Friday recommended that Apple be awarded more than $1 billion in damages after finding Samsung was guilty of "willful" violations of a number of Apple's patents in the creation of its own mobile products.

The jury did not recommend awarding Samsung any money in its counterclaims that Apple had violated some of its patents. The judge and lawyers from both Apple and Samsung continued to discuss the jury forms late Friday afternoon.

"This is a huge win for Apple," Mark Lemley, a Stanford law professor, said over e-mail. "$1,051,855,000 is just large enough to make it the largest surviving patent verdict in history."

In aftermarket trading, Apple stock jumped more than $12 a share, to more than $675 a share.

Samsung said the verdict should be viewed "as a loss for the American consumer."

"It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices," the company said in a written statement. "It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies.

And yes, there's definitely the case that patent law is woefully outdated in the age of the internet.  But patent law is law now, and that's what the case was argued on.  Samsung (and Google) can cry all it wants to, but this was a complete win for the Crew from Cupertino.

A billion bucks isn't chump change, either.  Who knows if Apple will see a dime after appeals, but Samsung is facing nothing but pain for years to come.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• Two are dead, including the gunman, and nine more are injured as a work dispute turned deadly outside the Empire State Building in NYC yesterday.
• As the Tampa RNC Convention nears on Monday, the party is considering a call to return to the gold standard.
• Another US drone strike in Pakistan has killed 18, just one day after Pakistan's foreign minister lodged formal protests against drones to the US.
• After a week of fundraisers from oil and gas giants, Mitt Romney released a 21-page energy white paper calling for substantially more fracking and oil and gas drilling on US lands.
• Online game-maker Zynga is imploding, with its stock down 70% and now major talent jumping ship on the dying company.