Author Archives: Jerry

Wherefore the Divisions?

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No sooner did Kerry call it quits than everyone was talking about the
divisions
of the nation, pointing to the red-and-blue maps that CNN, FOX, etc.
posted for
our viewing pleasure. Many people were demanding that Bush heal those
divisions.
Before we can even address that, though, where are these divisions and
are they
really that bad? I seem to recall some nasty divisions during Clinton’s
presidency,
for instance. Never mind that states were often won by narrow margins,
and that
many of the red states reelected Democratic
governors, for instance. Moreover, Massachusetts has a Republican
governor,
for crying out loud!

And I call our attention to an article previously posted on
this blog, regarding
Ohio voters. They were hardly the ravening anti-gay, anti-Arab
bigots that the
New York Times op-ed page would have us think they were. They just
weren’t that
hot about Kerry–the relative indifferent strikes me as the very
opposite of the
divisions we are all supposed to fear.

I think there are divisions but they are being exaggerated and distorted
by Hollywood
(thanks Drudge, for this one) and some of the more
hysterical NY Times op-eds (though this
one by David Brooks is quite good–it doesn’t hurt that I agree with
him on
most of his points). It has been just over a week since a complicated,
hard-fought
election ended: let’s take a deep, cleansing breath, and look at what
really is
dividing America, and learn about what those things are before we set
about fixing
them.

“Zero Energy” Homes

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Check out this neat article on “zero-energy
homes” that can produce as much electricity as they consume.
Now while
this assumes that you live in a particular climate (e.g., the
Southwest), that includes
some areas most in need of more sustainable design, given California’s
chronic power
shortages and the extended drought the West is experiencing. The
materials are already
on hand and commercially available, so I hope to see more of these
intelligent,
sustainable invents to be used.In reality, the houses don’t always
produce as much
electricity as they use, the savings may still be significant, and the
savings will
no doubt draw more homeowners to this philosophy of design.

Bruegger’s Bagels Uses Fair Trade Coffee

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I have a night class on Tuesdays that is infinitely more bearable when I have some
coffee in me right before the class starts. I noted with pleasure that Bruegger’s
Bagels is now using only fair
trade coffee at their stores now.

Traditionally, coffee beans are bought from farmers at a dirt-cheap price, and then
undergo a formidable mark-up on their pilgrimage to Starbucks or Folgers. Fair trade
beans gives the farmers more of that mark-up, and a share in one of the world’s
most profitable cash crops.

Some good news we all could share, regardless of our party affiliation at the moment!

Pro-life Candidates in Pennsylvania

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Regardless of one's take on the presidential election, there are other important posts up for election this November, including the race for senator, where pro-lifers are running. In the case of the Senate, Jim Clymer is running for Spectre's seat, and I will gladly vote for him over one of the biggest advocates for embryonic research anywhere in the federal government.

For a pdf list of pro-life candidates that LifePAC vetted, click here. You can print out a copy and bring it with you to the ballot if you have trouble with remembering some of the local politicians' names. If you cannot read the pdf, go to the LifePAC homepage, and look at the html list.

Go Clymer!

Aesthetics and Evolution

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Science is often more artistic than many people, both within and outside of the humanities would believe. Physicists and mathematicians in particular look for "elegance" as a key factor in deciding a theories worth. In many ways, this is just an extension of Ockham’s razor: the simpler explanation for the same phenomenon is best. Elegance generally evokes images of clean, simple lines, and so dovetails with Ockham rather nicely.

This sense of aesthetics is a good thing and ties in with human cognition very closely–I doubt that we could purge ourselves of this even if we wanted–but it does get oddly distorted in some debates. For your consideration I present an article on evolution and intelligent design and how some prominent advocates of Darwinism may have gotten in a rhetorical jam over their critiques of, for instance, the eyeball and the panda’s thumb. This is from Touchstone Magazine’s special edition on Darwism and Intelligent Design from this summer.