Critical Exponent

So let’s get this straight: Bush is allowing a nation with known, if incidental. terrorist ties take over some key US ports without consulting Congress or the states? Maybe it is a right decision, but given the circumstances and appearances, at the very least, it would have been appropriate of him to seek consensus first. Because you know…he’s misjudged security threats to America before.

Sometimes I despair when I think of where this country is headed. Here are two of the latest salvos in the culture wars:

• A Pennsylvania school district voted to end the International Baccalaureate program. The reasons cited by various people include claims that it is too liberal, part of an international conspiracy, and too expensive. As an IB alum, I can vouch for the fact that the goal and focus of the program is to teach students to think critically, to prove mastery of advanced academic skills via an internatially-certified standard, and to expose students to other cultures as well as their own.These last two are particularly valuable in today’s global economy and society. Cutting the program shortchanges the students, contributes to America’s decline in science, technology, and culture, and reveals how tenuous the dogmatists’ positions are, if they feel they must shelter students from other points of view lest they make up their own minds.

• The New York Times reports on many evangelicals who signed an anti-evolution petition; these include a few scientists, though apparently no biologists. What is wrong with people? Evolution remains the best scientific theory for the origins of life as we know it today: its mechanism has been observed in microcosm, and it is simple, in that it does not posit unobserved and extraneous external agents such as a designer or aliens. All the opposition to evolution seems to come from some combination of faith (”it contradicts my religious texts”) or lack of imagination (”I can’t see how evolution could possibly give rise to the large differences among species”). Neither of those is a valid reason to overturn or ignore a scientifc theory. Once again, based on the observed evidence, Darwin’s theory remains the best (simplest, most compact, consistent with observation, micro-reproducible, and falsifiable) explanation for the origins of life. It’s certainly your right to believe what you want to believe, whether it’s science, faith, both, or neither, but please don’t claim that evolution is on a shaky scientific footing, because it’s not.

Here’s a great use of government resources: in a program begun during the Clinton years but much accelerated under Bush, security agencies are reclassifying previously-released documents– most, if not all, of which have no reason for being classified any longer.

Erasing history…

At least for this VA nurse in New Mexico.

This is one reality TV show that might have something useful to teach us about our society.

Salon has an exclusive story on the Abu Ghraib files. Come see what is being done in the name of “American values.” (Warning: Explicit images)

Willie Nelson does Brokeback. (audio, lyrics, Reuters story)

How does your country rate on freedom of the press?

A piece by Dan Savage in The New York Times:

Sometimes I wonder if evangelicals really believe that gay men can go straight. If they don’t think Chad Allen can play straight convincingly for 108 minutes, do they honestly imagine that gay men who aren’t actors can play straight for a lifetime? And if anyone reading this believes that gay men can actually become ex-gay men, I have just one question for you: Would you want your daughter to marry one?

Evangelical Christians seem sincere in their desire to help build healthy, lasting marriages. Well, if that’s their goal, encouraging gay men to enter into straight marriages is a peculiar strategy. Every straight marriage that includes a gay husband is one Web-browser-history check away from an ugly divorce.

…but oh, so good!

A few years ago, when Holly had mentioned that she was interested in making pies, I forwarded a recipe that I had recently found and tried somewhere for a very easy pie crust. We kept emailing back and forth how we should get together and make some pies from scratch. That eventually resulted in the first-ever Pie Bake-Off tonight. It was a tough scene, let me tell you: no elbows, but certainly enough trash talkin’ to dispel the notion that this was a genteel Martha Stewart get-together.

After emotions and pies cooled, we had:

• Pie-rookie Rob’s pecan-and-chocolate chip pie. Nuts, chocolate, and sugar. ‘Nuff said.
• Trendy artiste Knox’s beet pie. Yes, beet pie. Very unusual. Think borscht in a pie crust.
• “I’m-sticking-to-the-tried-and-true” Victor’s classic apple pie. Easy crust, tart filling (but dang! I need to try macerating the apples next time!)
• “I’ve-got-a-new-pie-wheel-and-I-know-how-to-use-it” Holly’s organic sour cherry lattice pie

I think the clear winner was Holly. The pie looked like a perfect lattice-work pie, and the sour cherries were fantastic. I need to get her recipe for the cream-cheese dough….

Needless to say, we’re eating leftover pie on on Sunday.