And In The News
.
NASA launched Deep Impact on Wednesday, and today the Huygens probe landed on Titan.
I love watching NASA geeks do their thing. Their jobs seem both teduisly boring, and way too stressful. The same holds true for the ESA. Can you imagine getting paid to watch a blank computer screen, waiting for data -wondering if your 7 year investment will fail? No, thank you.
Cassini successfully launched the Huygens probe. The probe sucessfully landed. To top it off, it was still broadcasting as it's transmission went over the horizon. The geek being interviewed said dryly, "Huygens is still transmitting. We're just waiting for Cassini to turn around and transmit the data."
The excitement was palpable.
.
Bush (sort of) finally apologises for some of the crap he's said. AP- WASHINGTON Jan 14, 2005 — President Bush says he now sees that tough talk can have an "unintended consequence.""I don't know if you'd call it a regret, but it certainly is a lesson that a president must be mindful of, that the words that you sometimes say. … I speak plainly sometimes, but you've got to be mindful of the consequences of the words. So put that down. I don't know if you'd call that a confession, a regret, something."
-So now that he's on his (hopefully) last term, he wants people to like him? Not this little red head.
.

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 09:14:33 EST CBC News

LONDON - Prince Charles is demanding that his son Prince Harry visit the Auschwitz concentration camp after he caused international outrage by wearing a Nazi costume to a party... 20-year-old Harry swiftly apologized in a statement saying he "was very sorry if I caused any offence or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize." last Saturday to a private party with the theme "colonials and natives." His brother, age 22, came dressed as a leopard.
-The media should cut this kid some slack. The costume was in extremely poor taste, there's no doubt about that. Yet people are saying this isn't a proper apology because it was released as a statement.
.
The warning stickers are coming off of textbooks in Georgia, thankfully.
The Associated Press
ATLANTA Jan 14, 2005 — Since 2002, Dr. Kenneth Miller has been upset that biology textbooks he has written are slapped with a warning sticker by the time they appear in suburban Atlanta schools. The stickers read, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered." On Thursday, Miller along with fellow teachers and scientists cheered a federal judge's ruling that ordered the Cobb County school board to immediately remove the stickers and never again hand them out in any form.
Scientists, several of whom testified in the case, say the sticker confuses the scientific term "theory" with the word's common usage and inappropriately combines science with personal religious belief.
"Many of us hold deeply personal religious ideals as well," Freed said. "But for a science teacher in a public school to introduce religion into a science class would fall way outside the ideals of any organization of scientists or science educators."
"What it tells students is that we're certain of everything else in this book except evolution," said Miller, a professor of biology at Brown University, who with Joseph S. Levine has authored three texts for high schoolers.
-I have no problem reconciling creationism and evolutionism. God created the entire universe in 6 days... Ok, he's god. He can do that. Critters evolve, adapt and adjust over time; why is it so impossible to believe god created that too? Why do we need stickers telling kids that evolution is a theory? It already says "theory of evolution" in every science book. Maybe parents could try teaching their kids, instead of forcing their beliefs on everyone else.
.
And last, but certainly not least... An anal athiest is going to court to bar an opening prayer at the pResiden't inauguration. Michael Newdow – best known for trying to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance – told U.S. District Judge John Bates that allowing an overtly Christian prayer at the ceremony Thursday violates the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs.
Attorneys representing Bush and his inaugural committee argued that prayers have been widely accepted at inaugurals for more than 200 years and that Bush’s decision is a personal choice the court has no power to prevent.
- "under god" was added to the pledge in the 1950's. We should dump it. If we can't dump it, we should allow silence during that part of the pledge. Prayer before inauguration is an entirely different matter. As much as I disagree with Bush's ...um, everything really... I fully support his right to pray. Not because he's the President, but because he's an American citizen. He can pray in public all he wants. He can not, however, make me pray. He cannot block the sidewalk or obstruct my passage. But since he's not blocking the sidewalk or obstructing my passage, I say -pray away! This country needs all the prayers it can get.