The Fear of Science
Sarah Palin, discussing the McCain/Palin policies, said this:
“Too often, even in our own day, children with special needs have been set apart and excluded,” said Palin, whose infant son Trig has Down syndrome. “Too often, state and federal laws add to their challenges, instead of removing barriers and opening new paths of opportunity. Too often, they are made to feel that there is no place for them in the life of our country, that they don’t count or have nothing to contribute. This attitude is a grave disservice to these beautiful children, to their families, and to our country — and I will work to change it.
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“That’s more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA,” she said. “And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good — things like fruit fly research in Paris, France, or a public policy center named for the guy who got the earmark. In our administration, we’re going to reform and refocus. We’re going to get our federal priorities straight, and fulfill our country’s commitment to give every child opportunity and hope in life.”
From Washington Post
But here’s just one example as to why the money is going to fruit fly research:
Neurons, or nerve cells, communicate with each other through contact points called synapses. When these connections are damaged, communication breaks down, causing the messages that would normally help our feet push our bike pedals or our mind locate our car keys to fall short.
Now scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown that a protein called neurexin is required for these nerve cell connections to form and function correctly.
The discovery, made in Drosophila fruit flies may lead to advances in understanding autism spectrum disorders, as recently, human neurexins have been identified as a genetic risk factor for autism.
From Local Tech Wire
Congratulations, Sarah, you just outsmarted yourself. Zing!
Why does it seem that the Republicans with louder voices have a defined fear of the sciences. Its almost as if we’re heading toward a new dark ages: villify the sciences, the higher learning and even reading in the country. As a holder of a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology, the zealotry and religious fundamentalism that are becoming mainstream, along with this hatred of the sciences, frightens me. You can suggest all you want the validity of your “theories” of Creationism and Intelligent Design, but the theory of evolution is the only scientifically based explanation for the origin of creatures and thus humankind. These people who simply close their eyes to the world out their front doors, who daren’t take a look at something biological, chemical, or physical and say, “hmm, I wonder how this works,” have no place in higher office. If a person as closed-minded as that could become president or vice (one heartbeat away) president, something is significantly wrong.
Obama claims to have only made $12,000 a year as a community organizer. Yet, he was able to travel to Indonesia and Pakistan, just to name a few, after 2 years at Occidental College. Then 4 years of Columbia University, Harvard Law School and 7 houses with one of the houses discounted at a cost of $1.65 million which is at issue with Tony Rezko.
Hmmm. Makes you wonder where he gets all of this money from.
PS. Maybe I should take a trip to Muslim places like Indonesia and Pakistan it seems as if money grows on trees there! heh
I guess I don’t see how that has anything to do with this post.
And the seven houses thing you have wrong. The question was asked of John McCain as to how many houses he owned. He couldn’t answer the question. Eventually he got back to people telling them that he in fact owned seven houses.
Also, from the Sun Times: A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko’s wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood — a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million — $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko’s wife paid full price — $625,000 — for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko’s wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it “boneheaded” because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor.
If you have not already seen this video, it’s a well done overview in support of Darwin, but in no way antithetical to modern Christianity.
I always appreciate that. I have nothing against religion, even though I consider myself an agnostic. I feel that what people do with their own time is fine, but pushing negative beliefs or opinions of science on the country, and especially on children, is dangerous and will short us as a country in the long run. Intelligent thought, individual thought, is the most important resource we have.