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Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Friday, August 31, 2012
It's Just Some Dried Mango
Friday, September 9, 2011
Galileo Got Outvoted
Divining Perry's Meaning On Galileo Remark
Galileo got outvoted? Outvoted?! I bet he wished he was only outvoted! When I heard this the other day I could barely believe it with my own ears.
“The science is not settled on this. The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet to me is just nonsense,” Perry said. “Just because you have a group of scientists who stood up and said here is the fact. Galileo got outvoted for a spell,” he said.
His utter lack of knowledge of science has been apparent ever since he landed on the main stage but to get the gist of what Galileo went through so completely twisted, shows Perry has no understanding of history either. Not only did Galileo not get "outvoted" but he was charged with heresy by the church and sentenced to house arrest for the remainder of his life and all of his writings of the subject were blacklisted for many years. Some scientists did disagree with his ideas at the time, but this was for a few reasons. The first, Galileo had invented a new telescope and used this device to make readings and observations no one else in the history of mankind was able to make. Also, because of church restrictions, many knew that coming out publicly against such a position would be a terrible career move for the astronomers of the day even though the copernican theory had been around for some time. At that point in time one did not mess with the church. It took them 400 years to apologize for the Galileo Affair, which has long since been verified as describing the correct motions of the heavenly bodies around the sun.
Unfortunately for Mr. Perry, his strong connection to faith-based principles and total disregard for the overwhelming evidence supporting climate change being expedited by human processes make him seem terribly foolish with this comment. Maybe he should read my blog to learn more about it. Not only that, but if we don't solve this climate change issue soon, the irreparable damage and staggering cost globally will be incalculable compared to some minor tweaks of emissions and other regulations in industry that we can make now. What good is commerce if there is no planet to conduct it on?
Great quote by Galileo in a letter written to Johannes Kepler in 1610. It seems like it describes Mr. Perry to a T:
"My dear Kepler, I wish that we might laugh at the remarkable stupidity of the common herd. What do you have to say about the principal philosophers of this academy who are filled with the stubbornness of an asp and do not want to look at either the planets, the moon or the telescope, even though I have freely and deliberately offered them the opportunity a thousand times? Truly, just as the asp stops its ears, so do these philosophers shut their eyes to the light of truth."
Here is another great quote, taken from Galileo's Letter To the Duchess Christina of Tuscany, 1615:
"Showing a greater fondness for their own opinions than for truth they sought to deny and disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their own senses would have demonstrated to them. To this end they hurled various charges and published numerous writings filled with vain arguments, and they made the grave mistake of sprinkling these with passages taken from places in the Bible which they had failed to understand properly, and which were ill-suited to their purposes."
For more info on the Galileo Affair, see below:
Galileo Affair - Wikipedia
You can also learn more about Galileo in the Intellects section above. You can read his writings first hand. "The Starry Messenger" is really quite moving as you will discover a man's thoughts as he slowly realizes he is the first human to ever see what he is discovering with his new "spyglass" and he is in complete awe of the wonder of the universe! "The Letter To the Duchess Christina" also sheds light on Galileo's personal thoughts on this specific matter. So moving!
Galileo got outvoted? Outvoted?! I bet he wished he was only outvoted! When I heard this the other day I could barely believe it with my own ears.
“The science is not settled on this. The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet to me is just nonsense,” Perry said. “Just because you have a group of scientists who stood up and said here is the fact. Galileo got outvoted for a spell,” he said.
His utter lack of knowledge of science has been apparent ever since he landed on the main stage but to get the gist of what Galileo went through so completely twisted, shows Perry has no understanding of history either. Not only did Galileo not get "outvoted" but he was charged with heresy by the church and sentenced to house arrest for the remainder of his life and all of his writings of the subject were blacklisted for many years. Some scientists did disagree with his ideas at the time, but this was for a few reasons. The first, Galileo had invented a new telescope and used this device to make readings and observations no one else in the history of mankind was able to make. Also, because of church restrictions, many knew that coming out publicly against such a position would be a terrible career move for the astronomers of the day even though the copernican theory had been around for some time. At that point in time one did not mess with the church. It took them 400 years to apologize for the Galileo Affair, which has long since been verified as describing the correct motions of the heavenly bodies around the sun.
Unfortunately for Mr. Perry, his strong connection to faith-based principles and total disregard for the overwhelming evidence supporting climate change being expedited by human processes make him seem terribly foolish with this comment. Maybe he should read my blog to learn more about it. Not only that, but if we don't solve this climate change issue soon, the irreparable damage and staggering cost globally will be incalculable compared to some minor tweaks of emissions and other regulations in industry that we can make now. What good is commerce if there is no planet to conduct it on?
Great quote by Galileo in a letter written to Johannes Kepler in 1610. It seems like it describes Mr. Perry to a T:
"My dear Kepler, I wish that we might laugh at the remarkable stupidity of the common herd. What do you have to say about the principal philosophers of this academy who are filled with the stubbornness of an asp and do not want to look at either the planets, the moon or the telescope, even though I have freely and deliberately offered them the opportunity a thousand times? Truly, just as the asp stops its ears, so do these philosophers shut their eyes to the light of truth."
Here is another great quote, taken from Galileo's Letter To the Duchess Christina of Tuscany, 1615:
"Showing a greater fondness for their own opinions than for truth they sought to deny and disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their own senses would have demonstrated to them. To this end they hurled various charges and published numerous writings filled with vain arguments, and they made the grave mistake of sprinkling these with passages taken from places in the Bible which they had failed to understand properly, and which were ill-suited to their purposes."
For more info on the Galileo Affair, see below:
Galileo Affair - Wikipedia
You can also learn more about Galileo in the Intellects section above. You can read his writings first hand. "The Starry Messenger" is really quite moving as you will discover a man's thoughts as he slowly realizes he is the first human to ever see what he is discovering with his new "spyglass" and he is in complete awe of the wonder of the universe! "The Letter To the Duchess Christina" also sheds light on Galileo's personal thoughts on this specific matter. So moving!
Stephen Colbert on Perry at the GOP debate:
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Rick Perry Presents | ||||
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Monday, August 15, 2011
Politics Fix
The Christianist Takeover
It is now quite apparent that the GOP is dominated not by fiscal conservatives anymore, but by social conservatives and the evangelical right. Mitt Romney, whose lead is now perilous to Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, seems to be the odd man out here. Romney is the most centrist of all the leading republican candidates for president on the total political spectrum, but Perry seems to be most centered of these three on the GOP half of the spectrum. Most people seem to agree that Bachmann is a lunatic and has no real shot at the nomination. Perry and Bachmann have very scary views on the role of government and religion in the lives of americans. I try not to get into too much politics with this blog, but it is imperative to know the positions of the people who are trying to become the leader of the free world.
Here's another great article on Bachmann and Perry and their Dominionist tactics:
A Christian Plot for Domination?
It is now quite apparent that the GOP is dominated not by fiscal conservatives anymore, but by social conservatives and the evangelical right. Mitt Romney, whose lead is now perilous to Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, seems to be the odd man out here. Romney is the most centrist of all the leading republican candidates for president on the total political spectrum, but Perry seems to be most centered of these three on the GOP half of the spectrum. Most people seem to agree that Bachmann is a lunatic and has no real shot at the nomination. Perry and Bachmann have very scary views on the role of government and religion in the lives of americans. I try not to get into too much politics with this blog, but it is imperative to know the positions of the people who are trying to become the leader of the free world.
Here's another great article on Bachmann and Perry and their Dominionist tactics:
A Christian Plot for Domination?
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Non-Negotiable Social Issues
Giuliani to GOP: Stay Out of Gay Marriage
I basically became an adult in the shadow of New York City while Rudy Giuliani was mayor. I was able to see firsthand how he was able to change the city and make it a much safer place and return it to world prominence economically after a few rough decades. Although a few scandals came out after he left office including the police commissioner, there was a general feel that Giuliani had a major positive effect on the city and obviously he was a strong, steadfast leader during the greatest strife of the city's history- when it was attacked on 9-11. I strongly disagree with him on many many issues, but he seems to have this one right. If the GOP wants to achieve anything politically beyond their base, they need to drop all these social conservative issues. Giuliani knows this from being mayor of one of the most liberal cities in the world. Stick to your fiscal conservative agendas, because you can at least negotiate that. Social issues are at a point where they are non-negotiable. Either people are afforded the same rights or they are not. There is no middle ground here. The seas of change are flowing in this country and each younger generation realizes that homosexuals are just like everyone else and should be treated as such. I think Giuliani realizes this and I think he may see disaster for the future of his party if they continue to dwell on these "lost causes" as people become more open minded and less ignorant about these social issues. Unfortunately for him, his party is now divided into two distinct factions: the fiscal conservatives and the social conservatives (read: religious). For the religious right, these are life and death issues. These are issues that affect all of eternity for these people. This is why they put up such a fuss about the passing of marriage equality laws like the recent one in New York and others in the works. From their viewpoint, there is no room for negotiation and that's what will make it tough for the GOP in the next election cycle and in the future. Their only hope at this point is to keep the economy mired in recession long enough for people to vote out Obama. It's quite obvious this is their tact as the party of "no" is preventing anything from happening in congress at this point... It's terribly frustrating.
I basically became an adult in the shadow of New York City while Rudy Giuliani was mayor. I was able to see firsthand how he was able to change the city and make it a much safer place and return it to world prominence economically after a few rough decades. Although a few scandals came out after he left office including the police commissioner, there was a general feel that Giuliani had a major positive effect on the city and obviously he was a strong, steadfast leader during the greatest strife of the city's history- when it was attacked on 9-11. I strongly disagree with him on many many issues, but he seems to have this one right. If the GOP wants to achieve anything politically beyond their base, they need to drop all these social conservative issues. Giuliani knows this from being mayor of one of the most liberal cities in the world. Stick to your fiscal conservative agendas, because you can at least negotiate that. Social issues are at a point where they are non-negotiable. Either people are afforded the same rights or they are not. There is no middle ground here. The seas of change are flowing in this country and each younger generation realizes that homosexuals are just like everyone else and should be treated as such. I think Giuliani realizes this and I think he may see disaster for the future of his party if they continue to dwell on these "lost causes" as people become more open minded and less ignorant about these social issues. Unfortunately for him, his party is now divided into two distinct factions: the fiscal conservatives and the social conservatives (read: religious). For the religious right, these are life and death issues. These are issues that affect all of eternity for these people. This is why they put up such a fuss about the passing of marriage equality laws like the recent one in New York and others in the works. From their viewpoint, there is no room for negotiation and that's what will make it tough for the GOP in the next election cycle and in the future. Their only hope at this point is to keep the economy mired in recession long enough for people to vote out Obama. It's quite obvious this is their tact as the party of "no" is preventing anything from happening in congress at this point... It's terribly frustrating.
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