Vital Remnants

Philosopher Keith Burgess-Jackson saying things that might get him shouted down by the tolerance crowd:

The United States Army cares more about diversity than it does security. I suppose this doesn't surprise me. Colleges and universities care more about diversity than they do truth. Many business firms care more about diversity than they do profit. Our government cares more about diversity than it does justice. Diversity: that before which all else must kneel. Diversity: that than which nothing greater can be conceived. Diversity: the summum bonum. Diversity: the end that justifies the means.

Labels: Diversity

As it turns out, a vote for Obama's nationalization of health care was also a vote for domestic partner benefits. "House members overwhelmingly approved a health care reform bill Saturday that recognizes gay unions and makes health care more affordable for gay families," said one report.

This from the "Human Rights Campaign":

Unequal Taxation of Domestic Partner Benefits – the bill ends the unfair taxation of employer-provided domestic partner health benefits, incorporating the language of the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act. Without this tax penalty, more people will be able to afford employer-provided coverage for their families, and more companies will be able to offer these important benefits.

This national imposition of domestic partner benefits basically makes the debate going on in the different states moot. This is thanks to a little behind the scenes move by Jim McDermott (D-Washington).

Labels: domestic partner benefits, gay adoption, health care

Christmastreeaphobics still angry over Beshear reversal: Over at Barefoot and Progressive, they are under the impression that I have "worked myself up into a phony lather" about Gov. Grinch's replacement of the state Christmas tree with a "Holiday tree." I must have done a pretty good job of hiding my amusement. Why would it make me mad to see Beshear politically shoot himself in the foot? All I did was to quote Dr. Seuss to reporters who wanted my comment. No sense in getting mad when politicians you would rather see out of office do things that help ensure they won't be around very long.

Former proponents of letting the people decide on expanded gambling but who changed their mind for political convenience can't spell: Must be too much to drink at the casino. Blue Bluegrass can't seem to spell State Sen. Thayer's name right. Its "Damon," folks, not "Damien." But go ahead and read about why we should not let the people decide on the gambling issue from the people who elected a man who said exactly the opposite.

Rich horse tracks find another excuse to expand gambling: Ohio is allowing expanded gambling, therefore we should have it too. Let's hope they don't legalize drugs and prostitution.

State universities want more of your money: The Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education will consider larger tuition increases than it said it was going to allow. Some state universities, already swimming in taxpayer cash because they won't control their spending, may be asking for more. Oh, and anyone notice that higher education has already implemented many of the ideas Congress wants to try on health care and that costs are even more out of control there than in the health care industry?

State universities wanting even more money. Not only tuition, but state money. They're insatiable.

State K-12 Schools having to actually get serious about school accountability: For years, state school officials have been telling everyone how serious they are about holding school accountable. Then, when they get pressure to implement charter schools from the federal government--which would result in real accountability--they oppose it. But the loss in federal money Kentucky could incur because of their intransigence may be too much for them.

Evolutionists reasoning badly: Kenneth Miller, a professor of genetics at Brown University spoke at the University of Kentucky on Oct. 21, making an impressive case for the compatibility between the belief in evolution and religion, but makes a big logical error unbefitting an upstanding member of the human species we will discuss next week.

Labels: KY Week

Okay, so we're finally bowing to pressure from friends who say I should have a blog name that people can actually pronounce. And it wouldn't hurt, they further advise, if it was actually in English.

Sheeez.

So I am changing the name (but not the web address--this is my way of sticking to my guns on this issue when I'm really not) to "Vital Remnants," which was a close runner up in the original blog name competition.

There is, of course, a book by this name, which has nothing to do with this blog, although we are a big fan of the book and think it's a really cool title (with the extra added advantage that no other blog has taking it yet like they have with every other cool name).

So we're going to keep it unless someone sues us or asks us nicely to use something else.

Labels: So there

Okay, I'm going to make a big admission here. We actually enjoy Jake over at Page One Kentucky. We read his blog regularly. It has that National Enquirer appeal that we just can't resist. In fact, we think he is terribly funny, and we often find ourselves so amused by his posts that we larf and larf. Seriously.

He has also done many good deeds, including giving University of Louisville President James Ramsey regular booby prizes for his numbskull exploits to embarrass the university (and, by association, the state).

We've even considered giving him some kind of award for all of this, like maybe three or four free personal insults without a follow-up response from us. We might just have to make that his Christmas present.

The only problem is that Jake has this Jeckyl and Hyde thing going on. One moment he will attack the bad guys and then, after imbibing some potion unique to Page One (Well, maybe not entirely unique: they seem to drink the same stuff over at LEO), he shakes and shudders, grows hair all over his body, starts to howl at the moon, and attacks us--the good guys.

It's at these times that we must secure our doors and hide the family.

In a recent such fit, Jake, having boiled and mixed the right chemicals and chugged them down, accused us of not really caring about education and supporting mountain-top removal. These are obviously the charges of a man suffering under chemical induced delusions.

Do I really not care about education? In fact, I teach for a living. I am also a director for an online program which this semester boasts over 600 enrollments.

Do I really support mountain-top removal? In fact, I oppose it 200 percent. I think it should be outlawed. Period.

Someone, please, when he stops foaming at the mouth and the twitching subsides, tell Jake these things. Shake him, slap him a few times (give him a couple for me), and tell him where we really stand.

And for Heaven's sake, get him some help.

Labels: jake

Ann Coulter, on Obama's bad hair day on Tuesday:

Just two days before the election, Obama was at a rally in New Jersey assuring voters that Corzine was "one of the best partners I have in the White House. We work together. ... Jon Corzine helped get this done."

Except the problem is that voting for Obama a year ago was a fashion statement, much like it was once a fad to buy Beanie Babies, pet rocks and Cabbage Patch Kids. But instead of ending up with a ridiculous dust-collector at the bottom of your closet, the Obama fad leaves you with higher taxes, a reduced retirement fund, no job and a one-year wait for an MRI.

Read the rest here.

Labels: politics

Here is Joe Biesk's story from the AP on Gov. Beshear's foxhole conversion on the state Christmas Tree. It is truly a wonder just how out of touch the Beshear administration is with what Kentuckians believe. In what political parallel universe is it a good idea to change the name of the state Christmas tree to the state "Holiday tree" in a state as conservative as Kentucky?

But not only are their ideas bad in their inception, these people are also just slow on the uptake.

Last week, the Governor and his advisors unapologetically defended the idea of his "Holiday Tree." It took them an entire week to realize what a truly astounding political blunder they had made.

It started when the Associated Press story about the decision got wide play all over the state, as well as around the country. Then a Facebook group formed that, as of this writing, has over 15,000 members.

“For Gov. Beshear, it is a Christmas tree. Period. The end,” [Kerri] Richardson said. “That first request from the Finance Cabinet didn't reflect that, but the governor speaks for himself. He's calling it a Christmas tree. That's what it is.”

No, Kerri, it's not the end. In fact, it may be just the beginning. Despite the Governor's new attitude, the Facebook group is still growing. In one utterly ridiculous decision, the Governor created a whole new body of opposition. Amazing.

These are 15,000 people that could be tapped the next time the Governor makes a bad decision--like running for reelection.

And then there's our favorite "ethicist": Paul Simmons. Simmons was the ethics professor at Southern Seminary in the days before Al Mohler cleaned the seminary's Aegean stables. They used to trot him out every time the issue of abortion flared up so he could explain the ethical justification for killing unborn babies. Now, Simmons, who works for James Ramsey over at U of L, is being trotted out to explain why Christmas trees should be called something else.

Here is Simmons from an earlier story:

Using the term “holiday tree” typically is intended to avoid offending people who are not Christian, said Paul Simmons, an ethics professor at the University of Louisville.

Maybe Simmons could tell us precisely who was offended by the state Christmas tree. Then we could compare it to the 15,000 members of the Facebook group.

And he said “holiday tree” is the more fitting description, considering that the tradition started among pagans and was later blended into the Christian celebration of Christmas.

Hmmm. So why is this a reason to call it a "Holiday tree"? Is there a buildup of pagans in Frankfort? It would explain a few things.

Labels: War on Christmas

Jake, over at Page One Kentucky, takes Yours Truly to task for making wry comments about Gov. Grinch, who decided the other day to replace the state Christmas Tree with a "Holiday Tree." Jake, who apparently sides with the Grinch on this one, asks:

Where are these alleged Christians when health services are cut? Where are these alleged Christians when education is cut? Where are these alleged Christians when the homeless are turned away? Where are these alleged Christians when rivers are being poisoned?

Let's see. Where do we start?

"Where are these alleged Christians when health services are cut?" Um, well, we might find them still writing charitable donation checks from their continually decreasing disposable income which is shrinking because the government is taking an in increasing share of it back to Washington where, after government bureaucrats take their percentage and then send it back here where they don't do as good a job as churches would have done it, they send it back here.

"Where are these alleged Christians when education is cut?" Let's see, how about continuing to pay for it even though many of them are sending their own kids to real schools and having to pay for that too?

"Where are these alleged Christians when the homeless are turned away?" Turned away from where? Church Homeless Shelters, at the order of government officials, like in New York City?

"Where are these alleged Christians when rivers are being poisoned?" How about condemning it on our blog when it happens?

And what, may we ask, is Jake doing about these things?

Labels: jake

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's heart has grown three sizes today. He has returned to Whoville and brought the state Christmas tree. Given the public outcry, it shouldn't surprise us in the least. Maybe we can even get him to carve the roast beast.

Labels: War on Christmas

I've said it before: Religion abhors a vacuum. In other words, when people lose their real religion, they inevitably end up replacing it with a convenient secular substitute. As if in proof of this thesis, a British course has now given belief in Global Warming the same legal status as religious belief (at least as far as employment discrimination law).

Don't say we didn't tell you it was coming.

Labels: global warming

All the Whos down in Whoville, the tall and the small, are as mad as, ... well, heck (In case you didn't know it, that's as mad as Whos ever get). Anyway, they're not going to take it any more. They are fed up with Gov. Grinch making off with their Christmas tree and replacing it with a "Holiday Tree."

A growing mob is forming over at Facebook calling on Kentucky's Grinch-in-Chief to return the tree or, ... or, ... or they're going to do whatever it is Whos do when they get angry.

There are now over 13,000 members of the Facebook group.

You see, last week, the Governor, dressed up as Santa Claus, crept into town under the cover of political darkness, slithered down the chimney, and decided to shove the state Christmas tree up through the fireplace.

But as he did this, he heard something, and it wasn't the coo of a dove.

Instead, it was Roger Alford, a reporter at the Whoville bureau of the Associated Press, who had just gotten a press release from the Kentucky Finance Cabinet seeking donations for a state "Holiday Tree," and he caught the Governor red-handed.

"Santy Claus, why?" asked Alford, objectively getting out his notepad and taking the pencil from behind his ear, "Why are you taking the state Christmas tree? Why?"

But the Governor was sly and the Governor was slick. He sent for a spokesperson and he sent for her quick. The aid, Cindy Lanham, explained that "the holiday tree reference is meant to be inclusive of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's."

Okay. Why not just throw in Easter, Columbus Day, Presidents Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? And don't forget Groundhog Day, and the much neglected Friendship Day. We could even include St. Patrick's Day. After all, the tree is green.

The chief problem, apparently, was that the Christmas tree could only be appreciated by people who actually celebrate Christmas, and not by people who don't.

Why the Governor thinks this is a problem is unclear. Have there been complaints about the state Christmas tree? Is there some problem with a baby in a manger bringing peace on earth and good will toward men?

The idea behind "Diversity" is that no one can do anything they want to unless no one else is offended. The only way to avoid this, of course, is to make everyone and everything the same.

That's why they call it "Diversity."

In fact, the liberals have somehow failed to notice that every time they try not to offend people, it just makes them mad. The Governor apparently hasn't noticed this.

It could be his head is not screwed on just right. It could be perhaps that his shoes are too tight. But some think that the most likely reason of all may be that the Governor's political judgment is two sizes too small.

In any case, they were going to take the tree back to the workshop. "We'll take it up there," they said, gesturing toward the Division of Forestry, "and we'll bring it back here."

So they patted Alford on the head, and sent him back to the media office on the 2nd floor of the Capitol building, at which point, the Governor went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up. The last thing he left was the log on the fire.

Apparently, the Governor really thought this act would be appreciated. So he put his hand to his ear. And he did hear a sound rising over the bluegrass. It started in low, then it started to grow...

The problem is it was sound of over 13,000 people on the "Save the Christmas Tree" Facebook page wanting their Christmas tree back. In fact, the thing has now blown up into a major public relations headache for state Grinch officials. They puzzled over it three hours till their puzzler was sore.

Alford's story has now spread far and wide, and has even been carried by national news organizations like Forbes and USA Today.

More and more people are finding out now that no Christmas is coming in the Commonwealth. They're just waking up, and I know just what they'll do. Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, then the Governor's public relations people will all cry Boo-Hoo!

Other people have tried to stop Christmas from coming, but it came just the same. It will come without ribbons. It will come without tags. It will come without packages, boxes, or bags. It will even come without a tree.

In fact, the only thing really in danger is the reputation of a few state politicians. If they're not careful, the roast beast won't be the only thing that gets carved up this Christmas.

Labels: War on Christmas

Well, you certainly can't accuse the National Center for Science Education's Josh Rosenau of favoring any particular fallacy. Having shown some proficiency in guilt by association argumentation, and then diversifying into the fallacy of excluded middle and the ad hominem fallacy (perhaps his favorite), he is now inventing mathematical fallacies heretofore unknown.

Mathematics? Surely he will perform better in this field than he has in the other matters linked to above. He is after all, a scientist--or at least a scientist with training wheels on, in contrast to yours truly, whose last formal encounter with mathematics was college calculus, taken only under threat of not completing the university general education requirements.

But, alas, even mathematics seems to pose a challenge for our overexcitable science grad student.

I had pointed to the letter signed by 162 members of the American Physical Society, including one Nobel Prize winner and 12 members of the National Academies, contesting an official letter sent by APS leaders that we must pass legislation that will have devastating effects on our economy to prevent the End of the World as We Know It.

Here is Rosenau's response, from his post "On Counting":

Alas for Cothran, the APS has 47,189 members, so the dissent of 162 hardly undermines a claim of consensus.

Trouble is that's 162 more members that have gone individually on record in support of the organization's official stance. Rosenau apparently didn't note this paragraph in the letter from the dissenting APS members:

We know of no evidence that any of the “leaders” of the scientific community who signed the letter to you ever asked their membership for their opinions, before claiming to represent them on this important matter.

So we have 47,189 members whose positions are unknown and 162 members, some prominent, who are on record. In other words, the fact that there are 47,189 members doesn't mean anything, since we don't know where they stand.

But it doesn't matter. The End is Near. Just keep repeating it.

Labels: global warming