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The Times has an excerpt from Richard Dawkin’s new book The Greatest Show On Earth detailing the evidence for the theory behind the fact of evolution. In the excerpt, Dawkins decides that a mild, mannered approach to combating creationism is required. Just kidding. He throws the following bomb at creationists:

Imagine you are a teacher of more recent history, and your lessons on 20th-century Europe are boycotted, heckled or otherwise disrupted by well-organised, well-financed and politically muscular groups of Holocaust-deniers. Unlike my hypothetical Rome-deniers, Holocaustdeniers really exist. They are vocal, superficially plausible and adept at seeming learned. They are supported by the president of at least one currently powerful state, and they include at least one bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Imagine that, as a teacher of European history, you are continually faced with belligerent demands to “teach the controversy”, and to give “equal time” to the “alternative theory” that the Holocaust never happened but was invented by a bunch of Zionist fabricators.

Fashionably relativist intellectuals chime in to insist that there is no absolute truth: whether the Holocaust happened is a matter of personal belief; all points of view are equally valid and should be equally “respected”.

The plight of many science teachers today is not less dire.

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Australians with a sense of justice have welcomed the penalties imposed on the former James Hardie directors that were handed down today by Justice Ian Gzell. Understandably some feel that the penalties are not enough given James Hardie’s repeated attempts to avoid responsibility for exposing their employees to asbestos. But the former directors careers are finished and they can’t line their pockets sitting on boards no more.

And of course, there are some that do not get it such as Christopher Peters of the Corporate Directors Association of Australia.

The corporate structure was originally set-up to give limited liability to people to enable them to take risks. These decisions mean that risk-taking is no longer appropriate and that means that our business community will suffer enormously.

What an fucking insensitive and amoral thing to say. The James Hardie directors failed to do their job and lied to their shareholders and the public. They ignored the plight of their former employees suffering asbestos related diseases. And all Mr Peters can do is collapse into a self-serving whine that shows no understanding of the greater issues.

Good. Maybe companies will learn that pursuing profits and all costs and avoiding responsibility for past errors is not a sound business plan. Maybe directors will learn that ethics and an understanding of what is right for all concerned is an acceptable course of action.

Maybe Mr Peters needs to spend some time with asbestos victims and see the affect of corporate “risk-taking” can have on people.

As I understand it, the following would happen if you, through no fault of your own, were involved in an accident in the United States:

After breaking both arms, a few ribs and a leg the ambulance would transport you to hospital where the insurance company would, after being notified of the accident, declare your broken bones a pre-existing condition. Then the hospital will charge for your stay which given the usual level of savings means that you probably signed the papers to commence the foreclosure of your home when you arrived. And if you don’t have a home then a meeting with the in-house bankruptcy advisor would then be arranged.

Ok, I may be being a little unfair but the US health care system has long puzzled me. I do understand that most places of employment pay for insurance and that there is a government safety net for the very poor. But I’m told those without a job that pays for insurance are quite vulnerable. And even those with insurance, there are stories about acts of bastardry by insurance companies in denying treatment driven by the worship of profits.

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When I first heard that Christian Rossitter had won the legal battle that affirmed his right to die, I though of it as a victory. But an excellent post by Lauredhel has made me reconsider that opinion.

Some background. Christian is a quadriplegic that can only be fed via a tube. He is currently in a nursing home and expressed a wish that the carers in the home stop feeding him. The nursing home went to court to see if they legally could grant Christian his request. The judge said yes they could and that seemed to be a victory.

But Lauredhel makes an excellent point:

So what have we, as a society, done for him? Set him up with communication devices such as a internet-enabled computer he can operate (he has talked about not being able to turn the pages of a newspaper)? Offered him opportunities for social inclusion, to the fullest extent that he can manage it? Equipped his home and supplied home nursing care so that he could live in his community and retain his social context? Provided any sort of life enrichment whatsoever?

No. We shoved him in a nursing room, in front of a television set. Oh, but it’s cable, so that’s alright, eh? We did all we could!

There is a great deal that our society needs to do the improve how we care for the disabled. Shoving him in a nursing home is indeed cruel and deprives him of a life.
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The passing of Les Paul has been well noted as it should be. Not just for the invention of his iconic guitar but also multi-track recording. To my left sits a Zoom H4, a digital multi-track recorder. A direct descendant of Les Paul’s early tinkerings. Musicians and guitarists owe Les Paul a great deal of gratitude. He did so much to forge the modern sound.

My first guitar, something like 25 years ago now, was a very cheap Les Paul knock off. I graduated from there to a Charvel stunt guitar and then matured into a Strat then a Tele. There is no antipathy against a Les Paul, just that the musical directions I took made a those guitars better choices.

But Tim is right in that a Les Paul and a Marshall is the rock’n'roll.

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For those who don’t understand why universally insured health care for all is a controversial idea, allow me to give you an example of  the “debate” from the perspective of the opposition.

On Friday, July 31st, “Investor’s Business Daily” ran this editorial. I’ll address the issues in the editorial later but first, you might notice the italized words at the beginning of the piece:

“Editor’s Note: This version corrects the original editorial which implied that physicist Stephen Hawking, a professor at the University of Cambridge, did not live in the UK.”

For your enjoyment here is what was corrected: More »

Dear hard right conservatives, Pals of Palin, FOX Fanatics and assorted associated loons,

I’d like to take the opportunity here to welcome you to the 21st century. It’s a wonderful world full of countries that have universal health care and even, horrifically enough, socialized medicine. You really should be enthusiastic about the whole idea. You may not know it but the entirety of your government and all your brave soldiers have government run health care.

But I understand you have concerns and questions, like why come the government has to kill off th old people and the developmentally challenged? That’s a good question, but sadly it’s also completely stupid. No one is proposing such a thing other than your “intellectual” leaders, like Palin, who are taking the opportunity of your gullability to lie to you. You should really be too smart for that, but if you were you wouldn’t need health care, and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” wouldn’t have all those hilarious hours of tape of you falling off your roof or sitting on collapsing chairs, right? Ha ha. Thanks for that, by the way.

I’ve heard many of you say you want your country back. Hey, I sympathize! I felt the same way throughout the eight long years of George W. Bush’s reign of terror. You’ve only had to put with Obama for about seven months. Of course, I’m forced to ask you what is it about your country that you want back? Your house? You might have brought that up with George who oversaw that whole housing bubble debacle, and helped it with his mighty crusade of ennui and deregulation of Wall Street. Maybe you just want the country that only elects white men to be president back. Of course, that infers a certain level of racism on your part, which would make me one of those politically correct elitists.  I might point out that little has changed in the last seven months other than the election of a black president.  The only major change he’s actually affected is to address climate change, something most people know is important. So, seriously, what do you want back?
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Abbe May first made her entry into my constellation of Aussie musos with a blistering performance of Constanza on Rockwiz a few years back. That lead me to pick up her debut album Howl and Moan which was a pretty apt title. With raw blues and equally untempered rock meeting around her powerful voice, it was a fine start for the lass from Bunbury, Western Australia.

The next project was The Devil and Abbe May, a smartly loose collection of originals and covers that eagerly reflected the three days of studio time and many bottles of wine it took to record it.

And not content with knocking around with Old Nick, Abbe ends up back with her band The Rockin’ Pneunomia and a case of the Hawaiian Disease.

An EP that features songs that have escaped from the album Sexorcism due later in the year, Hawaiian Disease continues the development of a remarkable singer.
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Just when you think the Birthers could not get any sillier (for example Orly Taitz’s MSNBC interview in which she says “WHARGARBL!” over and over), comes the revelation that the supposed Obama Kenyan birth certificate is a forgery.

A forgery based on an Adelaide man’s birth certificate.

Needless to say David Jeffrey Bomford is a little bemused by all this.

That is ridiculous. Little old person in Adelaide, the President of the United States. I don’t know whether to laugh about it or not, be worried about it.

Very good question. Given the election of Obama has really given the crazies voice in the US, a little of both.

Of course, we Aussies have our own forged document scandal a happening. A fake email has destroyed the credibility of Malcolm Turnbull, the Opposition Leader.

The source of the fake email was Godwin Grech, a public servant who had delusions of relevancy. And while Turnbull arrogantly rides to his doom, Grech has been unceremoniously dumped by those that once used him.

Any chance now of Uncle Joe giving Godwin a call to see how he is going?

In today’s AFR (behind a pay wall sorry – I went old school and took the page from office copy of the AFR) Geoffery Barker has a timely piece warning on Aussie pollies’ public pronouncements of piety.

The opening is good:

ln his memoir A Figure of Speech the Labor speechwriter Graham Freudenberg recalls Neville Wran’s response in 1978 when an evangelical Dean of Sydney demanded that political candidates say where they stood on Christian values.

A parliamentarians don’t have to pass religious tests since the repeal of the Test Act in 1828 and, as I understand it, it’: no longer obligatory for Anglicans to say they believe the Thirty Nine Articles – even deans” Wran said before Labor won a state election in a landslide.

Indeed. Religion has not been a big part of Australia political life and until recently, most politicians have felt comfortable ignoring any call for a de facto religious test.
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