blivet 2.0

I held out hope for the people of Louisania, Mississippi and Alabama so hard hit by Katrina, but the news seems to be getting worse.

New Orleans shelters to be evacuated
Floodwaters rising, devastation widespread in Katrina’s wake [CNN]

I missed this on Sunday.

Show Me the Science by Daniel C. Dennett [New York Times]

Wherein a professor of philosophy at Tufts University and the author of Freedom Evolves and Darwin’s Dangerous Idea writes about Intelligent Design.

It seems obvious, doesn’t it, that there couldn’t be any designs without designers, any such creations without a creator.

Well, yes - until you look at what contemporary biology has demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt: that natural selection - the process in which reproducing entities must compete for finite resources and thereby engage in a tournament of blind trial and error from which improvements automatically emerge - has the power to generate breathtakingly ingenious designs.
…
Indeed, no intelligent design hypothesis has even been ventured as a rival explanation of any biological phenomenon. This might seem surprising to people who think that intelligent design competes directly with the hypothesis of non-intelligent design by natural selection. But saying, as intelligent design proponents do, “You haven’t explained everything yet,” is not a competing hypothesis. Evolutionary biology certainly hasn’t explained everything that perplexes biologists. But intelligent design hasn’t yet tried to explain anything.

To formulate a competing hypothesis, you have to get down in the trenches and offer details that have testable implications. So far, intelligent design proponents have conveniently sidestepped that requirement, claiming that they have no specifics in mind about who or what the intelligent designer might be.
…
It’s worth pointing out that there are plenty of substantive scientific controversies in biology that are not yet in the textbooks or the classrooms. The scientific participants in these arguments vie for acceptance among the relevant expert communities in peer-reviewed journals, and the writers and editors of textbooks grapple with judgments about which findings have risen to the level of acceptance - not yet truth - to make them worth serious consideration by undergraduates and high school students.

SO get in line, intelligent designers. Get in line behind the hypothesis that life started on Mars and was blown here by a cosmic impact. Get in line behind the aquatic ape hypothesis, the gestural origin of language hypothesis and the theory that singing came before language, to mention just a few of the enticing hypotheses that are actively defended but still insufficiently supported by hard facts.
…
For now, though, the theory they are promoting is exactly what George Gilder, a long-time affiliate of the Discovery Institute, has said it is: “Intelligent design itself does not have any content.”

Since there is no content, there is no “controversy” to teach about in biology class. But here is a good topic for a high school course on current events and politics: Is intelligent design a hoax? And if so, how was it perpetrated?

Over half of the searches to this site arrive via “Intelligent Design is Bullshit.” And so it is.

[I apologize to you for the excerpt being kinda long, but the op-ed is kinda good. There is symmetry.]

Jonathan has a nice list of maps and satellite imagery of Hurricane Katrina. [The Map Room]

Like many I know, I am somewhat transfixed as Katrina makes land fall as a Category 5 storm.

Unlike many I know, I have had the good fortune to have visited New Orleans. I spent a week there at a conference in 1996 or 1997. I think. Maybe it was 1995.

A beautiful city with history and personality oozing (so to speak) from every surface whether natural or wrought by human hands. I hope things turn out OK. I know that’s kind of anemic, but that is pretty much the state of my hope.

[9am update] Just for the sake of accuracy, Katrina came ashore as a Cat 4. Our thoughts are with the residents and friends of New Orleans, Louisania and the Gulf Coast…

Just a little follow-up to our visit to Centennial Hills Park:

A good time was had by all.

Ian and I had a big morning at Centennial Hills Park, swinging on the swings, going down the slides and playing in the water feature. A LOT of running around and splashing in the water fountains. So much so that after a couple of hours he actually informed me, “Daddy, you’re tired. Go home and go sleep!” He wasn’t tired of course. I guess he was just watching out for me.

So we toweled off, put some dry clothes on and went home. He crawled in his bed — by his own decision — and just went to sleep. No matter how tired he has been that’s a first!

I’m not quite sure I’m ready for him to be such a big boy, going potty all by himself and now deciding to take a nap bacause he’s tired. I know it won’t happen very often, but it is the first time I have seen it.

He was right though, I am tired so I think I will go to sleep. Later I’ll see how the pictures I took at the park came out and perhaps post some.

Mmm, nap…

Switched on Bach was my introduction to the Moog. Rest in Peace, Sir.

Synthesizer Innovator Robert A. Moog Dies [AP]
Robert A. Moog, whose self-named synthesizers turned electric currents into sound and opened the musical wave that became electronica, has died. He was 71.
…
A childhood interest in the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, would lead Moog to a create a career and business that tied the name Moog as tightly to synthesizers as the name Les Paul is to electric guitars.

Despite traveling in circles that included jet-setting rockers, he always considered himself a technician.

“I’m an engineer. I see myself as a toolmaker and the musicians are my customers,” he said in 2000. “They use the tools.”

Audrey and Ian went to see a matinée of Valiant today. Good fun.

One of the good things about most of the Disney releases, especially all of the Pixar movies (Valiant is from Disney not via Pixar), is that there really isn’t much done in the name of getting a laugh that results is problem behavior in your young child. Valiant gets highest marks in this regard.

As an example, at one point in the recently viewed Madagascar, all of the main cast members spit mouthfuls of water all over the place. “Honey, stop that. Don’t do that!” “But, Alex the Lion did it in the movie!” Sigh.

Hitting, slapping, yelling, losing tempers, being belligerent (including so called ‘attitude’), throwing things — they’re all part of things I would rather avoid paying to have my son pick up in a movie. Pixar and most of the Disney stuff has very little or none of this stuff. Don’t even get me started on farting and belching. I do not want yet another discussion about why bodily functions are not nearly as humorous in real life as they are in an animated movie with my nearly 4-year old.

Yes, Dreamworks, I’m looking at you.

I have become such a stick in the mud Dad.

Creation & Intelligent Design Watch [via mark]

(later snarky addition via Tom) Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New ‘Intelligent Falling’ Theory. [The Onion]

A giant of the acoustic music world has died. Rest in peace, dear Sir.

Vassar Clements (1928 - 2005) [VassarClements.Com]
Dear Friends,

On August 16th 2005 at 8:25 am Nashville time, the angels in heaven stopped singing for a moment, as they heard the most beautiful music approaching from a distance - the high lonesome sound of Vassar Clements’ fiddle.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of this truly wonderful and beautiful man whose purpose in life on Earth was in spreading love and happiness to people, both through his music and through his generosity and light of spirit.

Vassar indeed has touched the lives of so many of us, and we can all count ourselves as blessed to have been witness to the musical genius and kind-hearted nature of this great yet humble man.

It is a great testament to a life when those whose paths you crossed hold you up as an example on how to treat others. Vassar’s guestbook is that testament and shows how incredibly loved and admired Vassar was on this Earth by both those who knew him personally and those who knew him only through his music.

I would like to thank Vassar’s daughter Midge and son-in-law George on behalf of all of us that loved Vassar for the great love and care they have shown him since the passing of his wife Millie just over seven years ago. Selfless and devoted, they not only took care of Vassar emotionally and physically, but also jumped in and learned the music business so Vassar could continue to play for all of us around the country.

I picture Vassar and Millie in heaven, reunited in the love they shared that transcends all things, him playing while she dances.

Thank You Vassar - God Bless You. Rest In Peace.

Legendary Fiddler Vassar Clements Dies at 77 [WorldMusicCentral.Org]
Vassar Clements was described as the Father of Hillbilly Jazz. His work encompassed multiple genres, including country, bluegrass, Western swing, jazz, rock and classical.

He was one the world’s most versatile fiddle players. His career began at a very early age. His phenomenal ability to virtually play any kind of music (bluegrass, country, pop, rock, jazz and swing) garnered him various awards, including five Grammy nominations and a track record that involves multitudes of recording performances.

Vassar Clements: biography [WorldMusicCentral.Org]
Vassar’s career spanned over fifty years. His association with Bill Monroe began when he was only 14 years old and still in school. He started with Bill as a regular Bluegrass Boy in 1949 and was with him through 1956. From 1957 to 1961 he performed with bluegrass stalwarts, Jim & Jesse McReynolds. In 1962 he took leave from his music to pursue other interests, but returned to full time music when he decided to make Nashville his home in January 1967.

Vassar did recording sessions and played tenor banjo in Nashville ’s “Dixieland Landing” club until October 1969. He then started touring with Faron Young and doing occasional solo dates when time permitted. In February 1971, he joined John Hartford and his “Dobrolic Plectral Society”, initiating a professional association and personal friendship that has grown even stronger through the years. After ten months, and earning an enormous amount of recognition and popularity the group decided to disband. Vassar then found himself with the legendary Earl Scruggs and the “Earl Scruggs Revue”.

During this time, one of the most important milestones in his career was his participation on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s 1972 Landmark album Will The Circle Be Unbroken. This historical event was produced by William McEuen and featured an extravaganza of bluegrass, country and folk’s greatest artists. It was the turning point that re-kindled Vassar’s career and at the same time introduced him to a much younger non-country audience.

Within a few short months, Vassar was recording and/or performing with Dicky Betts, Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Grisman, Paul McCartney et al. In May 1973, The Classic, Old & In The Way album was recorded in San Francisco during a live performance. The Sales from this project have exceeded other albums of like kind, and has formed staunch cults that still exist after twenty three years.

Eliot is going to listen to Old & In The Way. That’s a helluva good idea.