Musings 197--The dead wizard

I get frequently miffed at all the arguments between creationists and scientists. Sometimes you just want to say...STOP! USE YOUR HEAD FOR THINKING!

Well, today I can stop because the reason that I loved science has died. Mr. Wizard is dead. (See Link)

Don Herbert, the Saturday morning man of wonders, is dead at 89 years old.

Herbert, known to kids and adults alike as Mr. Wizard, did things that made us wonder. He did it with things that were just lying around the house. He didn't need a big laboratory or much else besides a kitchen table or work shop bench. He involved a kid in every episode.

In the article about his death, it states that Herbert never had any advance degrees in science. Well, he had one in teaching. He was a natural. We went to the moon and back in the 1970's because Herbert fanned the flame of learning in an entire generation of kids.

At that time there were no debates about science and God. Both co-existed in the same universe with not so much as a wrinkle. Both were deemed necessary. Maybe we should learn from this past...maybe.

Don Herbert's passing marks the end of an era of America. It was a time when learning was fun, and politics didn't intrude. Well the dead wizard is now history, and with him goes a national treasure.

Musings 196--Mitt Romney's revised history.

So I'm sitting there in my living room watching CNN's presentation of the Republican candidates for office of President of the United States. Now most of the time, the candidates tend to embelish a bit when they answer questions. Minor stretches of the truth are quite common. However, I was totally taken aback when I heard Mitt Romney say that if Sadaam hadn't kick out the inspectors we would have never gone to war in Iraq.

Now sometimes my memory is a bit fuzzy. But, I distinctly remember that after Sadaam kicked out the inspectors, several years later--in September 17, 2002 to be exact, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan talked Sadaam into letting them back in. UN chief inspector Han Blix and hundreds of inspectors went all over Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction.

On March 17,2003--three days before Bushie sent out troops to war--the inspectors pulled out of Iraq after finding nothing that constituted weapons of mass destruction.

Obviously, Mitt has forgotten this...or he is trying to change history. Either way, he proves that he is not to be trusted. If his memory is that bad, he doesn't need to be president. It he is trying to change history; then, he is a lair and is as dangerous as Bushie bady.

The really remarkable thing is that not one of the CNN monitors of the debate caught it. John Dickerson of Slate magazine and Paul Begala, former Clinton advisor and now CNN political expert, were the only ones that saw what I saw.

Revisionist history has always been around, but most of the time the guys are usually dead they are revising it about. Oh...wait, Sadaam is...ah, dead, but Bush and Cheney are still kicking.

Musings 195--Free speech ain't free if you're a marine.

Marine Sgt. Adam Kokesh served honorably in Iraq. When his tour was over he came home and received an "honorable discharge" from the Corps. Others have done the same. However, Kokesh is now learning that the freedom he was fighting for doesn't necessarily apply to a former marine. Isn't this a great country or what?

According to Nick Juliano of rawstory.com, (See Link) Kokesh is now against the United States' involvement in Iraq. He has demonstrated against the war since receiving his "honorable discharge." This apparently has made the Marine Corps angry. It wants Kokesh's "honorable discharge" back. It wants to give him an "other than honorable" discharge.

Now all good Marines know that you can't say much while you are in the Corps. Freedom of speech is just a nice thing that civilians have. You are suppose to die for it, but you sure don't have it. When you get out and become a civilian, then, and only then, do you get to have the freedom of speech that you fought for. Yeah, right!

Here is part of the article: The demonstration involved Kokesh and other vets performing mock patrols around the nation's capital to offer Americans a peek at what life is like in Iraq. Kokesh wore his Marine fatigues with his name, rank and Marine Corps insignia patches removed. The military told Kokesh that wearing the uniform violated Defense Department regulations, despite the fact that he had been honorably discharged from the service the previous year. Kokesh is still part of the Inactive Ready Reserve, which allows for discharged troops to be called back to service in case of an emergency.

Kokesh was informed via e-mail that he may be violating regulations, and he did not take the admonishment lightly. He responded to the officer who had sent the e-mail, advising him not to waste time on "such petty issues, (while) our fellow Marines continue to die in futility...."

"So no, I am not replying to your e-mail in order to acknowledge my understanding of my obligations and responsibilities," Kokesh wrote, " but rather to ask you to please, kindly, go fuck yourself."

I couln't have put it better myself.