Merit-bound Alley

Today, we may be hearing who Obama’s VP pick will be. There will likely be discussion all day today here at Delaware Liberal.

I like Joe Biden. His command of foreign policy is unmatched among the potentials, he’s a fairly quick wit, and his ability to say something a little off-key would keep press coverage on the Obama campaign. After a great deal of consideration, the first reason is why I hope he won’t be the VP. Biden is Secretary of State all the way. Think about it, after the election, the VP has almost no real responsibility except as an advisor. What would Joe best advise on? Foreign policy.

Hillary Clinton would be the wisest choice. She’ll give the Obama Campaign a reputation for balls and backbone that, despite it’s strong words against McCain, it has not yet gotten. Clinton is a veteran of Washington clockwork, and will be able to foresee some of the obstacles that Obama won’t. Plainly speaking, her command of internal politics is something that Obama would be wise to learn from.

What else could be gained from a Clinton Vice Presidency? Yes, she adds a veteran perspective to Obama. I think a point that some aren’t seeing is that Obama can reignite in Clinton a bit of youth and idealism that her campign for presidecy sorely lacked. Not only that, Obama has Bill’s merits with strength of ethics that the first Clinton administration lacked. With that, maybe Clinton can secure the next Democratic Presidency. I would very much like to see the next 16 years of Obama, then Hillary Clinton leadership.

One of the laws of life that few people recognize is that we all have something to learn for every other person in this world. If Clinton and Obama can learn the good stuff from each other, I predict very good things for this country in the future: peace, prosperity, happiness, strength, diplomacy, respect both earned for us but also given by us.

Pick Hillary Clinton, Sen. Obama. Give the real idealists something to believe in!

I have to say that I am surprised and delighted to read that the United Methodist Church has proposed and adopted this petition on ID. Here is the text:

Submitted Text

Evolution and Intelligent Design (80839-C1-R9999)

Add a new resolution as follows:

WHEREAS, the United Methodist Church has for many years supported the separation of church and State (paragraph 164, Book of Discipline, 2004, p. 119),

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the General Conference of the United Methodist Church go on record as opposing the introduction of any faith-based theories such as Creationism or Intelligent Design into the science curriculum of our public schools.

Rationale

Creationism and Intelligent Design are appropriate topics in public education classes such as comparative religion, literature, or philosophy since scientific method incorporates critical thinking processes. All truth is God’s truth. The promotion of religion or any particular religion in the public schools is contrary to the First Amendment.

The petition passed with a vote of 38 for, 6 against, and 1 not voting. Please allow me to applaud the UMC and extend a hearty thanks for being the first major religious organization (that I’ve heard of) to officially stand for the integrity of science in the classroom and the critical American value of separation of church and state!

(h/t to The Panda’s Thumb for the link)

Come out to the Deer Park tonight at 8PM for this month’s Drinking Liberally. I’ll be there, as will my lovely wife! You’ll also get the chance to check out Donviti’s new and improved handshake.

Hope to see you there!

I just read a series of communications written by Carly Fleishmann, a 13-year-old girl with autism. Carly showed signs of autism at a young age and to this day is unable to speak. However, two years ago, Carly taught herself how to write using a computer. All of a sudden, her family was able to communicate with her and as her writing skills got better, they were shocked at how articulate and emotional she was.

I couldn’t imagine having a condition where you were thinking and feeling like a normal person, but because of your inability to communicate, everyone around you considered you cognitively impaired. To me, that would be a very special kind of hell. However, spending so much time in her head has given Carly some poignant insights. The below quote struck me the most. It is from a discussion she had with a reporter for Globe and Mail.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OTHER KIDS WITH AUTISM COULD LEARN BY HEARING ABOUT YOUR STORY AND THE PROGRESS YOU HAVE MADE?

To tell you the truth I don’t know

I am a girl with autism that learned how to spell and is now able to tell people what I think Its not like I built a thousand houses in new Orleans or found a way for people who don’t have food get food I think the only thing I can say is don’t give up your inner voice will find its way out Mine did

The reason that this jumped out to me is because of the fact that I’ve always considered it very patronizing when people see a handicapped person and call them a “hero” or “so brave and strong” just for living out their lives. How would you like to be told that you must be superhuman just for your desire to go on living? I think that would piss me off. Carly’s realistic attitude shows not only a clear view of her life, but also hints at the desire to do greater things in the future now that she has found her voice.

Carly’s pragmatic answer to that question also shows a depth of thought that may throw some new views into a disease that still not well understood.

Update: I’m not sure I said the above well, so I remembered and searched for a particular comic in a strip called Something Positive by Randall Milholland. The character in this strip is the main characters sister, who was crippled in an automobile accident, and explains my thought better than I did. Read the comic and, if you have thick skin, check out the archive. You’ve been warned.

And there it is. I’ll be at work anyways, but can count on the whole office to have their eyes glued to the giant TVs on the wall while I use their lack of attention to try to put together something worth reading here. The real kick in the teeth is that those big TVs have no sound, so I’ll miss out on the only thing worth watching during the game: the commercials. Yeah, I’ll see them but won’t hear a thing.  I hope you all enjoy the game tomorrow. I’ll enjoy using the time and my supervisors lack of supervision on more worthy (to me) diversions. 

As some of you may be aware, I’ve been dealing with a few health issues that have made it difficult for me to concentrate on M-BA. I apologize for the lack of posts, but I can say that I haven’t been completely complacent and have used some of my better moments of the past two weeks to my advantage to research my first medicine-related post. Check back before too long to catch it.

My sincerest thanks to those of you who have checked in during the current dry spell!

Maybe it was the horror of seeing Hillary win the NH primaries, but as of Wednesday morning, the back pain has returned. Having just changed to a new doctor, I was nevertheless able to make a last-minute appointment and was diagnosed with sciatica. Because of the intense agony I’ve been dealing with, I have not had the concentration or the will to put anything up. Let’s take a quick look at a summarized comparison of my new doc versus the old.

• Old doctor
  • First visit, said that it wasn’t sciatica because I’d be in constant agony, and at the time of my appointment, I was able to walk fairly well. Suggested I go to Borders and get a book on Yoga and “learn some stretches”.
  • Second visit, after back pain had returned in force, and he wanted to send me to a quack Chiropractor, where I could also indulge my love of fantasy with hypnotherapy and homeopathy. NOTE: the old doctor did not suggest hypnotherapy or homeopathy, they were just extra “services” for people who find that their doctors need no firm grounding in reality and an education in actual medicine.
• New Doctor
  • Took all of five minutes to figure out that I do have sciatica, and prescribed medicine for inflammation, pain, and muscle relaxation. He also ordered me an MRI to get a better look at what’s going on back there. Is also forwarding my medical records to a back and spine specialist with whom I have an appointment at the beginning of February.

Everyone who thinks my move to a different doctor, please raise your hands…….  No hands? Huh, I guess it was a good move.

Due to a trackback from Phil Plait, The Bad Astronomer, I’m having an unprecedented number of hits.

To all the newcomers, I invite you to stick around, comment, check the archives, and add me to your rss readers. Also, though profanity is allowed here and creative profanity encouraged, please try to play nice. Anything that I consider too unkind towards another commenter will not be deleted, but will be replaced with a comment avowing your love of certain members of the animal kingdom.

Thanks to Phil for the shout, and to all of you for coming around!

A scientific look at the magic appearance of presents that your parents didn’t buy. I particularly like this quote:

Is External Delivery the same as Santa Clausism?

No. The theory of external delivery is only concerned with empirically testing whether Christmas presents are delivered by an external agent, or an internal agent such as your parents. Santa Clausism typically starts with the premise that Santa Claus is delivering presents, and then seeks to fit the evidence to that theory. The theory of external delivery has developed strictly from objective interpretations of the empirical evidence.

Enjoy!

Today at work, the conversation of bored geeks turned to a time-honored classic: What superpower would you want to have?

I will not bore you with the choices we made, but I want to mention a beautifully philosophical consideration that one of my coworkers raised.

“Hm… do I want to be a pervert, or do I want to travel?”

Think about it.