One of my more persistent worries in life is the state of scientific freedom in the USA. I'm not refering to legitimate roadblocks placed in front of ethically questionable science (human cloning) but political and religious (is that redundant?) roadblocks to ethical science and a general social sense that intellectuals are un-cool.
Here we have a blog reporting on the supression of science at NASA.
This is more than just the conservative religious attacks on ethical stem cell research and the teaching of evolution. It is even more than the economic and political issues of science that supports the theory of global warming. We're talking about a general trend in American society that values "tough guys" over "nerds" and "Gangstas" over "Scientists". Who'd want to grow up to be a goofy nerd scientist working for NASA that gets handled by political hacks to prevent politically unpopular evidence from making the news? Better to be football or basketball star--lots of money and chicks--no math.
Something I've heard on the Daily Show and is worth repeating here: Evangelical christians believe we are in the final days before the rapture and second comming of their god. Earth will become a living hell. We've elected these people to the highest levels of government and they are in control of our environmental policies. People who think Earth has no future are now in charge of it all.
bootsgt
Free Speech in Europe.
Tags: 
free speecheurope
free speecheurope As the whole 12 Cartoon thing continues to boil over and the world forgets that Iran is breaking seals, turning off cameras, and enriching weapons-grade uranium, comes this gem:
Free Speech In Europe
As Americans we react pretty quickly to most threats against our free speech (most, but not all). It's easy for us to forget that Europe doesn't have free speech as we define it. Holocost denial is a crime in Germany, for example. For us there is no double standard in free speech; even the most horrid speech is protected here.
This places the cartoon conflict in a different perspective for me. As an American, I don't think I'm particularly suited to fully understand the muslim complaints. At least now I understand why Holocaust cartoons are the focus for the press backlash in places like Iran. They aren't targeting Jews here so much as what they see as a European bias in favor of protecting Jews but not Muslims from similar hate speech. My first reaction to that realization was to say, sure, but don't they get the unique history of Europe, especially Germany, Italy, and France with regards to the Jews in particular? If Germany had done the same to Muslims in the 40s it would be a different issue, right? And then I kicked myself in the butt for not being so well-read on the Crusades. Note to self: spend some time this week learning about the European campaigns to kill the "heathens".
Something else in the article caught my attention:
I hear this a lot here in the good 'ol USA too, mostly from conservatives. "If you don't like the way things are, move to another country." Which, of course, is completely against the way our political system is set up. The majority rules, yes, but only with respect for the minority. This is why there is a house of government based on population and another based only on geography (state). We have the filibuster which grants a single senator the ability to slow down business and other tools the minority can use to better their lot in life. Colorado's infamous Ammendment 2 was struck down by the US Supreme Court because it stripped from a class if citizens the right to better their lives by passing laws. (Ammendment 2 prohibited any law in Colorado that provided protections, benefits, rights, or even official recognition to homosexuals. It did not prohibit anti-gay laws.)
To hear a German of some public note (Die Welt is not a small publication) basically say the majority rules and the minority be damned is scary precisely because the German state followed exactly this principle with regard to the Jews in the 40s.
Free Speech In Europe
As Americans we react pretty quickly to most threats against our free speech (most, but not all). It's easy for us to forget that Europe doesn't have free speech as we define it. Holocost denial is a crime in Germany, for example. For us there is no double standard in free speech; even the most horrid speech is protected here.
This places the cartoon conflict in a different perspective for me. As an American, I don't think I'm particularly suited to fully understand the muslim complaints. At least now I understand why Holocaust cartoons are the focus for the press backlash in places like Iran. They aren't targeting Jews here so much as what they see as a European bias in favor of protecting Jews but not Muslims from similar hate speech. My first reaction to that realization was to say, sure, but don't they get the unique history of Europe, especially Germany, Italy, and France with regards to the Jews in particular? If Germany had done the same to Muslims in the 40s it would be a different issue, right? And then I kicked myself in the butt for not being so well-read on the Crusades. Note to self: spend some time this week learning about the European campaigns to kill the "heathens".
Something else in the article caught my attention:
Roger Koeppel, editor in chief at German newspaper Die Welt, which published the cartoons last week, says that European societies have a right to make their own choices. [...]
At times, he says, it may appear there is a double standard. "Evenhandedness cannot be a goal," he says. "It has to be clear that the majority culture rules and the minority culture has to accept the rules. If the rules are not acceptable, no one is forced to live there."
I hear this a lot here in the good 'ol USA too, mostly from conservatives. "If you don't like the way things are, move to another country." Which, of course, is completely against the way our political system is set up. The majority rules, yes, but only with respect for the minority. This is why there is a house of government based on population and another based only on geography (state). We have the filibuster which grants a single senator the ability to slow down business and other tools the minority can use to better their lot in life. Colorado's infamous Ammendment 2 was struck down by the US Supreme Court because it stripped from a class if citizens the right to better their lives by passing laws. (Ammendment 2 prohibited any law in Colorado that provided protections, benefits, rights, or even official recognition to homosexuals. It did not prohibit anti-gay laws.)
To hear a German of some public note (Die Welt is not a small publication) basically say the majority rules and the minority be damned is scary precisely because the German state followed exactly this principle with regard to the Jews in the 40s.
Change
[warning! insanely gooey, personal stuff below.]
Change is a wave. Do I surf it or take a deep breath and hope the undertow isn't lethal?
A week ago a layoff package arrived on my front doorstep. It's a complex thing involving "voluntary" and "volunteer or else" type overtones. Needless to say, I've "volunteered" to be layed off. I chose to surf, I guess.
After 12.5 years at the same job I can't say I'm sorry to be going. After all, my resume is stuffed full of skills that were on the decline in 1993 when I took the darned job. Dice.com says there are a total of 5 jobs open in the entire country for which my basic skillset is desired. Why did I wait this long?! Inertia? I dunno.
Woohoo! (oh, sorry, meant to keep that bit in.)
The upside is I get to revitalize my career and start a new adventure. The downside is we will most likely have to relocate to a place where my skills can land me a good-paying job.
Tampa Bay is a great place to live if your income comes from out of state. Retirees, the wealthy, and telcommuters love it here. But the wages are roughly 50% of what they'd be in other states for similar work. This is marketed here as "Sun Pay". Working on the local enconomy is gonna give me sun stroke. So we'll be selling our wonderful, large, historic home with the pool and jungle landscaping for, well, whatever comes next. Most likely this will be a very small, hugely expensive, fixer-upper in the Western US (San Diego lists high with both tech jobs (me) and medical jobs (Troy)).
Now San Diego is close to family in Central California and Las Vegas, plus friends in LA. It boasts a decent gay community and is blessed with great weather and arts. Nevermind the beaches, which I think are some of the best in the U.S. It is also one of the more conservative cities in California and has had a lot of trouble with political corruption on the city and county level. And then there's the traffic, which Troy thinks will be better than here. That'll be an interesting thing to get his opinion on later.
What we leave behind is a Red state with terrible records on education and diversity. The closer you get to the Northern border with Georgia the worse the racism gets, but even here in Tampa we see lots of unapologetic, public racism. Culturally, religion is central in the South with most community activities taking place in churches--even secular activities like, say, voting. Yup. That's right. I vote in a United Methodist church. For those that don't track these things, the methodists are anti-gay as a national organization. They're hip-deep in the whole "gay reparative therapy" thing. So I go to vote in a building who's members, local and national, are quite seriously out to get me and change me.
We also leave behind a neighborhood that's become my own local family. Friends of all stripes that make leaving here quite painful. Most people don't know their neighbors very well or at all. They might be able to recite how many children the family across the street has or pick out cars that don't belong. I've not only met ny neighbors, I've met their parents and had them all over for dinner at least once. They have my house key and my truck key and are comfortable comming into my home when I'm away to borrow whatever they need. (How many readers just gasped or cringed there?) There is that much trust among us. And I'm not just talking about someone next door, I'm talking about 8 households that I'm very close to and another 15 households I consider friends. It feels like I'm leaving home again for the first time.
I just don't see finding that degree of closeness with my neighbors anywhere but here. I know that is the real price to moving forward with my career. I can take a low-paying job and keep the friends or I have to move and forever change the nature of our friendship with little hope of finding that same closeness in a new place.
Change is a wave. Do I surf it or take a deep breath and hope the undertow isn't lethal?
A week ago a layoff package arrived on my front doorstep. It's a complex thing involving "voluntary" and "volunteer or else" type overtones. Needless to say, I've "volunteered" to be layed off. I chose to surf, I guess.
After 12.5 years at the same job I can't say I'm sorry to be going. After all, my resume is stuffed full of skills that were on the decline in 1993 when I took the darned job. Dice.com says there are a total of 5 jobs open in the entire country for which my basic skillset is desired. Why did I wait this long?! Inertia? I dunno.
Woohoo! (oh, sorry, meant to keep that bit in.)
The upside is I get to revitalize my career and start a new adventure. The downside is we will most likely have to relocate to a place where my skills can land me a good-paying job.
Tampa Bay is a great place to live if your income comes from out of state. Retirees, the wealthy, and telcommuters love it here. But the wages are roughly 50% of what they'd be in other states for similar work. This is marketed here as "Sun Pay". Working on the local enconomy is gonna give me sun stroke. So we'll be selling our wonderful, large, historic home with the pool and jungle landscaping for, well, whatever comes next. Most likely this will be a very small, hugely expensive, fixer-upper in the Western US (San Diego lists high with both tech jobs (me) and medical jobs (Troy)).
Now San Diego is close to family in Central California and Las Vegas, plus friends in LA. It boasts a decent gay community and is blessed with great weather and arts. Nevermind the beaches, which I think are some of the best in the U.S. It is also one of the more conservative cities in California and has had a lot of trouble with political corruption on the city and county level. And then there's the traffic, which Troy thinks will be better than here. That'll be an interesting thing to get his opinion on later.
What we leave behind is a Red state with terrible records on education and diversity. The closer you get to the Northern border with Georgia the worse the racism gets, but even here in Tampa we see lots of unapologetic, public racism. Culturally, religion is central in the South with most community activities taking place in churches--even secular activities like, say, voting. Yup. That's right. I vote in a United Methodist church. For those that don't track these things, the methodists are anti-gay as a national organization. They're hip-deep in the whole "gay reparative therapy" thing. So I go to vote in a building who's members, local and national, are quite seriously out to get me and change me.
We also leave behind a neighborhood that's become my own local family. Friends of all stripes that make leaving here quite painful. Most people don't know their neighbors very well or at all. They might be able to recite how many children the family across the street has or pick out cars that don't belong. I've not only met ny neighbors, I've met their parents and had them all over for dinner at least once. They have my house key and my truck key and are comfortable comming into my home when I'm away to borrow whatever they need. (How many readers just gasped or cringed there?) There is that much trust among us. And I'm not just talking about someone next door, I'm talking about 8 households that I'm very close to and another 15 households I consider friends. It feels like I'm leaving home again for the first time.
I just don't see finding that degree of closeness with my neighbors anywhere but here. I know that is the real price to moving forward with my career. I can take a low-paying job and keep the friends or I have to move and forever change the nature of our friendship with little hope of finding that same closeness in a new place.
For those of you tracking this issue, here is a more tech-oriented take on it.
"In a political culture which is increasingly polarized, where the “other side” is increasingly demonized, it is plausible that such tactics in the future could be rationalized by those in power, if they felt that there was a sufficiently low probability of being caught."
It's all about accountability.
"In a political culture which is increasingly polarized, where the “other side” is increasingly demonized, it is plausible that such tactics in the future could be rationalized by those in power, if they felt that there was a sufficiently low probability of being caught."
It's all about accountability.
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