Hypothesis

1: A tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test it’s logical and empirical consequences.

I have never really understood the need of a hypothesis in the scientific method. I understand it’s purpose. It gives reason and a goal to study and experimentation, but a purpose is not a need. And I don’t see a place for assumption in science. The same with consensus. Consensus is not science. Science is [supposed to be] truth. Not just what is currently popular. Science should begin with observable evidence, not assumption.  Hypothesis injects bias into the heart of science. It gives the experimenter “something to prove”. This can lead to selective reasoning, ignoring or even suppressing relevant facts. Or Political Correctness for the sake of getting funding. Too many times I have read of scientists who have fudged the facts to get continued funding for a project.

Now let me say that I am not someone who believes that scientists are high priests or Oracles of Knowledge. They are people just like the rest of us. They have biases. they make mistakes. And while most of them are decent honest people that are content to carry out their work in labs around the world, many will do and say whatever is necessary to get what they want, be it funding, fortune or fame. Unfortunately these are the ones we most often hear about.

I recently watched a program on PBS called “Judgment Day“. A program about the Evolution/Intelligent Design Trial in Dover Kansas a few years ago. One line from the court room re-enactment really stood out for me.  The actor portraying Dr. Ken Miller said “It could be true, but it certainly wouldn’t be science.”  It could be true, but it certainly wouldn’t be science?? Forgive my ignorance but I thought that science was all about finding the truth. Even determining the truth.

Evolutionists rarely debate Intelligent Design(ID) on the basis of truth. They always try to focus on the fact that it doesn’t fit their definition of science. But this definition begins with a huge assumption. That everything can be proved naturally. I’d like to see the evidence for that. You cannot empirically say that there is no GOD. Or that there is nothing outside of the natural world that can affect ours. If you start with that assumption then you will look at evidence with a bias. You may throw out evidence that doesn’t fit your paradigm and even confuse Cause with Effect.

The church is guilty of the same thing. Many people wonder how there can be so many denominations that all read the same book. It’s not because of what they believe. Most Denominations have a lot in common. It’s what they choose to ignore that separates them.  In order to remain a good Catholic you pretty much have to ignore the third chapter of the Book of John. All religions have these quirks. All people have Bias. Be they religious or scientific.

Also posted here

The Rich Get Richer

I have been hearing a lot of what amounts to Hate Speech by the current administration and the Media. Hate Speech towards the wealthy of this country. We even have a Senator calling for the Executives of AIG to commit suicide. Many of them are receiving death threats for receiving bonuses that they may or may not have earned but are entitled to by contract. Barney Frank, the Clown Prince of the House of Representatives has said that he thinks the names of the threatened executives should be made public. Where is the hysteria similar to what was created when someone supposedly shouted threats of Obama at McCain/Palin rallies? This of course did not really happen, but the misplaced hysteria was real.

My reason for writing this post is similar to my “One Bad Apple” story. The Adage “The Rich get Richer and the Poor Get Poorer” Is a copout and a fallacy. In America anyway. This is “The Land of Opportunity”. A place where anyone can get rich. Part of the reason that the Middle Class is shrinking is that They are moving into the Upper Middle Class and even the Wealthy Class.  Of course I am using these terms arbitrarily since we do not have set “classes” in this country. The “Rich” can become poor and the “Poor” can become Rich. If you have read The book “The millionaire next door” Or “The art of selling to the affluent” By Matt Oechsli , Then you would know what I mean.

Now before anyone asks why I am defending the rich, Let me say that I am not defending a class of people. I am defending FREEDOM. If these politicians can take taxpayers money and give it without conditions to a huge corporation that probably had other options, then express Phony Outrage about how they spend it, Then what is stopping them from determining how much YOU and I make at our jobs.  What happens when the government, Who already determines a minimum wage, decides to set a Maximum wage as well? All they have to do is get the Hoi Polloi stirred up into a frenzy over people that make more money than they do. Dehumanize the rich. There was another leader in the last century who used that same technique to convince young men to commit the most horrible atrocities against a class of people for the sake of public good.

Watch the other hand. When a magician makes a big flourish with one hand, it’s the other hand you should be watching. That’s where the real trickery takes place.  When these politicians are going after “the Rich”,  It’s your freedom that is the real target.

Simultaneously posted Here

The Secret of Secret Shopping

As more and more people lose their jobs,  many will turn to the Internet for ways to make some extra money. Unfortunately Many scammers will do the same. I heard about a thing called “Secret Shopping” when I worked as a Optician, making and selling eyeglasses. My boss told me that his wife did it, And how to spot someone who was a Shopper.

If you don’t know what I am talking about,  I’ll give a brief description. There are companies that Contract with service and retail Companies to send people into their stores and evaluate the service of it’s employees.  As a shopper you are given specific instructions of what to buy, or  Sometimes Buy and Return. Then You fill out a questionnaire and if you have followed the instructions to a T they will refund your money but you get to keep the product. Sometimes you receive a small stipend in addition to the item.

There are a lot of companies out there that will hire Secret Shoppers over the internet, But there are a lot of companies that will rip you off too. If they ask for money up front, They are probably not legit. Even if they are, many companies don’t, so try them first.

I always check www.ripoffreport.com before I deal with anyone over the web. It has user generated content and companies have a chance to respond, so you get both sides of the story.

You can check the forums to find out who pays and who makes excuses.

But the title of this article has the word “Secret” in it, So you are probably looking for a secret aren’t you?  Well The Secret is…You don’t have to go through a Secret Shopping company to get paid. It’s called Customer service. Many companies will pay you for your feedback if you do it right. I once called Gorton’s Fish company to comment on their boxes. Big Box Little Tiny fish sticks. They sent me a coupon for any Gortons product free.  I recently called CS for a winery to comment on how much I didn’t like their rubber corks. They sent me a check for the amount I paid for two bottles of wine. I called Taco Bell a while back and told them that their food did not look like their Menu Boards. Not only did they send me a coupon for a free meal, The next time I went in, there were two people interviewing Customers about the food.  I don’t know if it was purely because of me, I doubt it, But the bottom line is Companies WANT to hear from customers. Good or bad. Especially when the economy is stale, they want to find ways of improving their service.  Sometimes that is better than lowering prices.

So Just make a phone call, but Be polite, Being angry will get you nowhere. But let let companies know how you feel about their service. Name Names if necessary. Who knows you may just get paid for your opinion. And leave a comment here if you do.

One Bad Apple

“I’m pure as the driven slush.” Tallulah Bankhead

I stood in the elevator on the eighth (administrative) floor of the Public Library as the newly refurbished elevator door came very slowly to a close. A very loud warning signal assaulted those of us inside. On the way down I broke the unwritten rule by commenting to the well dressed lady in the car with me.

I said something about how could someone need to be warned about something so obvious as closing elevator doors and that we were becoming a society saturated with warnings. To which she replied “One Bad Apple spoils it for the rest of us”

I have noticed in my life that the more well educated a person is, the more likely they are to respond with a platitude rather than actually think for themselves. But let’s think for a moment about this saying.

“One bad apple spoils a whole bunch”

So, If you have a bushel of apples, and you spot a bad one, do you just write off the bushel? Or do you pick out the bad one, take a quick look at the the remaining ones to see if any more are bad and move on? I have found that a lot of sayings don’t stand up to common sense.

“Still waters run deep”

Still water doesn’t run, now does it?

“Pure as the driven snow”

Driven snow is rarely pure.

So the next time you are going to answer a problem with a platitude, give it a little thought first.

And how about if we start picking out our bad apples instead of just allowing them to spoil the whole bushel.

Act of Karma

Sharon Stone was criticized recently for some remarks she made about the earthquakes in China being Karma for their treatment of the people of Tibet.

You know, for so long, an event like this would have been called an “Act of God”, What’s wrong with calling it an “Act Of Karma” if that is what she believes in? To assign it specifically to their relationship with Tibet is a bit judgmental, I agree. But if she (or you) don’t believe in God then you have to call it something .)

The city of Bam in SE Iran was hit by a major earthquake on Boxing Day in 2003, then, Exactly one year later The Indian Ocean region was hit by a major Tsunami. Even though I did not hear of any Christian leaders saying it, I’m sure Many Christians at least wondered if these “Acts of God” Really Were Acts of God. And if that weren’t enough, On the Same Day in 2006, an earthquake of about 6.7 on the Richter scale hit a place called Hengchun in Taiwan. I did not hear about this at the time but apparently the only effects it had on America was a temporary decrease in Spam.

So if someone does not believe in God But does Believe in Karma then what is wrong with calling it so? In fact wouldn’t it be discrimination not to?

Of course, calling something an “Act of Karma” would turn the insurance industry on it’s head. “Ohh I’m terribly sorry to hear about your house fire Mrs Jones but we’ve taken a look at your life and decided that It was an “Act of Karma”, you see, You deserved it and I’m Afraid you’re not covered.” So sad.

Happy Mother’s Day

…To the Best Mom I ever had.

Composting Redux.

Well I just found out that the second week of May is International Compost Awareness Week. Since I am a person who believes that composting will do much more to benefit this planet than parking your SUV, I thought I should bring this up and provide a few links to help the slackers get started. I said in my previous post that  the basics of Composting could be learned in an article not much longer than an average blog post. So here is such an article. Also, here is a website for composting.  If you would like to build your own bin, try this Instructibles.com article.  It’s not just for farmers anymore.

Taxing the rich.

What if we eliminated corporate tax in America? Calm down… breathe normally…4 3 2 1. Ok now read carefully….
I heard someone talk about this on the radio tonite, and When I realized the implications I almost had a heart attack. I hear people all the time saying (parroting) that we should increase taxes on the rich. I think that is the stupidest idea in the world. Who do you think pays those taxes? Who do you work for? Now if your answer has anything to do with the gov’t then you aren’t going to like what I am saying. I won’t spend a lot of time going into how much “the rich” already pay but let’s just say that it’s the 20/80 rule on steroids. Something like 5/95.
But really, Who is REALLY paying those taxes? WE are. Big companies call this CODB or Cost of Doing Business and Taxes are part of the price you pay for an item. That is BEFORE Sales Tax! So you, Johnny and Jane Taxpayer, You pay tax when you earn money. You pay tax when you spend it. You even pay tax when you save it and earn interest. On top of THAT, You are also paying the tax of the company THAT MADE THE PRODUCT! (it’s in the price.)
So again… What if we ended Corporate Tax? First, Outsourcing would end. Do you ever wonder WHY companies ship jobs overseas. Cheaper labor is part of it. But Cheaper taxes and Fewer regulations are another part. A much bigger part. Without corporate taxes, Foreign companies would be begging to operate here. Prices would be much lower. the Economy would flow like Drano. Innovation would soar. Research and Development would be a larger part of society and people would have better jobs to choose from. If Corporations did not pay taxes they, like Churches today, would have less say over what happens in Government and Taxpayers would have more power. Any objections???

Storefront Schools

Here’s a novel Idea. Make schools (I’m talking about K-12 here) smaller. They would be easier to control. Better student to teacher ratio. Better security. And closer to home. They would also better reflect the community that surrounds them. We need more schools. The ones we have are usually overcrowded by the time they are built, and they cost millions before they even open their doors. Meanwhile there are lots of empty storefronts in most every large metropolitan city. Excellent space going to waste.  Now, most people will think I am either very naive or quite mad to even suggest this but to those people I say, ”what do you suggest?”  More of the status quo? And how is that working? A lot of schoolwork is done online anyway. Or at least it could be. What would it matter if the next classroom is down the hall or down the street? (Of couse I am not suggesting that kids travel from one storefront to another during a schoolday.) I could go into all the advantages of smaller schools but I don’t think I really need to. It would take much less space to list the advantages of Large Overcrowded Schools, wouldn’t it? Now I am not suggesting that we bulldoze the schools that already exist but as cities expand, it is an option. The school that I went to had six “portables” behind the school where practically everyone took at least one class. They each had their own A/C and heat system, plumbing and electricity and porches (and yet they were ‘portable’?)  They were practically freestanding storefronts anyway, And this was in a rather small suburb of Detroit. More than twenty years ago. OK a lot more. And to be honest, having part of your Jr. High that was “portable” really did not gender a lot of confidence in a teenagers mushy mind.

It’s sort of a modern day “Little Red Schoolhouse”. The average storefront could hold 2-3 classes of about 15 kids each or fewer kids in more classes. You could put a couple of different grades in each one and have a few teachers and an administrator in each. Have an overseer that covers a dozen or so schools and a regional “Principal” that oversees a district. As you can probably tell by now I have no experience in the school system except as a pupil, but I think even the most cynical of you can see what I am talking about. I am sure that you cynics can see many problems with a system like this. After all isn’t that what cynics do? But problems can be overcome and most solutions to problems usually bring their own set of problems anyway. It’s just an Idea.

You want to save the world? Compost.

Could I have chosen a more boring subject for my first ever blogpost? Maybe, But this is important enough to, well, be important. I know that you have heard about Cfls and French fry grease for fuel. But the truth is that Gasoline, For all its faults is pretty much the best thing going right now. Will that change in the future? Man, I hope so. But for about the last 40 or so years, We have been hearing about solar and wind being the future of energy. And while most technologies have gotten better and less expensive, Solar is still not the panacea it was promised to be. And since solar cells were originally made from slag (waste) from the silicon chip industry,and chips are now being made more efficiently, the solar folks have to actually manufacture their own raw materials, Thus solar is now MORE expensive than ever. And if you live in a neighborhood with trees as I do, you may find that you have to cut some down in order to get full capacity from them. (I would have to cut down two. A huge live oak and a ficus tree.) According to one website that sells solar power systems, “Solar Power accounts for 0.001% of the electricity generated in this country.” and as I have looked at various sites I have yet to find one that says that their manufacturing plant is powered by Solar electricity.

Wind power is somewhat better. The problem with Wind is that in order for it to provide power for even a small community a Wind machine has to be Huge, And properly sited. There is saying in Germany that “wind machines don’t run on wind, they run on subsidies.” Or you can have the small backyard machine. You don’t need an Electrical Engineering degree to install one, But it helps. So if your city building code allows it and your neighbors don’t complain about the noise and you get enough, but not Too Much Wind and the whole thing doesn’t come crashing down in a thunderstorm, Then you may be able to supplement your grid power.

Which brings me to the subject at hand. (you knew I would get there eventually, right.) As I keep hearing, The main problem is an excess of Co2. Carbon Dioxide. There is just too much of it. Now I am not going to go into the sources of it, Be it SUVs’, electrical power plants or moose farts. The fact remains it’s there and we need to get rid of it. Sure we should find ways to reduce emissions in the future but Hey, I want to get the dirt out of my house now, then I’ll worry about tracking more in, OK. So what can we do, what can anyone do right now without a great out lay of cash, To help get rid of some of this gas? Well, plants and trees breathe it, right? But the real problem is that we are stripping away the fertile topsoil and replacing it with chemical fertilizers. So you Vegans are not off the hook yet either. We throw away garbage everyday that can be turned into the best plant food on the earth. We seal it in plastic bags and truck It to centralized locations to be buried and, when the hill is big enough, turned into a golf course or a nice sled run. Then we Truck in more plastic bags filled with COMPOST. So why not stop wasting all that fuel and just make it yourself. It’s not hard, there are plenty of books on the subject, Although you can learn pretty much all you need to know in an article not much longer than this one. And those chemically fed plants? A plant that is not getting the proper Nutrients is not an efficient Co2 Processing machine. And compost is a much better and more balanced source of those nutes than any chemist. Chemical pesticides often kill natural adversaries of the bugs you are trying to get rid of. How many pounds of coffee grounds does the average coffee shop throw away each day? I’m sure you could get all you want just for the asking. Florists have dumpsters full of scrap plant material that they would much rather not have to pay to have hauled away. Recycled Plastic would make very good Compost bins. It just takes a little thought.