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[S]cience is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time – when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.
The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.
— Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (New York: Ballantine Books, 1996) at p.32.
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[S]cience is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time – when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.
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Tag Archives: law/legal
Finally, Harvard Professor Slammed for Saying Atheists “Can’t Be Trusted” to Hold Office
Charles M. Silver, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a visiting professor at Harvard Law School in 2011, has written a piece for the Harvard Crimson responding to Vermeule’s comment. Among other things, he notes the lack of public outrage over what Vermeule said. That’s in part due to how […]
Conservative view: Tennessee death penalty needs comprehensive review
Davis Turner in a guest column at The Tennessean: Davis Turner is a lifelong Republican, Nashville attorney, and surviving family member of a murder victim. As a conservative, I believe in fiscal responsibility and limited government. And, as a surviving family member of a murder victim, I know firsthand the trauma of losing a loved […]
Also tagged commentary, government, politics, rational thought / critical thinking
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Reason: The Same FBI That Wants To Destroy Encryption Is Still Illegally Snooping on Americans
Scott Shackford, writing at reason.com: As late as last year, agents at the FBI were still violating the privacy rights of American citizens through misuse of federal surveillance tools, a ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has revealed. The ruling is from October 2018 but was only declassified and disclosed this week, albeit […]
Also tagged constitution, government
Comments Off on Reason: The Same FBI That Wants To Destroy Encryption Is Still Illegally Snooping on Americans
Kavanaugh Lied to the Judiciary Committee—Repeatedly
Thursday’s hearing didn’t prove whether Kavanaugh assaulted Ford. But we do know the Supreme Court nominee wasn’t honest in his testimony. William Saletan at Slate: Maybe Kavanaugh is an honest man in other contexts. Maybe he’s a good husband, a loving dad, and an inspiring coach. And maybe there’s no way to be certain that […]
Also tagged commentary, crime, government, politics
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Prosecutors
Unfortunately, John Oliver is—once again—right on point:
Also tagged commentary, entertainment, government, humor, law enforcement
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How the Case for Voter Fraud Was Tested — and Utterly Failed
Jessica Huseman at ProPublica: That made the trial a telling opportunity to remove the voter fraud claims from the charged, and largely proof-free, realms of political campaigns and cable news shoutfests and examine them under the exacting strictures of the rules of evidence. That’s precisely what occurred and according to [Chief District Judge of the […]
Also tagged elections, government, politics
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Cato: A Shocking Dereliction of Duty
Jay Schweikert writing at The Cato Institute (cato.org): This morning, the Supreme Court denied all of the major cert petitions raising the question of whether qualified immunity should be reconsidered. This is, to put it bluntly, a shocking dereliction of duty. As Cato has argued for years, qualified immunity is an atextual, ahistorical judicial invention, […]
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