Tribute to Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Science literacy is at unacceptable lows in the U.S.

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the few figures in science that can explain and outline scientific facts in a way that is both entertaining and informative.

St. Petersburg College:

Authors@Google:

Arthur C. Clarke: A Tribute to Genius

Arthur C. Clarke was a genius science fiction author.

I am in love with a certain short story of his found squeezed next to one I am far less fond of, but is still a good read.

"The City and The Stars" & "The Sands of Mars" are two different short stories contained in one novel.

From FantasicFiction.com:

THE CITY AND THE STARS The 10-billion-year-old metropolis of Diaspar is humanity's last home. Alone among immortals, the only man born in 10 million years desperately wants to find what lies beyond the City. His quest will uncover the destiny of a people...and a galaxy.

"Diaspar" is, in itself, a commentary on all society.

The entire body of this short story is like a large running commentary on the arrogance of humanity, and it's immense value as well.

This place is like a real city in my mind.

One possible outcome of all human civilization. One of many possible worlds.

A place of stagnation via perfection. Tyranny via acceptance.

A world where truly original thoughts and adventuring spirits are not just silenced, but wholly absent.

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For those who dive deeply into his work, there is much to discover.

Not only did he accurately predict advances in science by means of science fiction, but I believe he held an insight to the greater elements at play in our world:

The Human Condition

The Foundations of Society

The Collective Self

Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor

Former speech writer for the Bush White House, Matt Latimer, appeared on Alan Colmes Radio to give an interview regarding his new tell-all book "Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor" and talk a little about his experiences in the White House.

The following is an unofficial summary-transcript provided by value of a premium podcast subscriber and is not connected in any way to FOX News Talk or the staff of The Alan Colmes Show:

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LATIMER: I was a conservative son of two liberal parents from a union family in Flynt, Michigan. I wanted to talk about my personal journey through Washington. Which, as you know Alan, is a circus. I saw Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the White House from high levels and it's a rare, unique perspective of Washington.

COLMES: But you knew you'd upset people.

LATIMER: Sometimes there were people who I saw in Washington who sort of forgot why they were sent there, and I didn't hesitate to have ancedotes that revealed that. I knew those people weren't going to like the way they came across.

COLMES: You think Lara Bush was a Democrat, right?

LATIMER: The prevailing wisdom in the White House--before she married him she was a Democrat and most people in the White believed that was certainly her sentiment.

COLMES: Some of the other things that have come out. The president's statements about Hillary Clinton's keister.

LATIMER: The media has kind of picked up the juiciest [parts of this book.] Yes, he did say something like that.

***

LATIMER: I found an appeal in Barack Obama. What I liked about him was he promised to be different from the usual Washington crowd. He spoke to people in a real language and, you know, once you get to Washington you kind of forget how to talk to people.

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Find a copy @ Amazon.com

Frank Luntz is a Word-Weasel

Rightwing pollster Frank Luntz is out promoting his new book: “What Americans Really Want, Really” and getting his definitions completely wrong in regards to Political Science, which I seriously doubt is an amateurish mistake.

On Alan Colmes Radio, Luntz continued the conservative rhetoric that United States of America is a “center-right country” and his words in explanation of this were very revealing as to his own personal bias against getting the definitions right, even when those words might not serve your own political ends.

“This is a center-right country but the definition of ‘Center-Right‘ has changed. ‘Center-Right’ doesn‘t mean keeping government out of our lives anymore, .. now it means fighting corruption.”

This is the Word-Weasel at work.

Fighting corruption in both government and private sectors has always been the ideals of The Progressive Reformist Movement since it's inception and these ideals have remained as a fact of American Life since then. To attach his own ideological group to these values is outright inaccurate.

Frank Luntz is very good at catering messages that appeal to conservatives and work well for The Republican Party but I find the notion that he is not affected by political bias in most of his statements completely absurd.

Center-Right has, and always will, mean exactly what Luntz claimed on the air that it does not mean.

It is clear to me that he feels free to change the definitions of words as he sees fit in order to further his own personal political agenda. If he cannot admit that the nation obviously shifted to Center-Left with the election of a Democratic President, and the ambitions of sixty House seats being attained by The Democratic Party then I am left to question the very conclusions of his work.

No doubt he has attained a great deal of significant data in his 6,000+ focus groups he used to compile his recent book, but if the standards of recognizing professional bias and personal bias are ignored then the conclusions of the body of work become suspect.

This is a Radio-interview Review, not a Book Review, so that body of work is not my focus and I invite anyone interested to avail themselves of this literature.

My only point is that if Frank Luntz is going to change the definitions of sound science to fit his image on a radio show, it begs to question other matters of credibility as well.

In his credit, I don’t believe he ever joined in the hateful mantra of “socialist” aimed at liberals, Democrats and mainly Obama.

On the list of all the partisans out there, Luntz is a minor offender.

But I still find it the worst of offenses to change the words to fit your needs, and considering they call him ‘The Words That Work Guy’; I think maybe it should be elongated to ‘The Words That Work No Matter What Guy’.

Frank Luntz is a smart cookie. But I’d personally almost compared him to Karl Rove, myself. Dancing around the truth has never been part of The Scientific Approach.

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What Americans really want, really, is for pollsters to stop telling them what they think when it’s really just what the pollster thinks about what you think.