Why is this an issue again?
Here’s the encore post of the original 2006 post quoting Jefferson on the topic of religious freedom, and what it means.
Can we lay off Obama now? It’s no slam on America that he knows U.S. history better than most of us. It’s encouraging.
34 Comments | 
America's founding, Barack Obama, Bill of Rights, Civil Rights, First Amendment, History, Religion, Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged: Barack Obama, Bill of Rights, Christian nation, First Amendment, History, Religion, Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Heck, while we’re looking at Cuba, take a read of Fidel Castro’s comments on Sen. Richard Lugar’s proposal to talk to Cuba.
Leave a Comment » | foreign affairs, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Politics | Tagged: Castro, Cuba, Embargo, Foreign Relations, geography, History | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Here’s a very odd news item. It’s odd because, first, the disaster at Chernobyl is widely dismissed, and certainly out of the news, so it’s unusual to see any news item that suggests it remains a big problem, or that hints at what a big problem it was (especially from a nominally communist view); and second, who would have predicted Cuba would play a role at all?
I found this at a blog dedicated to news from and about Cuba, Nacho’s Blog/El Blog de Nacho. I’m guessing “acn” is a Cuban news agency:
(acn) – Havana – Over 20,000 children suffering from different diseases have been seen in Cuba as part of the Cuban Medical Program for Children of Chernobyl, marking last Wednesday the 19th anniversary of its creation. The plan began in 1990, when children and their relatives began to arrive en masse from Russia, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldavia and Armenia to the former Pioneer Children’s Camp in Tarará, east of this city. Dr. Julio Medina, coordinator of the Program, explained that from 700 to 800 children arrive in Cuba annually to be treated by multidisciplinary teams of Cuban specialists. So far, patients with blood diseases have been treated, especially with different variants of leukemia; bone marrow and kidney transplants have been done, as well as cardiovascular surgery due to congenital malformations.
Ukrainian Dr. Nadiezhda Guerazimenko, coordinator of the Program in that country, highlighted the professionalism of Cuban doctors. She added that the best example of this statement lies in the high figure of patients who have returned to their respective countries cured of their ailments. The Program has a significant impact in the health and recovery of children and their families. In its almost two decades of existence, it has treated more than 16,000 Ukrainians, almost 3,000 Russians, and 671 Byelorussians. Some 40,000 people died immediately and millions were contaminated as a result of the nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986, which at first hit the Ukraine, and then extended to Russia, Belarus and different parts of Europe and Asia. The event caused several types of diseases, like leukemia, tumors, heart malformations, kidney problems, psoriasis, vitiligo and alopecia. Many of the children and youngsters seen today in Cuba weren’t even born when the disaster occurred. However, their parents were affected by the radiation.
______________
Yes, it turns out “acn” is the Cuban News Agency.
1 Comment | Disasters, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Health care, History, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear power, Science | Tagged: Chernobyl, Cuba, disaster, geography, Health care, History, Nuclear power, Nuclear Safety | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
First e-mail of the day, from an early-riser friend:
A short while ago I caught a replay, on C-SPAN, of President Obama’s speech in Hradcany Square in Prague. I tuned in so as to catch almost all of it — practically all I missed were the introductory remarks. And they were cheering, I tell you. Can you say, “Ich bin ein Berliner” ??This guy isn’t fooling around. He’s no Bush. He’s a “people’s President.” He’s charismatic. He’s exactly who we need and when we need him.
Obama talked about reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons. Some people still dream of peace.
See also these sites:
President Barack Obama and wife Michelle, in Prague - photo via Politico
The printed version of Obama’s remarks, below the fold.
3 Comments | History, International law, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear weapons, Peace, President Obama, Presidents | Tagged: Europe, History, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear weapons, Peace, Prague, President Barack Obama, War | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Leisure Guy, in his leisure no doubt, has some time to look seriously at political criticism and its accuracy. For example, recently he wondered about the claim that FDR didn’t do anything to help the U.S. out of the depression, and perhaps helped prolong it. [I have corrected a minor error; he had FDR being inaugurated in January of 1933. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the last president to be inaugurated in March; the term was changed to start in January during his presidency.]
This graph is from an interesting post by Paul Krugman, but I was fascinated to see that you can tell when FDR took office. He was elected, as you know, at the end of 1932, and he took office in late January [March] of 1933. Can you find that spot on the graph?
But of course, Right Wingers will tell you that FDR made the Depression worse. Some will even say that FDR started the Great Depression.
Leisure Guy didn’t include a link to Krugman’s post, drat it. It doesn’t appear to be this one, though it covers some of the same territory. Update: Oh, here it is: “Partying like it’s 1931.”
3 Comments | Economics, Employment, FDR, Great Depression, History, John Maynard Keynes, Politics, Presidents | Tagged: Economics, FDR, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Depression, History, Keynesian Economics, Politics, Recovery | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Cover from the single release of “Big Yellow Taxi,” from the Joni Mitchell album, “Ladies of the Canyon.” Wikipedia image.
I was looking for lyrics to a Joni Mitchell tune. I discovered she has a very good website.
She lists bands and performances that covered “Big Yellow Taxi.” Silly thing to notice, but it’s a long list. A veerrrrrrrry long list. It looks like she’s been covered on that one song by bands with names starting with every letter in the alphabet.
Well, once I noticed that, I had to check. No band with a name starting with O, Q, or X has covered the song. The other 23 letters are all represented. Oh, but she lists bands whose names start with “the,” and there is a band named “The Quality Kids.” Does that count as Q? Nearly 230 different covers of the song all together.
Does that count as success?
Here’s Joni singing “Big Yellow Taxi” herself, in 1970 (39 years ago! as long ago as Jack Benny is old), at a festival at the Isle of Wight.
[Isle of Wight Festival video not available in U.S. at the moment; BBC tape substituted, below, March 2016]
P.S. — Mitchell also has a page that counts the covers. “Big Yellow Taxi” is #2 in most recorded, at 228 covers. #1 is “Both Sides Now,” with 615 covers.
More:
5 Comments | Environmental protection, History, Music | Tagged: Big Yellow Taxi, Entertainment, History, Joni Mitchell, Music | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Welcome to the 63rd edition of Four Stone Hearth (4SH), the only blog carnival on the planet dedicated entirely to the four stone foundations of modern anthropology. We’re happy to invite readers in for a soak at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub.
It’s spring, and in spring a young anthropologist’s fancy turns to thoughts of . . . grading papers, maybe love, getting ready to dig over the summer, finishing up the term, love, getting the snow tires off the car, the Texas State Board of Education, if not love then maybe a good dinner companion, finishing the paper up for publication (where?), how to finance next semester, how to stretch the grant, love in the future, where to get the next grant . . . almost everything but submitting entries to that history and social studies guy at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub.
Need some cowboy coffee?
Interesting entries this edition, but in onesies and twosies, not by dozens. Trusting that the enterprise is blessed by the patron saints (St. Damasus I, or St. Helen, for archaeologists; is there a patron saint for anthropology or linguistics? In a pinch we can just invoke St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers and authors), we push on.
The Four Stone Hearth name pays homage to four areas of anthro: Archaeology, socio-cultural anthropology, bio-physical anthropology and linguistic anthropology. Shorter form: What humans did, and a bit of what we do.
So, grab a cup of cowboy coffee (the favorite of diggers and backpackers, and sheep herders). In no particular order, and in no particular theme, here’s what caught our fancies over the past couple of weeks:
Globalization — love it or hate it — how does it really affect us? The Spitoon comments on newly-published research that reveals people are choosing mates from farther abroad than before. At least, that’s what our genes show. People don’t marry people from their own village so much. Unanswered: How does this affect human evolution?
Digital Archaeology: Colleen Morgan at Middle Savagery, demonstrates the clash between the earthen and the electronic — she spoke on a panel at SXSW (“South By Southwest”), the massive, hip music conference and riot in Austin, Texas. Topic: The Real Technology of Indiana Jones. It starts out with a promising description: “Archaeologists no longer rely on whips and fedoras . . .” The panel also featured Bernard Frischer of the University of Virginia, and Adam Rabinowitz, University of Texas at Austin. “Notes and tweets” from the panel.
Cover to Goldschmidt's book, The Bridge to Humanity, Oxford Press
Does morality have any connection to evolution — Appropriate for the opening day of hearings and voting on Texas public school science standards, Greg Downey at Neuroanthropology looks at the evolution of altruism, with a review and commentary on Walter Goldschmidt’s book, The Bridge to Humanity. Goldschmidt notes that selfish genes don’t explain everything, and that there’s probably a good function to a baby’s being very cute. (Goldschmidt must hang out at our PTA meetings: “It’s a good thing the kid’s so cute, or he’d have been dead long ago.”) “Affect hunger” is not a common phrase in daily conversations, and it deserves a solid explanation. Altruism cannot form naturally, many education officials in Texas believe, and so they oppose teaching evolution in public schools. They’ll be too busy to read this article before they vote on Friday — but they should read it, and maybe the book, too.
Martin Rundkvist at Aardvarchaeology offers a lighter but critical note, on putting ice cream sticks in museums. Archaeological museum weirdness. What should a museum be? In the past 14 months I’ve had the pleasure of spending time (on someone else’s dime!) at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, and at the greatly expanded museum and visitor center at Mount Vernon, Virginia, George Washington’s estate. In these places there is a concerted effort to make museums more informative, more inviting, and more focused on education missions. Both museums feature multimedia presentations designed to kick off anyone’s visit with a punch, holographic images in Springfield, and theater seats that kick and get snowed on at Mount Vernon.
Tuamatuan Conception of the Cosmos, by Paiore. Inspiration for Margaret Mead's fieldwork in American Samoa. Running After Antelope
RafRaf Girls notes that someone is collecting images used to illustrate anthropology, linguistics and social theory. It’s a form of on-line museum, and Martin’s concerns are well directed: How much of this stuff should be preserved, especially if the preservation perpetuates odd ideas or misinformation? Browse the images, see for yourself. Nice to know it’s there, if you need it. (Is all this stuff from Running After Antelope?)
Again at Neuroanthropology, Daniel Lende offers what a reader in comments calls “the best damn article on alcoholism” in “The Insidious, Elusive Becoming: Addiction in Four Steps.” I thought it ironic that the post is illustrated with a diagram showing how to tie the famous knot, the bowline, in four steps. Every Girl Scout and Boy Scout knows the bowline is the “lifesaving knot,” a knot that is used to tie loops used to hoist people from danger. The bowline will not slip, and so will not suffocate the victim upon lifting. Addiction is no bowline. Falling into addiction involves four steps Lende outlines, basing the title on a line from Caroline Knapp’s Drinking: A Love Story.
But we do know much more about the process of becoming than we used to. Here I will outline four important factors that shape the terrible becoming – vulnerability, training, intention, and meaning. My focus will be on understanding the subjective transformations, and I will use Knapp’s own words and experiences to help us grasp how this happens. In a forthcoming post, I will address a core biological process—competitive plasticity—that acts as the complement to this description, a process that has also helped me see the interactions in new light.
A Primate of Modern Aspect (formerly Zinjanthropus?) offers what I thought to be a fascinating story about studying the inner ears of fossilized primates, “Navigating the Bony Labyrinth.” It’s a continued exercise in pulling paleontology out of the usually-imagined realm of dusty reconstructions in badly-lighted corners of musty museums.
Fossil primates can pose some especially interesting questions to a paleoprimatologist. Because they live in trees, many different kinds of locomotion are possible. We can look at limb proportions to see if the little guys were clinging to vertical supports and then leaping from them, or perhaps walking on top of thick, horizontal branches, or maybe even swinging below these brances. We can look at the shape of the scapula to see whether the animal kept its arms underneath itself or used them to reach out to the side or above itself. We can look at the fingers to see if they were grasping branches or balancing above them. In species known only from cranial bones, we can also look at the ear bones to see how these guys positioned themselves while in the trees.
It’s spring, I know, and we are hopeful. Politics and war push on, however, and they push into the fields of science we love. Some things we would like to confine to dusty corners of musty museums, like war.
Afarensis notes that the coup d’etat in Madagascar threatens lemurs in the forests of the island.
It’s on the fringes of blogging, but well worth knowing about: San Diego City Beat tells a story of guerrilla archaeology, beating the construction of the border fence between the U.S. and Mexico to get a dig done, “Hush hush archaeology.”
It’s spring, and students in American schools look forward (ha!) to the standardized tests they must take under the New Regime. I was interested to see Kris Hirst has started a weekly quiz, this week about bog bodies — just the sort of stuff I need for my classroom to take out the tension and get kids to think. Now, if only it were on PowerPoint, or in a form I could just print off to open a class . . .
Wish us luck here in Texas this week. Science standards, especially evolution studies, are on the grill before the State Board of Education, where creationists hold sway. If you know someone in Texas, you may want to persuade them to call their representative on the state board. No scientist is an island, as John Donne would have said had he thought a bit longer about it. How Texas goes will affect us all.
Four Stone Hearth #64 returns to the hands of people who know a bit about the topic, at Quiche Moraine.
Thanks for reading. Remember to send your nominations for the next edition to Quiche Moraine, or to Martin.
Friends of Four Stone Hearth, sites that link to this edition (if you’ve linked and I missed it, please note it in the comments):
6 Comments | Anthropology, Archaeology, Evolution, History, Paleontology, Research, Science | Tagged: 4 Stone Hearth, Anthropology, Archaeology, Evolution, Four Stone Hearth, History, Linguistics, Paleontology, Research, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
We know how old you are really, but we won’t divulge.
U.S. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah
When we were campaigning in 1976, I don’t think anyone thought you’d be there in 2009, still. Sen. Reed Smoot served Utah for one day shy of 30 years. No one else from Utah has come close to your 32 years of service, and it will be a long time before any other challenges your longevity.
Not bad for the first office you ever got elected to.
Kathryn and I wish you all the best on your birthday.
And we’ll be pleased to set you straight any time you want.
Sincerely,
Ed
Leave a Comment » | Campaigns, Elections, Government, History, Personal, Politics, U.S. Senate, Utah | Tagged: Birthday, Campaigns, Elections, History, Orrin Hatch, Politics, U.S. Senate, Utah | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Watch for it on a screen near you. Or buy the DVD.
“A Sense of Wonder” won praise at film festivals over the past few months, and now has premiered in a 100-city tour designed to get some attention for a near-documentary film, during National Women’s History Month.
Actress Kaiulani Lee painted her one-woman show on Rachel Carson on the big screen. The movie tells the story of Rachel Carson and the tremendous growth of environmental consciousness and activism following her 1962 book Silent Spring. Karen Montgomery produced, Christopher Monger directed, cinematography was done by Haskell Wexler (two-time Oscar winner, for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Bound for Glory).
(A screening is planned in Dallas on March 31 for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — but it’s a private screening. Only four other screenings in Texas have been scheduled.)
To find a screening near you, go to the “Sense of Wonder” interactive website, and click on “Screenings.” From there, either click on the list of sites, listed by date, at “100-city tour,” or click on the interactive map to find a site near you. You may also sign up to sponsor a screening.
The title for the movie comes from a passage Carson wrote, which worked into a title for her book, The Sense of Wonder:
If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.
Junk science advocates continue their international campaign of calumny and falsehoods against Carson and restrictions on the use of DDT. It would be good if this movie could get a circulation to persuade people to the facts of the matter.
Resources:
6 Comments | DDT, Heroes, History, Rachel Carson, Science, Video and film | Tagged: Biology, DDT, Environmental protection, Film and Video, History, Rachel Carson, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Another Scout joined the exclusive club of those who earned all the possible merit badges.
Wes Weaver, already an Eagle Scout, added the last of his merit badges late last month, according to KXII Channel 12 in Sherman, Texas (covering the border area around Lake Texoma).
“In 2008, there were 20 scouts across the county who had gotten all 121 merit badges. I’m adding my name to that list,” Wes says.
But Weaver’s accomplishments don’t end with badges. The teen also earned his Eagle Scout award by building a 112-foot bridge over a creek bed in Lake Murray State Park. It was no easy task with the rugged terrain
“Just digging the holes I was thinking I’m never going to be done. All my weekends are going to be spent out here digging holes,” Wes says.
“It was scheduled to take between two to three months. It ended up taking a year and 6 months,” says Wes’s father, Rusty Weaver.
Rusty helped his son plan out the bridge and construct it, along with the rest of Troop 112. Now all kinds of area bicyclists, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy the state park a little more. [video available here]
Keeping with an interesting if perplexing tradition, bugling was the last merit badge he earned. Weaver had aimed for 121 since he first became a Boy Scout, and his Scoutmaster, David Mannas challenged the troop to earn their Eagle rank and then go beyond the 44 merit badges Manass had earned.
Many of Weaver’s merit badges were earned in the traditional fashion, at the many summer and winter camps he attended over the years. Weaver’s father, Rusty Weaver, became the Scoutmaster of Troop 112 and is a Climbing Director for Arbuckle Area Council. “My dad would be at camp two to four weeks a summer so I stayed at camp and took all the merit badge classes I could. Before I knew it, I had 80 merit badges.”
He attends Plainview High School concurrently with Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Regional Center and looks forward to finalizing his college plans.
Weaver was recognized for his rare achievement at the Arbuckle Area Council Annual Recognition Banquet, Feb. 28 at Camp Simpson in Bromide. His parents are Trish and Rusty Weaver, Ardmore.
Resources:
Previous notes at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
3 Comments | 121 Merit Badge Club, Boy Scouts of America, Citizenship, Eagle Scout, History | Tagged: 121 Merit Badges, Ardmore, Boy Scouts, Eagle Scout, History, Wes Weaver | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
My father lived through the Great Depression. That was what we noted whenever he cheered when somebody got a job with the Post Office. “It’s a steady job,” he’d say. “The Post Office doesn’t lay people off. They have good health care, and a pension.”
That was then. My father died in 1988.
3 Comments | Economics, Employment, Government, Great Depression, History | Tagged: Economics, Employment, Government, Great Depression, History, Layoffs, Post Office | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Elena Kagan took the oath of office to be the nation’s top lawyer, the Solicitor General, last Friday. The Associated Press is running a story (here from the Sacramento Bee) on whether this is a tryout for the Supreme Court itself, “Obama could make top high court lawyer a justice.” (Isn’t that a tortured headline?)
Three justices may want to retire soon: Justice John Paul Stevens is 88 years old. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 76, and back on the court in record time after surgery for pancreatic cancer. Justice David Souter is third oldest, at 69.
So, this AP story could be a good article for use in government classes. Consider these questions:
Resources:
Leave a Comment » | Advise and Consent, Article II, Government, History, Jurisprudence, Justice, Law, Politics, President Obama, Presidents, U.S. Supreme Court | Tagged: Advise and Consent, Elena Kagan, Government, History, Law, Litigation, Politics, President Obama, Solicitor General, Supreme Court | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Four Stone Hearth #63 comes for a soak in Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub on March 25. Zounds! That’s next week!
You can start sending in nominations now. Drop a note to me here — edarrell AT sbcglobal DOT net — or send them to Martin Rundkvist, who keeps the fire burning on the original four big stones (and blogs at Aardvarchaeology).
The Four Stone Hearth is a blog carnival that specializes in anthropology in the widest (American) sense of that word. Here, anthropology is the study of humankind, throughout all times and places, focussing primarily on four lines of research:
- archaeology
- socio-cultural anthropology
- bio-physical anthropology
- linguistic anthropology
Each one of these subfields is a stone in our hearth
Marriage of Bathtub and Hearth, at Cape San Blas, Florida - yours for just $1.7 million! Four Stone Hearth, much cheaper.
Leave a Comment » | Anthropology, Archaeology, Science, Weblogs | Tagged: Anthropology, Archaeology, Blog Carnival, Four Stone Hearth, History, Linguistics, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Any Texas student who had hoped to get out of the one-minute silence exercise suffered a defeat on St. Patrick’s Day. A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sustained a Texas federal court’s ruling that the state-mandated moment of silence is legal.
David and Shannon Croft, as parents and next friends of their three minor children (collectively, the “Crofts”), bring suit against the governor of the state of Texas, Rick Perry (“Perry”), arguing that Texas Education Code § 25.082(d) is an unconstitutional establishment of religion. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Perry, holding that § 25.082(d) had a secular legislative purpose and was not an establishment of religion. For the following reasons, we affirm.
* * * * * *
Conclusion
The Crofts have standing to challenge the 2003 Amendments. But the Amendments are constitutional and satisfy all three prongs of the Lemon analysis. There is no excessive entanglement, and the primary effect of the Amendments is not to advance religion. The most difficult prong—for this and for moment of silence statutes generally—is legislative purpose. But our review of legislative history is deferential, and such deference leads to an adequate secular purpose in this case. While we cannot allow a “sham” legislative purpose, we should generally defer to the stated legislative intent. Here, that intent was to promote patriotism and allow for a moment of quiet contemplation. These are valid secular purposes, and are not outweighed by limited legislative history showing that some legislators may have been motivated by religion. Because the 2003 Amendments survive the Lemon test, they are not an unconstitutional establishment of religion, and the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED
We covered the original trial court decision here at the Bathtub.
Not much news coverage of the story, not so much as I would have thought (many Texas schools are on break this week). No firm word on whether the Crofts will appeal further. An Illinois case went the other way in January — enough conflict to get the Supreme Court involved? Difficult to say. The Illinois Legislature is working to undo the federal court decision, in Illinois.
Would it be a good case to cover in government? What do you think?
What should the students meditate on? A suggestion from the comments at the Dallas Morning News blogsite:
“May we please have a moment of science, for those poor souls that cannot understand evolution as God’s scientific method.”
Joseph Cassles
3 Comments | Bill of Rights, First Amendment, History, Jurisprudence, Justice, Law, Religion, School prayer, Separation of church and state, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: Bill of Rights, Court Decision, History, Law, Moment of Silence, School prayer, Separation of church and state, U.S. Constitution | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore’s life was shaped by the women he loved. His first wife, Abigail Powers, probably was the chief spur for his drive which took him to the presidency. In the White House, she stood for education and improvement of American culture — she founded the White House Library in 1851. A remarkable woman you should know more about.
Abigail Fillmore, Library of Congress image
Short bio of Abigail Powers Fillmore, and her tragic death, at LynnSpirit. Several other women are profiled — few you’ve heard of, most you should know.
(Oops – her birthday was yesterday, March 17.)
2 Comments | Education, History, Millard Fillmore, White House, Women's rights | Tagged: Abigail Powers Fillmore, Education, First Ladies, History, Millard Fillmore, White House | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 