Monday, September 26, 2005

'Intelligent Design' Court Battle Begins (AP). AP - A school district is undermining science education by raising false doubts about evolution and offering "intelligent design" as an alternative explanation for life's origins, a biologist testified at the start of a landmark trial. [Yahoo! News: U.S. National] Intelligent design.  I am sorry, but the only thing intelligent about the design of this program is the school system acting as a shill for the religious right.  Unfortunately, the ability to discuss this rationally is not something that can be done with the religious community.  And the reason for this goes back over 2000 years. Want to know more, then you will have to expand your mind - The Closing of the Western Mind. 9:28:26 PM    comment []

Don Adams of 'Get Smart' Dies at 82 (AP). [Yahoo! News: Top Stories] Don Adams was a comic that we will all miss. It is too bad there were no other shows to show off his talent.  Chief, I think we are done here. 9:20:40 PM    comment []

Amateur Radio Continues Hurricane Rita Response. Amateur Radio volunteers have been utilizing a variety of modes, including HF, VHF-UHF Winlinkand VoIP, to pass critical Hurricane Rita-related traffic. HF net frequencies remain busy with traffic related to the emergency. The West Gulf ARES Emergency Net continues 24-hour operation on 7.285 MHz days/3.873 MHz evenings, with health-and-welfare traffic taking place on 7.290 MHz days/3.935 MHz evenings. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Net (SATERN) has been activating at 1400 UTC daily on 14.265 MHz and monitoring for emergency requests. All amateurs are requested to keep these HF net frequencies clear for Hurricane Rita emergency operations. [ARRL Amateur Radio News] Busy, busy, busy!  As an Emergency Coordinator, I would prefer we were not so busy, as would a large number of operators. 9:17:53 PM    comment []

Evacuation worked, but created a highway horror. Hurricane Rita left this question: If a successful emergency evacuation involves 100-mile highway backups, motorists running ... [USATODAY.com Nation - Top Stories] If these two hurricanes have taught us anything, the following should be at the top of the list: 1) The United States is really not ready for any sort of system stressing event.  Whether it is flood, fire, or man-made disaster. 2) Neither shelter in place nor evacuate works on a large scale.  Sites are not prepared to shelter their populations and the road network cannot absorb the traffic volume. 3) The reliance on powered equipment, especially for critical systems, is too high.  Especially given the lack of manual backups. Until these issues are addressed, there will continue to be loss of life and chaos. 11:54:24 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 David Lane.