Another painless upgrade - about the only thing that would make this easier is if I could hit a button and have the software do it all itself. Of course, there probably is a plugin out there somewhere that would do that for me - I just haven’t had the time to find it, test it, and install it yet. To be honest, it’s not that big of a priority - I’ve gotten the whole upgrade process down to a science of late. This includes the very anal multiple backups that I take before replacing things on the live site (you can never have enough backups), proceeds through file uploads in Transmit, and ends in this test post through Ecto.

The fact that this post made it up and onto the site is a pretty good indication that things are working fine. Now if I could only manage to find the time to convert my theme and plugins over to versions that support all of the neat new features in version 2.3 I’d be a happy man. However, something tells me it will be a few months before I get to that.

Once again, cheers to the wordpress team - their software just works.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the essay Some Mistakes of Moses by Robert Ingersoll. This essay - whose main body is concerned with review of the Pentateuch - contains in its first few pages a passage which, although written in 1879, is sadly as relevant today as it was then. Recent events - the Mohammed Teddy Bear incident, the NY Subway beatings, the Pope’s recent encylical, and the hullabaloo surrounding The Golden Compass - prompted me to pull this up. Although I have a number of thoughts on this passage, it seems best just to let it stand for itself.

Until every soul is freely permitted to investigate every book, and creed, and dogma for itself, the world cannot be free. Mankind will be enslaved until there is mental grandeur enough to allow each man to have his thought and say. This earth will be a paradise when men can, upon all these questions differ, and yet grasp each other’s hands as friends. It is amazing to me that a difference of opinion upon subjects that we know nothing with certainty about, should make us hate, persecute, and despise each other. Why a difference of opinion upon predestination, or the Trinity, should make people imprison and burn each other seems beyond the comprehension of man; and yet in all countries where Christians have existed, they have destroyed each other to the exact extent of their power. Why should a believer in God hate an atheist? Surely the atheist has not injured God, and surely he is human, capable of joy and pain, and entitled to all the rights of man. Would it not be far better to treat this atheist, at least, as well as he treats us?

— Some Mistakes of Moses, Robert Green Ingersoll, October 7th, 1879

The Bad Astronomer, Dr. Phil Plait, writes about an excellent web documentary on Dark Energy over at HubbleSite.org. Physics - and especially cosmology - are heady subjects, so it’s nice when discoveries can be presented in an easy to understand manner. HubbleSite is a site that I always manage to spend a ridiculous amount of time on when I hit it. Last year, Alex and I watched their documentary on how Hubble works, which we both found pretty fascinating. I managed to blow most of my lunch the other day reading about and watching a video about the Hubble Deep Field.

I will probably show Alex this site in the next week or so. Even though it’s probably at the limits of his understanding, I think it’s good to expose him to it and have him ask questions. I remember driving my father crazy asking him questions about Cosoms when I was Alex’s age; now it’s Alex’s turn. Besides, I think that Alex gets a big kick out of coming up with questions that I can’t answer and have to look up. I’m guessing that will continue on as he gets older. I have mixed feelings about that.

The dark energy site also contains some additional materials which go into a great deal more detail on the topics discussed. I just want to pull one bit from this detail. This paragraph - which is talking about the recent discoveries in the field - shows the true spirit of scientific inquiry.

It shows scientists that there is a gap in our knowledge that needs to be filled, beckoning the way toward an unexplored realm of physics. We have before us the evidence that the cosmos may be configured vastly differently than we imagine. Dark energy both signals that we still have a great deal to learn, and shows us that we stand poised for another great leap in our understanding of the universe.

Basically, we don’t know everything. Hell, we probably will never know everything. The important thing is that we keep searching.

About a month ago I decided to write and submit an editorial to the Suburbanite, which is one of our two local papers. Now, normally I don’t take the time to write editorials. Sure, there are things that irritate the crap out of me which usually can be traced back to the amazing credulity, gullibility, or just plain stupidity on the part of the paper - such as a recent set of articles by this particular paper on a group that will help rid your house of ghosts (for free! no charge!) - but in most cases I just shrug and focus on more important matters. In truth, for the last several months I have found the paper so devoid of content that I normally only scan the editorials before tossing the paper aside.

In this case, the editorial content was what compelled me to send in my own letter. Over the course of the last few years this paper continually publishes what I consider to be very vicious personal attacks on a select few members of the local government. My thoughts on the paper continuing to print these letters was submitted back to the paper near the end of October. Since we’re well into December now and it hasn’t been printed I’m going to make the assumption it’s been tossed. Which - as I told Beth and several friends when I wrote it - was what I expected to happen since it is rather critical of the editorial policy of the paper. Perhaps it served it’s purpose though, as the editorial page seems to have become slightly more civil in the intervening weeks. For what it’s worth, I’ve copied the entire editorial below.

The right of expression that we enjoy in this country is one of the greatest freedoms we enjoy as Americans, and the editorial page of a newspaper provides an excellent forum for the exercise of that freedom. The presence of a healthy debate on an issue is a wonderful thing; it demonstrates the level of concern that the issue raises within the community, and is a valuable tool in helping achieve resolution on the matter being discussed.

The publication of a minority view is, in my opinion, the strongest validation of our freedom of speech. It is very easy to be in favor of allowing someone to state his or her position when it is in agreement with your own, but much harder when the viewpoint expressed is counter to yours.

That being said, for some time now I have had reservations about the content of the editorial page of this newspaper. The role of the editorial staff is to moderate any discussion taking place on it’s pages. It is important to allow a point to be made; however, I don’t feel it serves any purpose to repeatedly publish letters that consist of little more than ad hominem attacks, non-sequitors, and half-veiled accusations, allegations, and insinuations. When an opinion is couched in such a way it becomes less of an argument and more of a vitriolic rant. This situation is unfortunate, because any legitimate point (assuming there is one) is lost.

A case in point is the recent letter from Mr. Sherlock regarding Councilman Adamson. For some reason, Mr. Sherlock does not like the Councilman and by now we all know this. He has stated this opinion time and time again on this editorial page. However, rather than providing anything I would regard as substantiated evidence for this opinion, Mr. Sherlock instead engages in a tone better suited to a schoolyard bully than for an editorial page. The fact that the Councilman makes his living as a defense attorney is brought forth as if this were an indictment of his character which - intentionally or not - comes across as a slap in the face of all defense attorneys and anyone else who believes in the justice system. I assume that if Mr. Sherlock ever stood accused of a crime, he would be very glad indeed to be considered “innocent until proven guilty” and not the other way around. All accused people are entitled both to counsel and to their day in court. In addition to freedom of speech, this is another basic freedom we all enjoy as Americans.

I do not know Councilman Adamson well, but I have had the pleasure of meeting him and speaking with him on several occasions in addition to following his actions on council. I find him to be an intelligent and engaging person who is dedicated to the long-term welfare of this community. I believe that his decisions in council are well reasoned and are made in the best interests of the City of New Franklin. Most importantly to me, he is willing to listen to an alternative viewpoint and explain his position relative to it.

As you can see, my position differs sharply from that of Mr. Sherlock. However, it does bear repeating that I do not object to Mr. Sherlock’s right to hold a differing opinion on this subject. What I object to is both the way he goes about stating this opinion and the number of times he is afforded the opportunity to express this opinion in this newspaper.

I feel the Suburbanite should consider the enforcement of an editorial policy to address the issue raised here. Something as simple as a limitation of the number of times one person can be published per year on a particular topic would force the writer to be more focused. Perhaps the Suburbanite should police the content of submissions for logical fallacies more closely, or at the very least edit for content. Please understand, I don’t advocate censorship; however, I believe the enforcement of some basic guidelines would go a long way towards making this editorial page a positive instrument for discussion and change rather than a soapbox to rant from.

When I was 21 I watched Coach Jim Valvano give a speech at the ESPY awards. At that age, you are somewhat self-absorbed and insulated from the world. Coach Valvano’s attitude and words cut through that like a knife, and gave me a reality check on what is really important.

I’ve kept a copy of this speech on my laptop in one form or another for the last several years. It’s my reminder that when it’s all said and done, life is what you make of it.

When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it’s the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.

The Jimmy V Foundation raises money for cancer research, with the express goal of finding a cure for this disease. Cancer is a bastard of a disease; my life has been touched by it in the past and will probably be touched by it again in the future. I can only hope that if - or when - my back is up against the wall that I can face it with the same aplomb as Jim Valvano.

I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.