“Men And Women Aren’t Equal”

“Men and Women aren’t equal”, she wrote—
Just one of those stories you read now and then.
The truth, which the article fails, though, to note:
Women aren’t equal, and neither are men.

You won’t want to read it without a central nervous system depressant of choice, but foxnews.com has an opinion piece “To be happy, we must admit women and men aren’t ‘equal’“.

How bad is it?

But the truth must be heard. Being equal in worth, or value, is not the same as being identical, interchangeable beings. Men and women may be capable of doing many of the same things, but that doesn’t mean they want to. That we don’t have more female CEOs or stay-at-home dads proves this in spades.

Unless, of course, you’re beholden to feminism. In that case, you’ll believe the above is evidence of discrimination. You’ll believe what feminists taught you to believe: that gender is a social construct.

Those of us with children know better. We know little girls love their dolls and boys just want to kick that ball. This doesn’t mean men can’t take care of babies or women can’t play sports. It just means each gender has its own energy that flows in a specific direction. For God’s sake, let it flow.

You can click through for more if you want, but I really don’t recommend it.

I used to run a daycare. I know boys who love their dolls, and girls who want to kick that ball (and even if the writer was accurate, we’d still be left asking why; “it’s a boy/girl thing” is not an explanation). The thing is, boys and girls (and women and men) are not monolithic. For someone so eager to see differences between groups, the author of the article seems blind to differences within groups. And the differences within groups–the differences among individuals–are what matter. I’ve had female (and male) students who were faster than me, stronger than me, smarter than me (no, really!)… and it is very clear: making policies that shut doors based on averages (or worse, on stereotypes) will shut those doors on tremendously qualified individuals.

And when that happens, everybody loses.

Ooooh! Cuttlecap tip to @JessicaValenti (via Twitter, natch), who notes that the photo accompanying the article is (unbeknownst to Fox News) a same sex couple!

My Favorite Sins

Putting off problems to worry ‘bout later
Spending my days as an internet hater
Gorging on chicken with crispy fried skins
These are a few of my favorite sins

Fighting temptation with no hope of winning
Glad that just thoughts, and not actions, are sinning
Not what I do, but what’s buried within
These are a few of my favorite sins

When I succumb and by lust I am driven
Simply confess; it will all be forgiven
Tell how I romped with those Latvian twins
Those were a few of my favorite sins

When I’m prideful
When I envy
When I’m feeling mad
I simply remember my favorite sins
And then I don’t feel so bad.

CNN’s Belief Blog has a fairly frustrating article, Americans reveal their 3 favorite sins.

“Temptations and America’s Favorite Sins,” a survey conducted by the Barna Group, a Christian research firm, concludes that the moral struggles that vex most Americans aren’t the salacious acts that drive the plotlines of reality television shows. Most Americans are too worn down or distracted to get snared by those vices, the survey concludes.

The top three sins seducing most Americans: procrastination, overeating and spending too much time on media.

“You would think it would be sex, drugs and rock and roll,” said Todd Hunter, pastor and author of “Our Favorite Sins,” whose book was consulted in conjunction with the survey.

The survey focused on “temptations”, and asked what people were tempted by–from chocolate to internet porn. (BTW, they conclude that “Temptation has gone virtual”… on the basis of (wait for it) their (wait…) online survey.

Annoying already, they then get to the bit that really irritates.

Many Americans who admit to being tempted aren’t putting up a big fight. The study said that 59% of Americans admit that they don’t do anything to avoid temptation and half can’t explain why they give into temptation.

Many Americans still can’t explain what sin is, Hunter said. Worrying, for example, is not considered one of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth). Yet survey respondents listed it as one of their top temptations.

“There’s no agreement on what sin is,” Hunter said. “It’s one of the aspects of the world we live in. It’s becoming more relativistic. It’s hard to talk about sin when everyone disagrees about what it is.”

The listed sins are all desires, and never actions. No wonder everyone disagrees; what you actually *do* doesn’t seem to be a problem! It’s just the stuff you are thinking. Acting on my anger (or lust, or greed…) isn’t the sin; the anger itself is.

Since I have already sinned by feeling greed, I might as well act on it and rob someone. Especially since I can ask for (and receive) forgiveness afterward.

It’s exactly backward. I shouldn’t care about your motives, just your actions. Your motives don’t hurt someone; your actions do.

You Have About A Week To Make The Card

That’s right, it’s February, which means I start getting a lot of hits for some version of “science valentine” or “biology valentine” or some such. So I’m going to post some of them, before the storm hits (2 feet of snow predicted here). If you do end up using one, I’d love to see a pic of the card you eventually come up with.

First, my favorite, which I actually had the chance to recite to someone yesterday–someone who has no idea I have a secret identity as a cephalopod. She had an evolutionary psychology textbook on her shelf, so the recitation was just part of the flow of conversation. I kinda forgot that in the real world (as opposed to my own little corner of the blogosphere), people don’t usually just break into extended recitations of love poems. But hey, I can tell you, it’s worth the trouble of memorizing this one. And it’s fun.

Anyway…

In sociobiology,
Why I love you and you love me—
Which anyone can plainly see—
Is mostly in our genes.
No, not the ones you buy in stores,
But what a scientist explores–
I like the way you look in yours,
And you know what that means.

What subtly-coded stimulus
Takes you and me, and makes us “us
And makes us feel ‘twas ever thus?
The list of suspects narrows.
No longer are we all a-shiver
From some Cupid with a quiver
Out of which he might deliver
Fusillades of Eros.

Nor Dopamine, nor Serotonin
Tell us why our hearts are moanin’
Though they serve to help us hone in
On–not why, but how;
The parasympathetic blush,
Adrenaline to bring a rush,
Are how, not why, I’ve got a crush
On you, my darling, now.

But if old Charles Darwin’s right,
The reason that the merest sight
Of you will always give delight
Is…reproductive fitness.
Throughout our species’ family tree,
Producing proper progeny
Is what determined you and me
And Darwin was the witness.

Is thinking that you’re oh so sweet
And how you’ll make my life complete
Some trick to make our gametes meet?
It seems it may be so.
I feel the way I feel today
Because some bit of DNA
Sees your genetics on display
And wants to say “hello.”

But think of this, for what it’s worth:
Millennia before my birth
That DNA had roamed the earth,
In residents thereof;
The neat thing is, it’s really true,
The feeling that I have for you
Although, of course, it feels brand-new
Is truly ageless love.

Paper Moon

So I was just listening to the radio, and a version of “Paper Moon” came on. This one was an instrumental, and I wish I could tell you who it was, but I don’t know. But it got me thinking… “Paper Moon” has got to be in the very short list of Best Songs Ever Written. As in, if I had done nothing else in my life but write “Paper Moon”, I could die happy with a well-earned feeling of accomplishment.

Those of you who know the song… where do you rank it? Those of you who don’t… get off of my lawn!

The immortal Ella

Nat, even better than Ella (and first in my book)

Frank, probably more popular than either, but third in my book

Some guy named Paul, who I ordinarily love, but who is up against Ella, Nat, & Frank.

Oh, my… Just found this. I already told you Nat is the best… this version is even better than the one above… so I’ll just put it here. A reminder that he was not merely a phenomenal vocalist, but a pianist of the first order. And yes, I’d trade every post of The Digital Cuttlefish for the genius in this one video. Too bad I can’t.

Scouts To Admit Gays. Maybe. Wait…

The policy, if you are gay,
Is changing—changing any day
But wait! It seems there’s now delay
Why wait for change? I cannot say—
They should have done so anyway.

The policy that guides each scout
From honest lad to brutish lout
Was scheduled for a turnabout
Which made some bigots scream and shout
Or rant and rave, or sit and pout.

The scouts, you see, discriminate.
It’s not just fear; it’s not just hate;
It’s policy that bars the gate
Till now. Or, till some future date;
They’ll have to wait to learn their fate.

So now we wait for more reports.
We’ll make our crafts; we’ll play our sports
On soccer fields and tennis courts
In neckerchiefs and khaki shorts…
Just don’t admit the godless sorts.

Some of my students have been scouts. Eagle scouts, even. Great people. I haven’t spoken to a single one who supports the policies banning gays or atheists. Maybe I’m in the wrong right geographical area, but the actual scouts I know are great. (Full disclosure–I quit scouts after one annoying year of Cub Scouts, so I won’t pretend to be able to give an insider’s view) And the little scouts that come to our door for fundraisers seem perfectly fine, and don’t begrudge me my protest against their national policies–indeed, their local policies are inclusive enough that I’d be happy to support them in something that did not send money to the national organization.

Ay, there’s the rub. The national organization. Fucking Bastards.

They are supposed to do right. They had the chance to, decided on a half-assed attempt at not wholeheartedly plunging toward wrong, and then screwed that up and have [as of this writing] chosen to delay making the easiest decision they could have.

One of Spike Lee’s movies gives us the moral message “always do the right thing”. There are times when that message is difficult or convoluted or hidden. Not this time. The right thing has been obvious for some time, and the scouts have avoided it, and are continuing to avoid it, because the wrong thing, apparently, has deep pockets.

And yeah, the current reports have gay scouts well ahead of atheist scouts. Yay, humanity.

Fucking Bastards.

When The Fetus Took The Stand To Testify…

… Because Bill O’Reilly has a short memory, he must have forgotten that Congress already tried to take testimony from a fetus.

Republican Congressmen sat in committee
And called, as their witness, young Tommy.
His presence was purely an act to draw pity;
The lad was still stuck in his mommy.

Their witness, unable to swear or affirm,
And unable to raise his right hand,
Looking less like a baby and more like a worm,
Reluctantly took to the stand.

“I’m glad you had time in your schedule to meet us”
The first representative smiled,
“Your perspective is needed; because you’re a fetus
We value you more than a child.”

The congressmen heard him, so loud and so clear,
Though Tommy, of course, had no voice;
(That’s the reason young Tommy was called to be here–
His mother, of course, had no choice.)

Tommy’s Mommy was there as a baby container–
What’s important is, Tommy was there–
If she’d spoken up, they’d have had to restrain ‘er
Cos Mom’s voice? We really don’t care.

Cuttlecap tip, of course, to PZ.

More on Ohio’s fetal testimony. and more. and more.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

They paved over Richard—that’s Richard the third
The Richard that used to be King.
Will I be remembered? The notion’s absurd!
But who knows what the future might bring?

Will the world of the future seek out where I rest?
Will they quarry in search of my bones?
Will they pore over details of things I’ve professed?
Will they look for the truth in the stones?

Will I live in the memories of those I have left?
Is this rational thought, or mere snobbery?
Will my grave be exhumed? And, for science, or theft?
Archaeology, maybe, or robbery?

They paved over Richard; they’ll pave over me
And a car-park may cover my head
My bones will be hidden where no one can see…
But I really won’t care. I’ll be dead.

In my opinion, the coolest site by far for looking at all the Richard III stuff is this, the University of Leicester page on the search. Great explanations of the dig, of the DNA search, of the analysis of wounds, of the reconstructed face…

“These Are Tough Days”

When the file release they had fought
Caught them doing things nobody ought
They said “These are tough days
Cos in so many ways
It’s a terrible thing… getting caught.

At Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral downtown, Msgr. Kevin Kostelnik asked parishioners Sunday “to pray fervently” for the victims of the clergy child abuse scandal and lamented that “these are tough days.”

Like other church leaders, Kostelnik read a Jan. 31 letter from Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez about tens of thousands of pages of previously secret personnel files posted on the church’s website last week of 122 priests accused of molesting children. Some of the files lay out in Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry’s own words how the church hierarchy plotted to keep law enforcement from learning that children had been molested at the hands of priests.

Yeah, these are tough days for the church.

Does *Every* News Outlet Have To Ask Who God Wants To Win In The Super Bowl?

Yet another take on that bad survey; today it’s CNN. And no, it’s not worth clicking through to read. I’m just using it as an excuse to repost this oldie, “Super Bowl Sunday (With God On Our Side)”:

Oh, the workouts are nothin’
And the wind sprints are less
We don’t even practice
We think that it’s best
Cos practice means nothing
I’m forced to confide—
But we’ll win big on Sunday
With God on our side

Oh the networks will show it
They’ll show it so well
How the righteous team won
And the evil team fell
Oh the righteous team won
But it’s not cos we tried
It’s Super Bowl Sunday
With God on our side

Oh, when I cross the goal line
I’ll raise my arm high
With one upraised finger
I’ll point to the sky
I’m sending a message
That can’t be denied
I just scored a touchdown
With God on my side

When it’s fourth down and inches
We’ll go for it all
It’s a quarterback keeper
But where is the ball
They’ll bring out the chain gang
And the refs will decide
First and ten to the team
With God on their side

And the fans in the stadium
Will cheer on their teams
And eat without stopping
Or that’s how it seems
And most of it’s salty
And all of it’s fried
They’ll eat it on Sunday
With God on their side

Oh, it won’t even matter
What’s the final score
The points aren’t important
That’s not what it’s for
This game’s about Jesus
We can all say with pride
We won big on Sunday
With God on our side

We gather each Sunday
We won’t miss a week
It’s more than just victory
It’s salvation we seek
It’s more than religion
It’s the reason Christ died
So we could play football
With God on our side