I’m not really putting a lot of energy into this in terms of a foul mouthed rant or anything, I just think this will end up here eventually anyway and I’m not really putting an argument forward…
Anyway, in the latest Scientific America (March 2005) they had a nice little poll on page 30 on the left hand side. Just, you know, a random little sidebar piece…really random. I have no idea why it’s there. This magazine rarely comments on politics except when it applies to science pretty directly…and when they do they appear fairly left leaning since it’s usually when Bush or his administration is doing something they consider stupid in terms of funding/policy (especially in regards to stem cell research, global warming, pollution levels, energy plans, mixing religion/science, etc.).
Keep in mind this poll had nothing to do with any of the surrounding articles AT ALL as per the norm…(other articles include delivering genes into cells using nanoparticles, the failure of a lung cancer drug, whales getting ‘the bends’, potentially incredible broadband capabilities of telephone lines, etc.)
So I guess this could have two potential pittings:
WTF SciAm?
WTF America?
I doubt I could say anything that hasn’t been said before in regards to the views expressed in the polls…it’s probably been done before on this board a thousand times over. But hey, you know, there’s a little update on the um…“progress.”
As disconcerting as this is, I really don’t think it’s anything new. I would expect that at any given time in our history, you’d be able to find significant segments of society that would readily curtail certain liberties with the idea of gaining more security. Like my mother was so fond of saying-- if you’re not guily of anything, you don’t have anything to hide.
Make sure the poll in question isn’t an advertisement. I’ve seen ads like that before and in some magazines they are prepared in a way that make them very hard to distinguish from something actually written by the magazine (it may only say advertisement in a very small font at the top or bottom of the piece.)
Again I’m not saying I suspect it is an ad or not, I’m just saying I’ve seen similar situations that turned out to be ads and got me going “wtf” until I looked at it closer.
9 out of 10 pollls agree, pollls are depressing. It’s one thing to think your neighbor is a moron, it’s really depressing to see it in black and white.
I find it sad when people don’t know at least the general meaning of every section of the Constitution. The document isn’t that long, and people definitely have the memory for it. How many people do we all know that have hours of song lyrics memorized?
Why would you pit Scientific American on the content if the design was legit? The truth is the truth. Facts don’t need commentary which is probably why they didn’t feel the need to make one.