Thursday, March 21, 2013

SCIENTISTS GATHER TO DEBATE NOTHING



MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

The advantages of understanding Nothing


A Special Report on Nothing


(Wednesday March 20, 2013. The Museum of Natural History, NY, NY)  Although the United States, once the most highly educated country in the world now ranks 12th out of 36 industrialized nations producing college graduates, there are new promising signs that that may change significantly in the next 10 years.  American colleges have seen a decline in enrollment over the past decade and are producing fewer and fewer graduates particularly in the much needed fields of the applied sciences, all engineering disciplines, the computer science and technology sector, mathematics and the burgeoning fields that will come to dominate the future of technology such as nanotechnology, robotics, and medical technology.  However positive indications that this deficit may be changing were presented earlier this past Wednesday at the Museum of Natural History in New York City where some of the preeminent thinkers, professors and scientists gathered at a symposium to discuss the theory of "Nothing".

In what was a contentious but robust debate among the attendees, Nothing received a level of scrutiny and was subject to empirical methods of defining it.  According to an article in “Live Science” written by Clara Moskowitz, “The simple idea of nothing, a concept that even toddlers can understand, proved surprisingly difficult for the scientists to pin down, with some of them questioning whether such a thing as nothing exists at all.”  Indeed at times the conference devolved into heated debates that to a casual observer bordered on the ludicrous.  After all, virtually every person can readily provide a reasonable definition of Nothing but reconciling such pedestrian definitions with the theoretical and experimental concepts of Nothing as posited by scientists, physicists, and philosophers from a broad array of applied and academic sciences appears to be no easy task.  Some questioned the rationale of spending valuable grant and research funds during these times of economic austerity exploring theoretical and applied Nothing as a waste of time, energy and intellectual effort.  Still, there certainly was no absence of passion among the participants.

Despite the provability or accuracy of some of the definitions presented by some of the more highly regarding individuals in their fields, it appeared that this conference actually produced nothing.  Dr. Harlan C. Bupkes who has been studying nothing at Duke University ever since being tenured 12 years ago commented, “Nothing is and can be something.  When you ask someone what they are doing at the moment and they reply ‘Nothing’ they are still occupying space and they are matter so they are really not doing “Nothing” because simply by their physical existence in temporal space they are something; ergo, their existence alone alters the quantum space they occupy and are therefore not doing Nothing.” 

In one of the more heated exchanges of the day theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss of Arizona State University delivered a speech in which he claimed  there is a deeper kind of Nothing  which consists of no space at all, and no time, no particles, no fields, no laws of nature. "That to me is as close to Nothing as you can get," Krauss said.  His ideas were vigorously countered by Dr. M. T. Fields from MIT.  Dr. Fields countered that she did concede the point that Professor Krauss was familiar with Nothing because most of his academic life has been spend “doing Nothing” and she added “doing Nothing is not doing science or research.  It is simply doing Nothing.”

Philosopher Jim Holt argued his position countering Krauss’ supposition inquiring, “Is that really Nothing?" he asked." There's no space and there's no time. But what about physical laws, what about mathematical entities? What about consciousness? All the things that are non-spatial and non-temporal."  At the end of Holt’s presentation Krauss, who was seen in the lobby outside the conference room consuming large quantities of cheap scotch, shouted towards the podium that, “you are correct Jim, you really have a good grasp of Nothing because that seems all you are capable of doing – Nothing.”  When other attendees standing near a slightly inebriated Krauss tried to calm him down and questioned what he was drinking he drunkenly replied, “Oh, it’s Nothing.  I never drink anything and that means I drink Nothing.”  At this point the moderator or the event, Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the museum's Hayden Planetarium, said, "If laws of physics still apply, the laws of physics are not Nothing." Tyson continued, “Ladies and gentlemen I believe today has been a milestone in the discussion of Nothing.  It seems we discussed Nothing and that we really don’t know Nothing.  It is an elusive force or state of nature and we may need to develop and entirely new framework, a new nomenclature for the exploration of Nothing.” 

One consensus the participants did agree on was that in their respective universities and research labs they are seeing a huge increase in students, both undergraduate and graduate level seeking positions in the field of Nothing.  “ I am bolstered by the fact that this topic is engaging college students across the country.  More students want to study Nothing and spend their collegiate years engaged in really exploring the amorphous boundaries of Nothing that, in a few years’ time we should have a very qualified pool of trained minds in Nothing who may be the ones to forge the new frontiers in Nothingness.”  Dr. Ira D. Voyd of Cal Tech added, “I have a son of my own presently in college and he is proud to tell me that he is studying Nothing and, actually, is finding ever more creative ways to doing Nothing.  That warms my heart because he was always a bit of an under achiever but it seems he’s really divided into Nothing with both feet.  It seems he’s found his calling and it is Nothing.”



TAGS:  THE PHYSICS OF NOTHING, NOTHING IN PARTICULAR, THE FIELD OF NOTHING, NOTHING’S IMPORTANCE, DOING NOTHING AS SCIENCE, THE FRONTIERS OF NOTHING, NOTHING WAGERED NOTHING LOST, COLLEGE STUDENTS SEEK TO STUDY NOTHING, NOTHING IS NEW UNDER THE SUN, NOTHING MATTERS, WHAT IS THE MATTER OF NOTHING?, SCIENTIFIC SATIRE, WEIRD NEWS, SCIENTIFIC HUMOR







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Copyright The Brooding Cynyx 2013 © All Rights Reserved


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

WHEN THE UNIMAGINABLE BECOMES THE UNSPEAKABLE




PROSECUTING RAPE IN AMERICA:
IT’S MORE THAN “GENDER BIAS”
A woman is raped every minute in America



(Tuesday March 19, 2013.  Steubenville, OH)  Rape.  The word alone conjures up some of the darkest images a mind can harbor.  Rape:  the most isolating of crimes for the victims that can be perpetrated.  Let’s be clear here so as not to muddy the waters of this discussion; rape is sexual assault, with the non-consensual, forcible commission of sexual acts including vaginal penetration using penis, hand, fingers or other objects committed by a man to a woman.   Rape, is rape.  Rape is primarily an act of aggression and violence wherein the sex act(s) themselves are often secondary to the dominance and exerted control by the perpetrator often with the infliction of physical pain – purely sadistic tactics - for the emotional, psychological and physical pleasure of the assailant.  We all know what rape is, don’t we?  Don’t we?

It is a sad statement about our culture and society, our priorities and values when that question must be asked and asked again and again.  It seems that not a week goes by that there is not some horrific but media sensationalized report of a sexual assault or rape involving younger and younger victims and perpetrators.  What is behind this trend?  What is it in our culture that can lead some young boys to commit the most heinous of crimes and, in many cases, record their exploits on cellphone cameras to be posted as clips on YouTube and their Facebook pages?  To deny that there are not insidious dark currents coursing just below the surface of the waters our young boys swim is to deny reality.  There is no one causative factor to be identified, not a singular influence that can explain the prevalence of rape in our teen population.

IMPLIED AMBIGUITY

During the election season concluded last November rape became an issue but it was for all the wrong reasons.  It was not a topic for debate regarding the prosecution of alleged rapists or a discussion of victims’ services or any other positive or proactive political agenda item.  No, it became an issue because several Republican candidates for Congress absurdly, insultingly, sought to make rape a political issue in the Conservatives never ending battle against women’s rights and women’s health concerns.  Todd Akin a senate candidate from Missouri exposed himself as a blithering, insensitive, chauvinistic imbecile when he commented during a televised interview that rape needed further definition because, in his idiotic estimation, there is a qualifying definition he called “legitimate” rape.  He compounded his exhibition of his own misogynistic world view when he claimed that “a woman’s body has a way to shut the whole thing down” and that this mechanism prevented the rape victim from becoming pregnant.  He had co-authored legislation in the House of Representatives with the GOP vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan that would narrowly define rape as a means to further their extreme right wing anti-abortion, anti-women policies. 

It is indeed the first perilous step down the proverbial slippery slope when those holding or seeking elective office distort reality; posit moronic positions and work to add nuanced distinctions and definitions for a crime that is not subject to such distinctions.  There are already sufficient designations recognized in jurisprudence on both the federal and state levels.  Most states recognize “statutory” rape when there is a certain age difference between victim and victimizer.  “date Rape” has been introduced into our cultural and legal lexicon in the last 15 years or so to make the prosecution of perpetrators who know and are often involved in a long term relationship with their victims better codified.  Rape, like murder, is typically a crime where the victim is known in some way to the perpetrator.  The serial rapist of fiction and cinema is a rare breed.  The FBI has interviewed hundreds of convicted rapists of every classification and has established relatively reliable “profiling” methods that aid in their apprehension.  Sadly the occurrence of date rape is on the increase yet successful prosecution in such cases often proves to be more difficult than it should.

When a young woman is stigmatized and often terrified to come forward after a rape then not only does her assailant go unpunished but each one of these cases further erodes the basic elements upon which our society is built.  In what other crimes are the victims saddled with a disproportionate responsibility regarding the burden of proof?  In what other crime does a victim need to submit to an invasive, degrading, humiliating medical examination to collect evidence?  Rape is the crime that keeps on victimizing.

AN UNHOLY TRIAD

Steubenville, Ohio a small community of 18,000 in the grimy gritty corner of southeast Ohio just miles from West Virginia, has been embroiled in  a recent case of rape, sexual abuse, and an alleged cover-up due to the perpetrators “status” in this hardscrabble Rust Belt town that  has gained national and international attention.  For better or worse this trial has unearthed the nexus of disparate elements of our culture and exposed our misaligned values as much as it has sliced open wounds that have split the community and will bleed for some time to come.

This case is not simply an indictment of one small town where high school football is one of the cohesive elements and a source of pride for residents who have little positive to rally around.  This horrific tale of a crime purposely concealed to protect the accused has played out in towns large and small, in athletic programs on the high school and college levels and in professional athletics as well.  The gist of this sordid tale has become all too familiar. The reactions of those on either side of the prosecution stand on well-worn turf and the predictability of their arguments and attitudes are a bit ragged, tattered and torn from years of overuse. 

In Steubenville a window has been thrown open and peering inside we are forced to look upon the unholy triad that can make the prosecution of rape so painful for the victim, so divisive for a community, and lends itself to various degrees of “justice” in the courts.  The story here is not unique; actually, it is becoming all too familiar.  Some local high school football players on a powerhouse football team attend a party where alcohol flows freely and a young woman, who was rendered unconscious by her alcohol consumption, was physically sexually assaulted by several of the “star” athletes in attendance.  Many others present observed and stood idly by as the rape occurred; some even captured scenes of the atrocity and posted them on social media sites.  There is growing evidence that the football coach, parents and others in positions of authority may have in fact made efforts to thwart the prosecution of the two boys accused.  While two perpetrators were found guilty and sentenced last Sunday, the Ohio Attorney General has indicated that he will continue to investigate allegations of a cover up and interference with the prosecution.

SPECTATOR RAPE:  THE INDIFFERENCE OF WITNESSES

Rape has typically been an atrocity committed in the dark, in the shadowy alleys, dimly lit foyers and stairways of apartment buildings and out of sight in private residences, dormitory rooms and in anonymous secluded locales.  Disturbingly, the rape cases that are becoming more prevalent or seem to at least receive more media coverage (which we’ll address later) than in the past, are “gang” rapes; crimes where multiple assailants brutalize a single victim.  As  some of these group rapes have found their way onto the social media networks where the laughing perpetrators proudly display clips of their heinous crimes, we must take stock of ourselves as a culture and ask what are the dynamics at work that make some rapes a spectator sport?

The Steubenville case illustrates a confluence of societal and cultural factors as much as it does the reality of group rape perpetrated at a party be it in a private home, frat house or other setting.  When rape can take place out in the open, publicly, and is not a vile attack of a lone assailant driven by psychosis and deviance, there is something gone terribly wrong in society. 

PUBLIC STATUS, PREJUDICED JUDGMENT

Time and time again we have seen how those among us with wealth and status, fame and fans, have access to a brand of justice, of legal defense that the rest of us do not.  In our culture of personality where athletes are coddled and held above their peers from the moment they first demonstrate superior athletic prowess and celebrities of every stripe escape conviction by purchasing the services of high powered lawyers and defense teams laden with expert witnesses, jury consultant, investigators and a host of defense specialists, our confused priorities are exposed.  The list of notorious cases and head spinning acquittals and exonerations is lengthened every month.  Be they college athletes protected by their influential athletic departments, Hollywood characters getting mere “slaps on the wrists” after all sorts of crimes, or priests, rabbis, teachers, counselors entrusted to mentor our youth, we see not an equitable system of “blind justice” but rather a biased, skewed, bastardization of the criminal justice system, a hybrid jurisprudence fueled by money, public support, and the de facto “benefit of the doubt” afforded to those we hold above the rest convoluted into a “benefit of the doubt” that undermines the entire system.

GENDER BENDER

Although over half of the population of the United States are female most of our institutions, public and private, remain majority male dominated.  A quick glance at our Senate shows a portrait of a very powerful and exclusive virtually all-male – all white male – fraternity.  This is another poor reflection of our society but the ramifications of this reality are far more reaching than one might initially realize.  There is an inherent “gender bias” pervasive throughout all facets of our society and culture, in the board rooms of America and, due to the male dominated  Congress, that dominance extends into the metaphorical  and literal bedrooms of America as well. 

Men write the law, largely enforce the law, and a significant number of right wing zealots in elective office use their positions and the power of their offices to further a conservative agenda shamelessly branded as “Christian Conservatism” to deny access to certain medical care for women, as well as the access to birth control and abortion.  Theirs is a battle that has claimed many lives and will claim more in violence and inadequate medical services for the women most in need of specific care in our society.    The deck is stacked decidedly against women across the board; in every conceivable way women find more of their “choices” and options limited by men. 

If anything what is sorely lacking and desperately needed in our male-centric society is a concerted effort in our schools, perhaps starting at an earlier age then has typically been the case, to educate young boys and girls about all aspects of interaction between the sexes and what constitutes acceptable, respectful behavior.  A host of cultural variables have contributed to sending no precise message or the wrong messages to our children when it comes to maturity, proper conduct as well as the sensitive matters of sexuality. 

A chilling illustration:  girls 11 years of age and younger constitute 30% of rape victims today.


AGE AND RAGE

As noted earlier rape is not primarily a sexually motivated act.  It is an act of intense anger, rage and aggression with the actual sexual contact being secondary, in most cases, to the “thrill of the hunt” as many sexual offenders have called it during interviews with FBI profilers.  In the Steubenville case it appears to have been a wonton act of callous disregard, an almost “recreational” exploit committed by boys who thought themselves to be something special.  They thought they were special because they have always been treated as special and they likely did not anticipate getting caught, let alone prosecuted in court.

Were these high school “star, promising athletes” angry at their unconscious victim?  Did they see their behavior as being accepted among the others present, their peers?  What were the missing elements and influences in the minds and characters of these boys that allowed them to abuse over the course of an extended period of time a young girl who had drank herself into unconsciousness?  The account of that night’s activity is one of debasing, almost barbaric abuse that included other vile acts prior to as well as after she was violated vaginally.  The questions are not infinite but rather actually quite limited.  It is the elusiveness of the answers, of any answers, and that the defense attorneys attempted to frame this horrid crime in a less brutal manner was an outrage. 

That rape perpetrators and victims are becoming younger and younger should be interpreted as a dangerous trend that is arguably illustrative of profound flaws in the way we are raising our children, what we allow them to be exposed to on TV, in music, movies and video games. But those external influences are not responsible for what we are seeing with ominous frequency in every corner our country, across all socioeconomic strata, in big cities and rural communities.  The pie chart above is a stark graphic that should encourage moms and dads, teachers and coaches to begin the dialogue with the children in their charge and conduct it in a frank, candid, unambiguous fashion.  Boys must learn that no means no.  Any young boy or man who cannot accept that fact has obvious problems that might be a manifestation of deeper psychopathology.

For whatever reason or combination of reasons our youth are more angry, more impressionable, more aggressive, careless, and undisciplined than any other generation.  Kids are shooting classmates, neighbors are sexually assaulting neighbors, high schoolers are perpetrating more serious crime at an alarming rate.  This much we know, this much we need no reminders of if we read a newspaper once in a while or watch the local TV news.  It seems our children are in a twisted race to grow up and that the innocence of youth in all respects is lost at a younger age than at any other time in history.  But the societal, anthropological, psychological, and cultural variables and their confluence and impact is another discussion for another time.  Yes, it is directly related to what happened in Steubenville late last August and is playing out every day somewhere in America. 

Clichés are clichés only because they are true.  Employing clichés can be seen as a cope out, they can be heard as hollow words meant to be pacifying more than comforting or instructive.  But, we must get our children back; we, as a society must teach our children better, show our children better and have them learn the hard lessons of life before they learn them in the streets or roaming aimlessly through the mall with their friends.  It is a huge challenge but a challenge made incrementally smaller if each parent or guardian does their part along the way.

Our girls and women need to be respected just as all our fellow citizens, neighbors, classmates, team mates,  and play mates.  Our skewed priorities must somehow be remedied. 


TAGS: STEUBENVILLE OHIO, STEUBENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL, STEUBENVILLE RAPE TRIAL, RAPE, VICTIMS RIGHTS, PROSECUTING RAPE, RAPE IS RAPE, MYSOGNY, SOCIETY, CULTURAL INFLUENCES, MORALS, GENDER BIAS, WOMENS RIGHTS, LEGAL ABORTION, “CONSERVATIVE” CHRISTIAN HYPOCRISY, RIGHT WING ZEALOTS, PARENTING, EDUCATION


LINKS:  RECENT CASES IN UNITED STATES






























RAPE & GENDER BIAS AROUND THE WORLD




















VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (VAWA)















GENERAL RAPE LINKS















Copyright The Brooding Cynyx 2013 © All Rights Reserved