Rubio on Earth's age: "I'm not a scientist, man"
In an interview with GQ magazine, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio declined to provide an exact estimate of the Earth's age, arguing that parents should be free to teach any origin-of-life theory they see fit.
"I'm not a scientist, man," Rubio said when asked how old the Earth is. "I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians...I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says."
The wide-ranging interview covered quite a bit of ground, from Republicans' recent electoral woes to Rubio's taste in rap music.
Rubio took issue with those in his party who hoped they could win simply by opposing President Obama without offering an alternate agenda. "There were some in politics who believed that all you had to do was be the alternative to the incumbent and you would win, but I never believed in that. I've always believed that you were better on offense than you were on defense. You were much better being for something than against someone."
Charting the path forward for the GOP, Rubio explained, "I think the bigger challenge that we face, and that we continue to face, is that we have not done a good enough job of communicating to people what conservatism is. In fact, we've allowed a myth to take hold in the minds of some that conservatism is about helping the people who have 'made it' and not about helping the people who are trying to make it."
Rubio brushed away suggestions that Republicans should jettison their social conservatism, disputing the argument that religious traditionalism has less currency among the modern electorate. "What I'm hearing is that it's ok for one side to express their view and the other side needs to be quiet," he said. "There are a very significant number of Americans that feel very strongly about the issue of life, about the issue of marriage and are we saying that they should be silenced or not allowed to speak or voice their opinion? There's a way to do that that is respectful and productive."
Asked to name his best friend, Rubio initially identified his wife. Pressed for another answer, he named Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., a tea-party kingmaker whose early support was crucial to Rubio's 2010 primary election rout of then-Gov. Charlie Crist. Rubio said he admired DeMint's willingness to "make decisions that have made him unpopular in his own party." He added that "Jeb Bush is another guy I admire for his ability to analyze issues and call them for what they are."
After an extended discourse about the evolution of rap music, Rubio was asked to name his three favorite rap songs.
His answers: "Straight Outta Compton" by N.W.A., "Killuminati" by Tupac and "Lose Yourself" by Eminem.
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Part 1. Explain how parallax shift is used to determine the distance from the Earth to a star. You should be able to explain using nothing more than high-school trigonometry. For extra credit, use the equations to calculate the distance to an object that shows a parallax shift of 1 arc-second (1/3600 of a degree). Use 3x10**8 km as a reasonable approximation of the diameter of Earth's orbit.
Part 2. Multiple parallax measurements agree that the center of the Milky Way is 26,000 light years from Earth. If the universe is 6000 years old, use that distance to calculate a minimum value for the speed of light. You may approximate one light year as 9.5x10**12 km and one year as 3.15x10**7 seconds.
Part 3 - Extra Credit. Thousands of experiments have determined the speed of light to be slightly under 300,000 km/sec. Explain the discrepancy with your answer to Part 2 by demonstrating that either
(3a) all of basic trigonometry is wrong
(3b) every speed-of-light experiment is wrong, or
(3c) Bishop Ussher's assumptions are wrong.
You have one hour. Best of luck!
Trigonometry is one of those subjects that most people don't use in their everyday lives anyway. Most people don't need to know the speed of light to live their everyday life. All I've ever needed is just basic math. I know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide and I know how to balance my checkbook and when I was working I always knew how to figure how much my paycheck would be. That's all I've ever needed and that's all most people need unless they're going to work in the space program or going to be some kind of scientist!
At I do know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide and balance my checkbook! That's probably more than half the people in this comment board can say!
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JV1970 replies: "Being a Republican is nothing to be ashamed of!"
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Thanks for proving my point, which apparently goes well-beyond SCIENCE, since you apparently relish the fact of being an uninformed republiCON, and probably worship at the feet of ignorance by people like sen. inhofe only because he has an "R" next to his name!
In 'The Republican War on Science,' Chris Mooney stated that Inhofe "politicizes and misuses the science of climate change".
Coburn is one of those people that you liberals think don't exist. He's a doctor AND A CHRISTIAN!
He actually said that the earth's age was "a dispute amongst theologians".
That's about the same as saying that the efficacy of penicillin is a dispute among exorcists.
Where do Republicans find these nutcases?
As the lone physicist in the U.S. Congress, Rush Holt has become a voice for innovation and education.
Rush Holt is respected on both sides of the aisle for his intellectual integrity and fairness.
"It is a shame there is such divisiveness in Congress that the important things in science where he can contribute probably go unheard."
Holt doesn't let that divisiveness get him down. He says he is keeping an open mind on working with Governor Chris Christie, especially on education and research issues. The Tea Party and their like, though, are not high on his list.
"We really have to climb out of this morass of negativism," says Holt. "If we keep saying that we need cutbacks everywhere, then we will thwart the best of American nature."
http://njmonthly.com/articles/lifestyle/people/jerseys-man-of-science.html
yeah, man, we all know. and its too bad.
always felt the best government would be made up of practical scientists and engineers and the like... instead of the bs artists we get stuck with. esp the loony religious do as i say not as i do 'god fearin' liars.
yeah, man, we all know. and its too bad.
always felt the best government would be made up of practical scientists and engineers and the like... instead of the bs artists we get stuck with. esp the loony religious do as i say not as i do 'god fearin' liars.
As the lone physicist in the U.S. Congress, Rush Holt has become a voice for innovation and education.
It frustrates Holt that we are going through what he sees as a period of anti-intellectualism that pervades both the general public and Washington. He is honored that other members of Congress come to him about scientific issues, but he regrets that it is often because they don't want to make the effort to understand the issues on their own.
"This whole controversy about global warming or even evolution -- politicians just don't want to take the time to educate themselves," says Holt.
http://njmonthly.com/articles/lifestyle/people/jerseys-man-of-science.html
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Aaaaaah......and so speaks Madame Clairvoya, shuffling around her tarot cards, since nobody else would have known we are a totally polarized and divided country ever since the 2000 election and the GOP coup detat! LOL!
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Hey man.......maybe you're not a scientist, but you certainly belong to the anti-science republiCON party!