Tuesday, April 19, 2011

I wish stupidity were illegal - Part II

A couple of days ago, I wrote about  Tennessee State Representative Frank Nicely (R-Strawberry Plains), the genius who believed that the Jewish Albert Einstein evangelized for Christianity.

Next up is Tennessee State Representative Sheila Butt (R-Columbia) who gave a speech about how scientists don't know what they're talking about because they took away her Aqua Net hairspray.




Let us count Butt's errors in this short clip:

1. Governments around the world banned chlorofluorocarbons (CFSs) as propellants in hairsprays like Aqua Net because of undeniable evidence that they were damaging the Earth's ozone layer which shields us from ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.  Nothing to directly do with global warming.

2. This is not the same as aerosol particles, even though we called them aerosol spray cans.  Aerosols are microscopic particulates in the atmosphere that can come into the atmosphere from your car exhaust, smokestacks, etc.  Aerosols can reflect sunlight and act to cool the planet (large volcanic eruption injecting ash into the stratosphere can do this).  They also can result in air pollution, smog, acid rain, etc.

3.  Aerosols don't block "Earth's rays", they block radiation from the Sun.

Butt doesn't understand that words like "aerosol" can mean two different things.  That's fine, no crime in being ignorant about something.  Yet these morons are crafting laws telling science teachers what to teach in science classes in public schools.  Why?  Let's be honest - it's because they're evangelical Christians who hate the idea of evolution and believe scientists are evil atheists out to destroy the American way of life.

And people wonder why college professors are given tenure.  If we didn't have tenure, these anti-science barbarians would be gunning for us as well.  Legislators would seek to require college professors in science classes to "teach the controversy".  Problem is, there's NO FUCKING CONTROVERSY!  Not among people who know what they hell they're talking about.

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