General Times

09:59 pm - Adieu, and Good-bye

Alas, I must bid farewell to LiveJournal. It's been a short life, but I must leave. The reason I'm going, I feel I should say, is that I have been rather dissatisfied with the LiveJournal experience. It doesn't work with Firefox 1.5, it doesn't seem to support easy RSS, and I find some of the navigation and option selection to be awkward. So, this will be my last post on this LiveJournal. From now on, I'll be found at fourstar.dlgeek.net. Any comments to this or other posts from this timestamp forth will be ignored.

Farewell.

04:02 pm - Best Blonde Joke Ever

This is definitely the best blonde joke ever.

07:02 pm - Christmas Reflection

So, Christmas. Not such a big deal this year, but some interesting things happened. Foremost among them is that this is the first Christmas I've ever spent away from home. Since both my grandmothers live in Moore County, we've never needed to travel to be with family for the holidays. However, this year my parents decided to do something a little different. Because we've had such a difficult year, with my mother's illness, my dad having to drive an hour and a half to work and back every day, and me taking way too many classes in an attempt to get into the colleges I want to go to, everyone's been living in a high-stress environment. So, we took a long weekend (Friday the 23rd through Monday the 26th) and went to the beach. Just the four of us.packed the car, brought along all the presents, the tree, the Christmas ham, the whole smash. Very different. On reflection, though, I must admit that it was worth it. I feel a lot better now, having been able to get away from it all for a few days (even though I have to come home and go right back to schoolwork!). I'm still not looking forward to going back to school, but that's life.

So, what did I get? Not loads, but I always prefer a few good presents that I'll enjoy for a while over a lot of knick-knacks and miscellaneous clutter. Anyways, on to the presents. Since I was accepted to State, my father decided to raid the campus bookstore and got me some State paraphernalia: a sweatshirt, a nice polo (nicer than the one I already had), and a window sticker for my car. Besides that, I got Season 8 of Stargate: SG-1, which furthers my collection (though I'm still missing Seasons 3 and 6). Also got some gift cards (mostly from aunts/uncles): Panera (yum!), BestBuy, and Target (near-useless, since the nearest is over an hour's drive away). A new razor (Remington Titanium), since the one I've been using doesn't work too well, as some of you that see me often might have noticed. A new DVD player (Sony) 'cause the one I've got won't play quite a few movies properly (skipping, visual/audio glitches, that sort of thing). A 2005 set of proof coins (a family tradition, I have sets dating back to 1987). Other than that, it was fairly unremarkable for my last Christmas at home before I go off to college.

Current Mood: complacent

05:35 pm - New Look

I've decided to try a new skin. Looks a little grayer than the other, but I kind of like it. What do you think?

09:34 am - Creationism Under Fire (Again)

A story in yesterday's USA Today reveals that a federal judge on Dover, Pennsylvania has recently ruled against the teaching of intelligent design in the Dover school system's science classes. Intelligent design, or ID, is an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution that has been presented by religious elements of society as a replacement for that “heretical” theory. ID claims that some “higher power” (i.e. God) was responsible for creating the universe and everything in it, while evolution states that all life evolved from a common ancestor through a process of natural selection. Now, don’t get me wrong. I support evolution, because it has the greatest (indeed, nearly all) the scientific support. But I do understand and respect others’ beliefs. The problem arises when people try to force those beliefs on the rest of society, as the proponents of ID are attempting to do. In my view, this is a clear violation of the First Amendment, which states that church and state must remain separate.
Judge John Jones seems to agree. In his ruling, he stated that “ID is an is an interesting theological argument, but ... it is not science,” and “Our conclusion today is that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution.” His ruling goes on to refer to a case he tried three years ago, which determined that creationism was also improper for the school setting, and stated that ID was simply creationism without specifically naming God as the creator. The article also states that several members of the Dover school board were inconsistent and evasive in their responses to questioning, with the intent to disguise their true purpose, the introduction of religious material into the classroom.
What does this mean for the nation at large? Nothing, legally, although other judges may (and probably will) reference this decision in similar cases in the future. But other cases in Georgia and Kansas prove that the debate over ID is still very much alive.
In my opinion, ID is not science, and it has no place whatsoever in a science class. Evolution is supported by scientifically gathered evidence, which is what makes it the preeminent theory of how we came to be where we are today. ID has none of that support, but it has a growing public following, which is responsible for the debate and controversy surrounding it. What I think should happen is this: if the public wants ID in the schools, put it there. But include it in some sort of elective course, like a philosophy or religious history course, and leave science classes free to teach science.

Current Mood: contemplative

09:03 pm - Admissions Update

For those of you who were curious, I recieved a letter in the mail from MIT today. Now, before anyone gets too excited, let me tell you what the letter said. They simply told me that they had decided not to accept my application during the early round, but that they would review my application again during the regular admissions cycle in February. I short, I've been deferred. Yeah, it's better than being rejected outright, but I think I'd rather have been spared another two months of nervous waiting for a nebulous acceptance letter. Oh, well, as the French say: c'est la vie.

Current Mood: indifferent

09:32 pm - The Admissions Marathon

It's worse than Christmas.  Waiting for college acceptance letters, that is.  Some schools, like N.C. State, are decent enough to post their admissions decisions on their websites, providing anxious applicants with rapid feedback on whether they have been accepted or not.  On the other hand, schools like MIT insist on using only the traditional forms of notification: namely, snail mail.  And with Logan International closed last Friday, when the letters went out, those of us that aren't in Massachusetts have to wait an extra day or two for our letters to arrive.  Fortunately, MIT isn't my only option.  I saw this on the NC State application website yesterday:

Current Mood: anxious

05:48 pm - History IAs and Other Screwups

Fun day today. Oh, the morning was just fine. Calc went well, and we had a nice birthday party in English for our teacher. But then things took an elevator ride to hell. I was supposed to take a quiz today for my online physics course, but it screwed up. When I tried to load the quiz, our worthless network went on the fritz again and my browser locked up as I was loading the questions. So... because of the way the provider works, I couldn't take the quiz properly. I spent the next hour and a half trying to get in touch with the teacher in Raleigh, trying to get him to clear the "attempt." Even when that was done, however, it took me 45 minutes just to take the test. Sum total of that adventure, one class period completely lost, another half-wasted.
Things just keep getting better, too. Our Internal Assessments in history (a major portion of our International Baccalaureate grade in that course) are due TOMORROW. So, my nightly homework has to be squeezed in around that, leaving me with exactly no spare time tonight. Oh, well, no rest for the weary...

Current Mood: annoyed

07:13 pm - Hmm...

Well, I guess this is my blog. Welcome, and hello, and all that crap. I can't guarantee that I'll post regularly, it depends on my schedule, but I'll do my best. Comments are welcome, but I reserve the right to hunt down and destroy any evil bastards that abuse the privlege. Other than that, I'm out of things to say right now.

So, in Airborne tradition, here I go, jumping in feet first.

Current Mood: curious