Gary S. wrote:
On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 20:09:55 GMT, "Tom Donaly"
wrote:

They (the politicians) were relying on that vast storehouse of
scientific information, the
Bible, for their instruction.
73,
Tom Donaly, KA6RUH


I missed that part. Guess it would be in the Book of Numbers.
. . .

Actually, it's in I Kings vii.23 and II Chronicles iv.2:

"Also, he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in
compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits
did compass it round about."

In _A History of Pi_ by Petr Beckmann, the author states (p. 174) that
"There is a story about some American legislature having considered a
bill to legislate, for religious reasons, the biblical value of pi = 3.
I have found no confirmation of this story; very probably it grew out of
an episode that actually took place in the State Legislature of Indiana
in 1897." He describes the incident. . .

A bill was introduced in the Indiana House in 1897 which said in the
preamble:

"A bill for an act introducing a new mathematical truth and offered as a
contribution to education to be used only by the State of Indiana free
of cost by paying any royalties whatever on the same, provided it is
accepted and adopted by the official action of the legislature in 1897."

In Section 1, the value of pi is effectively declared to be about 9.2.
In Section 2, it's said to be exactly 3.2. The bill was referred
["perhaps symbolically", muses Beckmann] to the House Committee on Swamp
Lands, which passed it to the Committee of Education, which reported it
back to the House "with recommendation that said bill do pass." On Feb.
5, 1897, the Indiana House passed it unanimously.

A charitable person would speculate that, like our current legislators
and the more recent Patriot Act, they just didn't trouble themselves to
read it before voting.

It was saved from passage by the Senate by the intervention of a Purdue
math professor named Waldo who, horrified when learning about it,
coached the senators.

History repeats itself. Now political interests are being used to
modify, distort, ignore, and contradict scientific findings. And Kansas
is once again attempting to legislate against the teaching of evolution.
Some things never change.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

History repeats itself. Now political interests are being used to
modify, distort, ignore, and contradict scientific findings. And Kansas
is once again attempting to legislate against the teaching of evolution.
Some things never change.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

=============================

It could only happen in the USA!

"Reg Edwards" wrote in message
...
History repeats itself. Now political interests are being used to
modify, distort, ignore, and contradict scientific findings. And Kansas
is once again attempting to legislate against the teaching of evolution.
Some things never change.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

=============================

It could only happen in the USA!



A flaw in the system called Democracy?

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 00:46:31 GMT, "Clarence" wrote:

"Reg Edwards" wrote in message
...
History repeats itself. Now political interests are being used to
modify, distort, ignore, and contradict scientific findings. And Kansas
is once again attempting to legislate against the teaching of evolution.
Some things never change.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

It could only happen in the USA!

A flaw in the system called Democracy?

Democracy works best with a well educated, critical thinking,
intelligent group of voters capable of seeing long term effects.

Someday, we might see how that works out.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

On Thursday 09 September 2004 07:05 pm, Gary S. did deign to grace us with
the following:
On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 00:46:31 GMT, "Clarence" wrote:
"Reg Edwards" wrote in message
History repeats itself. Now political interests are being used to
modify, distort, ignore, and contradict scientific findings. And
Kansas is once again attempting to legislate against the teaching of
evolution. Some things never change.

It could only happen in the USA!

A flaw in the system called Democracy?

Democracy works best with a well educated, critical thinking,
intelligent group of voters capable of seeing long term effects.

Someday, we might see how that works out.

I think when everybody gets that smart, we'll all realize that Enlightened
Self-Interest is the best all around. We'll use something much like
democracy for decisions that affect groups of people, like, where should
the road go? Of course, if people would just quit spending on war, there'd
be enough left over to feed everyone on the planet for the rest of their
life, and government would be kinda moot.

Yeah, dream on. Think I'll have another toke. %-}

Cheers!
Rich

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 00:03:24 +0000 (UTC), "Reg Edwards"
wrote:

| History repeats itself. Now political interests are being used to
| modify, distort, ignore, and contradict scientific findings. And Kansas
| is once again attempting to legislate against the teaching of evolution.
| Some things never change.
|
| Roy Lewallen, W7EL
|
|=============================
|
|It could only happen in the USA!

Wife and I have traveled to over half the states now and we usually
try to visit the state capital buildings. (We live 90 miles from the
AZ building but haven't seen it).

Most of these examples of sparing no expense when you have an
unlimited supply of tax money, try to mimic the US Capital. Some even
like to claim that they are taller, wide, grander, etc. They are also
very much like airports, in that they are always undergoing
remodeling.

One other thing they seem to have in common is an appreciation of the
female form, particularly exposed breasts. Mind you, I find these
very interesting too, but often the legislators, who during their
deliberations are being overseen by paintings and statues featuring
these delightful forms, are busy passing laws against topless dancing,
declaring "low-rise" jeans illegal, fussing about dirty movies and so
forth.

Maybe we were better off under King George, and I don't mean the one
currently in the White House.

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 19:53:49 -0700, Wes Stewart
wrote:

One other thing they seem to have in common is an appreciation of the
female form, particularly exposed breasts. Mind you, I find these
very interesting too, but often the legislators, who during their
deliberations are being overseen by paintings and statues featuring
these delightful forms, are busy passing laws against topless dancing,
declaring "low-rise" jeans illegal, fussing about dirty movies and so
forth.

The Massachusetts Legislature passed a law requiring trigger locks on
all firearms not in use.

Then someone noticed the antique Revolutionary War flintlock musket
hanging on the wall of the chamber, and they had a trigger lock placed
on that.

Especially amusing if you understand how a flintlock works (hint: a
trigger lock does not prevent it from firing, just makes it more
difficult).

Maybe we were better off under King George, and I don't mean the one
currently in the White House.

Many historians believe that George III may have been mad at the time,
in later life more so.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

Clarence wrote:

"Reg Edwards" wrote in message
...

History repeats itself. Now political interests are being used to
modify, distort, ignore, and contradict scientific findings. And Kansas
is once again attempting to legislate against the teaching of evolution.
Some things never change.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

=============================

It could only happen in the USA!




A flaw in the system called Democracy?

Yes, the flaw in democracy is that we get what we collectively deserve.
And that's a scary thought.

Roy Lewallen

I read in sci.electronics.design that Rich Grise
wrote (in I780d.22097$x12.17653@trnddc05) about 'Another hopeless
text: spot the errors...', on Fri, 10 Sep 2004:

I think when everybody gets that smart, we'll all realize that
Enlightened Self-Interest is the best all around.

I entirely agree. It's rather a simple concept; I tell children about
it. It can be related to religion, agnosticism and moral atheism.

The only requirement is that all parties are clever enough, and patient
enough, to find a solution consistent with ESI. For the really big
problems, we haven't evolved far enough yet.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 07:20:20 +0100, John Woodgate
wrote:

I think when everybody gets that smart, we'll all realize that
Enlightened Self-Interest is the best all around.

I entirely agree. It's rather a simple concept; I tell children about
it. It can be related to religion, agnosticism and moral atheism.

The only requirement is that all parties are clever enough, and patient
enough, to find a solution consistent with ESI. For the really big
problems, we haven't evolved far enough yet.

Well no wonder.
Your self interest isn't as enlightened as mine.