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THE QUOTE
“There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge in every country is the surest basis of public happiness.” — George Washington
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OUR GAL VI
The local Facebook-iverse was abuzz last night over the mention of one of our own in the Village Voice.
Seems that those city slickers suddenly have realized that there are actually people out here, and not just goats. And some of us Hoosiers can read and write and — gasp! — think.
State Senator Vi Simpson, top dog of the Democratic caucus, came in for the imprimatur on the Voice’s Scientology blog (golly gee, I didn’t know there was a crying need for such a thing). Writer Tony Ortega breathlessly marvels over the mere existence of Vi, who cleverly introduced an amendment to weaken a Republican bill to get creationism taught in Indiana public schools.
Clever Simpson
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Creationism, for those of you who understandably ignore the bleatings of the god-fearing Right, holds that the Earth is only 6000 years old and that a couple of white people named Adam and Eve ate some piece of fruit, causing all subsequent generations of humans to be born evil. Oh, and that a talking snake persuaded them to munch the honeycrisp.
“Go Ahead, Eat It.”
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I figure I’d be god-fearing, too, if I believed in a deity that deranged.
See, GOP Senator Dennis Kruse had introduced the original bill, SB 89, presumably because he thinks teaching evolution, biology, and geology are frightful wastes of our education dollars. The Indiana Senate actually passed the bill, leading me to wonder if those city slickers are right — perhaps we are just a bunch of illiterate goats out here.
Hoosier?
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Vi Simpson, though, proved at least some of us possess Homo Sapiens sapiens genetic material.
Her amendment called for the teaching of the creation myths of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Scientology as well. Lo and behold, her amendment was passed, probably because, y’know, half to three quarters of those minty-fresh Tea Party legislators probably can’t read anyway.
And the kicker: Simpson received complaints from various minor religion zealots who were put out because their fave fairy tales weren’t included.
“Hey! What About Us?”
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In any case, the bill is now watered down enough to make it essentially toothless as well as brainless.
Here’s a hat tip to FB eagle-eyes (and Pencillistas) Michael Redman, Miles Craig, Susan Sandberg, Jim Manion, Steve Johnson, Mike Cagle, R.E. Paris, and Joy Shayne Laughter for catching the Simpson story.
And — huzzah! — those fancy folks from the Big Apple like us, they really like us!
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KILL ‘EM ALL AND LET GOD SORT ‘EM OUT
Great. Now some knucklehead with a gun and a teensy package has shot and killed a bald eagle in Morgan County.
The Herald Times reports this morning that the eagle carcass was found earlier this month near Eminence.
Target Practice
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Keep in mind that a couple of whooping cranes were gunned down late last year as well. Folks, can we please go back to shooting tin cans off fence posts?
I said this a little more than a year ago, after Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others were pumped full of lead in Tucson, and now it looks as though I’ll have to say it again: America, stick your guns up your ass.
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LOCAL ARTISTS SHOWCASE
Can you pony up two bucks?
That’s all it costs to see scads of local Bloomington artists show their stuff at — what else? — the Local Artists Showcase, Saturday, February 25, at the Bloomington Convention Center.
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Bloom magazine bwana Malcolm Abrams sauntered into the Book Corner the other day in search of baseball magazines — yes, it’s that time of year — and to pass out flyers for the event. Bloom is sponsoring the bash along with Ivy Tech.
Some 67 local painters, scultors, mixed media artists and many others will be on hand.
With tix so cheap, you’ll have plenty of dough left over to buy some nice pieces, no?
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CHICKS WITH DISCS
Have you caught Womenspace on WFHB yet?
If not, why not? Great music by a revolving cast of XX-chromosome DJs, including Carolyn VandeWiele, Catharine Rademacher, and Liza Pavelich. Check these Spinitron playlists for the show so you can see what you’ve been missing.
VandeWiele, Rademacher & Pavelich
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Womenspace airs every Thursday, 9-11PM. Women spinning women, baby. Catch it.
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