Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Creation and the Null Hypothesis

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The scientific method is an iterative process of testing hypotheses. The default position on a subject is known as the null hypothesis, and new alternative hypotheses are posited and then tested to see if they better fit observations.

For example, it was once generally accepted by scientists and laymen alike that the Earth was flat. An alternative hypothesis was proposed that the Earth was actually [roughly] spherical and, through observation and testing, that alternative hypothesis supplanted the null hypothesis and showed it to be false. That’s how science works. If we had never been able to produce sufficient evidence and observation to falsify the null hypothesis that the Earth was flat, we would still believe it today.

This method has falsified many null hypotheses about our universe, including many that originated in the great world religions and many that just seem to be ‘common sense.’ The Judeo-Christian creation story, for example, has been pretty soundly falsified as a literal account (though that has no bearing on its value as a figurative or allegorical account). The common-sense assumption that time is a fixed constant has also been falsified, as we now understand (per the Theory of General Relativity) that time is relative and is subject to dilation and delay when affected by gravitational fields.

But there is one fundamental question—how was the universe created?—on which there is little or no observable evidence supporting any hypothesis. So on this topic, if we are to apply the scientific method in a proper and consistent way, the null hypothesis stands. Only when an alternative hypothesis is proposed and sufficient evidence and observation serves to falsify the null hypothesis can we ‘switch’ to an alternative.

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Gingrich and Perry in Virginia: Epic Fail

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As a general rule, if you’re running for office, you should take the necessary steps to actually appear on the ballot. Just saying.

The Republican Party of Virginia has announced that former-Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA 6th) and Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) have both failed to meet the requirements to appear on the ballot for the Republican Party primary in Virginia. Now, I know that Virginia is no California, Florida, or New York. But we’re no Alaska or Rhode Island either. We do count for something in Presidential politics, and it’s kind-of important to engage—at least a bit—in Virginia if you intend to be president. Failing to get on our primary ballot is a pretty stupid way to start.

In Virginia you have to submit a petition with 10,000 signatures, including at least 400 from each of our eleven Congressional districts, to appear on our presidential primary ballots. These requirements are a bit more stringent then those in many other states, but they’re not exactly unreasonable for top-tier major-party candidates. Gingrich in particular, who has emerged as a front-runner for the Republican nomination and lives in Virginia, was just recently talking about how petition efforts here were going to “showcase the campaign’s ground game,” and that they had obtained 12,000 to 14,000 signatures.

Well now that we know he fell short (possibly because of the ‘400 from each district’ requirement), the Gingrich campaign has changed its tune and says that the process for obtaining ballot access in Virginia is a “failed system.” Funny, it seemed to work fine for former-Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) and Representative Ron Paul (R-TX 14th). “Voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender, especially leading candidates,” said Gingrich campaign director Michael Krull. “We will work with the Republican Party of Virginia to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure that all the voters of Virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice.”

Yes, the voters do deserve the right to vote for any top contender . . . if that contender bothers to meet the requirements to appear on the ballot as stipulated by Virginia law. As for that write-in campaign, well, good luck with that. It will be difficult since Virginia law prohibits write-ins on primary ballots. Sure, you could write Gingrich in on the margin or something, but it won’t be counted as a valid vote.

Next time, Messrs. Perry and Gingrich, you might want to put in a little more effort here in the Commonwealth. Epic fail, guys.

Random Photos

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Here’s another batch of photos I’ve been gathering over the last month or two (some of which you might have already seen on Facebook). I especially like the overly-restrictive bathroom sign demanding that I only flush toilet paper. What about the . . . ahem . . . waste material? Can’t I flush that too? I also like the ‘whole chicken’ package that adds, ‘without giblets and neck.’ So it’s not actually a whole chicken, is it?

N. Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Il Dead

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Kim Jong-Il (courtesy www.kremlin.ru)

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il is dead, according to North Korean state television. A tearful reporter announced his death to the North Korean people, stating that he died of ‘overwork’ while riding on a train on his way to provide ‘field guidance.’ A later report stated that he died of a heart attack. The government-controlled North Korean media, however, is notoriously untrustworthy. It is unclear what actually lead to Kim’s death, and the true cause of death may never be known.

Kim became North Korea’s Supreme Leader after the death of his father, Kim Il-Sung, in 1994. North Koreans suffer under a communist dictatorship with a uniquely powerful cult of personality around its leader. Kim’s birthday is a national holiday, his photos appear in nearly all public places, and many North Koreans attribute god-like qualities to him—including the ability to control the weather and set world-wide fashion trends. Meanwhile, North Koreans have essentially no civil liberties, no access to outside media or the Internet, and suffer some of the highest poverty and starvation rates in the world. Prison camps operate in the country where hundreds of thousands of political dissidents are indefinitely detained, including an estimated 50-70,000 who committed no crime other than being Christians.

North Korea has spent much of the last decade sabre-rattling, conducting its first nuclear weapons test in 2006, declaring an end of the 1953 Armistice in 2009, and torpedoing a South Korean navy ship and initiating an unprovoked attack on a South Korean island in 2010. These belligerent acts have sometimes (though not always) coincided with famines, unrest, or even Kim’s health setbacks inside North Korea, and are presumed to be intended as a ‘distraction’ for the North Korean people to shift focus away from unpleasant internal matters.

Kim’s youngest son, 27-year old Kim Jong-Un, has been formally announced as his successor. Due to North Korea’s reclusive nature and heavily-restricted media, it is unknown at this time whether Kim Jong-Un will take full power or share it in some arrangement with other members of the Kim family.

Some of the Dumbest Music Lawsuits

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The music industry is rife with money, egos, and legal ambiguity, and it stands at the nexus between technology, business, and creativity. Every recording you hear on the radio has its ownership split a myriad of different ways. The song itself is typically owned by the songwriters who wrote it, while the recording of that song is owned by the performers who performed it, but one or the other (or both) have generally signed some or all of their rights away to one or more record companies.

And, of course, the companies are always merging, bands are always switching companies, people are joining and leaving bands, and all the big egos involved with all of this are always trying to push their rights to the limit for their own benefit. All of this makes for some of the dumbest lawsuits in history. Here are five of my favorites.

Rob Thomas Steals His Own Song

Yourself or Someone Like You
Yourself or Someone Like You

Before Rob Thomas rocketed to fame as the lead singer and songwriter behind Matchbox Twenty, he was part of an Orlando-based band called Tabitha’s Secret. One of the group’s best known tracks was called ‘3 a.m.,’ which was a Thomas composition about the frustration and loneliness he experienced when his mother was fighting life-threatening cancer. Needless to say, Thomas considered it to be a very, very personal song, and it is still a staple of his live performances today.

Tabitha’s Secret broke up when two of its members, Jay Stanley and John Goff, decided not to accept a record deal from Matt Serletic’s Melisma, a company associated with Atlantic Records. Rob Thomas and two of the band’s other members, Brian Yale and Paul Doucette, accepted the record deal and soon re-formed with two new members—Adam Gaynor and Kyle Cook. The new band was christened Matchbox Twenty and its debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You, went on to become one of the best selling albums of the 1990’s (and one of my personal favorites). One of the tracks on the new album was the aforementioned ‘3 a.m.,’ which Thomas re-recorded with his new band.

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Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.