Anti-Condom Message in School

Tonight my wife went to preview an educational video about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to be presented to one of our children at the local middle school here in Carrollton, Texas. It turns out that it was not an educational film but rather an electronic slideshow talk assembled by a local lady. Apparently she has been presenting this material since 1991.

My wife told me that the images of diseased genitalia in the presentation were horrific. When asked, the presenter stated that she did have a couple of students pass out after seeing the images. Some of the parents at the preview talked about hearing of students vomiting after seeing images like these in school.

The presenter also stated that condoms are ineffective against preventing virus-based STDs. She suggested that the reason condom manufacturers print on the boxes that condoms are effective against such diseases is that it would be unprofitable to state otherwise. She stated that when boys ask her about whether wearing two condoms might prevent such diseases, she tells them to ask their parents.

She provides an analogy of two people shaking hands while wearing gloves. She states that the gloves might or might not prevent infection. To be safe, she suggests, you should keep your hands tucked behind your back.

I asked my wife to revoke permission for my child to see this presentation. I am concerned that the agenda of the presentation is primarily an abstinence-only approach to disease prevention. I fear that the misstatement by the presenter that condoms are ineffective in preventing virus-based STDs might result in unwanted pregnancies and potentially lethal infections. More reliable information about the effectiveness of condoms and the ineffectiveness of abstinence-only programs is available on Wikipedia.

Family Photo

We had this photo of our family taken today. From oldest to youngest, we are David, Shannon, Ada, Ben, Tom, and Abe. Click on the image to see it full size.

Emigration is a Right

I updated my Optihumanist Principles as I wanted to communicate that emigration, i.e., to migrate out of one's nation, is a basic human right. Under the "Our lives are our own" section, I write "Emigration, reproduction, and life span are personal choices."

Nations such as China restrict emigration because productive citizens are obligated to serve the state which raised and trained them. China also restricts the right of reproduction to one child per couple because of the national burden of raising and training children. If the laws of your nation restrict your right to settle elsewhere, raise a large family, and even commit suicide, your life is not your own.

I had intended to add emigration to my Optihumanist Principles earlier but it had slipped my mind. I was reminded of it recently after finishing the 1936 novel We the Living by Ayn Rand.

Never Say Die

I came across a Portfolio.com article on the longevity industry, Never Say Die by Alexandra Wolfe. The article link was posted on the CryoNet mailing list. I have had the opportunity to see a number of the people interviewed in this article speak at venues such as the Alcor conference.

Intelligent Design

The NOVA program Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial was recommended to me by my attorney Dean Cook. I watched with interest as this is a documentary about a recent trial on evolution vs. creationism in government schools. It has parallels with our Moment of Silence and Pledge cases. The entire show is available to watch online.

Secular Purpose

On January 2nd, a judge ruled that the secular purpose of the moment of silence law is not a sham. We disagree and have asked our attorney Dean Cook to file an appeal.

I have uploaded the ruling to my Moment of Silence webpage along with links to recent news articles about the decision. I have also added a transcript of the oral arguments in which Mr. Cook summarized with this memorable quote:

[...] while the free exercise clause clearly prohibits the use of state action to deny the right of free exercise to anyone, it has never meant that a majority could use the machinery of the state to practice its beliefs.

Optihumanist Principles 2007

As is my annual tradition, I have updated my Optihumanist Principles for the year 2007. I think the wording gets a bit smoother each year.

Happy New Year to all. If you have not already done so already, I encourage you to make a New Year's Resolution. I think this is a fine tradition.

Creeping Theocracy

I have uploaded the transcripts of the State House floor debate regarding the recent bill which added "under God" to the Texas state pledge. You can find them from the links on my State Pledge webpage. The first transcript is pretty funny as the legislators debate whether Texas is "indivisible" or not.

The second is more serious. The sponsor of the bill is questioned by the other representatives as to whether the purpose of her bill is religious or not. She responds by referring to the inscription above her. It is not apparent from reading the transcript but she means the words "In God We Trust" which were just recently carved into the archway overlooking the House floor.

The other justification she gives for adding "under God" is that she wants the state pledge to mirror the national pledge. This is a type of argument I have heard before: "we have previously permitted similar infringements so this new one is just more of the same." I call this Creeping Theocracy.

Flesh and Machines

I just finished reading Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us by Rodney A. Brooks, CTO of iRobot. After reading this, I now understand the behavior of my robot vacuum cleaner Roomba a bit better. I was pleased to see that the final chapter covered neuroprosthetics, something I had been studying recently, and the possibility of physical immortality in the future. He closes with "The distinction between us and robots is going to disappear."

I started reading this book a couple of years ago. I remember reading it while sitting in the waiting room as my wife Shannon was getting her checkup for her pregnancy with our son Abe. I picked it up to finish it today as I have decided to integrate robotics into my doctoral research. I bought a LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot and started playing with it. I hope to demonstrate robotic control using spiking neuronal networks (SNNs).

Nerd Test

State Pledge

On 2007 August 7th, the same day that a judge heard oral arguments on our moment of silence lawsuit, our attorney filed a new lawsuit on behalf of my family and another North Texas family challenging the constitutionality of a new law adding the words "under God" to the Texas state pledge.

On 2007 August 28th, a few days after the school year started when the new state pledge law went into effect, another judge denied our request for a preliminary injunction. The case proceeds but a hearing date has not yet been set.

For a list of links to news stories on this topic, please see my new State Pledge webpage. Please also see the related blog entries by my wife Shannon and our attorney Dean Cook.

Mr. Cook informed me recently that the transcripts for the Moment of Silence oral arguments are now available, indicating that we might have a ruling from the judge soon. I hope to post a copy of the transcripts as I was quite impressed with what Mr. Cook said to the judge, particularly in his summary.

Media Moment

I have updated the list of news stories on the Moment of Silence webpage to include those related to the recent oral arguments hearing. I also posted some corrections to errors in the original story which were repeated by other media.

To the supernaturalists who sent us numerous e-mail, voice mail, snail mail, and blog comment messages recently, I respond by recommending the very short book Letter to a Christian Nation by neuroscience doctoral student Sam Harris. It reminded me of Age of Reason by founding father Thomas Paine.