THE DIRECTORATE

Intelligent Design & the Weakening of American Superiority

2005-08-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

When the Russians launched Sputnik, for the first time Americans realized they had an inferior education system and that they did not place enough value on scientific achievement. All the great discoveries had been made by foreigners or immigrants. The atom bomb was the byproduct of German Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis. Our rocket program was solely in the hands of captured German rocket scientists.

As they listened to the insufferable "beep beep" of the Sputnik satellite, it was as if all this suddenly clicked together and the final puzzle piece had been presented. America needed scientific reform. We needed kids to learn the basics in science, because US kids were scientifically retarded when compared to their Soviet counterparts.

It was determined that a new push to educate children in science was needed. Science books needed to be available everywhere. In drug stores, markets and everywhere an American child could stumble upon them. They needed to be cheap so that parents could afford them. They needed to be easy to understand and cover a whole bunch of topics. One of the results of this effort of the White House to educate the nation's children were the How and Why Wonder Books. These books covered the basics such as light, electricity, weather, et cetera and moved up to chemistry, rockets and space exploration. Within a few years from 1960-1964 the nations markets, drug stores and liquor stores were flooded with How and Why wonder books covering well over fifty basic educational topics.

This helped prepare millions of American children for a career and put them on a better footing with the Soviet kids for whom scientists were paraded as great heroes. These books were made available and still offered in markets and drug stores well into the 1970s. More often than not they were put in the "toy" section so that kids could stumble upon them easily. For roughly 15 years, cheap and accessible education was made available to American children all over the nation.

Science texts were revised and made much more comprehensive and interesting. Some of the very best high school physics textbooks appeared on the scene by 1964-5. Science texts everywhere were revised from the fluff one-room school house type of early childhood readers to the college level physics books. The space age had arrived. And that meant something. It meant you can't get through life without a strong knowledge of basic science and at least a sprinkling of physics. You needed to know the names of the planets, how far the sun was from the earth and how plants transform sunlight into nutrients.

It has been about twenty years since the How and Why wonder books were commonly available and unfortunately it shows. US citizens under thirty are markedly less knowledgeable in science than were their parents. The internet born in the late 60s by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the personal computer revolution that occurred between 1978-1985 all these accomplishments are the byproduct of the science-push era.

Now we see this push by religionists to further weaken our already dismal scientific curriculum with "intelligent design". Religion mixed with government is a fatal blow to the superiority of any nation. It retards the citizenry. We need only look to the middle east to see what compulsory religious education looks like.

The President, a recovered alcoholic now born-again, has an Achilles heel and that is religion. Billy Graham and others exploit his conscious or subconscious guilt for past actions and get him to plug the creationist nonsense that turns civilized nations into third world countries. It was not Graham who landed a man on the moon, it is not any of the unsympathetic and uneducated religious figures who gave us the internet or personal computers. Our military strength, our technological edge are disappearing. The Clinton administration security breaches provided China with our missile guidance technology. Our planes are designed here, but a majority of components for them are now manufactured all over the far east. Our edge is slipping and for those charged with providing for American supremacy, the idea of teaching intelligent design in any form in public schools is a huge step backwards, and could possibly be a fatal blow to American superiority within two decades.

Children are playing video games and chatting on computers-but this does not make them science literate. A child watching lots of television in the fifties did not confer to him any of the electronic principles behind television. If anything it makes them less likely to understand basic scientific principles, because so much of their time is consumed by entertainment.

Entertainment and pacification is the enemy of progress. Progress demands drive. Drive is the byproduct of want. The US space program is completely lost because a whole generation of children playing space games on the computer decided that was much more fun than becoming a real astronaut. Recruitment dropped dramatically and public support for manned space exploration diminished with each passing decade after 1980.

The Directorate wants to see this trend reversed. More science education. Not less or compromised by religious agendas. Someone joked that it will be easier for kids to answer tests when every answer is "It's God's will." That seems to make light of it, but it's not too far off the mark. Memorizing sections of the bible only to repeat them like a parrot is no way to spur creative thinking or match the hungry hordes competing for supremacy in other parts of the world.

If you want to see progress continue, want to see new technologies and new devices make American lives more rich and secure, then it is mandatory you start to focus again on basic science-and fight the introduction of religious ideas into the classroom wherever you see them.

The nation's needs outweigh the desires or religious beliefs of any President or those of his spiritual advisors.

The Economic Balance of Power & Illegal Immigration

2005-07-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

An interesting discussion by SDAI-tech1 on spurring new wealth in poor nations without handouts or dismissing debt. On a related note, Michelle Malkin's immigration blog is up and running and Chris Kelly discusses the ongoing distorted agenda. This promises to be a resource, that will attract a lot of flak from those folks who feel it is ok for Mexicans to enjoy the rights of US citizens but not vice-versa. Reading about these endless ongoing attempts to legalize illegal immigration makes the long term solution to Mexican-US economic disparity presented by SDAI-tech1 that much more palatable. Worth a read.

Power Adjustments

2005-07-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

We recently discussed India and it's new relationship with the US. Condoleezza Rice has been somewhat covertly working her tail off to make such gains possible. These include smoothing feathers with Pakistan. It would be amusing to hear that conversation: "This US-India alignment isn't against Pakistan at all, we've got our sights on China."

In the US, surprisingly little is publicly released news-wise of these historic breakthroughs. Condoleezza once again proves what a valuable SOS she has become. Nixon could go to China, but only Condi could pull off India. Of course these nations would like some more clout to go with their position and Condi is talking about clout as well.

These are the early days of a new era in US-India relations. This alliance affords both nations great benefits. Advanced technology to India and increased prestige globally in exchange for a more pro-US stance in the global arena. The US has already watched as bright young Indians compete for US jobs and this alliance will do something more than just provide for national security, it will create more jobs. As long as India has more unemployment than jobs it can siphon a huge number of jobs and wealth to within its borders. It is essential to create whole new industries, and develop channels whereby some of this wealth can be returned to the US. Technology transfers and the sales of goods are one way this can be accomplished. We would be remiss if we failed to mention how eagerly the US automobile industry would love to make further inroads in a wealthier India as well.

India is the new Israel. However, India promises to be a far more mutually beneficial relationship than the somewhat one-way relationship the US has had in its support of Israel. This is a major success of the Bush administration. Some critics would say it is part of some neo-con agenda. We prefer to see it as good foreign policy in a quickly changing world.

"China is our friend as we consider Pakistan also our friend."

2005-07-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Indian defense minister's line when talking about the recently signed US-India defense pact is a priceless one. It captures the whole truth of the matter and does it quite eloquently. In the US, this news is underplayed, but it is very important. Long term national security goals involve the balance of power.

Here at the Directorate we can tell you that population size is the US long term security weakness. The US simply can't compete with a billion man army once said army is fully mechanized. As China's wealth increases exponentially, its resources and defense expenditures increase proportionately. In twenty years China will be comparable to US military strength in terms of missile accuracy and jet fighter quality.

You may have heard Zhu Chenghu's (A Chinese general) comments about using nuclear weapons on America. That was a carefully crafted retaliatory statement that did have senior government approval, despite claims to the contrary. The two stories are not linked in the mainstream press, naturally, but they are directly related.

The US is building its military relationship with India in exchange for the added security/deterrent that a pro-US, highly populous, nuclear weapon producing India on China's western border provides. The Chinese are aware of what we are doing. The threatening statement was the way they manifested their displeasure.

India is the new Europe. NATO, which for decades was the deterrent to the Red Army rolling through Poland and into the rest of Europe, is now obsolete. We need to develop organizations for the security of the East and the Middle East. Germany, France are no help anymore. Britain is no longer the realm where the sun never sets and is not any help against the threat of Chinese aggression.

Expect more and stronger economic ties with India. Expect India to take on the role Israel has played - that of a foil to folks hostile to the west. Accordingly expect sales of fighters, submarines as well as missile guidance technology to be transferred to India over the next decade.

Yes this isn't the type of talk you hear out of media-mouthpieces. They read the teleprompter and repeat hastily written sound bytes distributed by government plants in national and international news wire offices, leaving folks clueless as to what is really going on in the world. Being informed of the truth behind events is considered dangerous by some. However at the Directorate we believe that connecting the dots for citizens helps to enhance national security and promote peace - not detract from it. At the same time, any foreign readers can see the methodology to US national security policy.

On Celebrity...

2005-07-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Victor Davis Hansen has a fine piece on celebrity intelligence. Worth a read.

Timetables

2005-07-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why certain news is released at certain times? Have you ever suspected that maybe all this Rove business is a distraction? If you have suspected that these things are orchestrated pieces and played by the media's philharmonic, you'd be right.

Sometimes the right sets up its own attack. In other words its a tactical move to draw fire where they want it. This Rove business is a perfect example. Everyone is talking about Rove, Plame, Wilson and Novak and no one is looking at what else is going on. Right now the President's teams are reviewing judges. The Bush team is busy reviewing cases, positions, interviews and running personal investigations on likely candidates so that they don't get thrown a curve when the spotlight is put on their nominee.

Right now the most important power shift in America will take place as someone Bush nominates will take Sandra O'Conner's seat on the Supreme Court.

All this other stuff is smoke and mirrors. The technique is doing a good job at keeping the media focused where the administration wants it to be focused...traveling on a dead end chasing Rove.