Finely Tuned Universe
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram publishes a column by Don Erler in which he recommends the writings of cosmologist Paul Davies. Davies' big idea is that there are many constants in physics that are balanced just so to allow life to exist. Tip any one a little this way or that, and no life, no us. Erler admits that Davies does not believe in a miracle-working God, but Erler himself leaves the impression that this fine tuning of the universe is proof of God.
Paul Davies is talking about what's called the anthropic principle. It's been batted around for decades and there is no scientific consensus about it ... yet. Erler's answer - God did it - is the always reliable answer whenever man is faced with mystery. Another explanation is that our universe is just one of an infinite number of universes. A few can support life, most cannot. Of course, if we are to exist, we would have to live in one of those universes that can support life, so it should be no surprise that our universe does, indeed, support life. Yet another explanation is that there is an underlying unity in the forces of the universe that we haven't figured out yet. When we do, we'll understand how they are connected and why they happen to be just so and can't be anything else. Albert Einstein, as always, had great insight into big questions like this. Einstein said, "What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world". So, maybe as Don Erler wants us to believe, God really did do it, but a God who had no choice in what laws of nature to use probably wouldn't be the kind of God Don Erler has in mind when he wants us to believe God did it.
Merit Pay for Teachers
The DallasMorningViews editorialists are debating merit pay for teachers. What you don't want to do is tie pay to test results. Good teachers should be assigned to the students with low test results. Don't limit their pay because of that. And don't tie pay to improvement in test results. Students already getting 100% on tests have a hard time improving that much. Don't punish their teachers because the smart kids can't score 110% on a test.
Michael Landauer offers advice that I think will be hard to top:
A decentralized program that left it entirely up to principals. ... Give principals a pot of money and let them decide, on their own, how to dispense it. ... This is what happens in the business world. Managers get some flexibility to put money behind the things they care about. Principals should be empowered in a similar way. Oh, but some principals have favorites? Some play politics? Name a workplace where that dynamic doesn't exist. Get over it.
$84 Million? Did I Say $84 Million? My Bad!
The alternative news outlets are ganging up on The Dallas Morning News over a story by Michael Lindenberger in the News reporting that the North Texas Tollway Authority thinks Dallas taxpayers may end up paying more for the toll road than $84 million, even though Mayor Tom Leppert insisted during the campaign that NTTA had agreed that no more money would be needed.
Jim Schutze of the Dallas Observer and Unfair Park says someone at the News sat on the story, publishing it only after the election was safely won.
Sam Merten of Dallas Blog calls the delay in printing this story "a breach of ethics."
And Eric Celeste of Frontburner has his popcorn ready for when the News' managing editor George Rodrigue responds.
I'm with the little guys on this one, but three little guys gnawing on the ankles of the News won't change any votes. The election is over. The 800 pound gorilla won. The News gets its toll road. That world-class park? Ain't gonna happen. Move on. Nothing more to see here.
You Mean Punishment is Meant to be Unpleasant?
Frontburner's Trey Garrison found another offense to his libertarian instincts. He cites an irritated blogger who reports that his punishment for speeding included sitting through a video on the virtues of organ donation. What does organ donation have to do with speeding, he asks. I'm thinking that maybe the punishment should instead be picking up litter on the highway. No, wait, litter has nothing to do with speeding, either. How about just making him pay a fine? But money and speeding don't have much in common, either. I know, how about if lawbreakers quit whining about what punishment society gives them? If watching a video on organ donation irritates him, it sounds like a fit punishment. Maybe he should be thankful that we don't extract his organ right there in the defensive driving class.
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