“The reason we have smartphones, the reason we have television, we're able to talk on opposite sides of the continent, the reason we have smoke detectors… the reason we have these things is because we understand the reactions - the nuclear reactions - that take place in elements, in protons and neutrons and so on. Without that deep understanding, we wouldn't have everything you can touch and see in our environment. So this claim that [the age of the Earth] has nothing to do with the economy is just wrong.”
—- Bill Nye, talking about Sen. Marco Rubio’s claim that he wasn’t qualified to answer a question on the age of the Earth, and that it didn’t matter to the economy anyway.
Watch Bill Nye’s whole interview with CNN over on Boing Boing.
Of course, you might be surprised to hear that President Obama’s answer to the same question hasn’t been much different in the past.
After Boston, Rubio Entertains The Idea Of Not Granting Visas To Muslim Students
thinkprogress.orgSen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Wednesday suggested that, given the attack on Boston carried out by two immigrants, he would consider barring young foreign Muslims from getting student visas to come the United States.
Prompted by host Neil Cavuto to address how the attack by the Tsarnaev brothers — neither of whom came to the country on student visas — had influenced immigration reform, Rubio said that he was willing to consider Fox News Host Bob Beckel’s suggestion that anyone who observes Islam should not get a student visa:
CAVUTO: Senator, there are some getting leery of all the Muslim students in America. Bob Beckel is among those saying stop grants visas, others speaking about slowing down the number getting into the country. What do you think?
RUBIO: We need to be open to changes that provide more security. I don’t like profiling anybody or singling or generally leading, on the other hand student visas are something this country does because it’s in our national interest but you don’t have a right to a student visa. I’m not prepared to take a firm position on restriction. I want to learn about what might have worked to prevent past attacks.
Islamophobia has been pervasive in the responses to last week’s attack on Boston. Somemembers of Congress, along with conservative political spokespeople, have said the attack underlines that Islam is a religion of violence, or that Muslim communities have influenced violent jihad. In fact, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was kicked out of his mosque for using violent rhetoric, and the Muslim community in Toronto recently worked with authorities to help stop a terrorist attack.
