Inherit the Wind II

Scopes Is Indicted in Tennessee for Teaching Evolution
New York Times
May 25

Schoolroom Is Declared a Place to Develop Character, Not to Violate Laws

John T. Scopes, young Dayton (Tenn.) high school teacher, tonight stands indicted for having taught the theory of evolution to students attending his science classes in violation of a law passed by the Tennessee Legislature and signed by the Governor on March 21, 1925.

The hearing of the case will bring many notables to the little mountain town, including William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow of Chicago and Dudley Field Malone of New York for the defense.

The specific charge of the indictment is that on April 24, 1925, John T. Scopes, "did unlawfully and willfully teach in public schools of Rhea County, Tenn., which said schools are supported in part and in whole by the public school funds of the State, certain theory and theories that deny the story of Divine creation of man as taught in the Bible and did teach thereof that man descended from a lower order of animals."

The penalty prescribed in the law for such violation is a fine from $100 to $500.

"The school room is not only a place to develop the power of thought, but also a place to develop discipline, power of restraint and character. If a teacher openly and flagrantly violates the law of the land in the exercise of his profession, this example cannot be wholesome upon the undeveloped mind and naturally tends to cerate and breed a spirit of disregard for good order and a want of respect for necessary discipline and restraint in our body politic.

New York Times 1925 Thanks to Rising Hegemon

80 Years later to the day, there is this.

Voyager 1 reaches final frontier
Aljazeera
Wednesday 25 May 2005,

Nasa's Voyager 1 has reached the final frontier of the solar system, having traveled through a turbulent place where electrically charged particles from the Sun crash into thin gas from interstellar space.

Astronomers tracking the little spaceship's 26-year journey from Earth believe Voyager 1 has gone through a region known as termination shock, some 14 billion kilometres from the Sun, and entered an area called the heliosheath.

"Voyager 1 has entered the final lap on its race to the edge of interstellar space," Edwad Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology, said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Voyager watchers theorised last November that the craft might be reaching this bumpy region of space when the charged solar particles known as the solar wind seemed to slow down from a top speed of 2.4 million kilometres per hour.

Voyager 1 and its twin spacecraft Voyager 2 were launched in 1977 on a mission to explore the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. The pair kept going, however, and the mission was extended.

Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune, the only spacecraft to have visited these outer planets. Both Voyagers are now part of the Voyager Interstellar Mission to explore the outermost edge of the Sun's domain.

Both Voyagers are capable of returning scientific data from a full range of instruments, with adequate electrical power and attitude control propellant to keep operating until 2020.

Wherever they go, the Voyagers each carry a golden phonograph record which bears messages from Earth, including natural sounds of surf, wind, thunder and animals. There are also musical selections, spoken greetings in 55 languages, along with instructions and equipment on how to play the record.

Maybe there should have been a copy of Spencer Tracy as Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind

And thanks to Molly Ivins, here is Rep. Senfronia Thompson speaking against the Texas Legislature's recent folly of putting a superfluous anti-gay marriage measure into the state constitution:

"I have served in this body a lot of years, and I have seen a lot of promises broken. . . . So . . . now that blacks and women have equal rights, you turn your hatred to homosexuals, and you still use your misguided reading of the Bible to justify your hatred.

You want to pass this ridiculous amendment so you can go home and brag -- brag about what?

Declare that you saved the people of Texas from what? "

Persons of the same sex cannot get married in this state now. Texas law does not now recognize same-sex marriages, civil unions, religious unions, domestic partnerships, contractual arrangements or Christian blessings entered into in this state -- or anywhere else on this planet Earth.

"If you want to make your hateful political statements then that is one thing -- but the Chisum amendment does real harm. It repeals the contracts that many single people have paid thousands of dollars to purchase to obtain medical powers of attorney, powers of attorney, hospital visitation, joint ownership and support agreements.

You have lost your way. This is obscene. . . .

"I thought we would be debating economic development, property tax relief, protecting seniors' pensions and stem cell research to save lives of Texans who are waiting for a more abundant life.

Instead we are wasting this body's time with this political stunt that is nothing more than constitutionalizing discrimination. The prejudices exhibited by members of this body disgust me.

"Last week, Republicans used a political wedge issue to pull kids -- sweet little vulnerable kids -- out of the homes of loving parents and put them back in a state orphanage just because those parents are gay.

That's disgusting. "I have listened to the arguments. I have listened to all of the crap. . . . I want you to know that this amendment [is] blowing smoke to fuel the hell-fire flames of bigotry."

Then they (the Texas House of Representatives)

passed the amendment.

And Scopes was found guilty.

And our golden phonograph just left the solar system.


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