How much are AIG 'Science' Textbooks Actually Worth? Apparently $1.00!

Checking my news feeds today and I came across something  . . . well depending on your POV on various things it could either be amusing, pitiful, not surprising in the least.  In fact it might be all those and more.  I found it, at first amusing -- which you might have noticed is my immediate reaction to so many things.  Then I did feel a bit of pity for the person involved, and when I thought things through I realized I wasn't surprised in the least.  I guess I should tell you what this is all about.  Take a look:

From the link (Make an Offer) you can see that someone spent over $300 in Answers in Genesis 'textbooks' and is selling them for any amount, and the asking price is $1.  Can you see why I am amused?

I guess the buyer found these 'texts' to be less than useful.  I do have to wonder why they listed them under the 'Textbook' heading, I mean look at the picture.  Do those look like any textbooks you used in school?  They look more like pamphlets. although the seller does say CD's are included.  But still, many of my textbooks came with CDs and those were still actual texts, not a few sheets of paper stapled together.  Maybe the difference is they were stapled through the spine and not just up in the corner?

I don't know about you, but I was never one to part ways with good textbooks.  They remained valuable reference material for years.  Granted the Operating Systems text from 1990 is a bit dated by today's standard, it was still useful for nearly a decade after it was written -- well, the UNIX parts were more so than the DOS, and the less said about Windows 2.11 the better.  But I still have a number of my textbooks and I still have all the electronic texts books from my Master's Program.  I was never one to get rid of something still useful.  While my wife sometimes teases me, telling me my office is one box away from an episode of Hoarders, the books I have are all still useful and used often.  When I started my new job a couple of years ago I was able to being 10 books into office that all were current and applicable to the job at hand!

Plus, when I did get rid of them, there is always a college bookstore around looking for used books or other students who hope to get by with the previous edition instead of shelling out the serious bucks for the latest and greatest.  I can't even imagine trying to sell them for $1 on a trading post website!  If that's all they are worth, you might as well use them in your chimney starter.

The pity I did feel was realizing that someone fell for little kennie ham's excuse for science to the tune of $300.  What was it PT Barnum said, there is a sucker born every minute?  Whoever shelled out real money for these pamphlets must really feel more than  a little foolish.  If not, then I have this bridge in Brooklyn I really want to get off my hands!  Just give me a call!

Like I said, once I thought about it I really wasn't very surprised.  Back in 2009 my wife and I spent a few hours at his first abortion, the so-called Creation 'Museum'.  I described it more of a carnival ride than a museum.  You followed this prepared path that shows kennie's story until you get dumped out into the gift shop.  The books and things I saw there were nothing more than reinforcement for kennie's tale of foolishness and would certainly be worth absolutely nothing when it comes to actual science.  No, I didn't buy anything.  I figured kennie got enough of my money with the admission fee.

As for this offering, if you are the market you might think about it because it seems a good deal.  Over on eBay some of these same books are going for over $22 each.

So if you really want read kennie's ridiculous take on science, you can do it for a better price than on eBay, but at least eBay has the 'Matter' book, which was missing from the first post.  Well, in any event, have fun!  My personal take, as you probably guessed, is that any price over $0.00, you are paying too much, unless you are lining a birdcage or scooping up behind your dog.

Surprise . . . Surprise . . . Surprise . . . Politicos who pander for Votes . . . Wow!

One of my Google Alerts pointed me to "Lawmakers might introduce ‘anti-evolution’ legislation to appease religious constituents, researchers theorize".  I've spoken about politicians who support pseudo-science pandering for years.  Nice that someone is actually studying it . . . although was it really necessary?  

I recall a study from a long time ago about the military applications of the Frisbee.  It was given up when it was determined that a Frisbee doesn't go where you wanted it to go.  I recall another one that determined mothers prefer children's clothing that don't require ironing. . . so I think there are some things that maybe don't need to be studied to death.

As for the pandering politicians, I agree that politicians are supposed to support their constituents, but does that mean helping them over a cliff?  When a politicians sponsors a bill -- one they know will not pass -- for the express purpose of appeasing part of their constituency . . . aren't they wasting time and resources that could be put to productive use?  How many man-hours went into the 110 anti-evolution bills from 2001 - 2012?  What an absolute waste!  I mean some folks get up in arms when a state spends hours debating the State Bird, or the State Reptile.  Shouldn't folks realize how wasteful this is as well?

Some might point to Tennessee and Louisiana, the only two states to pass anti-evolution bills, as successes . . . but you do realize neither state has put those bills into much practice.  They fear, and rightly so, the legal cost once they do.  Louisianan tried to add some built-in measures to make it hard to challenge in court , , , but those haven't been tested yet either.  It cost one school system in Dover PA over a million dollars . . . what might it cost those two states?  All for a few politicos gain a few more votes . . . and become laughingstocks at the same time!  

I know it's not going to stop.  Most politicians aren't the brightest bulbs in the pack.  Why focus on actually educating their constituents when pandering is so easy.  If the majority of their voting constituents wanted to act like lemmings, I am sure a pandering politician will be more than glad to help . . . as long as they vote before jumping!  All too many politicians are so incredible short-sighted. Is there some partial-lobotomy before they get sworn into office?