Mike Dunford is a graduate student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where he studies evolution. He's also a contributer to The Pandas Thumb. As is the case with everyone else here, his opinions are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of any organization he is affiliated with.
August 30, 2006
Via a National Geographic research team, we learn that there is still a thriving market for ivory - protection laws and biodiversity be damned. The pictures below the fold, taken from the National Geographic website, are for any of you...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 3:56 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This week's Ask a Scienceblogger Question involves an article in The National Review Online that was clearly written by a complete bloody moron. The question is this: I read this article in the NRO, and the author actually made some...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 3:09 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 29, 2006
It would seem that we had a little bit of an earthquake last night. The quake is listed as having a magnitude of 3.7 by the USGS, and was felt on the islands of Oahu and Molokai. My first person...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 3:58 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 28, 2006
The paperback edition of SciBling Chris Mooney's book The Republican War on Science comes out today. I read it a while back, and I'm looking forward to going through it again. This is one of those books that everyone should...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:24 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 25, 2006
Your students have done a cheek swab, made a slide, and are looking at it under the scope. A young woman in the class flags you down, and asks you to help her identify something on the slide. The object in question is smaller than the other cells on the slide, but is well preserved and clearly visible. It has a round head and long tail...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 5:16 PM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
It's been a while since I've done one of these, so here goes. This one looks a little more eclecitc than usual. 1: Flags of Freedom Neil Young 2: Begin the Begin REM 3: The Philosopher's Drinking Song Monty Python...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:20 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 24, 2006
For those of us who have been wondering why the FDA concluded that Plan B can safely be used by 17-year-olds, but should only be sold to those 18 and over, there is finally an answer: the FDA is afraid...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:00 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Plan B has been approved, and the right-to-lifers are screaming bloody murder, but they aren't the ones who lost. We are. We, in this case, means anyone who has an interest in good healthcare. We, in this case, means
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:16 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 23, 2006
Good rule of thumb for graduate classes: If discussing a paper that you have not actually managed to finish (or possibly start) reading, quickly flip about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way into it, read a paragraph, and come up...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 5:39 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Two quick things every registered Connecticut Democrat should know: 1: Lieberman has shown his true colors by naming his party "Connecticut for Lieberman." Remember that. You're for him, not the other way around. 2: Republicans have essentially pulled their support...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 3:53 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Over at Retrospectacle, Shelly has a question for all of us:"Are you for or against the death penalty, or (if its conditional), in what cases? Furthermore, do you believe that societies that sanction war are hypocritical for opposing the death...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:01 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 21, 2006
Dear Senator Kerry: Last week, I received your letter requesting donations to support the campaigns of Ned Lamont, Bob Menendez, and Dan Akaka. I am gratified to note that you are taking a stand in support of Lamont, and I...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:53 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 17, 2006
Janet tagged everybody, so here goes: The rules: "Go here and look through random quotes until you find 5 that you think reflect who you are or what you believe."...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 11:32 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Ed Brayton, over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars, has some excellent commentary on the court finding that the warrentless wiretapping of international phone calls (referred to by the White House as the Terrorist Surveillance Program) is massively illegal and...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:47 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 14, 2006
What I was suddenly struck by today was the thought of just how much good could be accomplished if more people accepted Pascal's Wager, but in reverse - living as if they did not believe in God or an afterlife.
Posted by Mike Dunford at 9:02 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 8, 2006
I just walk in from the airport, turn on the television, and what do I see before me but Ned Lamont giving his victory speech. He's come from nowhere and defeated a once popular senator for his party's (former party's,...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 11:21 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
we turn to the Veteran's Administration, which has somehow or another managed to lose another laptop containing the personal information of thousands of veterans. OK, this one contained a couple of orders of magnitude less data, and was lost by...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 2:52 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 7, 2006
The Conneticut primary is tomorrow, and it's starting to look like Joe Lieberman will need some sort of last second miracle if he is to run as a Democrat for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Recent polls have him trailing...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:28 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 2, 2006
After re-reading my post on the latest Plan B foolishness, I think I might have been too angry to make my point clearly. I'm still pretty damn pissed off, but I'm going to give it another shot. There's little about...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 7:59 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 1, 2006
They've concluded that OTC use of Plan B is safe in 17 year olds, but "enforcement considerations" mandate keeping it from them instead? God lord, what a gawdawful, stinking, disgusting, egregious example of further pandering to the reeking unwashed hordes of sanctimonious wannabe theocrats from the religious right.
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:00 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
