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.
September 29, 2006
As most of you probably know, there's been a bit of discussion over the question of whether or not the pro-Intelligent Design textbook Of Pandas and People qualifies as a "challenged" or "banned" book as a result of the ruling...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:09 PM • 58 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
...but go read what Coturnix has to say about the state of our country. He's feeling like he's seen this before, and I'm becoming more and more afraid that he's right. While you're at it, go over to Thou Shalt...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:10 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This is a repost of something I wrote on my old blog back in April. With the general election rapidly approaching, it seems like a good one to put back out there. The election season is starting to heat up....
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:08 PM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 28, 2006
It's 4:20. Do you know what's going on in your National Parks right now?
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:20 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Over at Uncommon Descent, DaveScot says something stupid about atheism and science. (In other news, Dog Bites Man, Pope Still Catholic, Bear Arrested for Indecent Exposure in National Forest, and Ocean Wet and Salty.) At the end of a passage...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:50 PM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 27, 2006
After reading the comments about my teaching approach and taking some time to think about the situation, I've reached the conclusion that the folks who thoroughly trashed my approach are probably right.
Posted by Mike Dunford at 5:59 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Monday, I posted an entry here that discussed, in part, a Discovery Institute blog article claiming that the Dover ruling qualifies the cdesign proponentsists textbook Of Pandas and People as a "banned book." As I explained at the time, the...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 3:39 AM • 43 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 26, 2006
I just learned, via Mike the Mad Biologist, that the Newsweek cover for the United States this week is just a little different than the covers for the international editions. (Click the link, and look at the sidebar.) That's right,...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 11:29 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This semester, I'm teaching Zoology 101 labs (Intro to Zoology for nonmajors). I'm enjoying my self a lot, and it's a class I've wanted to teach for a while. Right now, though, I'm grading quizzes and not enjoying life too...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:48 PM • 17 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
If you haven't already, go over to Pharyngula and watch the Assylum Street Spankers performing their new single, Stick a Yellow Magnet on Your SUV....
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:48 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Yesterday, three retired military officers spoke on the Hill. They weren't talking to an actual Congressional committee of some sort, because Congress wants no part of oversight these days. Instead, they spoke before the "Democratic Policy Committee." The topic of...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:10 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Last week, both PZ Myers and I posted about some anti-evolution candidates running for the school board out here in Hawaii. The state primary election was Saturday, so I thought an update on this election might be a good idea....
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:15 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 25, 2006
Two recent posts over at the Discovery Institute's Media Complaints Division blog have me ready to break out the world's smallest violin. Their new (well, newish, anyway - it's popped up from time to time before) argument is that they...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 5:05 PM • 64 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Every time I see a yellow "Support the Troops" ribbon on a car that's sporting Republican bumper stickers, I want to vomit. Republicans love to talk up patriotism, and they love to use "support the troops" as a campaign...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:28 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Josh and Bora have already taken a swing at this, but the level of... of... of... I'm honestly at a loss for words. I just can't find any way to use printible words to describe how pissed off I am...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:25 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 22, 2006
Here's an interesting take on why theistic evolution (TE) might be a bad position to hold: So essentially, both Dawkins and Miller see no evidence of design, and their philosophy as to how evolution works is the same, yet Dawkins...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:33 PM • 45 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The policy forum in this weeks issue of Science discusses a potential problem with many of the crops that people are talking about using as biofuels. In what has to be one of the more striking instances of cosmic irony,...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:03 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
After Janet posted the results the other day (I was crushed to learn I'd only placed sixth), I thought the nerdoff was over. For better or worse, it's not. Someone found yet another Nerd Test, and as we already know,...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 2:25 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 21, 2006
A senior science reporter at the journal Nature, Declan Butler, put out an urgent request for bloggers to help draw attention to the plight of the Tripoli Six - five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian physician that are on trial...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:45 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 20, 2006
As you may have seen over at Pharyngula, we've got some creationists running for the school board out here. That's not a good thing, but a few different events over the last couple of weeks have given me a lot...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:55 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 19, 2006
...the South shall rise again. If they get better intelligence, anyway. Senator Saxby Chambliss (the Vietnam-era "bad knee" 4Fer who sleezed into his seat by attacking Max Cleland's patriotism in 2002) just provided us with a prime example of his...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:38 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 13, 2006
Last night, around 1 in the morning, I was woken up by a lot of strange noises coming from downstairs. I couldn't quite place the noises, but there were definitely animals involved. I scraped myself out of bed and went...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 5:03 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 12, 2006
It's been five years and a day since the terrible reality of international terrorism came crashing down on our heads. In that time, our nation has changed a great deal, and not all for the better. I say that we...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 3:15 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 8, 2006
For my contribution to the Panda's Thumb's ongoing review of Jonathan Wells' new book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design (PIGDID), I will be reviewing chapters four and five. Chapter Four covers the record of evolution that...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:40 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 7, 2006
I'm bowing to peer-pressure and joining the throng of SciBlings who have admitted to taking the nerd test. Orac's been trying real hard to claim dominance in this category, and having met the man I am reluctant to argue with...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:51 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In the Doonesbury storyline that began on Monday, Garry Trudeau managed to capture what modern technology has done for deployed families far, far better than anyone I've seen before. With many of the American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan operating...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:38 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 6, 2006
Janet has challenged all of us to a nerd-off. I'd love to participate, but before I can I'm going to need to figure out if I'm qualified. It's not easy. Identifying nerds and geeks isn't something that you can do...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 5:10 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Looking through my email today, I see that Reed Cartwright has forwarded yet another news article about someone or another ranting about the dangers caused by the presence of so many "liberals" in higher education. About the only surprise was...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:16 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 1, 2006
Over at Pharyngula, PZ is beating up Starbucks over one of the quotes on their cups. The quote is by Discovery Institute fellow Wesley Smith, and it reads:The morality of the 21st century will depend on how we respond to...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 3:12 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
