Archives for October, 2012
Yup… too much bad stuff about Erik Paulsen to fit into one ad:
Posted by Greg Laden on October 25, 2012 This is the second NOT WORK SAFE installment of one of the latest Brain Barnes for Congress Ads (Minnesota 3rd district)
Erik Paulsen vs. Michele Bachmann (not work safe)
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2012 I’m voting for Brian Barnes for Minnesota’s third district and not only because he keeps his shirt on.
Will the next space disaster be a debris collision? And Kessler Blankets.
Posted by Greg Laden on October 24, 2012 Sitting on top of enough explosive stuff to send a heavy weight into orbit at a high speed is dangerous, and that has cost lives in the space program. Re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, effectively imitating a meteor as it burns up owing to the translation of the aforereferenced kinetic energy into heat is also dangerous…
What Open Source Software has Good Usability?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2012 Are you interested in software usability and open source? If so, my friend Jim would like your help. He is doing a study of usability in Open Source software. I’ll post his entire request below along with a link to his blog. Also, he’ll probably be doing some other interent based interolocution about this; I’ll…
Will I see you at Mayday Books Wednesday PM?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2012 I’ll be at Mayday Books with other authors of Atheist Voices of Minnesota: an Anthology of Personal Stories for a thing. Specifically, we’ll form a panel to discuss how atheism informs our political views and activism. The discussion will be moderated by George Kane, and the panelists include Ryan Bolin, Greg Laden, M.A. Melby, Kim…
Breaking: Michael Mann Suing National Review and Competitive Enterprise Institute
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2012 My friend and colleague Michael Mann just released the following information: Lawsuit filed against The National Review and the Competitive Enterprise Institute 10/22/12 Today, the case of Dr. Michael E. Mann vs. The National Review and The Competitive Enterprise Institute was filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Dr. Mann, a Professor…
Why Romney’s “Route to the sea” gaffe is way worse than you think
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2012 In last night’s debate, Mitt Romney said this: “Syria is Iran’s only ally in the Arab world. It’s their route to the sea.” This is not the first time Romney has said this. In March, he said, “Maybe one of the few bright spots in the Middle East developments in the last year has been…
No, really, Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann are the same
Posted by Greg Laden on October 23, 2012 Their similarity is not restricted to their inability to spell their own names! Second ad from the Brian Barnes campaign:
Obama-Romney Debate. If you missed it, here it is:
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2012 Wait, did someone put in the wrong tape?
Mentally Ill, Criminals, Obama, Olivia, Guns
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2012 I am uncomfortable discussing ableism and related topics linked to mental illness for several reasons. One is that I don’t know enough about it to ask people to pay a lot of attention to what I have to say. Despite the whingings of my many detractors, I actually do tend to know a fair amount…
Do wireless routers degrade over time, and if so, why?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2012 I really dislike the commentary on Slashdot. It is worse than reddit in a way. Well, not really, but it is very annoying that an interesting question can be raised, and then seven thousand geekoids feel that it is very important for the world to read their own stupid little joke about the question. If…
Greedy Lying Bastards
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2012 Check out this film trailer. Description below. Wildfires in the West. “Brown-Outs” in the East. Farmers losing crops to the worst drought since the Dust Bowl. Climate change is no longer a prediction for the future, but a startling reality of today. The U.S. Pentagon believes it to be a matter of national and international…
Global Warming in the Vice Presidential Debate
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2012 Both parties are concerned with the problem and regardless of who is elected, they will take care of it. Because they said so. What? Wait? I got the wrong debate? What? Damn, you mean I have to WATCH these YouTube videos I post!
Brian Barnes ad: Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann share the right wing position on everything.
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2012 This is a new ad for the Minnesota 3rd District:
Republicans on Mitt Romney
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2012 Lance Armstrong and Arthur. What to do?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 22, 2012 Do you know the TV show Arthur? It is a very good kids show on PBS, involving anthropomorphic animals (including Arthur the Aardvark), most of whom are middle school students, who face the daily struggles of life with families, schoolyard dynamics, difficult teachers, etc., and learn lessons and and all that stuff. One of the…
Allen’s Rule, Phenotypic Plasticity, and The Nature of Evolution
Posted by Greg Laden on October 20, 2012 Allen’s Rule. One of those things you learn in graduate school along with Bergmann’s Rule and Cope’s Rule. It is all about body size. Cope’s Rule … which is a rule of thumb and not an absolute … says that over time the species in a given lineage tend to be larger and larger. Bergmann’s…
Obamagirl, Move Over. The Boss is Here.
Posted by Greg Laden on October 19, 2012 Bruce Springsteen in Ohio Campaign for President Barack Obama: And now for the comic relief (You’ll need to turn the volume up):
How to tell if you have the dreaded disease, Romnesia
Posted by Greg Laden on October 19, 2012 LGBT Americans for Obama
Posted by Greg Laden on October 18, 2012 Some of whom you might possibly recognize…
What is the real impact of cats, windmills, and other things on birds?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 18, 2012 I wrote a post at 10,000 birds that starts to explore this question by comparing the number of birds that there are, the number of birds that seem to die off every year, and the possible number that get munched by cats, and briefly discusses predator niches and that sort of thing. I hope this…
Help Out Greta Christina
Posted by Greg Laden on October 18, 2012 First, I want to remind you that Greata has written a great book called “Why are Atheists so Angry.” From my previous notice: Why are atheists so angry? And they are! Just yesterday I was hanging around with a bunch off atheists and they were all pretty angry. They were even getting angry with each…
In the Beginning: Science, Origins, and Religion
Posted by Greg Laden on October 17, 2012 How do science and religion view the origins of life, of humans, of the Universe? NCSE executive director Genie Scott examines the two approaches, the similarities, the conflicts. When 9/19/2012. Where: Westminster College
The Aviator: Science Fiction of the Post Global Warming World
Posted by Greg Laden on October 17, 2012 The Aviator is a new book that gives you a world of post-global warming climate and interesting developments in transportation technology and artificial intelligence. It is written by New Zealand based writer Gareth Renowden. The Aviator explores a post-apocalypse world where the apocalypse is not nuclear war or a large object hitting the earth, or…
Science, are you high or something?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 17, 2012 W. Kamau Bell explains why he hates science just like Mitt Romney.
In search of the elusive Sungudogo …
Posted by Greg Laden on October 16, 2012 
…Sungudogo is a little known zoological mystery, an “undiscovered” primate living in the remote and rugged region of the eastern Congo, where the Central African Rain Forest fringes the high walls of the western edge of the Great Rift Valley. Sometimes called the “fourth African ape,” Sungudogo is not a Gorilla, not a Chimpanzee, not…
Would you like a copy of Einstein’s Famous Religion Letter?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 16, 2012 Or even better yet, how about the original? It’s going up for sale on ebay. Here’s my copy of the letter: And the ebay site is here. The letter was written to the author of Choose Life The Biblical Call To Revolt, and includes this famous comment: … The word God is for me nothing…
Remembring Paul and Sheila Wellstone
Posted by Greg Laden on October 15, 2012 Your Baby’s Best Shot and Rebecca Watson
Posted by Greg Laden on October 13, 2012 … the podcast, is now available for download: This week, we’re looking at the science – and pseudoscience – that affects the healthcare decisions parents make for their children, and women make for themselves. We’re joined by Allison Hagood and Stacy Herlihy, to talk about their book Your Baby’s Best Shot: Why Vaccines are Safe…
, which is now available for the 
