Clinton and the politics of fear
Only Americans, and, because this Clinton campaign stop was in a rural corner of the state, only small-town Americans, can be trusted to do what's right.Posted on May 3, 2008 8:14 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Island of Doubt
An irregular exploration of the struggle between the power of rational discourse and the scientific method on one hand, and the forces of superstition and dogma on the other.
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Profile
James Hrynyshyn is a freelance science journalist based in western North Carolina, where he tries to put degrees in marine biology and journalism to good use.
Recent Posts
- Why should we care about the polar bear?
- Polar bears to be listed
- Who are these "neural buddhists" of which you speak?
- McCain's McClimate plan
- Yet more Republicans in denial
- A little game for Monday morning
- Carnival of the Blue 12
- Clinton and the politics of fear
- Why climate change is so tricky to cover
- Dick Cheney hates the whales
Recent Comments
- blugger on Why should we care about the polar bear?
- James Hrynyshyn on Why should we care about the polar bear?
- pough on Why should we care about the polar bear?
- Ian on McCain's McClimate plan
- DaPrez on Polar bears to be listed
- khefera on Polar bears to be listed
- DaPrez on A little game for Monday morning
- scicurious on Who are these "neural buddhists" of which you speak?
- ngong on Who are these "neural buddhists" of which you speak?
- Blake Stacey on Who are these "neural buddhists" of which you speak?
for 9 July 2007
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Inspiration
The Demon-Haunted World:
Science as a Candle
in the Dark,
by Carl Sagan
(A
review)
The Doubter's Companion:
by John Ralston Saul (Excerpts)
Skeptic Magazine: www.skeptic.com
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal: www.csicop.org
A poem by Yehuda Amichai:
The
Place
Where We Are Right
The Meaning of the
Island of Doubt
Author's site: cyamid.net
--- H. L. Mencken
By doubting we come to inquiry; and through inquiry we perceive truth.
--- Peter Abelard
Undisguised clarity is easily mistaken for arrogance.
-- Richard Dawkins
As for evolution, it happened. Deal with it.
-- Michael Shermer.
politics:
It's a date: Science Debate 2008
Great. We have a date for the still-theoretical Science Debate 2008. Is its fate to remain in that unrealized state, or will it rise above the level of rhetorical bait, and actually engage the candidates in an exchange about the...Posted on February 11, 2008 10:29 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Nature says no to Science Debate 2008
The editors of Nature, that really important science journal, have weighed in on the wisdom of holding a presidential debate devoted exclusively to science policy. They aren't impressed with Science Debate 2008. There reasons are severalfold......Posted on February 6, 2008 2:58 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Clinton or Obama?
I need help with this election thingy....Posted on February 6, 2008 10:00 AM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Canadian government muzzles its scientists
"The concept of free speech is non-existent at Environment Canada. They are manufacturing the message of science."Posted on February 1, 2008 3:30 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Mitt Romney is right ...
... or, at least, in this one case, he's on the right track. Although the editors at the journal Nature don't think so. In fact, they tear a strip off the guy in last week's editorial, and I'm not really...Posted on January 30, 2008 9:57 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Hillary's alleged 3 % advantage
Did Clinton win the New Hampshire Democratic primary Tuesday because her name came before Obama's on the ballot? SciBlogger Matt "Framing Science" Nisbet has a couple of posts referring us to someone who seems convinced she did. I'm not so...Posted on January 9, 2008 7:35 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A Canadian lesson for Science Debate '08: Integrity trumps science literacy
Sure, it would be nice if the next president of the United States could explain the difference between radiative forcings and feedbacks when it comes to dealing with greenhouse gas emissions...Posted on December 18, 2007 10:10 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Science Debate 2008
Most of those who have the ears of the contenders will be arguing forcefully against taking part in a debate where you actually have to understand more than rhetorical techniquePosted on December 10, 2007 2:00 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Russert an alien to a serious debate
For reasons unknown to this observer, Tim Russert has in some parts a reputation as a serious journalist.Posted on October 31, 2007 8:41 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
An atheist for president?
"There are the Big Science Secularists (who sometimes have a creepily cocksure, pre-postmodern, faith in the possibilities of reason)."Posted on September 20, 2007 9:44 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Robert Fisk melts away
In the end, science does in our loyal correspondent.Posted on August 28, 2007 7:54 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Ignatieff's mea culpa: another embarrassment for Canadians
The real reason why so many academics opposed the war is it was a stupid idea. It's the same thing with climate change, or evolution or stem cells, or abstinence-only sex education.Posted on August 7, 2007 3:12 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Requiem for a brainiac
Not so long ago, scientists, engineers and astronauts were heroes. Now they'd fodder for the tabloids.Posted on July 30, 2007 11:24 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
"There is nothing worse than ignoring science"
"In public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science or marginalizing the voice of science for reasons driven by changing political winds." So says former U.S. surgeon general Richard H. Carmona (2002-2006). Worth a read,...Posted on July 11, 2007 8:59 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Obama sees the light ... a bit
A National Mining Association mouthpiece responded this his employers are disappointed Obama has joined a "jihad" against the coal industry.Posted on June 13, 2007 3:59 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Rwanda understands the irrationality of the death penalty: The U.S. not so much
As Tara writes at Aetiology, it's interesting that the Rwandan government, which might be excused for letting for a little blood lust taint its criminal justice system, what with the slaughter of 800,000 people on their minds, has voted instead...Posted on June 10, 2007 1:17 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Most underused word in the dictionary: Kakistocracy
Last night in Washington DC was held the 80th annual Scripps Spelling Bee. I love watching 8th-graders spell words they (and I) have never heard before. Two items of interest arose. First, the runner-up, for the second year in a...Posted on June 1, 2007 1:09 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Who's on the endangered list now?
It's been a bad week for the US Interior Department, and it's only Tuesday. First a deputy assistant secretary resigned after her habit of passing endangered species information to private groups was exposed for all to see. Then more than...Posted on May 2, 2007 1:33 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
John Edwards embraces enviro politics, a little too warmly
Every campaign it's the same thing. The editors and their reporting staff vow to pay more attention to the issues and focus less on the horse race. And every campaign that promise turns out to be as hollow as the...Posted on April 5, 2007 6:49 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Edwards blogger episode as science story
At the heart of the fuss over the departure of two members of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' blogging team is a science story, specifically the controversy surrounding the "Plan B" birth control pill. This has been overlooked in favor...Posted on February 14, 2007 3:17 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The naive John Edwards
John Edwards' recent decision not to fire two bloggers from his staff after word got out that they didn't always use the most diplomatic language in during their pre-Edwards campaign days should give him a big boost among those the...Posted on February 11, 2007 11:30 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
What a difference a mid-term election makes
It's almost enough to restore your faith in freedom, democracy and the American way (whatever that is). Today in The New York Times appear a couple of paragraphs the likes of which I was beginning to despair I would never...Posted on January 31, 2007 7:17 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Must read: Ignorance rising
Today's must read, from the Washington Post: The U.S. government is cutting back on environmental science....Posted on January 16, 2007 7:53 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Stem cell debate casualty in western North Carolina
When former Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler managed to bump off incumbent congressman Charles Taylor in November, there was much rejoicing here in western North Carolina. Many Democrats kept their hopes modest, however, as Shuler got elected campaigning on "mountain values,"...Posted on January 12, 2007 7:38 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Voting for science; science for voting
Anyone who's spent even a modest amount of time and effort investigating the battle over the teaching of intelligent design creationism in the country's classrooms will recognize the argument that an understanding of evolution is essential to a decent science...Posted on November 5, 2006 12:51 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Credbility gap
It's only been a few days, but already the Lancet study of excess deaths in Iraq has faded from the headlines. Even NPR seems to have decided that further analysis is not worthy of interrupting this week's pledge drive pleas....Posted on October 16, 2006 5:02 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A bad day for Canada
There aren't too many cabinet positions in a modern parliamentary democracy that don't require a modicum of respect for the scientific method. But in an era of climate change, bioengineering and species depletion, the politicians charged with overseeing environmental policy...Posted on September 28, 2006 9:53 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Torture
Anyone not already furious with the Bush administration's attempt to legalize torture as a general interrogation practice, rather than a case-specific emergency tactic, should first read this. Then, if you still think torture works, go back and read it again....Posted on September 21, 2006 12:58 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
America should be ashamed
Permit me to stray from the realms of science to briefly bring your attention to the results of a Discovery Channel/TIME magazine poll released last night, a poll that every decent American should be embarrassed to acknowledge. I can't find...Posted on September 11, 2006 8:52 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Disappearing evo bio degree
The government spokesthingies say it's just a oversight. "On its own, it's not really a smoking gun," Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education tells New Scientist. "Inadvertant" is the explanation supplied to the New York Times. But...Posted on August 24, 2006 9:38 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
For adults only: Emergency contraception
If you haven't already read Mike Dunford's latest posts (first here, and then here) on the FDA's attempt to restrict emergency contraception to adults only, it's time. Then, just for fun, try to square the government's position on abortion (it's...Posted on August 2, 2006 8:43 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Inhofe: What planet is he on?
It's like every rationalist's worst media nightmare. Pat Robertson interviews Sen. Jim Inhofe on the 700 Club. I know I shouldn't be surprised by what transpired. After all, Inhofe is the guy who keeps calling global warming the greatest hoax...Posted on July 27, 2006 8:41 AM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The real story of the hurricanes
Fill in the blank in this excerpt from a statement by 10 leading climate experts: These ________ trends are setting us up for rapidly increasing human and economic losses from hurricane disasters, especially in this era of heightened activity. Scores...Posted on July 25, 2006 3:04 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Moral boundaries and the Veto
The fact that yesterday's veto was Bush's first, after more than five years in office, does't interest me all that much. Thomas Jefferson's veto record is a big fat zero and I see nothing wrong with that. What I found...Posted on July 20, 2006 1:46 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Stem Cell Recap
For anyone needing a good primer on the stem cell situation when it comes to the state of the science, Rick Weiss has a good recap in today's Washington Post....Posted on July 19, 2006 7:49 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Gay sex, global warming and terrorism
Last weekend's Los Angeles Times included a curious essay by Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert titled "If only gay sex caused global warming." How can you resist?...Posted on July 6, 2006 10:51 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The evolution of John McCain
Would-be 2008 presidential candidate John McCain has had every opportunity to distance himself from the retrogressive anti-Enlightenment policies of the current administration, but he just can't seem to bring himself to do it, even when polls that put Bush's approval...Posted on July 3, 2006 11:40 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The real tao of physics
Move over Fritjof Capra. The author of The Tao of Physics captured the imaginations of naive readers a couple of decades back by exploring the similarities between quantum theory and Eastern philosophies. But as the New York Times' Dennis Overbye...Posted on June 21, 2006 11:35 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Crazy gay soldiers
The American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1973. The Pentagon is still mulling it over, according to a report from AP....Posted on June 20, 2006 2:16 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Not-so-supreme Science
Yesterday's non-decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on just how far the Army Corps of Engineers can go in telling developers what they can and cannot build produced no identifiable winners or losers. But a close look at the rulings...Posted on June 20, 2006 10:36 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
