Now on ScienceBlogs: The Galaxy's Biggest Valentine
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. Mostly regarding climate change, though.
James Hrynyshyn is a freelance science journalist and communications consultant based in western North Carolina, where he tries to put degrees in marine biology and journalism to good use.
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
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.
"There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things
which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand.
Resolve, then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving, and
tiny blasts of tinny trumpets, we have met the enemy, and not only may
he be ours, he may be us."
--Walt Kelly
Category: politics
"The conceit that corporations must be treated identically to natural persons in the political sphere is not only inaccurate but also inadequate to justify the Court's disposition of this case."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 3:24 PM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
By ruling that corporations are entitled to exercise unrestricted political speech, the U.S. Supreme Court has just made it much more difficult for Americans to make the transition from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a clean-energy economy. Most democracies, including, until...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:09 PM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: politics
I awoke this morning in a universe with a quantum signature that differs from that of the universe in which I fell asleep. I know this because it's the only way I can explain last night's Republican victory in the...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:39 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
Dear Massachusetts voters: If for some reason you haven't yet decided who should get your vote in today's Senate election, consider this little piece of information about Republican candidate Scott Brown, courtesy of the Boston Globe: Brown typically skips climate...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:18 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
It looks like whatever Congress passes this year -- if anything -- will rely heavily on existing power generation portfolios and carbon offsets, neither of which represent real change.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:54 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: medicine
While most media commentators obsess over the "news" that Diane Sawyer will be replacing Charlie Gibson on ABC World News, there are at least some observers who remain more concerned with content. The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne weighs in this...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:04 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
While the U.S. Senate's sense of urgency on the climate change front wanes, a new campaign originating on the other side of rapidly warming pond is urging us all to get with the program by cutting our emissions sooner rather...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:40 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
Trying to keep existing reactors going as long as possible is the least-bad option.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:48 AM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
It's hard for me to ignore a headline like this: "Climate deal uncertainty clouds carbon market -- survey." According to a Reuters story, a poll of companies around the world with an interest in trading permits to emit greenhouse gases...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:32 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
Climate change is a global phenomenon that threatens the very habitability of the planet. Waiting until we've passed one or more thresholds beyond which mitigation is no longer an option is not a sane decision.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:40 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
casaubon's book 02.13.2012
denialism blog 02.13.2012
respectful insolence 02.13.2012
evolutionblog 02.12.2012
starts with a bang! 02.11.2012
