Archives for November, 2010
Aghast
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 9, 2010 Nothing should surprise me any more, but the video above (via Juan Cole) is just shocking. In it, Rep. John Shimkus, who wants to run the House Energy and Commerce Committee, explains his reasons for rejecting the existence of climate change. He starts by citing Genesis, in which a post-Flood God promises never again to…
No one could have predicted…
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 7, 2010 …that the fish biologist would pull a bait and switch.
Consensus emerging
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 5, 2010 Since I posted my statistical analysis showing that voting for a climate bill didn’t have a statistically significant effect on Democratic electoral success, two other independent analyses have come to roughly the same conclusion. My model found a statistically insignificant effect from climate legislation (half a point to a point, at best), and a significant…
De Waal states it plain
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 5, 2010 Franz De Waal wades into the science/religion fuss with a great post at the New York Times: The God-Science Shouting Match: A Response: To have a productive debate, religion needs to recognize the power of the scientific method and the truths it has revealed, but its opponents need to recognize that one cannot simply dismiss…
Affordable Care and the Election
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 5, 2010 Yesterday I reported a statistical analysis which found that voting for ACES (the climate bill) had no ill effect on Democratic election outcomes. Today, Brad Delong asks Blue Dogs: “How Is That Voting Against Health Care Reform Working for You?,” noting (via TPM) Of the 39 Dems who voted against Health Care Reform, 12 are…
Kansas Election wrapup
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 4, 2010 First, the good news for Kansas from Tuesday’s election. Janet Waugh defeated a strong opponent in the Kansas Board of Education race, retaining her seat and protecting the pro-evolution majority. That’s it. Sam Brownback is now the Governor. The theocratic, Jew-baiting, creationist, manimal-obsessed wingnut is in charge, and he’s got bigger majorities in the legislature,…
Marshall Ganz on how the President lost his way
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 3, 2010 Marshall Ganz is a legendary organizer, and one of the architects of President Obama’s remarkable grassroots campaign of 2008. When I was doing Camp Obama, the trainers were rightly in awe of him. Which makes his diagnosis of where the President has gone astray especially important: This dramatic reversal is not the result of bad…
Climate change legislation didn’t hurt Democrats
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 3, 2010 There’s been some debate among the climate hawks about last night’s election returns. Politico posted a story suggesting that the toll was especially hard on Democrats who supported the landmark climate change legislation passed by the House last summer. Kate Sheppard observed that quite a few of the Democrats who opposed the bill also lost…
Election night
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 2, 2010 Bellwether Democratic Representative Boucher has lost in Virginia. Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
Election plans
Posted by Josh Rosenau on November 2, 2010 I guess I should’ve posted this a few days ago if I wanted to influence early voters, but here’s my advice to California voters who still haven’t figured out how to vote. Propositions: 19: Yes. There’s not really a good argument against this. There’s no scientific reason to single out marijuana for stricter regulation than…
Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at the