December 9, 2010
"Carbon dioxide is natural, it is not harmful, it is a part of Earth's lifecycle. And yet we're being told that we have to reduce this natural substance, reduce the American standard of living, to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occuring in Earth."
December 9, 2010
Or at least, I think he was trying to make a point, but I'm not entirely sure.
Joel Rosenberg, author of Everything You Need to Know About (Legally) Carrying a Handgun in Minnesota and proprietor of the web site "Jew with a gun," entered the Hennepin County Office Building to keep an appointment…
December 8, 2010
Christians fear werewolves and wizardry. Oh, and vampires. A Canadian Salvation Army center throws away Harry Potter and Twilight toys that are donated to them, rather than passing them out to kids for Christmas or even giving them to a different charity with less hypocritical standards. "The…
December 8, 2010
Just a quick note. As the Minnesota Governor's Race recount proceeds, it became apparent, as many of us predicted, that Emmer's standing in that context has moved in the wrong direction from his perspective. He will end up losing this race by more votes than had he simply conceded to begin with…
December 7, 2010
I did a little (very little, very short) newsroom debate on Fox 9 with a guy named Tom who appears to represent conservative Christians regarding the question of "Does Christmas have place in schools?" I quickly add that even though that was the planned focus of the discussion, it was quickly…
December 7, 2010
Elizabeth Edwards -- who catapulted into the public eye in 2004, when her husband, Sen. John Edwards, ran for president and was John Kerry's running mate on the Democratic ticket, has died, a close family friend tells NPR. She was 61.
Over the past few years, Edwards wrote two best-selling books,…
December 7, 2010
Yes, there is a connection ...
The Imperial Japanese of World War II and the Nazi Germans of the same era held one thing in common: You were with them or you were nothing. Non-Japanese prisoners were treated very poorly. The lives of non Japanese who did not swear allegiance to the emperor were…
December 7, 2010
A multimedia video from the U of M.
December 7, 2010
I am ashamed that this individual is a member of my own species. Well, maybe he isn't. Who knows. It gets really bad around 2:30.
Hat Tip Ed
December 7, 2010
One day, about ten years ago, we were having a strong southerly fetch with small tornadoes popping out of the stormy front, so Julia and I were keeping an eye out the windows, watching wall clouds form and unform over our heads. Then, suddenly, there were these two ducks flying south, coming up…
December 7, 2010
My father was a housing authority executive director during much of the 1970s and 1980s. He was fairly well known, having established one or two of the main housing authority directors' professional associations, and having developed the shared risk pool insurance system which reduced the cost of…
December 6, 2010
The following is a fictionalized version of a true story recently told to me by two of the people involved. All the names of those still living have been changed. Please do not let this happen to you.
~~~~~
No one is sure why Fred took the chance he took that day, but when Elmer saw him flailing…
December 6, 2010
Is this thing on? Hello? Hello? ....
Ah, thats better. Comcast, which every day seems to do something to piss me off, had a major sub-regional outage for the last several hours, it would seem. So, we've been floating free of the Internet and a few things have accumulated.
First, this:…
December 6, 2010
Lamont Ekker experienced what some people might consider a Thanksgiving miracle when he cut through a 15-pound chunk of sandstone at his Torrey rock shop last week.
Ekker cuts and polishes rocks at his shop, Jurassic Rocks, to expose interesting internal patterns and striations. Three days before…
December 3, 2010
Many months ago, the fossil primate "Ida" was reported to the world with much fanfare, including an entire mass market book and a huge press conference, and everything else one can possibly do to announce a new fossil find. Science bloggers and others got rather upset at the Ida team's over the…
December 2, 2010
The recount in the Minnesota Governor's race is almost done. As of yesterday evening, only five counties had counting to do. The state "canvassing board" (in charge of the recount, headed by the Secretary of State), is scheduled to meet on December 8th to resolve the recount. That may get done…
December 2, 2010
Looking for life zillions of miles away:
Jill Tarter on why looking for life elsewhere is good.
December 2, 2010
Three Ted Talks related to today's NASA finding.
December 2, 2010
In his highly readable book, One Long Argument, Ernst Mayr breaks down the body of thought often referred to as "Darwin's Theory" into five separate and distinct theories, the second of which being "common descent." Darwin's second evolutionary theory (second by Mayr's count, not Darwin's) is…
December 2, 2010
This one gets a double uffda:
December 2, 2010
There has been much talk about whether the recent Wikileaks leak of diplomatic cables will be a good thing or a bad thing. I would assume (and that is an assumption ... which is why I used the word assume) that there would be some of both, some forward movement of progressive ideals including…
December 1, 2010
This is Julia's school team:
December 1, 2010
I'm fine with this. But first, remove all politicization of science funding. All of it. Stem cells anyone?
December 1, 2010
The builders of the Creation Museum plan to build a full size replica of Noah's Ark as the centerpiece of a new religious themed amusement park. Answers in Genesis, builders of the Creation Museum, will build the religious-themed amusement park in Kentucky.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear is…
November 30, 2010
Samuel Hengel is, or should I say was, a mentally disturbed, probably depressed student in a rural area of Wisconsin who showed up at school yesterday with a pistol. He used the firearm to hold the teacher and students in one of his classes for several hours. (details here)
Scary part (well,…
November 30, 2010
Or, at least, that's what I assume she means when she asks "Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?"
Equating her recent book with the quarter-million or so cables among US embassies and the state department, she is known to have tweeted:
Inexplicable:…
November 30, 2010
That's the Wikileaks guy.
Believe it or not, there's a poll! The act makes it a crime " To convey information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies. This was punishable by death or by imprisonment…
November 30, 2010
Today is the last day of the official Atlantic Hurricane season, and that seems right because for the last several days there has been no significant tropical storm development in the region. However, there is evidence to suggest that the Atlantic Hurricane seasons have been getting longer,…
November 30, 2010
NASA has slyly, or inadvertantly, let out a handful of clues that a planned news conference will reveal details of an important new finding regarding life on other planets. There have been a number of moments in the history of astrobiology where an important find has gotten us all very excited,…
