Greg Laden is a biological anthropologist and science communicator. His research has covered North American prehistoric and historic archaeology and African archaeology and human ecology. He is an OpenSource and OpenAccess advocate. Greg's wife, Amanda, is a High School biology teacher, his daughter Julia is a world traveler and his son Huxley is 2.
NYT Admits Getting Duped on ACORN
ACORN Folds As National Organization
The real problem (well, a real problem) with the two party system is that it fuels and supports the "two sides to the story" system. When teabag sucking right wing yahoos went after Acorn, it was the job of the so called "fifth…
An item from the Union of Concerned Scientists:
Certainty vs. Uncertainty
Understanding Scientific Terms About Climate Change
Uncertainty is ubiquitous in our daily lives. We are uncertain about where to go to college, when and if to get married, who will play in the World Series, and so on.
To…
The current health care bill, which we DO need to pass (Stop whinging that is not perfect. Neither are you. We let you pass.) has two more steps to go through. Reconciliation and signing by the President. Barack will take care of that second part, but we need to pressure congress to take care of…
A statement from the statesman:
"Last night was the climax of weeks and months of debate on a health care bill that my constituents fear and do not support. In the heat and emotion of the debate, I exclaimed the phrase 'it's a baby killer' in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic…
But that it has always been true does not excuse ...
The Catholic priests who abused children--and the men who covered it up--must be prosecuted By Christopher Hitchens LINK
Boy Scouts Accused of Massive Sex-Abuse Coverup LINK
.... I had a feeling this was going to happen....
Anyway, praise FSM, I'm talking about him being gay, not being, like, a climate change denialist or something.
Check it out.
In truth, this is not really all that interesting. I mean, like, whatever. But the guy is the original skeptic, he's 81,…
Continued from Part 1 ...
Animal rights are arbitrarily granted or assumed
If human rights are arbitrarily assigned, so are animal rights. The argument has been made that animals with certain properties ... sentience (the definition of which moves somewhat), phylogenetic closeness to humans, or…
What rights should be afforded non-human animals, to which animals, under what circumstances, and why? What are the criteria for such decisions? What should those who disagree with the status quo do?
In my view, some rights should be given to some animals, depending on circumstances. I believe…
When stupid belief systems collide:
Amnesty International is calling on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to stop the execution of a Lebanese man sentenced to death for "sorcery."
In a statement released Thursday, the international rights group condemned the verdict and demanded the immediate release…
This is it: The fate of health care reform will be decided in the next 48 hours.
It could come down to a vote or two. And that means that right now, every last message to Congress makes a difference.
It's an all-hands-on-deck moment. Even if you've already called and written your representative, it…
The Lese of the Ituri Forest raise food in gardens, and they exchange various things for wild animal meat hunted by the Efe (Pygmy) foragers with whom they live in close economic and social association. But the Lese also hunt and gather, to varying degrees, with some individuals never doing it,…
We shared this planet for fifty years. We lived through cold below freezing, and we lived through heat and mosquitoes. We saw Mexico together. He gave me rides on his motorcycle and let me drive his Jeep when I was far too young. He let me know that Bob Dylan is just a poet and not a singer and…
I'm writing some things that are more unruly than usual. I'm also sleeping 12 hours a day for very good medical reasons. Rumors that I am addicted to Hulu are completely incorrect, although I did enjoy watching the maiden voyage of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea last night.
You must watch this…
I recently posted an appeal for help for Minnesota's Camp Quest, and one commenter noted that atheists should not have summer camps. Others have chimed in with reasons why that commenter was wrong. Here, I'd like to tell a simple story of one girl's experience and why it may have been better for…
It is my understanding that Camp Quest of Minnesota is seeking volunteers and other assistance. This is your chance to do what you've always wanted to do!!!!!! Click here for the Camp Quest web site.
A couple of unrelated technology things.
First Item: the iPhone vs. "non-Apple smartphone" contrast just got a little more interesting, with Tim Bray joining Google with his main job being to promote Android. He has an inaugural essay here which is very much wroth a read.
The most interesting…
There's almost no on answering the Collective Imagination Question today, so this is your chance! Click here.
And while you are over there, have a look at my latest post on Japanese Ring Tone Therapy.
The following is from a classified US intelligence document regarding Wikileaks:
(S//NF) Wikileaks.org, a publicly accessible Internet Web site, represents a potential force
protection, counterintelligence, operational security (OPSEC), and information security
(INFOSEC) threat to the US Army. The…
I knew a guy who who was a highly placed person at Harvard College, and had gone to the College for his undergraduate education. I'll call him "Dean." Prior to his attending Harvard, he had already become a major fan of Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau, of course, went to Harvard. So when Dean was…
I am avoiding commenting on the recent paper "Science blogs and public engagement with science: practices, challenges, and opportunities" by Inna Kouper (here). Bora has made extensive comments on the paper that I recommend (here) and as usual, Bora has done an excellent job linking to all the…
I just heard from Richard Greenberg (NASA) that National Geographic's Naked Science show will be talking about Alien Life on April 1st. (There is room for a joke or two about the date, I suppose!) Part of the show will involve Richard talking about Europa.
You may remember the Europa-Richard…
