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.
Somebody is RIGHT on the Internet!!!!11!!
...I would like to start by apologising for our handling of this situation. We have not communicated well with our forum volunteers and users (for example in my insensitive 'Outrage' post, which was written in the heat of the moment). In the process we have…
I admit up front that I'm going all paternalistic on the Dawkins Forum people, and Imma gonna let you finish your imminent self destruction and all, but first I wanted to use this moment in time as an object lesson in communication.
A letter was recently posted somewhere by the RDF forum staff to…
One of the reasons I blog is to put out stuff to see how others react to it. This is to ultimately modify and improve .... the stuff. I was rather amused a while back when we were discussing racist science, and I was accused of intentionally putting stuff out there to see what reactions it would…
According to The Internet, the Canadian females, many under drinking age by several days, partied on the ice after beating the American Team in Vancouver yesterday. They had champaign, beers, smoked cigars, and they got silly, attempting at one point to drive the Zamboni machine around on the ice…
And not just because PZ Myers gets t00n'd.
... but because it doesn't really make anyone saying anything sound like they're singing. Sometimes it makes them sound like .... they are being Autotuned.
Imagine that you, as a greatly liked and respected person, found yourself overnight subjected to personal vilification on an unprecedented scale, from anonymous commenters on a website. Suppose you found yourself described as an "utter twat" a "suppurating rectum. A suppurating rat's rectum. A…
From the NCSE:
OAKLAND, CA February 23, 2010
They came from Texas. Big, brawny men, with big, brawny brains. They had a mission: To make evolution education safe for kids throughout the Republic of Texas.
These three men--David Hillis, Gerald Skoog and Ron Wetherington---stood tall for evolution!…
A half century of struggle has resulted in more than a little change, which we hope is still ongoing.
I was moderately disturbed to see, while watching a brand new documentary on human evolution, credit for the "discovery" of a particular fossil given to a man who had not in fact discovered the…
Skaters performing in "Black Face" in 2010?
Here, I'm mainly responding to commentary I heard run prior to this appalling performance... you know, the back story on the athletes.
This is not hard. The word "aboriginal" means native. The Mohawk Indians are aboriginal to parts of New York State…
Many people give credit to Ronald Reagan, when he climbed up on the Berlin Wall and personally kicked it down brick by brick while under fire from the East German Stasi.
Many people give credit to Team USA, the Hockey Team that beat the USSR team at the Lake Placid Olympics.
Still others credit…
... well, not really, but they should!!!
Following two simple guidelines would help: 1) Don't ever change the function of installed software unless the user has requested it (don't even suggest it. Just sit there quietly until told othewise) and 2) Don't evern install new software. Ever. That is…
... especially for those I left behind.
"Oh... you're back. I see."
"Huh. Thought you might be staying in the hospital longer than that."
"Oh hai. I suppose you want your good chair back."
But seriously, this is where we find out what the true limitations of modern medicine are. Lying in the…
Yes, I fell and busted my knee on the ice. I don't want to go on and on about it, but here are the more important details:
It made a loud noise. I might have preferred a minor contusion, hairline fracture of the ulna, a cracked rib, and a minorly damaged knee rather than all 200 plus knee-…
An endless stream of ceiling tiles flow by punctuated by light fixtures, vents, and sprinkler heads. There is the occasional cracked tile and yes, the occasional duct tape. The morphine makes it interesting, and it occurs to me that until now I've only had this particular view of the world by…
It is with some reluctance that I recommend this. Lovecraft was important in science fiction and all, but the little I've read of his also stinks of racism, and not just the n-word southerny Mark Twain thing, but a true disdain for all that is not Mighty White. (This would be a case where…
Well, that is not a direct quote, but Google has admitted that the early version of Google Buzz had serious flaws related to privacy, and this may be related to Google having skipped a step with its testing process.
The BBC has a story on this.
...Buzz was only tested internally and bypassed more…
Trust and Critical Thinking at Science Online 2010.
There is discussion going on here, and the six videos are here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Al Franken allies with Tom Coburn to oppose Uganda's death-to-homosexuals bill
Sen. Al Franken has signed on to a Senate resolution condemning a bill before Uganda's Parliament that would outlaw homosexuality and make it a crime punishable by death. (Hat tip: Minnesota Independent.)
What makes the…
In the wake of recent public meetings by the Texas Schoolboard, Russell Shorto has written an extensive piece for the New York Times Magazine. Shorto is the author of Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason (Vintage).
The Christian "truth" about America's…
