jlynch
Posts by this author
Today is the anniversary of the birth (in 1672) of Johann Jakob Scheuchzer. A major factor in the development of paleontology in Switzerland, he is also considered the founder of paleobotany and his Herbarium diluvianum was a standard through the nineteenth century. His work on a great variety of…
As I type this, votes are being counted in Kansas in primaries for the State Board of Education. You can keep track of the results here. For the record, Bacon, Morris, Willard and Patzer are ID supporters.
It seems as good a time as any to repost this from June of last year, in the spirit of…
Believe it or not, the Flying Spaghetti Monster gets hate-mail ... or rather Bobby Henderson does. Check it out here .... it shows a remarkable lack of Christian compassion (and for that matter, spelling and grammar).
Possible "highlight":
As a Christian, I follow Jesus for his teachings of love…
Jerry Coyne has a piece in TNR Online on Coulter. Unfortunately, it's subscription only, but (see below) here is a highlight:
The real reason Coulter goes after evolution is not because it's wrong, but because she doesn't like it--it doesn't accord with how she thinks the world should be. That's…
As Ed reports here, the mask has fallen away from ID. Joel Borofsky - Dembski's "research" assistant - has admitted that the push for "balance" in Kansas is nothing more than an attempt to inject ID into schools:
It really is ID in disguise. The entire purpose behind all of this is to shift it into…
A quick puzzle ...
I was born on this day in 1860 and have a 10502 foot peak named after me in Alberta. I helped my better-known husband (whom I married at the age of 54) with his fieldwork in Canada, but am also known as an illustrator.
And a quick visual clue:
Grrlscientist asked. I answer:
I too had taken this before. I seem to remember having got a slightly lower score. Must be the extra memory in my new laptop :)
A recent Harris Poll found that 50% of Americans polled now say Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when it was invaded (up from 36% in 2005) and 64% say Saddam had "strong links" with al Qaeda. In other news, huge numbers of Americans have no "strong links" with reality. And the administration…
Seen in today's Arizona Republic:
Use frozen embryos to end crisis
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora of Lebanon, among others, has called for an immediate cease-fire to stem the rising tide of civilian casualties in his country.
The Bush administration, through Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, says…
Sixty civilians huddling in a basement get murdered (there is, frankly, no other word for it) when Israeli shells hit the building in Qana. Condi Rice gets rebuffed by the Lebanese and heads home with her tail between her legs. Kofi Annan calls the UN Security Council to call for an immediate cease…
I was going to post earlier on a New York Times article that discusses the harrassment that a Jewish family has recieved for asking that prayers at school events be made more generic and less Christian, but PZ beat me to it. I will highlight this part however:
A homemaker active in her children's…
A few months ago I passed eighth grade math. Now I've gone and passed eight grade science. I feel so accomplished :)
You Passed 8th Grade Science
Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!
Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?
Oh, and question 6 shoud read neutron not neuron.
You may want to turn your volume down ...
Somebody needs to up the dosage.
(Yeah, I know. It's probably a fake, but it's still funny in a "look at the monkey" kind of way)
Book meme from Janet:
1. One book that changed your life?
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species
2. One book you have read more than once?
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
The Complete Works of Plato
4. One book that made you laugh?
Anything…
After spending time with my DSL provider yesterday, it looks like my line came back automagically over the night. I'm having it checked out this afternoon nonetheless, but I'm hoping I can stay connected until then at least.
While I Was gone, plenty happened here. Two quick posts worth highlighting…
This week's words are:
Requirements ::
Pizza ::
Dating ::
Issue ::
Sharp ::
Distinguish ::
Remote ::
Felony ::
Exercise ::
Choose ::
(source)
See below the cut for my replies.
Requirements :: Hate
Pizza :: Peppers
Dating :: Done that
Issue :: Newspaper
Sharp :: Blunt…
My DSL line is out at home and has been since last night. Since I don't want to be coming in to my office during my "break", it may be that posting will be sparce for awhile. Just a warning.
I was reminded of this by a recent post over at Crooked Timber. Cosma Shalazi's review of Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science [amz] is titled "A Rare Blend of Monster Raving Egomania and Utter Batshit Insanity" - I'd love to be able to stick that on a review!
Dick Morris on Fox yesterday:
What we don't understand is in Iraq, a civil war is progress, because it means it's no longer a war against us.
I doubt the Iraqis see it as "progress". Dick.
The American Bar Association issued a report yesterday on the use of "signing statements" by Bush (in particular) and future Presidents (in general). They note that the practice is "contrary to the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers." Some examples,
Whenever…
This is .... strange. Apparently there are individuals out there that deny the germ theory of disease. Tara encountered this in one of her comment threads:
[F]orget the germ theory nonsense and become a real scientist. ... Evidence is all around and you have as much evidence as I do. The sole…
It seems the administration's plans to bring democracy to Afghanistan have been successful. The Times of London notes that the "Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which was set up by the Taliban to enforce bans on women doing anything from working to wearing nail varnish…
Or why Presidential appearances are like Dembski's blog echo chamber. Must be something to do with "Christian" conservatism, I guess. See here.
Here are some things that caught my eye this past week or so, but I was unable to post on. Feel free to discuss in the comments as you see fit.
Will future doctors be forced to teach abstinence?
Stunning macro photos of bugs (hat tip to Jason @ xenogere!)
Hippo eats dwarf
Feral children…
Jason does a nice take-down of Dembski's latest attempt to present ID-friendly research. Interestingly, a commenter ("stevie steve") got banned from Dembski's blog for asking a very simple and pertinent question: "Did any ID theorists predict this discovery?" A case of the Emperor's New Clothes, it…
"[M]ost scientists unfortunately, those that certainly are advocating for this [embryonic stem cell research], and many others feel very little moral compulsion. It's a utilitarian, materialistic view of doing whatever they can do to pursue their desired goals."
Most scientists apparently feel…
At 4pm today (i.e. 30 minutes ago), Sky Harbor Airport here in Phoenix was reporting a temperature of 117 degrees - a new daily record. It's a mite warm here and thunderstorms are expected this evening.
We're actually in the throes of our "monsoon" season - thirty to forty days in July and August…
After last week's rundown of my blog-sib's Friday Features, I felt I'd better get and line and find something to do every Friday. Jason at Xenogene made me aware of Unconscious Mutterings, so I decided that was as good as anything. Deal is this: UM publishes ten words on Sunday and bloggers respond…