jlynch
Posts by this author
July 12, 2006
It is a truism that creationists such as Jonathan Wells can't get enough of Haeckel's embryos, pictures they see as conclusive evidence that evolutionary biology is a fraud foisted on innocents by liberal, godless, evilutionists. "Informed" commentators on the right such as Ann Coulter hew to that…
July 11, 2006
Interesting pic of Kent Hovind, a.k.a. "Dr Dino".
Thanks to Kaptain Kobold!
July 10, 2006
Remember the good old days when being a conservative meant arguing that government should stay out of peoples lives? Those days are long gone.
On Tuesday, the House plans to vote on a bill that would ban credit cards for paying online bets and could padlock gambling Web sites. The legislation would…
July 10, 2006
Which mammal embarks on the longest remaining overland migration in the continental United States?
The pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana)), which travels more than 400 miles between fawning grounds in Yellowstone and wintering areas. Second only to caribou in the Arctic for long distance…
July 9, 2006
What did Materazzi say to Zidane that set him off?
My guess is that it was something about Zidane's arab background.
Not that it justifies, by the way, Zidane's actions.
July 9, 2006
Only thirty minutes to go before the start of the World Cup Final. My prediction is 1-0 for France. We'll see ...
00:00 - France win the battle of the anthems. Obvious.
01:00 - First blood to the Italians. Henry goes down, is shaky getting up. Wont be good if he goes off.
05:13 - Penalty for…
July 8, 2006
Seen via Boing Boing:
58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
42% of college graduates never read another book.
80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
If these statistics…
July 7, 2006
We've made some changes here at ScienceBlogs. What it means for you, gentle reader, is that TypeKey has been kicked to the curb and commenting should be easier (just requiring an e-mail address). Let's see how it goes ..
July 7, 2006
Andrew Greeley in today's Chicago Sun Times:
The United States is caught up in a new campaign for a military dictatorship -- rule by a military chief with absolute power. The White House, inspired by Vice President Dick Cheney, has argued that in time of great danger, the president has unlimited…
July 7, 2006
The New York Times is running a story about white supremacist groups infiltrating the US military in preparation for the "coming race war". Says Steven Barry, a former Special Forces officer and National Alliance "military unit coordinator":
Light infantry is your branch of choice because the…
July 7, 2006
Commenting over at the Panda's Thumb, "steve s" offers a Pythonesque take on ID. Well, it made me laugh.
July 6, 2006
Back in January I discussed a review of Rodney Stark's triumphalist The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Lead to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success by Alan Wolfe who describes the book as "the worst book by a social scientist that I have ever read." The current issue of Historically…
July 5, 2006
One of the twenty-year goals of the Discovery Institute's Wedge was to see the influence of "design theory" in the fine arts. I've often wondered what that could possible mean. And now, thanks to Access Research Network's "ID Arts Initiative" I now know.
In today's ARN Announce (it's not online yet…
July 5, 2006
Radical Islamic militia fighters in Somalia shot and killed two people who were watching a banned World Cup soccer broadcast, a radio station reported Wednesday.
The hard-line Muslim fighters, who have banned watching television, opened fire after a crowd of teenagers defied their orders to leave a…
July 5, 2006
According to this table over at Nature, this blog is the 18th most popular blog written by a scientist (according to Technorati). Out of the top twenty, twelve are here at ScienceBlogs. Congrats to one and all!
July 5, 2006
Over at the Panda's Thumb, Dave Thomas has an enlightening piece on his experiments with genetic algorithms in which he takes on claims by Dembski, John Bracht and others. Thomas shows (contra claims by ID supporters) that GAs can successfully evolve solutions using random mutation and selection…
July 5, 2006
I had a longish post on Phillip Henry Gosse (as requested by John Wilkins awhile back), but the gods of the internet were displeased and consigned it to the aether. I'll try and reconstruct it later.
In other news, that Germany / Italy was quite good wasn't it? Have to say, I wanted Germany to win…
July 3, 2006
Anti-evolutionists seem to have a special ability to foul up arguments using probability theory and pseudo-mathematicians theologians such as Dembski like to cloak their drivel in the trappings of such theory. So it's always good to refresh yourself on the material covered in those probability…
July 3, 2006
In November 1920, the celebrated author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle announced the beginning of a new "epoch in human thought." He believed that he was presenting "a strong prima-facie case" for the existence of fairies, based on photographs taken by two pseudonymous young girls in July and September…
July 3, 2006
Rob Hood over at the Conservative Voice gives the nine key things that conservatives and Christians believe.
Evolution is a myth. Creation is real. God is real. It is still legal to say the word Jesus.
The Earth is only around 6000 years old. Noah built an ark and the world was flooded which…
July 3, 2006
The Lynch Euro 2006 tour is over. Past few weeks were spent in Paris, Dublin and (briefly) London while studiously avoiding e-mail and blogging. Highlights included watching the World Cup in French cafes and Irish pubs with people who actually care about the beautiful game (there is no language…
June 17, 2006
I'm going to be out of regular electonic contact until the beginning of next month, so there will be a blogging hiatus. It would be really sweet if we meet our challenge goals by the time I return. I can dream, can't I?
Update: Two of our four projects are now 100% funded. Thank you so much.
June 16, 2006
Have to agree with this one ...
Another one below the fold.
Via boingboing.
June 16, 2006
So, yeah, Argentina whupped Serbia & Montenegro, 6-0. For your viewing pleasure here is Esteban Cambiasso's goal, the second of the six.
We're up to 28% of our goal and are third of the SBers for money collected. So let's keep it up!
June 16, 2006
Good news from the mothership. SEED magazine has come out and stated that it will match the total donations from our DonorsChoose drive up to $10,000. Yes, folks, your $10 donation is now worth $20. So don't delay.
I know this is a little like one of those public radio/tv pledge drives that annoy…
June 15, 2006
The mothership asks:
How is it that all the PIs (Tara, PZ, Orac et al.), various grad students, post-docs, etc. find time to fulfill their primary objectives (day jobs) and blog so prolifically?
Ann Coulter would answer that, in the case of PZ at least, being an atheistic anti-american liberal…
June 15, 2006
Observation: ESPN soccer commentators are idiots who need to stop bringing everything back to the US/Italy game.
Observation: Trinidad & Tobago were unlucky.
Prediction: Neither England nor Sweden will advance past the Round of 16.
Prediction: Italy 2 USA 0
June 15, 2006
Educators will tell you that a good foundation at the K-2 level leads to success later on. My daughter has just finished first grade and over the past year alone has made significant strides in her reading, writing and math ability, all due to the dedication of her teachers. While we live in a…
June 14, 2006
John beat me to it, but I'll go ahead anyways. Congrats to Reed Cartwright, active at Georgia Citizens for Integrity in Science and the Panda's Thumb, for passing his dissertation at the University of Georgia and thus now becoming Dr Cartwright. Good job, Reed. Now get back to whatever you were…
June 14, 2006
It appears Coulter's knowledge of evolution (and the certainty with which she spouts) is on a par with her knowledge of the Vietnam War.