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Mike Dunford

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March 4, 2009
Today, we've got a case of "you keep using that word, but I do not think it means what you think it means." On a page that highlights news stories that "are mainly about Liberal hypocrisy", they report: Refugees given homes, education, welfare benefits by Britain; in return, the Islamic…
March 4, 2009
It appears that yesterday's reports that New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez was holding up the confirmation of both the Science Advisor and the NOAA administrator were not entirely correct. He may well be delaying these confirmations, but he's apparently not the only one. CQ Politics is now…
March 3, 2009
The Guardian just announced that it's brought on four new columnists. These particular columnists are unusual, in that three of them are working scientists, and the fourth is an ethicist specializing in science and medicine. All in all, I think this could be a good move. The coverage of science by…
March 3, 2009
UPDATE: 4 Mar 09 There are now reports that Senator Menendez is not the only Senator holding up these nominations. I've got a new post up with the updated information and new suggestions for ways you can help. The Washington Post is reporting that Senate votes to confirm Jane Lubchenco as NOAA…
March 2, 2009
Today seems like a really good day to try and start a conversation about the complex relationship between copyright and the internet. This morning, the New York Times website posted an article about concerns that for-profit publications have when it comes to other websites excerpting their writing…
February 27, 2009
I know, I know, I really should stop going to Conservapedia, but it's got that train wreck thing going. Every time I go back, I think I'm not going to find something worse than the things I've already turned up. And every time I'm wrong. But I might just be right tonight. Today, I found the "…
February 27, 2009
By now, you've probably heard that there's been quite a bit of controversy over a little story about bureaucrats and rescue boats that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told during his response to President Obama's speech earlier this week: Let me tell you a story. During Katrina, I visited…
February 26, 2009
Remember that Colorado State Senator I talked about yesterday? The one that voted against the HIV testing bill because he thought it would encourage humanity? It turns out that he really, really doesn't know when to stop talking. He gave an interview to the Rocky Mountain News after the vote.…
February 26, 2009
Henry Gee's wife Penny is participating in The Race For Life (remember that name - especially the last word - it'll be important in a second) to benefit Cancer Research UK. Someone sent her a message saying that they're not comfortable donating to a charity that supports animal research. That's…
February 26, 2009
Matt "Framing Science" Nisbet has some more advice for scientists on things we shouldn't be saying: Another frame to avoid is the same type of "war on science" and "restoring science to its rightful place" rhetoric that was used on the campaign trail and in the early days of Obama's…
February 25, 2009
I'm going to take a break from my semi-masochistic browsing of Conservapedia tonight. Instead, I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight some much more malignant views. There have been two separate incidents of hateful speech and behavior, involving two separate Colorado State Senators, in…
February 25, 2009
I've already talked about the basic dishonesty Bobby Jindal exhibited when he took a swipe at the mention of "volcano monitoring" in the stimulus - Jindal claimed that there was $140 million in there for "volcano monitoring", when it's actually only one of a number of projects listed under that…
February 24, 2009
A few minutes ago, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal finished delivering the Republican response to President Obama's kinda-sorta-but-not-really State of the Union Address. During his reply, Jindal took aim at some of the items contained in the stimulus package. One of the remarks, in particular,…
February 24, 2009
Tonight's Conservapedia fun comes courtesy of their entry for "Moon": Atheistic theories of the origin of the Moon, widely taught for decades despite lacking the falsifiability requirement of science (see Philosophy of science), have been proven false. If you want to comment on this one, feel…
February 24, 2009
The first Diversity in Science blog carnival is up over at Urban Scientist. This one is truly a must read - particularly if you're unfamiliar with the subject.
February 24, 2009
Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning has apparently found an innovative new way to get his colleagues in the National Republican Senatorial Committee to support his re-election campaign: threaten to sue. Yes, I really am serious. Bunning threatened to sue the committee if it supported Williams or any…
February 24, 2009
Tonight, President Obama is going to address a joint session of Congress. It's the same time of year that the State of the Union Address is given. It's the same format. It's expected that he will cover the same kind of topics that you see in the State of the Union. There's even going to be a…
February 24, 2009
As some of you may be aware, over the last couple of weeks Timothy Sandefur and I had a debate on our blogs on the topic of government funding for scientific research. He argued against it; I argued for it. We wrapped up the debate yesterday. If you're interested in taking a look at the whole thing…
February 23, 2009
What Government - at least as we know it - Is. Timothy Sandefur and I have been debating the proper role of government in funding scientific research for a couple of weeks now. Over the course of the debate, it's become clear to me that he and I do not have a common understanding about what our…
February 23, 2009
I've been trying to keep my weekday posting frequency fairly high, but that's difficult today. My internet (and cable and home phone) is nonfunctional at the moment, and has been for most of the day. Hopefully, Mediacom will have things sorted out by the morning (or earlier), but until they do the…
February 20, 2009
In his opening remarks for the latest entry in our ongoing debate about public financing for science, Timothy Sandefur suggests that after this post, we move on to concluding remarks. That strikes me as a reasonably good idea (and not just because he's generously offered me the last word). We may…
February 19, 2009
This is one of those "good news/bad news" kind of stories. The good news is that a bird that many scientists thought was extinct was discovered alive in the Philippines recently. The bad news is that it was discovered in a poultry market, and has apparently since been sold and eaten. Sadly, I'…
February 19, 2009
In a recent and very widely distributed AP article, Seth Borenstein manages to do a pretty good job of misunderstanding what's going on with Comet Lulin. In a relatively short column, he manages to generate confusion about the location of the comet, mangle the name of a fairly well-known star,…
February 18, 2009
Conservapedia has an entry for "Martyrs to the faith". (Their capitalization, not mine.) They define martyrs to the faith as, "the Protestants who were executed by Roman Catholics during the Reformation of the 16th century." They then go on to provide a very interesting list of examples, that…
February 18, 2009
At their best, editorial cartoons are a wonderful way to examine politics in a slightly different light. An editorial cartoon that appeared in today's New York Post shows us just what editorial cartoons can be at their worst. Just in case the NY Post decides to try and dump this one down the…
February 18, 2009
"Children are our hope for the future."THERE IS NO HOPE FOR THE FUTURE, said Death."What does it contain, then?"ME."Besides you, I mean!"Death gave him a puzzled look. I'M SORRY? Terry Pratchett"Sourcery" Bad Astronomy Blogger Phil Plait has written one of the most fantastically, outrageously,…
February 17, 2009
Earlier today, someone left the following comment: Le réchauffement climatique fait partie d'un cycle planétaire qui touche toutes les planètes de notre système et n'a rien avoir avec la pollution.La glace occupe un volume supérieur a son volume en eau, donc: si la glace fond le niveau…
February 17, 2009
The latest edition of The Giants' Shoulders (the monthly history of science carnival) was posted over at Greg Laden's blog a couple of days ago. If you haven't seen it yet, you should go take a look.
February 17, 2009
A few days ago, Timothy Sandefur posted his second entry in our ongoing debate on the benefits and pitfalls of government funding for the sciences. I've been a bit busy, and I'm just finding time to respond now - I apologize for the delay. While I was doing other things over the weekend, he also…
February 13, 2009
No. But that's apparently not enough to keep some people from making the claim. There's a story that's making the rounds on some right wing blogs that John Holdren said, at his confirmation hearing, that he thinks that 1 billion people will die as a result of global warming by 2020. So far, that…