Policy
terrasig | May 7, 2008We're not a political blog here but I certainly care about politics as it relates to national science policy and social justice.
Last night, North Carolina's Jim Neal lost in his bid to fight against Sen Elizabeth Dole for her seat in the US Senate. Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend has all the details from last night's gathering at the campaign's election hub, including video of Neal's concession speech. However, he and his supporters have everything to be proud about and I wish Mr Neal all the very best in deciding next how he will continue his service to the community.
Many of us who…
tfk | May 5, 2008Hillary has lost it.
First, she signs on with John McCain's idiotic plan to eliminate gas taxes for a while. This is stupid, because it won't actually cut prices (the price of a good like gasoline is dominated by how much customers are willing to pay, and fiddling with the tax won't change demand, just how much money oil companies get and how much goes to the government). It's also stupid because it will starve the government of funds it uses to maintain roads, and infrastructure maintenance is always good, and is especially important as a form of counter-cyclical spending in a recession.…
scientificactivist | May 4, 2008As the media circus over Jeremiah Wright continues, it should give us pause that the media hasn't decided to focus on John McCain and his embrace of a wide range of religious bigots. Although McCain once called these men "agents of intolerance" in 2000, he has since done a total flip-flop and openly embraced them in the 2008 campaign. Compare this to Barack Obama, who has now fully renounced his former pastor--as he rightfully should have. Whether this slanted coverage is due to racial bias, or just to the fact that these outrageous conservative white religious figures are so ingrained in…
drorzel | April 30, 2008The Mad Biologist, like 80% of ScienceBlogs, is mad at Chris Mooney:
Here's the problem: you keep coming to evolutionary biologists with a problem (the perception of evolutionary biology), and you don't have a solution. Do you think there's a single evolutionary biologist who is happy with public opinion regarding evolution and creationism? But you're not giving us concrete solutions.
Between teaching and research, along with all of service obligations expected of us (including public outreach), we have too much to do. When we are then told that we need to somehow organize a pro-…
pharyngula | April 28, 2008Matt Taibbi went off on a three day Christian retreat, and discovered how ridiculous they are…but he also discover the deep emotional, anti-intellectual pull of these kinds of events.
By the end of the weekend I realized how quaint was the mere suggestion that Christians of this type should learn to "be rational" or "set aside your religion" about such things as the Iraq War or other policy matters. Once you've made a journey like this -- once you've gone this far -- you are beyond suggestible. It's not merely the informational indoctrination, the constant belittling of homosexuals and…
At the NYTimes and the WSJ, Just 2% of Front Page Stories Focus on Either Science or the Environment
nisbetmc | April 28, 2008
In an analysis released last week, Pew reports that during a three month period (Dec. 13-March 13, 2008), only 2% of front page stories at the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal focused either on the environment or science/technology. The finding is troubling on a number of fronts.
First, the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal are the papers of record for the country. The stories that they run on the front page are typically the lead stories across other news organizations including public radio, weekly magazines, regional newspapers and TV and cable news. If our highest quality…
denialism | April 28, 2008How else can you describe a site that regularly publishes David Kirby's anti-vaccination denialism, Jennifer McCarthy's insanity, and conspiracy theories from the like of Diedre Imus?
The latest this weekend is the goalpost-moving from David Kirby, which based on the egregious misinterpretation of the Hannah Poling case, represents the new front of anti-vaccination denialists in their war on reason. In the never-ending quest to pin autism on vaccines no matter what the evidence, the anti-vaccine denialists now are trying to make autism a mitochondrial disorder in order to fit their latest…
mikethemadbiologist | April 17, 2008...the New York Times gives David Cay Johnston a buyout, and keeps Maureen Dowd on payroll.
Johnston is one of the few reporters with the brains and the patience to understand the intersection of politics and economics. He makes tax policy interesting for Intelligent Designer's sake. And unlike Dowd, he is actually part of the Coalition of the Sane.
Fucking insane.
worldsfair | April 17, 2008About a month ago, I was lucky enough to partake in a speaker event, where noted economist Paul Collier gave a great talk.
Who is Paul Collier? Two titles to throw at you: Professor of Economics, in the Oxford University Economics Department; as well as the Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies.
What was the talk about? Well, it was primarily based around his best selling economics (did I just say best selling economics - now there's a phrase you don't hear too often) book that looks at the mechanics behind the bottom billion. That sixth of the world stuck in a…
cortex | April 17, 2008Nicholas Kristof has an excellent column on rationalizing, partisan affiliation and the Clinton/Obama race:
If you're a Democrat, your candidate won in Wednesday night's presidential debate -- that was obvious, and most neutral observers would recognize that. But the other candidate issued appalling distortions, and the news commentary afterward was shamefully biased.
So you're madder than ever at the other candidate. You may even be more likely to vote for John McCain if your candidate loses.
That prediction is based on psychological research that helps to explain the recriminations between…
cmooney | April 16, 2008You've already read our policy forum in Science--but in my latest column for Science Progress, I go farther in drawing lessons from the ScienceDebate2008 experience thus far. They are:
1. Ignore the Naysayers
2. Whatever Happens in 2008, We Can Build on the Experience in 2012
3. There is No Excuse for Science To Run and Hide Again From Politics
4. Think Outside the Box, and Never Give Up
Read here for details....
P.S.: The massive and influential World Wildlife Federation has just endorsed ScienceDebate2008...
nisbetmc | April 8, 2008When producers release a documentary about a public affairs topic, especially in the case of a propaganda film like Expelled, they create several natural advantages over the typical news coverage that follows a policy debate.
First, in the lead up to the release of the film, the documentary generates coverage at softer news beats such as film reviews, the lifestyle pages, and in the case I detail below, the show business beat. In these contexts, the claims of the film are featured without context or absent a counter-argument.
Readers of these news zones are likely to be less familiar with…
cmooney | April 7, 2008Well, discussion seems to have mostly run its course on "framing science" premises II and III. I have defended them, at least to my own satisfaction. There may be some folks who still reject them, but at this point, at least for those who don't, I'm ready to continue with the argument.
So let's get on to the next two premises that gave some people trouble, or raised issues. Premise V was the following:
Therefore, if--if--you want to get beyond audiences of science enthusiasts who understand the fine details, and move this broad public on these highly complex and politicized issues, you have…
nisbetmc | April 6, 2008Ask yourself: What's the best way you can promote atheism in your community or on your campus?
Do you want to gain attention through polarizing attacks at your blog or in public statements, alienating even your moderately religious neighbors? Or do you want to be known as the community builder and leader who happens to also be an atheist?
The latter is a strategy for promoting atheism at the local and national level that I discussed in a previous episode of the Point of Inquiry podcast. I am reminded of that strategy by an article that appeared recently in the Buffalo News.
The article…
jstemwedel | April 2, 2008Chris Mooney lays out the argument behind "framing". I give my thoughts, item by item.
1. We have long-running politicized science controversies on subjects like evolution and climate change, with separate polarized camps and the repeated use and misuse of complex scientific information in the arguments.
I'm not sure it's fair to characterize the controversies alluded to as "scientific" controversies. It's easier to make a case for scientific disagreement around climate change (at least, in terms of precisely how much human activity contributes, where the tipping point is, what exactly we…
bcohen | April 1, 2008Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3 | Pt 4
- - -
The World's Fair is pleased to offer the discussion below about a fascinating new book, Magnetic Appeal: MRI and the Myth of Transparency, with its author Kelly Joyce. Joyce is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the College of William and Mary.
Professor Joyce has a degree in anthropology, a doctorate in Sociology, a resume that includes a few years of teaching at Harvard, and a kind demeanor. She is also the co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience (Sage, 2006). Magnetic Appeal will be published in June by…
clock | March 31, 2008Words of wisdom (via):
The internet isn't a decoration on contemporary society, it's a challenge to it. A society that has an internet is a different kind of society than a society that doesn't.
I agree. And people, regardless of chronological age, appear to separate along "generational" lines, with the word "generation" really meaning how much they grok the immenseness of the societal change. It changes everything: politics, economics, media, science, environment, public health, business.... The "old" generation thinks of the Internet as yet another place to put their traditional…
cmooney | March 30, 2008
I'm hitting the road this morning for a week-long, three stop trip that takes me first to Princeton, New Jersey; second to Georgia Tech; and third to D.C. The first two stops are for talks, the last is for R&R, reconnecting with old friends, and meeting up with Sheril to work on a new project we've come up with (of which much more soon).
In light of all the controversy of late, though, I must say I find it rather symbolic how the two major talks that I'm giving break down. First, with Nisbet, I'll be speaking in the Princeton/Woodrow Wilson School Science, Technology, and Environmental…
scientificactivist | March 29, 2008Scientists and Engineers for America has announced a workshop for scientists interested in running for office or working on a political campaign. The workshop will be held at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, on May 10th. Despite the focus of my blog, I would have still thought that training scientists to run for office would be quite a niche area--to say the least. However, considering how fundamental science and technology are to the issues that elected officials face today (from scientific funding to energy and the environment to agricultural policy), having more scientists in…
oracknows | March 29, 2008Nasal drone Ben Stein, as you would be hard-pressed not to know if you are a regular reader of ScienceBlogs, is hosting what looks to be a truly execrable crap-fest called Expelled!: No Intelligence Allowed. The movie basically consists of two themes: (1) Whining about "intellectual oppression" by those evil "Darwinists" directed against any valiant "intelligent design" creationist or anyone else who "questions" Darwin and (2) lots of blaming the Holocaust and other atrocities (but mainly Hitler and the Holocaust) on "Darwinism," replete with lots of shots of Nazis, Ben Stein clumsily emoting…