gregladen | October 22, 2010Between ten and fifteen people who's skin is not pale-pinkish white have been shot by Swedish extremists, mirroring the recent election in Sweden of numerous strongly anti-non-white officials*. The most hard to spot stealthy submarine in the British Navy has become the most visible and talked about naval vessel.* Biggest news story I didn't notice this week: The Juan Williams, Bill O'Really, NPR and Fox News WTF.*
gregladen | October 22, 2010What a stupid-ass question.
Every profession has its conferences, and in some professions, there are many. When the conference happens, adjustments must be made because many go to said conference. The conference costs money, and those attending the conference usually get paid to go, and/or get their expenses covered, or get a stipend to defray the costs.
But when teachers try to act like professionals, questions are raised. Our local news "good question" spot, where a reporter takes on a question and tries to answer it, asks if the annual Minnesota Teacher's Association/Union meeting, at…
gregladen | October 21, 2010Where is Science in the Public Forum Heading? It's time for a discussion!
Most know Ira Flatow as a science journalist, producer, and as the host of "Science Friday," broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR) every Friday afternoon. But did you know about his Minnesota connection? He was the original host and writer for the Emmy award winning "Newton's Apple," which broadcast from the television studios at KTCA in St. Paul, Minnesota. Science communicators Greg Laden and Lynn Fellman will ask Ira about the major changes in delivering science news and the effectiveness of new media for science…
gregladen | October 20, 2010There is a disturbance in the force. Well, actually, in the Caribbean. It is not named yet, but by the weekend it is likely that Richard will be the next named Atlantic storm. Richard is now a named tropical storm (named "Richard," interestingly enough) in the Caribbean, with a likely path across the Yucatan.
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Richard will probably be a hurricane by Saturday, move over land, weaken to a tropical storm, then emerge in the gulf to start it's new life, in about four days. This could actually be a fairly serious storm for those in the Yucatan.
The sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of…
gregladen | October 20, 2010I just received this dispatch from Monica Metzler, President of the Illinois Science Council. This is important.
The current leading candidate in the Illinois Governor's race has acknowledged his belief in intelligent design and his willingness to permit individual school districts to allow it to be taught. Teaching ID in schools isn't a top campaign issue and doesn't get addressed in debates, but the outcome of this election could mean a disastrous turning point for Illinois schools and science in general. The situation in Illinois is such that if Sen. Brady wins, many school districts in…
gregladen | October 20, 2010And the feds have taken notice...
Pastor Brad Brandon's loves to talk about the scriptures on his daily radio show, but it was what he spoke from the pulpit of his church, Berean Bible Baptist in Hastings, which has the attention of the federal government.
The 11 candidates he endorsed are listed on the church's website. The list includes Republican Tom Emmer for Governor, eight other republicans, an independent and a constitution candidate.
Brandon responded to a complaint by the Americans United for Separation of Church and State with the most moronic, idiotic, bone headed response…
gregladen | October 20, 2010The NCSE will be representing the good fight at the Evolution at the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington DC this weekend.
NCSE will be participating in the Science Expo of the USA Science & Engineering Festival, October 23 and 24, 2010, on the National Mall in Washington DC. The culmination of a two-week celebration of science and engineering, the Science Expo is a giant science party on America's front lawn, aimed at inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. All events are free and open to the general public.
So come and explore the world of science…
gregladen | October 20, 2010This is why we know civilization is about to collapse. This man speaks the truth, and he is probably the only one up there speaking the truth, but he is considered to be the comic relief.
gregladen | October 19, 2010Tom Bosley, the actor who played Howard Cunningham on "Happy Days" has died at age 83. Interestingly, Barbara Billingsley had died just three days before. There is no meaning to this, but there is metaphor galore.
gregladen | October 19, 2010I like Wikipedia, I really do. But there are also some serious, very serious problems with it. I just read the entries on the Battle of Rorke's Drift, a few related historical entries, and the entry on the movie Zulu, which is about the Battle of Rorke's drift.
My interest here is in looking at how things African are depicted in movies and other aspects of popular culture, especially historical events and "traditional" cultures. (I am not an expert on modern African studies.)
I will write about that at another time: Suffice it to say that at this point it is obvious that the overall…
gregladen | October 19, 2010I wrote earlier of the very useful command line utility called gcalcli (short for GoogleCALendarCommandLineInterface). Click here to read that post. One of the options is called "agenda" which spits out, by default, the next five days of calendar entries. If you would prefer a different range of time than five days, then you can specify two dates and the utility will give you that set of entries.
But I find that to be a bit of a pain, typing in the dates to start and end the list, when I generally want a quick and dirty "next several days." That, I suppose, is why there is a default of…
gregladen | October 19, 2010There is a stoning planned for the near future. Wouldn't it be nice if, instead of shying away from criticizing this barbaric practice to avoid offending anyone's sensibilities, there was instead a public outrage about it?
gregladen | October 19, 2010is a web carnival devoted to beetles, their biology and evolution. The current issue is at Beetles in the Bush. Go check it out!
gregladen | October 18, 2010A colleague at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation Studies at Loma Linda has asked me to pass this on to you:
IMPORTANT SURVEY ON ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION - Your help is needed! The Loma Linda University Center for Biodiversity and Conservation Studies is conducting a groundbreaking survey on attitudes toward the environment and conservation, particularly of those who love plants and animals. The results from this study, to be published in a professional journal, will contribute to our understanding of the role of plants and animals in society. Participants…
gregladen | October 18, 2010As expected, the liars, I mean Republicans (and Blue Dog Dems) who opposed the recovery act still wanted the recover act. They only wanted to look like they opposed it while they took advantage of it.
Rep. Pete Sessions, the firebrand conservative from Dallas, Texas, has relentlessly assailed the Democratic-passed stimulus law as a wasteful "trillion dollar spending spree" that was "more about stimulating the government and rewarding political allies than growing the economy and creating jobs."
But that didn't stop the Republican lawmaker from reaching his hand out behind the scenes to…