gregladen | March 25, 2010.... Continued ....
So, what rights to what animals get?
When Charlton Heston's character in Planet of the Apes came across that great edifice of Western Civilization and realized that the old Orangutan was right ... humans are fundamentally destructive of themselves and their near relatives ... he replicated in the fictional future what Louis and Mary Leakey did when they came across the skull of Zinjanthropus at Olduvai Gorge, in the 1950s, at a spot now memorialized by the famous Olduvai Plinth. Well the Leakeys thought they were looking at a human ancestor at the time, and therefore…
gregladen | March 25, 2010I am very lucky to work with Seed/Scienceblogs editor and blog herder (no one is actually certain of her exact title)
Erin Johnson. Erin is the person we Sblings rely on to keep everything running smoothly, to manufacture our debates, I think she may be the person who writes several of the pseudonymous blogs that are no the network. Without Erin, this would be a very boring place.
But seriously, Erin, I do appreciate everything you do and I feel very strongly that Sb is very luck to have you.
Today is Erin's birthday. You can wish her happy birthday here.
gregladen | March 24, 2010Tea Party activists have gathered on Capitol Hill today for a "Code Red" rally against health care reform. .... The gathering was organized by Tea Party Profiteer organizations ... ThinkProgress .... spotted a sign threatening violence if health care passes. The sign reads: "Warning: If Brown can't stop it, a Browning can," referring to Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) and a Browning ...
Check it out
So what does this mean? If I know someone is in the Tea Party and I know they know I supported health care reform, should I kill them preemptively? Seriously. I live several hundred meters from Michele…
gregladen | March 23, 2010At 13 or 14 seconds in, Biden tells the President that this is "A big fucking deal."
It is.
gregladen | March 23, 2010President Obama has just signed the health care bill into law.
Well, that was easy. OK, next problem?
gregladen | March 23, 2010The relationship between art and science today "is a little bit like romance," said Lynn Fellman. What's being learned about our species and about each other "is like getting to know someone new," she said. "It's surprising; It's a sense of discovery," one that artists, who speak through a visual language, respond to. "You know that there's beauty in the idea of evolution," she said, adding that art can express that beauty.
The Minneapolis-based artist, a member of the bio-art movement that seeks to bridge the worlds of art and science, uses recent discoveries about the human genome as the…
gregladen | March 22, 2010Mike Dunford of Questionable Authority was born this day some years ago. Wish him a happy birthday.
gregladen | March 22, 2010People are complaining that the health care bill that is currently on the verge of being law is flawed.
Well, duh. People who actually claim that this bill should not become law because it is flawed come in two flavors:
1) Those who are simply against all health care reform and are just blowing this out of one orifice or another. Birthers, teabaggers, Republicans, heatlh care lobbyists, other undesirables.
2) People who have little knowledge of how these things work and just woke up to find that reality is not what they assumed, in their ignorance it to be. Have you ever heard of the EPA…
gregladen | March 22, 2010NYT Admits Getting Duped on ACORN
ACORN Folds As National Organization
The real problem (well, a real problem) with the two party system is that it fuels and supports the "two sides to the story" system. When teabag sucking right wing yahoos went after Acorn, it was the job of the so called "fifth estate" to expose that politically motivated Watergate-like nefarious activity for what it was, not facilitate it.
gregladen | March 22, 2010An item from the Union of Concerned Scientists:
Certainty vs. Uncertainty
Understanding Scientific Terms About Climate Change
Uncertainty is ubiquitous in our daily lives. We are uncertain about where to go to college, when and if to get married, who will play in the World Series, and so on.
To most of us, uncertainty means not knowing. To scientists, however, uncertainty is how well something is known. And, therein lies an important difference, especially when trying to understand what is known about climate change.
In science, there's no such thing as absolute certainty. But, research…
gregladen | March 22, 2010The current health care bill, which we DO need to pass (Stop whinging that is not perfect. Neither are you. We let you pass.) has two more steps to go through. Reconciliation and signing by the President. Barack will take care of that second part, but we need to pressure congress to take care of that first part.
Harry Reid has a petition for you to sign to help develop this support.
Click Here to Sign
gregladen | March 22, 2010A statement from the statesman:
"Last night was the climax of weeks and months of debate on a health care bill that my constituents fear and do not support. In the heat and emotion of the debate, I exclaimed the phrase 'it's a baby killer' in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic leadership. While I remain heartbroken over the passage of this bill and the tragic consequences it will have for the unborn, I deeply regret that my actions were mistakenly interpreted as a direct reference to Congressman Stupak himself.
"I have apologized to Mr. Stupak and also...
Oh shut up,…
gregladen | March 22, 2010... this would be a good time to "attend" the "A" Week on Facebook event. Click here and RSVP and put the big A in there as your face.
gregladen | March 22, 2010But that it has always been true does not excuse ...
The Catholic priests who abused children--and the men who covered it up--must be prosecuted By Christopher Hitchens LINK
Boy Scouts Accused of Massive Sex-Abuse Coverup LINK
gregladen | March 21, 2010.... I had a feeling this was going to happen....
Anyway, praise FSM, I'm talking about him being gay, not being, like, a climate change denialist or something.
Check it out.
In truth, this is not really all that interesting. I mean, like, whatever. But the guy is the original skeptic, he's 81, and he always has interesting stuff to say. So it is really all that interesting after all.
gregladen | March 21, 2010Continued from Part 1 ...
Animal rights are arbitrarily granted or assumed
If human rights are arbitrarily assigned, so are animal rights. The argument has been made that animals with certain properties ... sentience (the definition of which moves somewhat), phylogenetic closeness to humans, or the ability to feel pain, etc. ... should share some protections against painful procedures, death, or being caged because of those properties. Sorry, but no. While it could be argued that the more human a non-human animal is the more like humans they should be treated, that simplistic view in and of…
gregladen | March 20, 2010El Aldeano y El B de Los Aldeanos lanzan sus proyectos independientes, "Viva Cuba Libre" y "Nos Achicharraron" juntos, de manera descargable gratis para sus amigos fieles a través del mundo.
Visit Emetrece Productions for more info
gregladen | March 20, 2010Duwayne is a friend, regular commenter, and fellow blogger. He blogs here. Go wish him a happy arbitrary day of the year fest.