gregladen | March 12, 2008
The big, bad wolf could use a few friends. If western states remove the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act--a decision currently under debate--consequences could be grave. Wyoming and Idaho announced they would reduce their populations of approximately 300 and 700 wolves, respectively, by 50 percent and 80 percent.
Amidst the debate, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) researcher Dr. Kim Berger is speaking out on behalf of an unsuspecting wolf ally: the pronghorn antelope, North America's fastest land animal. In a study published in the latest issue of the journal…
gregladen | March 12, 2008Charles Darwin turns 200 next year--Happy birthday, dude!--and the Peabody Museum of Natural History is getting excited. You would think that a couple centuries would have kicked the last bit of dust over the grave of "intelligent design," but sadly, it ain't so. The people at the Peabody still have some convincing to do, and that's where Travels in the Great Tree of Life, a multimedia exhibit curated by evolutionary biologist, Yale professor and Peabody Director Michael Donoghue, comes in. ...
[Read the rest here]
gregladen | March 12, 2008The Acid Test is a webs standards test to which browsers can be subjected to see which is best. Here are some of the current results for browsers that are released (the one you are likely to use if your software is reasonably well updated):
Konqueror on Ubuntu 7.10: 62%
Epiphany on Ubuntu 8.04: 59%
Camino on a Mac and Firefox on Mac, Windows XP, or Windows Vista: 52%
The list that I'm looking at then has fourteen combinations of different browsers, versions, and operating systems ranging from 39% to 52%
Then, way down the list, we get:
INternet Exporer 5.50 on Windows XP at 14%
Then a bunch…
gregladen | March 12, 2008This is a picture of David Vitter, who was caught up in a prostitution ring in 2007. His face exhibits a certain look, one that may be referred to as an expression of shame.
Here we have New York Governor, or should I say the Former New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer, in a state of shame regarding ... what was it again? (That was so long ago) ... Right .. a thing with a prostitute. Again, we see the same expression on his face ...
Here is Larry Craig, who carried out shameful activities in one of the men's restrooms at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport, with an undercover police officer…
gregladen | March 12, 2008... well, just a little carnival. More like a street fair. On a small side street:
Editorial: State must set standards for home schooling
Extreme circumstances make bad legal precedents. It's proven anew in last week's court ruling that would dismantle a thriving and diverse home-school movement in California.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday called for legislation affirming parents' ability to home school, if the state Supreme Court doesn't overturn the decision on a Southern California case. Lawmakers should act, although carefully. The issue is more complex than a universal right…
gregladen | March 12, 2008There is a campaign to bring attention, of the public and of congress, to a five year long stagnation of NIH funding, which is being called a broken pipeline. NIH funding had been increased significantly prior to that, to address major shortfalls in funding for mostly medical research in key important issues. However, over the last five years, the dollar amount of funding has remained flat, not even keeping up with inflation, where it really should have increased further, even more than inflation.
This is not just belly-aching by people who would like funding. Those involved are pointing…
gregladen | March 12, 2008Last week, a secret recording emerged of a disturbing speech by Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern stating that homosexuality is a bigger threat to our nation than "terrorism or Islam." Rep. Kern has refused to apologize for her remarks.
She also said:
"They're going after two year olds...."
"Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays ... and a lot of places in Florida"
Hard to believe. But hearing is believing:
The Human Rights campaign has a petition for you to sign.
Hat tip: Emily
gregladen | March 12, 2008New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is going to resign any moment now.
Mr Spitzer, 48, made a public apology on Monday for what he called his unacceptable behaviour, but did not give details.
He was allegedly identified by federal agents arranging to meet a prostitute in a Washington hotel.
Mr Spitzer made his name as a fearless opponent of organised crime, including prostitution.
[source]
gregladen | March 12, 2008
The pending federal decision about whether to protect the polar bear as a threatened species is as much about climate science as it is about climate change.
The US Fish and Wildlife service is contemplating the listing of the obviusly endangered polar bear as a threatened species. Well, duh...
The problem for them (the US Federal Government, which has been converted over the last 7 years into a right wing think tank) is that the main threat to the polar bear is global warming, and there are still plenty of individuals in charge of the US that want to deny global warming.
But, with…
gregladen | March 11, 2008For the last several months, we've been cat sitting for our friends Gil and Gilliane. They are very good cats, and Amanda especially has bonded to them. Well, Gil and Gilliane are returning from their extended stay overseas, and want their cats back. There will be a certain emptiness when they are gone.
But even worse, we're gonna die of heart attacks!!!! ....
Whether it's a frisky kitten or a tubby tabby, a cat at home could cut your heart attack risk by almost a third, a new study suggests.
The finding, from a 10-year study of more than 4,300 Americans, suggests that the stress…
gregladen | March 11, 2008This was at the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin Texas. And it wasn't really him being heckled, exactly.
Business Week journalist Sarah Lacy was interviewing Zuckerberg on the stage, and apparently chose topics to ask him about that were of little interest to the audience. In other words, the show they were putting on was something of a disaster.
Eventually, Lacy backed off and allowed the audience to ask the questions instead, and things went much better after that.
"The audience is asking Zuckerburg better questions than Lacy did," said former Microsoft blogger, Robert Scoble, via…
gregladen | March 11, 2008I remember, when I was getting to know Amanda, carefully exploring certain key issues such as this. It actually didn't take long to find out that we had almost identical political views, and perspectives on science, rational thinking, religion, and so on. (I say "almost" only because there is room for variation, but I can't think of any actual differences in perspective ... only differences in level of attention to various issues).
Anyway, here is a piece by Aaron Rowe in The Wired on the topic:
While searching for a soulmate on several online dating sites, I caught myself disregarding…
gregladen | March 11, 2008This Thursday, at Stratton Hall, at the Cumberland Christian School.
The fair will feature roughly 80 projects created by sixth-, seventh-, and eighth- grade students. Students started working on the experiments and projects in early December. ... Stratton Hall will be open from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday to view the projects.
[source]
gregladen | March 11, 2008Check it out:
Dear Friend of the Bell Museum:
Thanks to your efforts, the Bell Museum's building project is included in both House and Senate versions of the Minnesota State Legislature's 2008 bonding recommendations.
Now is the time to contact Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to express your support for the project.
You can reach Governor Pawlenty by phone at (651) 296-3391 or (800) 657-3717; or by email at tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us.
As it did with our Senators and Representatives, your message to the Governor will make a difference.
gregladen | March 11, 2008Yet another demonstration of creationist's inability to get what they want without resorting to ethically questionable behavior .....
Shortly before he was to attend a screening in January of the documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," ... Roger Moore, a film critic for The Orlando Sentinel, learned that his invitation had been revoked by the film's marketers.
"Well, you already invited me," he recalled thinking at the time. "I'm going to go."
So Mr. Moore traveled to a local megachurch and planted himself among a large group of pastors to watch the movie....
There were nondisclosure…
gregladen | March 11, 2008I have purchased a few songs from iTunes, but I don't like doing it. I have the sense that you are not really buying the song in the same way you do when you buy a CD. But I do use the iTunes software (for now) on my Windows box to keep track of the CDs I own. Eventually, I'll change how I do that (I find iTunes to be a bit annoying).
Anyway, there is some important and interesting news about iTunes that you may want to know.
Multiple UK news outlets are reporting today that Sir Paul McCartney has reached a deal with Apple to offer the Beatles catalog on the iTunes Store. The deal,…
gregladen | March 11, 2008OMG!
A three-judge panel from the 2nd District Court of Appeals made it illegal on February 28 for any parent to home school their child, unless they have a teaching or tutor credential. Upon hearing the ruling, school districts officials began demanding that police take immediate action. So yesterday, throughout the state, judges secretly began swearing out and signing arrest warrants for any parent who was suspected of home-schooling their children without a teaching credential.
Setting up a special task force virtually overnight, SWAT teams and truant officers armed with arrest warrants…