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Afghani Women's Rights Activist Murdered

The AP reports: Gunmen on a motorbike Monday killed an Afghan women's rights activist who ran an underground school for girls during the Taliban's rule -- the latest victim of increasingly brazen militants targeting government officials and schools. Safia Ama Jan, a provincial director for Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs, was slain outside her home in the southern city of Kandahar as she was on her way to work, said Tawfiq ul-Ulhakim Parant, senior adviser to the women's ministry in Kabul.... Mullah Sadullah, a regional Taliban commander, claimed responsibility for the killing in a…

Ford and the Anti-Gay Lobby

I've written several times in the past about the homophobe lobby and Ford. They've been urging a boycott of Ford because - gasp! - they advertise and sell cars to gay people. Apparently gays are supposed to walk everywhere, or hitch rides with the Amish in their buggies. But their latest attack on Ford is incredibly brazen. At the annual shareholder's meeting, going on right now in Deleware, they tried to pass a resolution amending the company's equal employment opportunity rules to take out sexual orientation. Now, there's no point in removing sexual orientation from the discrimination rules…

DaveScot Joins Luskin's Band of Stupidity

Boy oh boy, Judge Jones being named as one of the 100 most influential people of recent times sure has the ID crowd's panties in a bunch. First we had Casey Luskin's inane and shameful insinuation that he didn't write the Dover ruling himself. And now we have DaveScot's even more shameful reaction to it. He arbitrarily picks out bad guys that Time has named "Person of the Year" in the past in order to denigrate Jones: The magazine who made these men "Man of the Year" 1938 - Adolf Hitler 1939 - Joseph Stalin 1942 - Joseph Stalin 1957 - Nikita Krushchev 1979 - Ayatullah Khomeini now brings you…

A Tablet PC For $170

I have another tablet review for you. (See the bottom of the post for some followup on my last review.) This is a "tablet PC" meaning a tablet that runs a full on PC operating system, as opposed to a tablet-oriented operating system. With the keyboard (not supplied, buy separately). The Jumper EZpad 5SE Tablet PC is a pretty high performance tablet with an exceptionally low cost, and worth a look especially if you are a Windows user. The tablet comes with Windows 10, and a most notably, a magic "magnetic stylus." The screen and stylus use electromagnetic technology. So, you can…

The Aristocrats

Okay, I finally got to see the movie The Aristocats, a documentary about perhaps the most famous - and filthiest - joke ever told. First of all, I picked the wrong day to watch it. I have a terrible cold today and it's not very pleasant to be laughing that hard while coughing up chunks of phlegm the size of hamsters. But if you haven't seen this movie and you have a strong stomach for dark humor (very important, this is definitely not for everyone), you should find it and watch it by any means necessary. The lineup of comedians is staggering. Everyone from Shelley Berman to Robin Williams…

The Aristocrats

Okay, I finally got to see the movie The Aristocats, a documentary about perhaps the most famous - and filthiest - joke ever told. First of all, I picked the wrong day to watch it. I have a terrible cold today and it's not very pleasant to be laughing that hard while coughing up chunks of phlegm the size of hamsters. But if you haven't seen this movie and you have a strong stomach for dark humor (very important, this is definitely not for everyone), you should find it and watch it by any means necessary. The lineup of comedians is staggering. Everyone from Shelley Berman to Robin Williams…

My Libraries

Inspired yet again by the Carlquist & Järv anthology of library history I mentioned recently, I decided to write something about the libraries of my life. I'm fortunate in that I have always been able to take libraries for granted. I feel at home in them. Learning to read at age four or five, I may have been taken about that time to some forgotten library in Greenwich, Conn. But the first one I remember and one of the two most important ones in my life so far is Saltsjöbaden public library, located at the Dump, Tippen, the local mall which took its name from being built on the site of a…

One Game Too Many

The phenomenon is familiar to anybody who plays pick-up basketball. (It might be unique to pick-up hoops-- none of the other sports I play regularly involve multiple discrete games.) You get a bunch of players together, and you play a game to 15. Then a second game to 15. And, hey, that's a pretty good run right there, and lunch hour is almost over, and maybe you should get back to work... "One more game," somebody says. The justification is always different. If the teams split the first two games, it's a rubber match. If one team won both, it's a chance for the other team to get redemption.…

Stephen Meyer

6.55-- AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! SALLY KERN IS HERE!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! 7.06-- Pretends hes talkin up Darwin. DIRP! John Lynch would be having a seizure. 7.09-- Intelligent Design>Evilution 7.10-- Meyer is clueless on origin of life and Darwin. He sounds exactly like a parrot. I know the people studying origin of life, and they are waaaaaaay beyond this kindergarten shit Meyers talkin bout. This is like listening to a fourth graders report on 'origin of life'. My god this hour is going to be long... 7.18--…

Relativity, Quantum, and the Internet

When Kate and I were walking Emmy last night, we were talking about the historical development of relativity. As one does, when walking the dog. I mentioned a couple of the pre-1905 attempts to explain things like the Michelson-Morley experiment, and how people like Lorentz and FitzGerald and Poincare were on the right track, but didn't quite get it all together. Kate asked about what it would've been like to be a physicist working at that time, when both relativity and quantum mechanics were being born, trying out new approaches and not really knowing whether a given approach would turn out…

Volume Packing of Breakfast Cereal

We're working on moving SteelyKid from formula to milk (which isn't going all that well-- dairy seems to make her gassy). This has led me to switch over to cereal in the mornings, since we're buying milk anyway, which frees up the time otherwise spent waiting for the toaster. Cereal-wise, I tend to alternate between Cheerios (which we also buy for SteelyKid) and Raisin Bran-- my parents never bought sugary breakfast cereal, so I never developed a taste for any of those things. Being the ridiculous geek that I am, I've noticed something about the relative amounts of milk and cereal I use for…

Local look at dichloroacetate (DCA) hysteria

I hope Orac won't mind but with him in a surgical conference in DC right now, he may not have seen Matt the Heathen post in the comment thread at Respectful Insolence about a superb article that appeared in today's Edmonton Journal, "Possibly fatal at $2 a pop," by Jodie Sinnema. Jodie's interview with the University of Alberta investigator and author of the original DCA anticancer paper illustrates the level of interest in this public-domain chemical: Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, the cardiologist and researcher whose academic paper sparked the worldwide fervour surrounding DCA, said people…

Why do I bother?

I've got a post up at my other blog, where I write about climate change for the Weather Channel's Forecast Earth site, that briefly discusses James Hansen's new paper on appropriate targets for CO2 levels. I still intend to write something more consequential here, but in the meantime, I thought I'd draw ScienceBlogs readers' attention to the reaction at the TWC blog. Here's a selection: After we are done manipulating global carbon dioxide plant food levels to within a couple parts per million of sheer evolutionary perfection, then we'll get to work on that thermostat-wired-over-to-the-sun…

It's that time of year again...

The snows are melting (we hope), the flowers are starting to bloom, and here in FL it's not quite obnoxiously hot out. It's spring, and with it comes one of my favorite yearly holidays - Earth Day! That's right - April 22nd is Earth Day 2009. Started in the 1970s by a smart senator from Wisconsin as a way to "shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda", Earth Day has been pushing for environmental action for almost 40 years. Lots of communities have organized fairs, festivals, or clean-ups to celebrate. But even if you don't want to join the masses at…

You Will Get Wet! Loggerheads, Longlines, and Lopez Mateos

Loggerhead sea turtles captured the imagination of marine enthusiasts everywhere long before Crush made his big screen debut in Finding Nemo. They're among the oldest creatures on earth and have remained essentially unchanged for 110 million years. That's a pretty long time considering we boring 'anatomically modern' homo sapiens have only been wandering around for about 200,000 years. No contest. Loggerheads are endangered and the North Pacific population has been decimated by hunting, bycatch, and loss of nesting beaches. And yet, a chance to do something that might make a difference…

Review of 'Rebuilt' But Michael Chorost (His Story of a Cochlear Implant)

Cochlear implants are true cyborg technology. They stimulate the auditory nerve of deaf individuals to allow them to interact with the sounds of the world again--although those new sounds are at first alien and foreign. A few months back I posted here about Michael Chorost, a science writer and recipient of a cochlear implant, who wrote a terrific piece about his quest to experience his favorite piece of music, "Bolero," once again. We made contact after that, and Michael was kind enough to send me his book, which I read as well as my friend who researches new applications for cochlear…

Authors Anonymous

Shhhh...I have a secret. When we send out information about the World Science Festival, the producers commonly use the phrase, "a Festival meant to engage and inspire the public about science." For me, there's no better way to inspire than to offer the public a  chance to meet one-on-one with scientists. And I'm not talking about rushing the stage after an in-theatre program, in the hopes that you'll be shoved to the front of the geeked-out mosh pit and win a chance to graze Leonard Mlodinow's foot. I'm talking about calmly and cool-ly walking up to a scientist and having the…

California uses zoning changes to cut carbon emissions

In a move that should've been taken eons ago, California's legislature is moving to bring civic planning under a unified framework that will reduce carbon emissions and reduce traffic: The bill yokes three regulatory and permit processes. One focuses on regional planning: how land use should be split among industry, agriculture, homes, open space and commercial centers. Another governs where roads and bridges are built. A third sets out housing needs and responsibilities — for instance, how much affordable housing a community must allow. Under the pending measure, the three regulatory and…

Rorty on Hauser

My vacation is over. Your humble blogger is now back to work, complete with some awkward tan lines and a slightly jet-lagged brain. I'd thought I'd begin by making sure everybody read Richard Rorty's scathing review of Marc Hauser's new book, Moral Minds, in the NY Times. Hauser's claims are simple: he holds that "we are born with abstract [moral and ethical] rules or principles, with nurture entering the picture to set the parameters and guide us toward the acquisition of particular moral systems." Thus, he believes that neuroscience will soon discover "what limitations exist on the range…

Rebooting science journalism - on blurring boundaries, money, audiences and duck sex

   No, this doesn't have Flash or a camera either. Nice text resolution, though...This post is long overdue. It has now been over two weeks since ScienceOnline'10 and the withdrawal symptoms (along with the SciPlague and jet-lag) have now subsided. I've already talked about how much I enjoyed attending the conference, catching up with old new friends, and moderating a panel on rebooting science journalism with three excellent gents - Carl Zimmer, John Timmer and David Dobbs. The session video still isn't up, but many of the key points have been ably captured through Twitter by Janet Stemwedel…

More on whether a name is destiny

There was a lot of buzz online a couple months back when an article entitled "Moniker Maladies" made what seemed to many to be a startling claim: Baseball players strike out more often when their names start with "K"; Students with the initials "C" and "D" get worse grades than others. Actually, this effect, known as the "name-letter effect," has been known for several years. If your name -- even your last name -- starts with T, you're more likely to live in Tacoma or Tulsa than San Francisco or Springfield. Chris at Mixing Memory wrote an excellent summary of the research, so I won't repeat…

Uh-Oh. The GOP Has Been Rebranded

(from here) That's gotta hurt Over at My Left Wing, thereisnospoon discusses a shocking development--a majority of voters view Democrats as the fiscally responsible party: There is a shocking poll that should be a wake-up call to conservatives and Republicans nationwide. If I were a Republican strategist today, my heart would be in my throat. From The Corner at the conservative National Review Online: A survey of 1200 likely voters taken in 12 swing districts this past Sunday and Monday might explain why Republicans might have a long night ahead of them. The veteran GOP pollster says he…

Behavior Genetics & NRO

Over at The Corner at National Review Online John Derbyshire has been getting into a debate with his colleagues over Judith Rich Harris' work, and her two books The Nurture Assumption and No Two Alike. I find it amusing when scientific controversy comes crashing into the punditocracy, though I think it is also a good thing. To frame the issue properly, there is consistent evidence that the majority of non-genetic variation in personality is due to non-shared (i.e., non-home) environment. Judith Rich Harris proposes that peer groups account for this non-shared environment, though this is…

Best Science Books 2012: Booklist Online

Another list for your reading, gift-giving and collection development pleasure. Every year for the last bunch of years I’ve been linking to and posting about all the “year’s best sciencey books” lists that appear in various media outlets and shining a bit of light on the best of the year. All the previous 2012 lists are here. This post includes the following: Booklist Online Top 10 Science and Health Books. The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds by Julie Zickefoose Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding…

Best Science Books 2012: Boing Boing Gift Guide

Another list for your reading, gift-giving and collection development pleasure. Every year for the last bunch of years I’ve been linking to and posting about all the “year’s best sciencey books” lists that appear in various media outlets and shining a bit of light on the best of the year. All the previous 2012 lists are here. This post includes the following: Boing Boing Gift Guide. The Where, the Why, and the How: 75 Artists Illustrate Wondrous Mysteries of Science by Matt Lamothe, Julia Rothman, Jenny Volvovski and David Macaulay Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks Illustrated Guide to Home…

Oops. The Sunday Times apologizes

Few stories about climatology generated as much attention, positive and negative as one by Jonathan Leake in London's Sunday Times back in January. "UN climate panel shamed by bogus rainforest claim" claimed that references to threats to the Amazon rainforest from global warming were "based on an unsubstantiated claim by green campaigners who had little scientific expertise." As pretty much anyone without an ulterior motive who bothered to look into the matter quickly discovered, that wasn't true. Now, more than five months later, the Times has apologized for the story. Joe at Climate…

TV for teachers

"And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard, And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall. " - BoB Dylan Tired of Simpson reruns and the exploits of Friends? [From the WSTA] NOVA is broadcasting an entire series of shows on hurricanes, Katrina, and what the experts predicted would happen should a hurricane ever hit New Orleans. Check out the schedule below. NOVA Presents "Storm That Drowned a City" Broadcast: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 http://www.pbs.org/nova/orleans/ (NOVA airs on PBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Check your local listings as broadcast dates and times may vary.…

My picks from ScienceDaily

Scientist's Persistence Sheds Light On Marine Science Riddle: When he started compiling an online database of seashells 15 years ago, Dr. Gary Rosenberg did not envision that his meticulous record-keeping would eventually shed light on a 40-year-old evolutionary debate. The debate involves the mechanism underlying the island rule: that small animals isolated on islands evolve to be larger than their mainland relatives, and large animals evolve to be smaller. If the name of Craig McClain - one of the authors of teh paper - rings the bell, it may be because you are reading his delightful blog…

Mapping your sickness

A mashup, in online talk, is a site or application that combines content from several sources. Google Map is a favorite matrix for mashups and one of the most intriguing (for us) is one called "Who is Sick?" It's a voluntary geographically-based reporting system for sickness: A new Google Maps mashup helps you track colds, flus and other bugs in your community. Start by entering your city or ZIP code to see if other users have reported any sicknesses. You'll see a Google map dotted with icons that indicate symptoms like runny nose, cough, fever and headache. You can also post your own illness…

Is it in the public domain?

Traveling and busy as hell, but wanted to share this. The ever expanding copyright laws is one of my pet peeves, but almost as irritating as the increasing length of copyright is the difficulty in knowing if something is still under copyright. The copyright date and name of the copyright holder in the frontmatter of a book is not a sufficient indication since it only tells you who used to have the copyright, not who does or does not have it now as a result of a renewal. For books published in the US between 11923 there is now a new tool to use: For U.S. books published between 1923 and 1963,…

How bats fly out of hell

Flying like a bat out of hell is supposed to mean sudden, fast and wild.But how do bats fly? It turns out they have some unique tricks: Bats have a clever aerodynamic trick to make flying easier, researchers have found: the sharp edge at the front of their wings cuts through the air in such a way as to create a vortex on top of the wing, producing up to 40% of the lift needed to stay aloft. "It explains how these animals are able to fly at very slow speed," says Anders Hedenström from Lund University in Sweden, who led the research -- published in Science 1 -- that showed the effect with a…

My picks from ScienceDaily

Chimpanzee Facial Expressions Are Helping Researchers Understand Human Communication: Behavioral researchers led by Lisa Parr, PhD, director of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center Cognitive Testing Facility and Chimpanzee Core, have found understanding chimpanzee facial expressions requires more attention to detail than researchers initially thought. Correctly interpreting the subtleties within chimpanzees' facial expressions may be key to understanding the evolution of human emotional communication. Ladybugs May Be Cute, But Watch Out When They Get Near Wine: Ladybugs may look pretty…

Food Preservation and Storage Class

It is hard to believe that summer is coming so rapidly to a close, and that the opportunity to put up for winter will pass so fast.  So if you'd like help and guidance in doing so, I'll be running my food storage and preservation class starting Thursday, August  and running for six weeks into October. The class is online and asynchronous and will cover everything from putting up the summer's glut to building up food storage and a reserve to help temper hard times.  That's going to be particularly important this year with predictions of skyrocketing food prices due to drought and other…

Friday Blog Roundup

In advance of Super-Duper Tuesday voting, bloggers have some thoughts about the Republican presidential hopefuls: Tula Connell at AFL-CIO Weblog reports that the investment firm founded by Mitt Romney is supporting a system that keeps Florida tomato workers impoverished. Michael Millenson at Health Affairs examines Mike Huckabeeâs belief that tackling obesity and smoking can control health care costs. Chris Mooney at DeSmogBlog wonders if we should trust John McCain on global warming. On the Democratic side, Van Jones at Gristmill explains what those âgreen-collar jobsâ the candidates…

"Like a normal blog"... and rabbit-eating herons

I'm now leaving, again, this time for SVPCA. I'm hoping that I might be able to do some blogging from the conference, but the last time I said this (the Munich Flugsaurier conference back in September 2007) there was neither the time nor opportunity for it, so don't get your hopes up. Thanks to SVPCA and other matters, I've obviously been unable to put anything substantial on the blog for a while now... making Tet Zoo all too much like a normal blog... and for personal (family-related) reasons, it's been a strange and sad week here. We're all in need of time off that we can't afford to take…

Science Blogging Conference - who is coming? (Education)

There are 24 days until the Science Blogging Conference. We have 200 registered participants and a few people on the waiting list. The Sigma Xi space accommodates 200 and we have ordered food for 200 and swag bags for 200. Apart from the public list, we also have a list with a couple of anonymous bloggers as well as about a dozen of students who will be coming with their teachers. So, the registration is now officially closed and all future registrants will be placed on a waiting list. The anthology should be published in time for the event. Between now and the conference, I am…

Science Debate 2008 - my Question #6: Space

To keep the conversation about the Science Debate 2008 going, I decided to post, one per day, my ideas for potential questions to be asked at such a debate. The questions are far too long, though, consisting more of my musings than real questions that can be asked on TV (or radio or online, wherever this may end up happening). I want you to: - correct my factual errors - call me on my BS - tell me why the particular question is counterproductive or just a bad idea to ask - if you think the question is good, help me reduce the question from ~500 to ~20 words or so. Here is the sixth one, so…

Sparky Awards

Perhaps you can win one of the Sparky Awards: SPARC Discovery Awards SPARC Announces Mind Mashup - A Video Contest to Showcase Student Views on Information Sharing: SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) today announced the first SPARC Discovery Awards, a contest that will recognize the best new short videos illustrating the importance of sharing information and ideas. The contest, details for which are online at www.sparkyawards.org, encourages new voices to join the public discussion of information policy in the age of the Internet. Contestants are asked to submit…

Meme of Four (again)

I don't think I ever refused a meme, even if I have done it already, especially if a lot of time passed, or one can provide new answers every time. But this one is tough, as I would barely change anything from the last time I did it. But, since it is so old, I'll copy it here again and make a few little changes to it: 4 jobs you've had: 1. Horse trainer and riding instructor, Assistant to the Handicapper and Racing Secretary, as well as the Finish-line judge at the Belgrade Racecourse 2. Translator of Disney comic-strips from English to Serbian 3. Biology teacher at various levels to…

My Picks From ScienceDaily

Scientists Discover New Life In Antarctic Deep Sea: Scientists have found hundreds of new marine creatures in the vast, dark deep-sea surrounding Antarctica. Carnivorous sponges, free-swimming worms, crustaceans, and molluscs living in the Weddell Sea provide new insights into the evolution of ocean life. DNA Analysis Suggests Under-reported Kills Of Threatened Whales: A new study analyzing whale meat sold in Korean markets suggests the number of whales being sold for human consumption in the Asian country is much higher than that being reported to the International Whaling Commission --…

Thaas outrageous, big Mammy

An old line from Steve Bell, BM of course being Margaret Thatcher (as I recall, this was in the context of "batting for Britain" and Mark Thatcher). Ahem. Anyway. Thatcher, of course, as the destroyer of our coal industry in favour of the dash-for-gas, is responsible for any faint hopes that the UK has of meeting its Kyoto targets, so is an appropriate patron for this post. What brings this on is "Climate change and trace gases" (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A (2007) 365, 1925-1954 doi:10.1098/rsta.2007.2052 Published online 18 May 2007) where Hansen goes wild with whipsaws and other related stuff ("…

The Bottleneck Years by H.E.Taylor - Chapter 97

The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 96 Table of Contents Chapter 98 Chapter 97 The Trial, March 18, 2061 Although I had resolved never to expose Edie and Anna to Jon's vitriol since the first call, I didn't have a lot of choice when it came to the trial. Unfortunately, I had a class at the same time. By the time I got back to my office, it was over. The video transcript was not yet online, so I headed home. It was a warm day. As I walked along the lake, the trees were turning green. Birds were singing. Ducks splashed in the water. It was beautiful, but I rather dreaded what I…

Ethel Stevens, 1915-2015

A couple of years ago, we got a nasty shock when my 98-year-old great-aunt died unexpectedly. It's happened again, with her sister Ethel (known to a lot of the family as "Auntie Sis," because she had the same first name as her mother, my great-grandmother), who died in her sleep last Sunday night. She would've celebrated her hundredth birthday this fall. You might not think the peaceful death of a 99-year-old would count as a nasty shock, but again, she was a remarkable woman. She still lived by herself in a great big house, and still took care of the place herself, and drove herself…

In light of the SOTU, what about that "partisan bias" study?

I've been meaning to post on this, 'cause it just irks me. I'm sure many of you likely saw this study: Political bias affects brain activity, study finds Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows. "We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning," said Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory University. "What we saw instead was a network of emotion circuits lighting up, including circuits hypothesized to be involved in regulating emotion, and…

Talking about global warming and wikipedia

I was invited to give a talk to CHASE - Cambridge Hi-tech Association of Small Enterprises - nice people even if they haven't quite got round to updating their web site yet :-) The subject was to be global warming - no problem - and wikipedia. The later I've never tried talking about, and found it a bit of a puzzle as to what they wanted and what to say. The talk-in-two-halves is here, and to buff up my rather tarnished open-source credentials I've put it up as a .sxi only. As you can see, the GW bit is only slightly altered from before (apart from a dramatic and startling new paper by…

Risk perceptions

Not directly climate, and risks being somewhat tasteless, but I'll have a go anyway. Two things come past: Light Blue Touchpaper (which is a lovely pun) discusses Camouflage or scary monsters: deceiving others about risk and ends with1 it might be time for a more careful cross-disciplinary study of how we can change people’s minds about risk in the presence of smart and persistent adversaries. We know, for example, that a college education makes people much less susceptible to propaganda and marketing; but what is the science behind designing interventions that are quicker and cheaper in…

Ocular Character Recognition

Ever since individual personal computers first came on-line in large numbers, they have been utilised as a huge opt-in distributed computing array by projects such as SETI at Home and Folding at Home. But there are information processing tasks that can be distributed yet are still impossible to perform with computers. The Stardust at Home project uses the unparalleled image-recognition capabilities of the human brain to process data from an interplanetary sample collection mission. People all around the world take part in their spare time. Auntie Beeb's weekly program on the worldwide use of…

How Would Jesus Smell?

A public elementary school teacher in North Carolina has triggered a lawsuit from parents who are, quite rightly, opposed to the Christian proselytizing she did in her classroom. And the lesson she was teaching is so ridiculous, you couldn't possibly make it up: Scents Make Sense "God's word tells us about a kind of odor only Christians have. 'For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ ...' (2 Corinthians 2:15). Paul goes on to say that Christians carry forth the fragrance of Christ wherever they go by the way they live; that is, they remind people of Him. "Could someone find Christ by the…

The NCAA vs. Free Speech

As regular readers of this blog know, I'm a college basketball junkie. As far as I'm concerned, the NBA is just a giant methadone program to easy me into the summer, when there aren't any sports worth watching on tv. I'm a big fan of NCAA basketball, but I'm starting to think about how I can manage to watch it without funneling any money to the NCAA, who become more loathesome with every passing day. The latest incident involves the ejection of a credentialed reporter for reporting on the game on his paper's blog: Should the National Collegiate Athletic Association be able to demand that…

Reader Request: LHC

In the Reader Request Thread, Ian asks: I'd like to hear what you think we'll learn (if anything!) when the LHC comes online next month. Well, that sort of depends on the time scale. I'm not a big accelerator guy, but my sense from reading the blogs of people who are is that we're not likely to learn anything at all this year, other than the answer to the question "do the components of the LHC work?" They've got a few weeks of preliminaries before they start any particles going through, and then a whole bunch of sanity checks and calibration tests to do, and a scheduled shut-down in December…