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Relativity = relativism

That darn English language that makes words with different meanings sometimes sound similar — it always ends up confusing Christian conservatives of very little brain, whose depth of understanding can only be measured in micrometers. The latest from Conservapædia is that they are on a crusade against Einstein…because smart people who study relativity aren't reading the Bible, and because a theory about relationship between matter and energy and the speed of light encourages people to be open-minded and tolerant about different ideas, other than the Fundamentalist Evangelical Christian…

Finally, Another Candidate Who Understands Global Warming

America missed her chance to elect a sane pro-environmental candidate in 2000.  Or rather, the Supreme Court missed its chance.  Whatever.  The critical point is that environmentalism cannot be understood as an isolated issue.  Pro-environmental thinking must pervade everything we do from now on. That is not to say that it is the only issue.  In some cases, it will not be the most important issue.  But it should be considered in all aspects of governmental activity. Economic growth is totally worthless, if not sustainable.  Sometimes, it is worse than worthless.  I believe we shall see…

Being on vacation is busy work...

HI everyone, Sorry for the silence...I expected to be able to get at least one or two blog posts off in the past two weeks, but being away from home, with no childcare, and with the added demands of being a daughter and a sister, on top of the usual roles of mother, wife, scientist, and professor, have left me feeling quite overworked. I'm looking forward to returning to the routine of life in Mystery City in a few weeks. But actually, I am having a great deal of fun: reading books, playing with Minnow, talking with family and childhood friends, and enjoying different scenery. Some people…

Taking my name in vain

This is a new low: if you read this post by a fellow atheist, you'll see a critical comment by "PZ Myers." Thing is, it wasn't me. I guess we've got some cowardly kook wandering about, leaving comments with my name stuck on them, in an attempt to simultaneously annoy others and discredit me. Nice. If anyone else is getting what seem to be out-of-character comments from me, let me know…it would also be good if you had a way to let me know the IP address of the imposter. In a related situation, read this story about a fake 'atheist' blog purporting to label the good, the bad, and the ugly…

Speaking of stereotypes...

This morning I was using my cell phone to make a donation to NPR while putting gas in my Prius. I'm not going to put up a mommy monday post today because I am afraid I will say something I'd later regret. Instead, if I get a chance to blog later today or tomorrow or ..., I'll stick to the literature and continue to bring you myths, damnation, and then solutions from Lifting a Ton of Feathers. I'm a bit behind schedule, but I'm going to finish the exercise, so that I have the posts for my own future reference, if nothing else. Hope y'all have a good week and that my students rock their exam…

Destruction of Ironically Titled Art

I am normally the last person to find the wanton demolition of art amusing. But I just discovered that early this year, when a windstorm hit my alma mater, Whitman College, a falling tree broke this large metal sculpture by Ed Humpherys, known to generations of Whitties as "The Giant Paper Clip" (or some variation thereof): The Paper Clip, in Happier Days The Fallen Paper Clip. Alas! To add insult to injury, I learned from the alumni magazine that the actual title of the Paper Clip was "Joined Together, Let No Man Split Asunder." Whoops! It's asunder now. (Apparently a tree doing so was…

Student Bloggers: Want $10,000? Me too!

Ok, but you're gonna have to fight me for it. A non-profit organization, Collegescholarships.org, is holding another student blogging scholarship contest. You may remember it from last year, I was actually a runner-up (and yes, still eligible this year). This year the prize money is increased to $10,000 for the first place blog, so I heartily recommend that everyone enters. I mean, 10 grand to a student is a heck of a lot of textbooks, iTunes, and beers. Go here to submit a brief essay and your blog for consideration. Good luck! Important Dates: Submission Deadline: Midnight PST on Oct.…

The Music of the Heart

A beautiful anatomical ad campaign for the Zurich orchestra, via fubiz via Notcot. Of particular interest I think is this comment on the thread at fubiz, from kmaz: "Music, and overall classical music, plays on emotion, not on the nervous system. instead of putting the music emotion above all, it takes it down heavily and awkwardly, to tie it with simple physic reactions." Really? "Plays on emotion, not on the nervous system"? Pardon me, but to a neurobiologist, that dichotomy is nonsensical. Our emotions and our nervous systems are inextricably entwined. Further, the complex physics and…

Fossils in fine art

Check out Brian's new review of A History of Paleontology Illustration (Life of the Past) by Jane Davidson, in Palaeontologia Electronica: It is rare for fossils to be featured in fine art, but in the 15th century painting A Goldsmith in His Shop, Possibly Saint Eligius by the Flemish master Petrus Christus there is, if you look carefully, a fossil shark tooth among the objects scattered on the shop's table. The fossil plays a nearly insignificant role in the painting, but it reflects the general interpretation of such natural curiosities at the time. From this modest starting point,…

Contest entrapment?

Via Scibling Corpus Callosum comes this story of a photographer arrested for taking this photo of an Amtrak train. . . in order to enter Amtrak's own "Picture Our Trains" contest. Uh, PR snafu, anyone? This is especially annoying because it's been an ongoing problem in DC for some time. Tourists often take photos in Union Station - and often get harassed by guards for doing so, even though station reps have admitted it's not against the law. It's hard to say how taking photos like this one, from public areas, is a security risk - but if it is, Amtrak should get some kind of consistent policy…

"Father Savon," the creepy soap gremlin

This peculiar little dude is a paper toy for children - and a great example of vintage advertising. "Le Pere Savon" is built of cubes of soap with "72%" embossed on them, indicating a composition of 72% olive oil - which is typical of the French soap savon de Marseille. I believe he is blowing a bubble out of a pipe. "Le Pere Savon" was later rebranded "Persavon," and I don't find any recent examples of this character in advertising. But you can still build your own personal creepy soap-man using this pattern from Agence Eureka. They've helpfully split the full-size original pattern pieces…

Wonderkammertourists unite!

Pam at Phantasmaphile has just written an MSN travel guide for the incorrigibly curious, called "An Old-World Sense of Wonder." Pam kicks off her list of wonder cabinet destinations with three NYC shops I plan to visit next month: Obscura Antiques and Oddities (280 East 10th Street), de Vera (1 Crosby Street), and Evolution (120 Spring Street). Yum! Fortunately for me, de Vera and Evolution are just a few blocks from the Apple Store SoHo, where I and four of my Sciblings will be doing a science blogging panel October 1. If you're in NYC that evening, please stop by - Apple's a great venue,…

Scienceblogs Meet-Up Today!

So far, the Sb meetup has been tres fun. Last night I met PhysioProf, Bora, Dr. Signout, Brian, Josh, Janet, Grrlscientist, Erin, Kate, Ed, and Mark, and got to see Zuska again. (Whew -did I forget anyone in there? Probably! Sorry!) It's excellent to put faces with names, especially over martinis and Korean food. Today there will be more festivities - Seed is hosting a reader meet-up from 2-4pm at Social bar and lounge. I'll be there, as will many of my fellow bloggers, so stop by if you're in NYC! All are welcome, and Seed's buying the first round of pitchers. Meetup details: 2pm-4pm on…

New Sciblings take on the BMI myth

One of my pet peeves is the idea that BMI provides an accurate indication of individual health. It doesn't. It's useful across populations (and may be useful to individuals to monitor progress), but when it comes to indicating which individuals are "healthier", BMI fails miserably - and our new Sciblings at Obesity Panacea do a great job of explaining why. If, as a policy matter, we want to differentiate between the healthy and unhealthy - which is a big if, depending on how libertarian you are - let's make such assessments meaningfully, using a workout that proves general endurance and…

Turning (virtual) manuscript pages

The National Library of Medicine's "Turning the Pages" gallery lets you turn the virtual pages of classic science/medicine manuscripts. Check out Hieronymus Brunschwig's Liber de Arte Distillandi de Compositis (1512): Note that the NLM's copy is hand-colored; uncolored copies also exist, such as this copy at ECHO. Comparison with the images of the ECHO copy show that NLM has elided the boring, text-only pages from their animation. I'm not usually a big fan of animations that try to replicate the tactile experience of books, but given that you aren't usually allowed to touch manuscripts of…

More from the Synthetic Bio Documentary

I got a very nice email today from Sam Gaty, one of the filmmakers behind the Synthetic Biology Documentary I blogged about earlier. He acknowledged the "mad scientist" type concerns, but emphasized that's not what they're going for in the final documentary, and suggested I share another short clip. This one is far more, I don't know how to describe it, techno-chic? I can definitely see that sort of presentation getting kids interested in biology. It spins bench science as something intriguing, cutting edge, maybe a little hipster. Framing really is all in the aesthetics, isn't it? Check…

Signs of the Cephalopod Underground

A reader discovered this fascinating graffiti in downtown Minneapolis, near the transit center on Hennepin Avenue. In Minneapolis! So far from the sea, but I'm not alone in pining for it. I may have to look this up. This is a travel week for me, as I have to run around taking care of some essential pre-school year duties—I'm actually sitting in the St Cloud mall right now, watching the senior citizens do their laps, while waiting for our car to get some minor repairs and maintenance—and tomorrow I have to run in to the university to attend a meeting and to the airport to dispose of one of my…

SpermCube. Yes, Its What It Sounds Like.

French art is downright weird sometimes, never illustrated better than through SpermCube. From what I can gather, its a "public art project" that everyone is supposed to "contribute" to. Oh man, I can't even keep a straight face typing this. :D More pictures under the fold (may not be work safe)...... Now there are two options on how to support SpermCube. Weigh these options carefully! 1. Donate your own gametes to the cubical masterpiece. 2. If that makes you queasy, fear not. You can still support this 'joy forever' through a monetary contribution. Wouldn't you like to become a…

TGIF: Friday Deep-sea Picture (09/12/08)

If art is the universal language, how do you say "don't eat orange roughy"? We'll have to ask electronic artist Don Relyea, who generated the image above. "Orange Roughy" was inspired by his wife's cooking, which, unfortunately, includes the fish formerly known as "slimehead". Orange roughy are long lived and quickly depleted. They come from seamounts around New Zealand, generally. The fishery works like a clear cutting operation. Take it all and move on. It's not sustainable. On the bright side, the New Zealand government is one of 69 countries to take part in a new international…

Friday Deep-sea Picture: Swiftia sp. in series

Living polyp of a Swiftia sp. sea fan. Photo credit: Peter Etnoyer, HRI. Many deep-water animals have never been photographed alive in their natural habitat, they're known only from their pickled state. Dried, dusty, and broken specimens fill museum drawers. "Living specimen photography" captures vital information before a specimen is collected. Remember to "snap" before you snip. It brings those dusty drawers to life! Swiftia sp. is a dark loving, azooxanthellate sea fan, one of many 'asymbiotes' in the twilight zone of the West Atlantic. The living colony's color and morphology is seen…

CT scan of Barbie, an iPod, and more...

Ever wondered what an iPod looks like through the eyes of a computed axial tomography scanner? Wonder no more! Radiologyart.com reveals what lies inside common household objects, from electronics to food to toys. They say: Since the summer of 2007, the Radiology Art project has been underway. This is a project dedicated to the deeper visualization of various objects that hold unique cultural importance in modern society. So far, these objects have included toys, convenience-related foods, and personal electronics. Here are some of the highlights: A toy elephant containing a pull-string…

Embodied Cognition in the Boston Globe

In case you haven't seen it already, there's an article on the embodied cognition "revolution" in the Boston Globe. This, I think, is the best point to take away from it: "I think these findings are really fantastic and it's clear that there's a lot of connection between mind and body," says Arthur Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas. He remains skeptical, though, that the roots of higher cognition will be found in something as basic as the way we walk or move our eyes or arms. "Any time there's a fad in science there's a tendency to say, 'It's all because of this…

Seeing Is Almost Believing

We've already seen photoshopped images that have been used in political campaigns.  Sometimes they are used to discredit opponents.   href="http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/kerry2.asp"> However, still images never will have the emotional impact that videos have.  Already, there is technology that allows for some fairly realistic rendering of emotional expressions, on video characters that are entirely fabricated.   rel="tag">Pendulum Studios has released a href="http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/feature-incredible-3d-tech-demo-shows-realistic-facial-animations…

The neuroanatomist's stroke of insight

Thanks to Natasha Dantzig for drawing my attention to this talk from last month's TED Conference in Monterey, California: Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened - as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding - she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. Taylor describes her experience in terms of unlocking the hidden potential…

Anne-Sophie Mutter

I haven't written about any extracurricular activities in a while (I don't have to as Tulula takes care of that, but don't tell her that I sent you to her blog ... and yes every post is both in English and in Espanol.) Last night we saw Anne-Sophie Mutter at Symphony Hall. What can I say? Mutter is such a strong passionate violinist, she imposes herself upon whatever she plays. Just like Claire Waterman-Storer, Anne-Sophie Mutter is a force of nature. At times you get the impression that she wields her bow like a sword, dripping from the blood of the piece she just slayed. Don't believe me…

The Sixteenth 1st Annual Ig Nobels Tonight

OK now that the Science Nobels have been distributed it's time for the real awards to begin, the Ig Nobels. How big is the Ig Nobel? It's janitor won last year's Nobel for Physics! If you're in the Boston area, good luck getting tickets. If you can't get tickets or if you're outside the Boston area, you can watch the webcast, beginning tonight at 7:15PM. As for me, I was planning to attend, but when I woke up this morning I found myself in Montreal. If I can get away from all the food and drinking that comes along a visit to my big Italian family (or as they call themselves, "the clan")…

LeLoup est mort, vive Leclerc!

OK it's been a while since I've really gone off and wrote about ... art, food, music, city life and other mental stimuli ... (I've been persuaded to even start a category) But here we go ... I've learned that Jean LeLoup, the musical genius that is virtually unknown outside of Quebec and France (mostly because he sings almost exclusively in French), has released a new album, Mexico. Oui ca fait du temp qu'on a vue quelque chose de Jean. Tabarnak. I've also found out that Jean has killed his old identity and has picked up his birth name of Leclerc. Here is the title song from his new CD. And…

Why you don't let your cat out in Albuquerque

When our mother upped and moved to New Mexico a few years back, my brother and I were thrilled to be spending holidays in such a rugged, wild, and frankly, weird place. She lives only a couple of miles from the center of Albuquerque, but regular backyard visitors include coyotes, black bears and lynx. Needless to say, the family cat, Lulu, quickly became an "indoor cat." After a few months the coyotes became more bold, trotting along the walls of the property, and my grandmother, Maggie, quickly became an "indoor grandmother." These pictures were taken by a motion activated camera in the…

Silly hypothesis, meet snarky retort.

In case those readers trained in analytic philosophy managed to miss it, this comment at A Philosophy Job Market Blog gave me the giggles while striking me as an entirely appropriate response (given the audience) to a lazy reliance on speculative evolutionary psychology to justify the status quo (in this case, the lopsided gender split of folks pursuing philosophy in their studies and as a career). The italicized portion is quoted from the earlier (ev-psych-loving) commenter: Maybe, just maybe, philosophy is something "inherently more valuable" to men qua hunters Because chasing down those…

I know there's a saying about ignorance not being a defense, but who has time to look it up?

I'm sure my jaw shouldn't drop at this sort of glimpse at the thinking of dorm-dwelling undergraduates, and yet it does. Every single time. From an article in the school paper about violations of the university's student conduct code: Some students say one problem is students might not know the policies and consequences and that maybe why they break them. "I don't know the consequences," [one freshman] said. "I know it's in the student handbook, but I don't think anyone reads that." [Another freshman] agreed. "I think it's in the student handbook," she said. "But that's like 50 pages long,…

Getting down to basics.

Chad and Tara have spilled the beans on a highly classified backchannel discussion we ScienceBloggers have been having. Since the cat is already out of the bag (presumably a bag of beans), I suppose I'll chime in. What basic concepts would you like me to explain here? The idea, of course, would be for me to take a basic concept from my area of expertise and explain it in such a way that an intelligent non-expert would be able to grasp the important bits. As well, I'd want to explain why it matters to get clear on the concept, what it's good for, etc. I'd be happy to entertain requests…

Toyota

My next article for Seed will talk briefly about Toyota and some of the reasons for its astonishing success in one of the most competitive industries in the world. But I thought it was worth highlighting a quote from the former chairman of Toyota, Hiroshi Okuda, who stepped down yesterday. "I do not view efforts to address issues in the energy and environmental fields as a burden to industry or society," Mr. Okuda said in a 2004 speech. "To the contrary, I believe they should be recognized as opportunities for growth." As the CEO's of the Big Three lobby Congress to not raise fuel economy…

An emerging story from the Free-Ride silkworm colony.

Three weeks after the first cocoon was built, the first of the intrepid Free-Ride silk moths have emerged. They are big. The Free-Ride offspring judge them cute. I haven't been fully convinced. But in time, I may come around. Dr. Free-Ride's better half thinks the moth pictured directly above is male, while the two in the first picture are probably female (owing to their gigantic abdomens, which we presume are full of eggs awaiting fertilization). Speaking of fertilization, we haven't seen any attempts at it yet. But it's quite likely the moths are tired out from their efforts to get…

Deepak Chopra slides farther into irrelevancy

Chopra has put up a third installment in his crusade against the ungodly, and my eyes glaze over. I can't care any more. It's just too stupid to inspire much concern. His conclusion about sums it up. Before proceeding with the next step in refuting the anti-God position, let's pause to see what responders think. Do you think a random universe of concrete objects colliding by chance is the right model for creation? At this point, he's reduced to begging for crumbs of support from the people still reading his drivel, and to making up silly rebuttals to claims no one made. Hey, do you think the…

Twin Cities Nuclear What If

For the purposes of discussion in the Japan Disaster threads, I've made a graphic that very roughly approximates the zone of likely future very high rates of cancer if the Fukushima nuclear power plant were located where our (somewhat similar but smaller) plant is located, upwind during the winter of the Twin Cities. The lightened up area (circular) would be the zone in which agriculture would probably cease. Anyone who knows this area knows that the main outputs are electricity and produce! This is not meant to represent what would happen here ... different plants, different conditions, etc…

NASA Mars Rover Arrives at New Site on Martian Surface

After a journey of almost three years, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the Red Planet's Endeavour crater to study rocks never seen before. On Aug. 9, the golf cart-sized rover relayed its arrival at a location named Spirit Point on the crater's rim. Opportunity drove approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) since climbing out of the Victoria crater. "NASA is continuing to write remarkable chapters in our nation's story of exploration with discoveries on Mars and trips to an array of challenging new destinations," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "Opportunity's…

"Science in the Public Forum" Ira Flatow on Atheists Talk #89, October 24, 2010

Where 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…

Call in, question everything

Tonight's skeptically speaking will be on Improbable Research: Marc Abrahams We look at the stranger side of science with Marc Abrahams, the editor of Annals of Improbable Research and creator of the the Ig Nobel Prize. Is science that makes us laugh better at making us think? and Speaking up Neurobiologist Dr. Richard Wassersug explains his research into the relative tastiness of Costa Rican tadpoles. Details here. And, don't forget to listen to the podcast from last week: Bad Research Cognitive psychologist Barbara Drescher joins us to discuss the common mistakes scientists make, and…

More signs of DI desperation

Geoffrey Simmons, a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, is going to be on the prestigious Coast to Coast AM show to talk about evolution and the impossibility thereof on Tuesday night. Simmons is an MD (lately, we're seeing a trend in DI's taste in proponents, aren't we?) in Eugene, Oregon … one of my favorite places, so it's a little sad to see craziness that isn't of the granola-and-herb type coming out of there. But Coast to Coast AM … I remember listening to that years ago, when it was just Art Bell broadcasting out of his double-wide in Pahrump. It's a show for loons — conspiracy…

Dumb Canadians Get to Maintain Dumb Standards for their Dumb Kids

And we're talking about bigots and creationists in Alberta, which I figure is more or less the Canadian equivalent of Texas .... the dumbest province in the Great White North. Starting this coming school year, parents will be able to "opt" their children "out" of certain lessons, such as those that deal in any way with Teh Gay, or with religion. Apparently, it is thought that science that conflicts with religion will be counted as religion, so that means kids can get out of science classes. And I would not assume that this applies only to evolution. Math, physics, all of it conflicts with…

Deep Impact/EPOXI will fly past Earth this Today

It's one of those hitch hiking deals: NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft will fly past Earth this Sunday (June 27). Mission navigators have tailored this trajectory so the spacecraft can "hitch a ride" on Earth's gravity field, which will help propel the mission toward its appointment with comet Hartley 2 this fall. At time of closest approach to Earth, the spacecraft will be about 30,400 kilometers (18,900 miles) above the South Atlantic. "Earth is a great place to pick up orbital velocity," said Tim Larson, the EPOXI project manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif…

The Disturbing, Almost Twisted, and Very Well Executed Birthday Present

Both this year and last year (is this the beginning of a tradition?) Stephanie Zvan gave me a short story for my birthday. Last year, the story impressed me because it was a good story even without the unexpected, mildly disturbing twist. This time, the twist is not mildly disturbing at all. It is deeply disturbing. Here is the story. Stephanie will be reading from her work at the Convergence Convention coming up in a few days. Personally, I think this is a candidate for a reading like this, though it would be appropriate to have two readers acting it out. It could be seen as all…

Vatican continues to evade justice

Despite protestations to the contrary, The Vatican, the Church, and various and sundry governments and prosecutors and state attorneys, with the press watching and rarely complaining, continuously believe and occasionally assert, and always, always act as thought it is true, that the church has a special status that allows it to circumvent the law, and where necessary, blame victims. From a BBC piece in reference to charges being brought against yet another Catholic priest: The Roman Catholic Church in Italy has admitted that about 100 cases of paedophile priests have been reported to…

The Best of Quiche: Now for a little fine dining.

In the continuing series recycling highlighting selected posts from the Quiche Moraine Blog, may I recommend a bite to eat .... I've written a handful of social commentaries thinly disguised as restaurant reviews. Here's two of them: Strong Ideas and Exclusionary Thinking: Obama, Palin and Greek Food in Minneapolis Christos Greek Restaurant is one of three well-known Greek restaurants in Minneapolis. The other two are It's Greek to Me and Gardens of Salonica. Which one you like may be a matter of cultural survival. Read the rest ... Dinner at Azia So, another dinner with Lizzie. We needed…

William Beeman on Iran

Iran is never far from U.S. news headlines. Nuclear threats, unfair elections, captive reporters, a lack of religious freedom, all seem to demand that we do something. But what is to be done? What are the actual conditions in Iran, and what kind of leverage do we in the Western world, and particularly in the U.S. have to effect change? Last summer, Stephanie Zvan was privileged to chat with Dr. William Beeman, professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota and a leading Western scholar of Iran. They discussed the intersection of religion and politics in Iran, U.S.-Iranian relations…

Bethell vs Mooney

Tom Bethell's discussion with Chris Mooney is here. I agree with PZ Myers: Flatow let Bethell ramble on far too much. Bethell was allowed to burn up the first ten minutes of the show to make his first point -- his claim that government agencies promote problems like global warming and bird flu to justify more funding. He could have made his point in ten seconds. Mooney mentioned my global warming skeptic bingo when Bethell brought up one of the standard skeptic arguments about the world cooling from 1940 to 1970 despite increasing CO2. While that is one of the sort of arguments that GWS…

Sydney Bloggers picnic

There were some ominous black clouds and it was pretty windy and I had to take my youngest to the doctor because he was throwing up all over the place, but I made it to the picnic, even if it was somewhat late. The sun came out, we were sheltered from the wind, and we had a pleasant afternoon talking about this and that. Here's tigtog and Morgan. To prove that we really are in Sydney, the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge lurk in the background. We also had front-row seats for the wedding you can see being set up in the background. Umm, the bottom left corner of the picture is…

Glenn Reynolds Syndrome

Back in 2004, Glenn Reynolds declared that the election here in Australia was in no small part a referendum on the Iraq war. This was wrong, as anyone who was here at the time could tell you. So, I posted a roundup of comments from news stories, pundits and bloggers, left and right, pro- and anti-war. Everyone agreed that the war was only a minor issue. Reynolds' sole support for his position, Tim Blair, showed up in comments to deny that he was saying that the war was a major issue. Since not one person in Australia now supported his position Reynolds concluded that he was right and that…

Now Really Secret Payments

Kevin Grandia writes: Canada's latest and greatest climate change denial group, the Natural Resource Stewardship Project, has come up with a laughable reason for hiding it's funding sources. According to a recent CanWest News Service article, the NRSP's executive director, Tom Harris, states that "a confidentiality agreement doesn't allow him to say whether energy companies are funding his group." But if energy companies are not funding his group, what sort of confidentiality agreement would stop him from saying so? In other Tom Harris news, he's been editing the Wikipedia page on the…

More examples of Bush administration muzzling scientists

The examples of the Bush Administration muzzling scientists just keep coming. The New Jersey Star-Ledger reports: [Researchers Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory] say the press releases and the position paper detailed reports linking intensified hurricanes to global warming. The reports also predict spells of intense weather like droughts and floods, and paint some warming as irreversible, the scientists say. "What can I tell you? I was telling them something they didn't want to hear," said Richard Wetherald, a career scientist at the federally funded center. "But the public is not being…