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The Humboldts are rising!

The LA Times has a cool story about the growing population of Humboldt squid off the Southern California coast — tens of millions of the big beasts, and they aren't shy. The frenzy built and Kerstitch, as the lone diver shooting still photographs and with no bright movie lights to deter the predators, was set upon. A squid grabbed his right swim fin and pulled downward. He kicked it away but another grabbed his head. The cactus-like tentacles found his neck, the only part of his body not covered with neoprene. He bashed the squid with his dive light, far less bright than the movie lights, and…

Hospital Workers Fired Over Vaccination

"We really have this strong belief [about vaccination]. If it wasn't that strong I would never jeopardize my job, knowing I have five kids, a wife, a mortgage. That's how deeply we feel about this." Orf so say's Christian Gary Cowlay, one of several individuals fired from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for refusal to get an H1N1 vaccine. The story is here, and Phil Plait is talking about it here. Cowlay's statement quoted above is both outrageous and typical. It is outrageous because this is a man insisting that it is OK for him to endanger the lives of the very ill children in…

More violent christian rhetoric from Michele Bachmann and cronies

A controversial ministry that says it preaches Christian doctrine in public schools held a fundraiser in Bloomington Thursday night, drawing a crowd of about 400. At its "Appeal to Heaven" fundraiser, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International offered attendees a preview of its new documentary, a greeting by Rep. Michele Bachmann and a fiery sermon by founder Bradlee Dean, who called liberals "criminals" and urged attendees to fight a "war" for the faith against liberals. The almost exclusively white crowd had assembled at the Sheraton ballroom in Bloomington to raise funds for the…

The Scoop on the Bay Bridge

To me, the Oakland Bay Bridge was always one of those bridges that made you think about bridges when you drove over it. It is very long (one of the longest in the world) and spans an arm of the sea. It is old, and there are earthquakes in the region now and then. So as you drive from one end to the other, it is impossible to marvel that the bridge was even built, and that it is still standing. A big section of the bridge has apparently needed redesign and rebuild to account for the earthquakes, and this was ignored until the World Series Earthquake of 1989, when planning for a major…

Explicit Pictures of Adam and Eve Humping!

A sexually explicit illustrated Book of Genesis by controversial artist Robert Crumb, which features Bible characters having intercourse, has been condemned by religious groups. Aside from the explicit sex scenes, The Book of Genesis by Robert Crumb also includes general nudity and some gratuitous violence. Crumb is famous for his "Fritz the Cat" cartoons. Religious leaders have stated that since the bible is part of people's religion, it has to be treated differently than other themes and that Crumb is wrong to make this version of Genesis. Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute: "It is…

The Salem Hypothesis

The Salem hypothesis is an old chestnut from talk.origins. It was proposed by a fellow named Bruce Salem who noticed that, in arguments with creationists, if the fellow on the other side claimed to have personal scientific authority, it almost always turned out to be because he had an engineering degree. The hypothesis predicted situations astonishingly well—in the bubbling ferment of talk.origins, there were always new creationists popping up, pompously declaiming that they were scientists and they knew that evolution was false, and subsequent discussion would reveal that yes, indeed, they…

How to teach a religion class

Scalzi makes an impractical, mocking suggestion (hey, isn't that all he does?) for how to teach comparative religion: Incidentally, there's a simple solution to the problem of teaching the history and literature of religions in public schools without "accidentally" tipping over into, you know, proselytizing: Have atheists teach the classes. Yes, that will go over swell, I know. I'm just saying. He's right, it would never fly, but I have a suggestion that might make it work. Two rules: The person teaching the course may not at any time or in any way, even indirectly, discuss his or her own…

#scio10 My point by point response to The Science Goddess regarding SciOnline 2010

Bullet point 1: I just laid down and passed out. Bullet point 2: I stayed as far away from SciCurious as possible, for that very reason. Bullet Point 3: I also want to bottle Damond Nollan. Bullet Point 4: LOL. But seriously, this is a philosophy that not only applies to phones but to all technology. Keep it simple = keep it accessible (often). Bullet Point 5: OMG, is that how we looked? That's the last time I do something with PZ Myers! : ) Bullet POint 6: ... Question 1: Yeah. But funnily enough, a "fact checker" probably always knows one when one sees one. Question 2: I don't…

Who was the most influential female atheist of 2009?

Go Vote for somebody in this poll: Who was the most influential female atheist of 2009? ...here's a poll focusing just on the female voices of atheism. Who do you think was the most influential female atheist of 2009? ... HERE I'm having a very hard time as this list includes some friends, some colleagues, some of my blog readers, and others what I think deserve to be voted on. Greta Christina has a great blog and is a frequent commenter here. I think she's actually winning. There are some big institutional names like Annie Laurie Gaylor and my long time friend Genie Scott. Rebecca…

David Kirby smacked down--and not by me! (Part 2)

You know, I'm really, really beginning to like this Dr. Rahul Parikh guy. Yesterday, he delivered an absolutely delicious smackdown of that chief propagandist for the mercury militia and antivaccine movement, David Kirby. It was at least seven kinds of awesome, and I was truly grateful to Dr. Parikh for doing it so that I didn't have to. This time around, Dr. Parikh's done me another favor. You see, on Wednesday David Kirby gave a talk to Congressional staffers and a few Congressmen. He was also kind enough to include a link to his slides on the Age of Autism blog, and, indeed, such a huge,…

An open letter to Congress on immunization policy

In the leadup to Jenny McCarthy's little antivaccination-fest tomorrow, it appears the the medical community has at least roused itself enough to write an open letter to Congress about immunizations. It's not much, but at least it's something. I hope all the signatories are ready for a P.R. blitz to counter Jenny McCarthy. That's enough about this for now. I don't plan on blogging about it tomorrow unless something really interesting comes up. Maybe I'll do an all-science Wednesday instead after I get back from ASCO this afternoon. THE "GREEN OUR VACCINES" COLLECTION: The Jenny McCarthy and…

Oxygen parties, frozen addicts, and other poisonous winners

I was sorry to see the deadline pass on The Poisoner's Handbook audio book giveaway because I received so many smart and thoughtful ideas for writing about chemistry in our culture. And I found it really difficult to pick just five winners - so first I'd like to say thanks to everyone who wrote in for the contest. If I selected your idea for a free audiobook of The Poisoner's Handbook, you will have received a direct e-mail from me by now. As a writer I'm drawn to specific ideas, one in which I can clearly see the story. So expect to see future posts based on these excellent suggestions:…

Tidbits, 13 May 2010

Did you miss the tidbits? I rather did. Data in climate science, and the problem of standardslessness: One database to rule them all, track global temperatures Congratulations to Duke, the latest open-access mandate success! Paolo Mangiafico, on Open Access at Duke University Not all governments are on the open-data bandwagon: When public records are less than public. See also NARA’s Digital Partnership Agreements, featuring the extreme difficulty of paying for large digitization programs without restricting access, at least initially. Which datasets merit preservation? Bryan Lawrence offers…

Speaking of Heat

Image Source: NSF.gov As the heat of summer drags on...and on...I can't help but envy heat tolerant animals. The BBC Worldwide actually has a website dedicated to these thermophiles, or heat loving animals. I would never have guessed that a worm would be the most heat tolerant animal known. Specifically, the Pompeii worms thrive at temperatures up to 80 degrees C in a hydrogen sulfide-rich environment. You can watch the video called "Deep Surprises" here. Imagine temperatures that hot! These worms would probably need a portable heater to survive the comparatively chilly summer temperatures…

Cites & Insights 9:8 (July 2009) now available

I've just published Cites & Insights 9:8 (July 2009). The 30-page issue, PDF as usual but with HTML versions of most essays, includes: Bibs & Blather Notes on sponsorship for C&I, the status of four possible future projects--and the move of Walt at Random to ScienceBlogs. Making it Work Perspective: Thinking about Blogging 2: Why We Blog Continuing the discussion of blogging philosophy and practice that began in Cites & Insights 9:5 with a focus on reasons for blogging. Interesting & Peculiar Products Seven individual items and technologies, plus eight editors' choices and…

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to my readers who celebrate this one. For those of you who do, you may sometimes wonder what those of us who don't are doing today. Well, I find that Christmas is a great time to work at the hospital. It gives my Christian colleagues a break. Here in Michigan Jewish groups have traditionally worked various missions and shelters to give Christian charity workers a break. This year local Muslims will be joining Jews to help out. Detroit has large and strong Muslim and Jewish communities, and anything that brings them together is generally a very good thing. Conflicts…

Donors Choose: Break's over

I've let you guys alone for a couple of days, but now it's crunch time. Hewlitt-Packard is going to match donation based on how much we are able to raise in the next few days. They have 200K to distribute, and who gets it will be based on how much we raise before Sunday. There are a couple of projects that look interesting, and all of them help kids in poor Michigan schools. A story to tell: teaching kids how to write is pretty important. $219.00 left to fully fund. Tools of the trade: kids making comic books to help learn English. How cool is that? All they need is a printer, and they'll…

Judge Jones threatened?

Why am I not surprised to learn this? From an AP article: HARRISBURG -- Following recent accounts of threats against other judges, the federal judge in the Dover intelligent design case revealed he, too, was a target of threatening e-mails. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said a spate of e-mails came on the heels of his ruling that teaching what he said was a creationism-based concept in the science curriculum violated the constitutional separation of church and state. The tone was threatening enough so that U.S. Marshals kept watch over Jones and his family in the week before Christmas…

Seven years...

Seeing Martin's mention that he's hit the sixth anniversary of his entry into the awoke a vague sense of unease in me. It was that sort of unease that one gets when one realizes that he's forgotten something but can't quite remember what it is that he's forgotten. Then it came to me. Somehow, some way, I had missed my very own seventh anniversary of starting this blog, which was last Saturday. Yes, seven years ago, on a gray and dismal Saturday in December, something possessed me to start a Blogspot blog (these days, if I were to start a new blog, it would be WordPress) and then to generate…

Stumbling On Happiness

A great review of Dan Gilbert's first Book: Stumbling On Happiness in the NY Times Book review. Gilbert is an influential researcher in happiness studies, an interdisciplinary field that has attracted psychologists, economists and other empirically minded researchers, not to mention a lot of interested students. (As The Boston Globe recently reported, a course on "positive psychology" taught by one of Gilbert's colleagues is the most popular course at Harvard.) But from the acknowledgments page forward, it's clear Gilbert also fancies himself a comedian. Uh-oh, cringe alert: an academic who…

The Latest Addition to the Rat-cademy

Meet Hobbie-J, not your average Long Evans rat: (photo from Medical College of Georgia) Behind that unassuming beady eye lurks the smartest rat-brain ever engineered. You see, Hobbie-J is what scientists Dr. Joe Tsien and Dr. Xiaohua Cao call a "transgenic rat." Her dramatically increased intelligence is the result of genetic tinkering. By over-expressing little Hobbie-J's NR2B gene (a gene partially responsible for learning and memorizing), she was able to remember the solution to mazes and games many times longer than her un-transgenic rat friends. She has also begun frequenting her local…

Gay Sunday 2009

If you happen to find yourself in the London area this coming Sunday, stop by the London Zoo for Gay Sunday 2009. They're billing the it as the "most flamboyant event of the year." So, go out and get flaming with the flamingos. Be bearish with the brown bears. Show your pride with the lions. Also, I hear they're having bearded pig BBQ and lowland anoa hamburgers. You're encouraged to eat all the meat related foods you can at the picnic tables set up right in front of the exhibits. Wikipedia has a massive list of animals known to display homosexual behavior. Check it out. For some reason, the…

And on the third day, God created the zoo and aquarium shot glass

Who, I ask you, is the coolest human being on the planet? Well yesterday (continuing through today and possibly tomorrow) it was Beth F. for sending me this rocking shot glass from the Oakland Zoo. Awesome things in this photo include: Oakland Zoo Shot Glassitude, my thumb, waffle-weave polyester couch. Additionally, I also recently acquired a Honolulu Zoo shot glass. So that brings the collection up to 39! I'll tell you this... whoever supplies me with my 40th zoo or aquarium shot glass will get something really special. I won't divulge exactly what it is, but it will involve glitter and…

What's an Octopus Fossil Look Like?

As boneless, gelatinous bags, octopuses rarely find themselves preserved as fossils but just this week it was announced in the journal Palaeontology that three new 95,000,000 year old octopus fossils have been discovered. These are the oldest on record. So what does an octopus fossil look like? Apparently, like something your elementary school child would create in art class when asked to create an octopus fossil. The precursors to modern octopuses had fins that ran alongside their bodies but these fossils do not. "These are sensational fossils, extraordinarily well preserved' says Dirk…

Cute Little Things by Christina Kellogg

Who says microbes can't be adorable and charismatic? Just look at this cute little devil! This recently identified deep-sea thermoacidophile accounts for about 15% of the archaeal population around hydrothermal vents. That's right, it can grow at temperatures between 55 and 75 degrees C and over a pH range of 3.3 to 5.8 and look precious doing it. These archaea may be playing a key role in iron and sulphur cycling at hydrothermal vents. The bug's provisional name is Aciduliprofundum boonei, but its common name is 'little devil blob.' I personally think that Peter should dress up his new…

Sea turtles rebounding in Gulf of Mexico

The Corpus Christi Caller Times reported Monday that a record number of Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) nests were found this year on South Texas beaches, making the Padre Island National Seashore the hottest nesting spot for sea turtles in the United States. To give you an idea of the effort that went into the search, a total of 135 sea turtle nests were located in 8,895 hours of surveys over 73,632 miles of daily patrols. Of these, 128 nests were Kemp's ridleys, six nests were loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), and one nest was from a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas…

A Cure Worse than Oil

It's a good thing marine biologist Buki Rinkevich and his colleagues at the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Station decided to test the effects of detergents on corals before using them to clean up an oil spill. The researchers reported recently in Environmental Science and Technology that millimeter sized coral fragments succumbed to the detergent before the oil itself. The detergents and the dispersed oil droplets all proved significantly more toxic to the coral than crude oil, causing rapid, widespread death or stunted growth rates, even at doses recommended by the…

Giant Squid Rides

For those in the area, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute will hold its annual open house from noon to 5 p.m. June 30 at 7700 Sandholdt Road in Moss Landing. We will all be there, staff, scientists, and engineers, explaining our deep-sea research and discoveries. You will be able to see deep-sea animals and oceanographic instruments, try hands-on science activities and learn about careers in the ocean sciences. Exhibits will include MBARI's robotic deep-sea vehicles: the remotely operated vehicles Ventana and Tiburon, autonomous underwater vehicles and a benthic rover, a bigger…

Missing Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt is up in heaven now. My first book report was on the Cat's Cradle. A novelty read for a student in rural high school. "Why don't you just read To Kill a Mockingbird?" my teacher asked. I was hooked and proceeded to spend what little money I had on any used copy of a Vonnegut book I could find. I couldn't afford new. I may have shed a tear the first time I purchased a first edition of Slaughter House Five and this morning when I heard of Kurt's passing. I defended him to my adviser once who equated him with King. Heresy. Vonnegut was and is a master of satire and prediction…

Submerged eddie off Baja California Sur

Eddies are an important nexus between physical oceanography and marine biology because these giant swirling tornadoes of seawater are pervasive in the world's oceans. Passing eddies can accelerate local currents, retain and transport plankton and nutrients, enhance open water productivity, and stimulate fast, deep sinking. Quasi-permanent eddies can retain larvae in the lee of an island, for example. Eddies are easily detectible by satellites. Important charismatic megavertebrates like sea turtles, elephant seals, blue whales, and sperm whales seem to track these pelagic features,…

Finally an Ad That Doesn't Make Me Cringe.

I was slow to transition to Sb.  Why?  It was all the advertising that occurs on the pages (although much less than other sites).  Those who have been around for the long haul and remember the old site may recall the noticable absence of advertising.  The positives of the move to Sb far outweighed this so Peter and I packed up and moved over.  Typically, the advertisements are a matter of opinion.  I am no big fan of the advertisement to right because I am concerned about the quality of education through avenues such as this.  That's my opinion.  Here are PZ's about another ad.  Luckily,…

Year's Best In Science

Fox News discusses the years best in science. I was excited because two of these are deep-sea related, the Yeti Crab and the recent capture of the Architeuthis. DSN was there when these stories cracked bringing you "a fair and balanced coverage". Most of these findings are old news and were diligently covered by blogosphere. Below the fold I list all these finding and link to a blogger who covered them. Stay tuned for the BEST OF DSN 2006 from Peter. Invasive Species Strange dog-like creature in Maine Yeti crab Giant hungry snails overran the Caribbean island of Barbados A grizzly-polar…

4th International Symposium on Chemosynthesis-Based Ecosystems

YEAH!!!!! One of my favorite conferences (naturally) put up the first curricular for the 4th International Symposium on Chemosynthesis-Based Ecosystems. It was formerly called the International Symposium on Vent and Seep Biology, renamed to accommodate whale falls and emphasize the common link to these amazing deep sea habitats. The conference occurs every 3 years. I went in 2005 when it was in La Jolla and it was very interesting! Most of the papers are preliminary results from works in progress and it is very grad-student friendly offering many opportunities to interact with leading PI's in…

Planet Herzog

New York Times reviews Werner Herzog's Antarctic documentary "Encounters at the end of the World" calling it 'hauntingly beautiful'. The film is set at McMurdo Station, and features 'melancholy' scientists, extended landscape shots, Weddell seals, and jellyfish. NYT reviewer Manohla Dargis credits the director for avoiding the trappings of "casual talk about global warming and other calamities might cast shadows across this bright expanse" through artistic beauty and an "unshakable faith in human beings". It would be thrilling to see Werner Herzog sit down with Wallace Broecker in the SEED…

US Bans Shark-Finning

Did you know that the U.S. government has allowed the practice of shark-finning for several years? You might have thought this was a practice relegated to Asian countries, where shark fins are used in a local soup. In the past, fishermen could horde piles of shark fins alongside the shark bodies so long as the weight of the fins did not exceed 5% of the total weight. Shark fishermen could cheat this system though by piling fins from every shark caught, then filling the hold with the bodies of smaller sharks. New Scientist reported on Earth Day that U.S. is ending shark finning in its water.…

Ocean's least productive waters are expanding

You read the title of this post, and the original paper, correctly. Brian H. sent this little gem of a paper to me today. Using SeaWiFS data from the last nine years, Polovina et al. show that in the North and South Pacific and Atlantic areas of low surface chlorophyll are in expanding by 0.8-4.3% per year. These areas have replaced higher surface chlorophyll with low surface area. The total expansion of these areas equals 6.6 million km2 (roughly 2/3 the size of the U.S.). The figure below shows a time series and regression line for the area with surface chlorophyll less than or equal to…

The Wrong Way to the Correct Conclusion

Astrology. Classic woo. Not much to say about it other than the fact that for some very strange reason a lot of people still believe in it, at least a little. Maybe it's because almost every newspaper in the country still has an astrology column. I don't know. For the sake of my students, several years ago I wrote a little analysis on astrology and why it's utter bullshit. You can find it here. To be blunt, no one should put any stock in astrology. Today I stumbled across an explanation of why astrology is to be ignored, but from a completely different perspective, namely that of the…

The Science of Brassiere-ology

Or when Maidenform just isn't enough. LiveScience reports that Bras Don't Support Bouncing Breasts. The science of brassiere design in this study refers to the biomechanics of breasts bouncing during exercise. For women with larger endowment, e.g., a pair of D-cup breasts weighing 15-23 pounds, the unrestrained movement has potential to damage the delicate supporting ligaments and inflict pain. Women may abandon active sports because of this. Sports bras of the compression type only limit up-and-down movement of the breasts. The study revealed that during vigorous exercise, women's…

Ex Hume'd Commentary

I was reading David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding the other day and came across a lovely item. Mind you, I tend not to wallow in philosophy texts, but I find the occasional jaunt into the realm a welcome relief from my usual reading in science and politics. Given the inevitable connection between religion and politics that will once again be thrust upon us by the talking heads for the midterm elections, whether you call them "values voters", "moralistic moms", or just plain "over-zealous, domineering, jingoistic, superstitious pinheads", this quote hit home: There is no…

Better Late...

I meant to post this shorty the other day, but as they say, better late than never. As this is science blogs, I think it's fitting to remember what one of the founders of the USA had to say about July 4. The following is from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote in response to a request that he attend a 50 year anniversary celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1826. Jefferson was too ill to attend, and died on that date, within hours of fellow countryman John Adams. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that…

Are you in a conflict? Well, then join the collective!

I have the great fortune of attending yet another protracted managerial development class for the entirety of this coming week. I can't tell you how delighted I am to be doing this. Do I need to add another scoop to the pile of steaming sarcasm? Most scientists I know in the corporate world view such management training with biting world-weary cynicism although we pony up and check off the boxes by enrolling in the classes. However, the marketing and sale types enthusiastically feed off these corporate training buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The scientific aspects of my job are…

Look at it as a promising sign of the rapidly accelerating senility of religion

Last week, the CNN Belief blog published some transparently inane pseudoscience from Oprah.com; this week, it's publishing some awesomely trivial tripe about where your dog goes after death (how does the author know they go to heaven? He dug up some Bible verses, of course.) This is amazingly bad stuff. It's as if there is some sneering, mocking atheist who has been put in charge of CNN's religion section, and she gets up every morning on a quest to find whatever will make religion look profoundly stupid…and she succeeds three minutes after going to work, and spends the rest of the day…

If The Force Actually Existed...

A reader sent me a link to this d00dly graph, What The Force Would Be Used For If It Actually Existed. If you don't want to bother to click through, the answer is: greater than 50%, pulling the remote to you because it is too far away; insignificant percentage, actually making a difference in the universe; all the remaining percentage, persuading women to undress. Wait, I can't keep typing because I'm laughing so, so much. Oh, those clever d00ds. My correspondent wrote: This is rather disturbing if you think about it. Using coercion to "persuade" a woman to undress: shades of rape…

Comment Problems?

UPDATE: There still seem to be some comment problems. Two entries, at least, are missing most of their comments and when I tried to test comment on one of them, the comment landed on another entry. Trying to get it fixed... (10:20 pm Fri. evening) UPDATE: Hopefully the borked comments problem is fixed now. Some problems with the MT software, some settings were messed up...think I've got it straightened out now. If you are seeing problems anywhere on my site, please email me at bobtownsuz AT yahoo DOT com. Dear Readers, from where I sit, it seems to me that on each entry on my blog,…

The Alias Game

Spawned by Alice over at Sciencewomen, who dragged it here from Facebook. Because I needed something silly and lighthearted to think about. 1. YOUR REAL NAME: Suzanne Franks 2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother and fathers middle names) Ann George 3.NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad) Andrew Steven 4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name) Frasu 5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal) Green Cat 6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born) Elizabeth Bobtown 7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav…

Meet the stupids

In response to Amanda and Melissa's comments on their recent adventures with right-wing's attack machine, the response has been predictable. When they post examples of death threats leveled against them, the braintrust at protein wisdom writes: The speech is protected; there is no right, on the other hand, to protection from the fall-out that such speech might provoke. Errr … no. There is absolutely a right to protection against violence and threats of imminent violence. Consider 18 USC 875 (c) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing … any threat…

More climate looniness

The inimitable Dave Springer broadens his anti-science screeds to include the science of climate change, claiming he's "exposing the lies." He claims a NASA page demonstrates "frank admissions of broken atmospheric models, [and] declining atmospheric temperatures." Of course, that's the opposite of what you'll find. What you actually find there is a demonstration of tropospheric temperature (temperature in the lowest 5 miles of the atmosphere) rising steadily over the last decades, exactly as predicted by models. You'll also see a graph of declines in stratospheric temperature (between 9…

In which Sam Brownback talks sense

GOP Lawmakers Divided About 'Surge' in Troops: Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.) … said in an interview Saturday that he could favor more troops if they were a "precursor" to political stability. But he added: "A short-term buildup in troops, if it simply is to impose military order without the possibility of political equilibrium, that doesn't seem to me to be too farsighted." I would go further. It was a mistake to send troops into Iraq in 2003. In part, that mistake resulted from the total absence of a clear plan for getting them back out – the lack of clear goals led to a lack of any exit…

Friday Find: A poem and an explanation

There is nothing as free as a fox cavorting with the rain. The fox chased a skunk, but recognized its mistake in time. I was taking shelter under a tent, hoping for a break in the rain. After abandoning the skunk, our vulpine friend hopped from puddle to puddle in an empty parking lot. It was good to see someone enjoying the weather. While we're at it, a better poem, by Ted Hughes. The Thought-Fox I imagine this midnight moment's forest: Something else is alive Beside the clock's loneliness And this blank page where my fingers move. Through the window I see no star: Something more near…

Hastert on the outs, Pelosi takes the reins

SurveyUSA sez: 43% of Americans Say Hastert Should Resign From Congress, Another 20% Say Resign As Speaker But Remain in Congress He allowed a sexual predator to abuse his power over pages and has run one of the least effective Congresses in modern history. Of course he should resign the Speakership. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi is laying out a very attractive vision of a Democratic House. Day One: Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation." Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.…