jlynch | May 10, 2008
Remember Tony Zirkle? He’s the Indiana Republican who cavorted with Hitler-worshippers at the Saddest Birthday Party Ever and claimed that he didn’t "know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it." Well, May 6th saw his defeat in the Republican primary. But get this, he got 16% of the vote.
Strangely, Zirkle sees his defeat as a victory and steals some rhetoric from the Discovery Institute playbook:
However, with respect to the social issues, when it comes to who was most successful in placing their ideas on the public record, I can claim an incredible victory. I, myself, have…
jlynch | May 9, 2008Believe it or not, on Wednesday, 177 Republicans disagreed that "the House of Representatives celebrates the role of mothers in the United States and supports the goals and ideals of Mother’s Day" this following a 412-0 vote in favor (H.Res 1113). Flip-floppers! Why do they hate mothers so? Next they’ll vote against apple pie.
Votes of AZ representatives was along party lines. I’m sure the moms of Renzi, Franks, Shadegg & Flake are suitably impressed. Someone’s going to have to do some ’splaining come Sunday.
HT to Josh.
jlynch | May 9, 2008Not looking good for the cdesign proponentsists and their attempts to weaken science education by proposing "academic freedom" bills. First Florida. Now Alabama.
jlynch | May 6, 2008
Two-month old black Jaguar cub born in captivity at the Huachipa zoo in Lima, Peru. (click for larger version)
photo source: AP Photo/Martin Mejia/Scanpix
hat-tip: Green Expander.
jlynch | May 5, 2008Over at TfK, Josh more-or-less reads my mind about the rank stupidity of McCain and Clinton calling for a suspension of the gas tax:
This is stupid, because it won’t actually cut prices (the price of a good like gasoline is dominated by how much customers are willing to pay, and fiddling with the tax won’t change demand, just how much money oil companies get and how much goes to the government). It’s also stupid because it will starve the government of funds it uses to maintain roads, and infrastructure maintenance is always good, and is especially important as a form of counter-cyclical…
jlynch | May 5, 2008
Burmese Ferret Badger, Melogale personata Saint-Hillaire 1831
Chinese Ferret Badger, Melogale moschata Gray 1831
There are two further putative species of ferret badger for which I’m unable to find suitable images: Everett’s ferret badger (Melogale everetti Thomas 1895) and the Javan ferret badger (Melogale orientalis Horsfield 1821). The genus is in need of a good taxonomic study.
jlynch | May 3, 2008
"Multiple world champion Oscar De La Hoya registered a unanimous decision victory over fellow American Steve Forbes in a non-title bout on Saturday."
Huh?
jlynch | May 3, 2008I may be treading in hot water here but ... two years ago a colt named Barbaro broke a leg and was put into surgery while a nation apparently wept (here is what I said then). Yesterday I watched a filly named Eight Belles fracture two legs and be unceremoniously killed on the track (Grrl has a good post on that). She was worth less, I guess.
jlynch | May 3, 2008If you haven’t already, you must check out Charles Darwin’s blog, if only for this:
However in the dramatic presentations it is clear what science is for: it is to help the police elucidate which American has killed which other American. It is also clear who becomes a scientist: people of eccentric appearance and manner with peculiarly arranged hair. They inhabit extremely modern, uncluttered and strangely lit laboratories, there is usually only one of them and he or she possesses an extraordinary range of scientific specialities and skills. They are sessile, but propel themselves on chairs…
jlynch | May 2, 2008
New Chick tract - have at it! Especially you, Tyler.
Update: I see PZ beat me to this. *shakes fist*
jlynch | May 2, 2008
Ox Forgotten
Reaching home on the back of the ox,
Rest now, the ox forgotten.
Taking a nap under the noon sun,
Whip and rope abandoned behind the hut.
K’uo-an (trans. Stanley Lombardo)
[image source]
jlynch | May 1, 2008
I forgot to mention that yesterday (technically still today here in Arizona) was National Mission Accomplished Day. Nice job, Bushie.
jlynch | May 1, 2008Regular readers may remember the paper about a gay necrophiliac duck rapist with sexual staying-power (see here). Andrew Bleiman now gives us this gem - a seal attempting to get it on with a penguin. Disney probably has a lot to answer for.
jlynch | May 1, 2008Busy here so here are a few things to keep you amused:
Larry Arnhart asks whether Michael Behe has fallen from favor at the Discovery Institute.
Dembski (a pseudo-mathematician) wonders what a pseudo-documentary is and in so doing naturally calls folks names. Stay classy, Bill.
Jeffrey Shallit (a real-mathematician) fisks Robert Marks.
And while I’m at it ... sample size of one analysis from Dembski.
Ed on the Week 2 performance of Expelled. Here in the Phoenix metro area they’re down to seven screens (from nineteen).
jlynch | May 1, 2008Ben Stein’s anti-science stance continues. In March he opined that scientists "were the people in Germany telling Hitler that it was a good idea to kill all the Jews." Now he’s giving us the following gem of wisdom:
[T]he last time any of my relatives saw scientists telling them what to do they were telling them to go to the showers to get gassed ... that was horrifying beyond words, and that’s where science -- in my opinion, this is just an opinion -- that’s where science leads you. ...Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing…
jlynch | April 28, 2008
Eurasian badger Meles meles L.Click for big version - they’re cute. Way cute
jlynch | April 27, 2008With much time being now spent by ID supporters on the Darwin/Eugenics meme (as opposed to any actual research), it is worth while revisiting this essay by Dennis Durst which discusses the engagement evangelicals had with eugenics between 1900 and 1940. Durst notes:
[O]n the whole the evangelical mainstream in the decades following the turn of the century appeared apathetic, acquiescent, or at times downright supportive of the eugenics movement. In this article, I argue that the evangelicals often accepted eugenics as a part of a progressive, reformist vision that uncritically fused the…