jlynch | November 8, 2006Now that it looks like the Senate is controlled by the Democrats, it is time to finally unveil our evil plan:
1. Mandatory homosexuality
2. Drug-filled condoms in schools
3. Introduce the new Destruction of Marriage Act
4. Border fence replaced with free shuttle buses
5. Osama Bin Laden to be Secretary of State
6. Withdraw from Iraq, apologize, reinstate Hussein
7. English language banned from all Federal buildings
8. Math classes replaced by encounter groups
9. All taxes to be tripled
10. All fortunes over $250,000 to be confiscated
11. On-demand welfare
12. Tofurkey to be named official…
jlynch | November 8, 2006 With little Ricky Santorum (BA, MBA, JD) heading off into the sunset, it is difficult to forget what a great philosopher of science and education he was. Here, therefore, are some of his greatest hits:
"Therefore, intelligent design is a legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in science classes." 2002 Washington Times op-ed article (source)
"[M]ainstream science does not simply "discover the truth"; instead it relies in part on a set of unscientific, false philosophical presuppositions as the basis for many of its conclusions. Thus, crucial aspects of what modern science teaches…
jlynch | November 8, 2006
Rummy, we unfortunately knew you.
Bush knew that Rumsfeld was going all along, even when asked last week. As the WaPo notes:
Asked about that comment, Bush said he made it because "I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign," Bush said. He appeared to acknowledge having misled reporters, saying, "And so the only way to answer that question and to get you onto another question was to give you that answer."
He added later, "Win or lose, Bob Gates was going to become the nominee."
A convenient lie from an administration that lies pathologically.
(…
jlynch | November 8, 2006Things went relatively well here in Arizona. While Jon Kyl (R) held onto his Senate seat (by a nine percent margin), JD Hayworth (R) got pink-slipped by Harry Mitchell. Thus, the AZ House contingent will be equally divided between the parties (Republicans Renzi, Franks, Shadegg, Flake and Democrats Pastor, Mitchell, Grijalva, Giffords).
At the State level, Janet Napolitano (D) got a second term as Governor as did Terry Goddard (D) as Attorney General and Tom Horne (R) as Superintendent of Public Instruction.
There were a ridiculous amount of propositions on the ballot. Here are some of the…
jlynch | November 7, 2006So the House goes to the Democrats. As does the majority of Gubernatorial positions. The Senate may take longer to decide - as I type it is down to Montana, Missouri and Virginia and the pundits are predicting it may be December before we know depending on how Virginia goes. I am, however, willing to bet that if more than a third of the Senate seats were up for contest, the Dems would have clearly taken the Senate. It is clear that the people are disappointed at all levels with the Republican Party and King George.
jlynch | November 6, 2006It's election time here in the US and we need a new Congress -- here's why:
1. Congress set a record for the fewest number of days worked -- 218 between the House and Senate combined. [Link]
2. The Senate voted down a measure that urged the administration to start a phased redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq by the end of 2006. [Link]
3. Congress failed to raise the minimum wage, leaving it at its lowest inflation-adjusted level since 1955. [Link]
4. Congress gave itself a two percent pay raise. [Link]
5. There were 15,832 earmarks totaling $71 billion in 2006. (In 1994, there were 4,…
jlynch | November 6, 2006Another reason why the Republican Party are lead by scum. Appears the rats will try anything to avoid being kicked to the curb. I doubt very much that the DoJ will do anything.
jlynch | November 6, 2006Still catching up here - class preparation for tomorrow and some other material to deal with. I will, however, note that Janet has posted one of the less incriminating photos of the SciBlings at the conference. See us in our meatspace glory here.
jlynch | November 5, 2006Got back into town a few hours ago from the (very productive) HSS meeting. While I was away, ASU got beaten 44-10 by Oregon State to fall to 5-4 (2-4 in the Pac-10). Sigh.
jlynch | November 3, 2006Well, it's just past midnight here in Vancouver and Day One of HSS is winding down. Janet, John, David and I spent a pleasant evening at a French restaurant enjoying good food and discussion of everything from the state of pre-college education, programming languages, and why philosophy of biology may not appeal to biologists. In other words, we geeked out. All good stuff, trust me.
Oh, and it started raining again! No surprises.
Tomorrowing morning I'm up early for the ISHPSSB Education Committee who are meeting about sessions for the upcoming Exeter meeting (July '07). So I'd better get to…
jlynch | November 3, 2006The meeting is a joint one between the History of Science Society (HSS), Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) and the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) and is this probably the largest collection of science studies people in the continent. Anyone who is anyone is here. Interestingly, I haven't been able to locate any of the "philosophers" from the Discovery Institute (which after all isn't that far from Vancouver) ... gee, I wonder why. The closest I've come to brushing with such intellectual greatness is to note that Steve Fuller (of Kitzmiller fame) gave a talk (for the 4S)…
jlynch | November 3, 2006It the first morning of the HSS meeting here in Vancouver and as usual I spent yesterday evening reconnecting with people. Highlight was, of course, meeting Janet, John, David and Ben for cocktails. There will be pictures, I promise you.
My morning is full - indeed I have to head to a session on science & religion in a few minutes - and my afternoon has a Philosophy of Science Association session on organisms and models. The evening will no doubt feature fine dining and good beers.
Oh, and it's raining ... a lot.
More later as needed.
jlynch | October 30, 2006
A red squirrel runs through the Lazienki Park on a crisp autumn morning in Warsaw, Poland.
Source: AP.
Like this little guy, I'm heading out of here. Later on this week, I'm off to the History of Science Society meeting in Vancouver. The meeting is held with the Philosophy of Science Association so I'll get the opportunity to hang with some of my SciBlings: Janet, John, David & Ben. Janet is chairing a session at the PSA and I'm doing likewise at the HSS - the others, to the best of my knowledge, are are there to socialize contribute to the rich academic environment that is a meeting.…
jlynch | October 29, 2006Biggest Hassle -- High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a rocket attack. VIPs demand briefs and "battlefield" tours (we take them to quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our briefs and commentary seem to have no effect on their preconceived notions of what's going on in Iraq. Their trips allow them to say that they've been to Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of credibility in perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here.
Biggest Outrage -- Practically anything said by talking heads on TV about the war in Iraq, not that I get to…
jlynch | October 28, 2006 It's that time of the week again: time for that rollercoaster ride that is ASU football. Today the team (4-3, 1-3 in conference) travel to Washington to take on the Huskies (4-4, 2-3) at home for the first time since 1999. Last year, ASU won 44-20 on a 401-yard 3-TD performance by Rudy Carpenter. Doubt we will be so lucky today.
Update: Not ASU related, but Oregon State are leading USC 16-10 at the half, and should be up by more had they been able to capitalize on USC turnovers. Once again, USC demonstrate that they dont know how to play the first half of a game.
(7:10 EST) OSU hold on to…