jlynch | October 3, 2006
Sagan said it best:
That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and…
jlynch | October 3, 2006I've been kinda quiet the past few days as I have been part of a team hosting Bernie Lightman (a noted historian of Victorian science) here at ASU. This has involved dinners, talks, trips to Arizona sites, etc. Hopefully I can get posting again soon, despite receiving papers to grade yesterday.
jlynch | September 30, 2006Sullivan on the MCA bill:
Whatever else this is, it is not a constitutional democracy. It is a thinly-veiled military dictatorship, subject to only one control: the will of the Great Decider. And the war that justifies this astonishing attack on American liberty is permanent, without end. ... All I know is that al Qaeda is winning battles every week now. And they are winning them because their aim of gutting Western liberty is shared by the president of the United States.
jlynch | September 30, 2006Unranked ASU is playing #14 Oregon. I was supposed to be at the game, but had to attend to family business instead.
At the half it is 24-3 for the Ducks, despite ASU having nearly five minutes extra possession, less penalties, and less turnovers. We don't have a quarterback (Carpenter is 5 for 14, 29 yards, 1 int), Zach Miller is being ignored once again (1 catch for 3 yards), and Ryan Torain (15 carries for 81 yards) is the only player that seems to be making any real effort for the Sun Devils. Some, eh, highlights:
Carpenter has been sacked five times so far.
ASU 0-for-8 on third down…
jlynch | September 30, 2006Dembski breathlessly announces the latest front in the ID war on science - they've been unable to convince any relevent scientists, so they go straight to the children:
The Darwinists have had your young people long enough to shape, subvert, and corrupt. Send them to www.overwhelmingevidence.com and mobilize this sleeping giant! The old guard is not going to change. The hope of the future lies with our youth. The new ... site is modeled on Xanga and Myspace and aimed at concentrating the power of youth to throw off the indoctrination that is being shoved down their throats by groups like the…
jlynch | September 29, 2006
Does any reader have a scan of this picture of William Butler Yeats? I've seen it on some versions of the complete works of Yeats, but the only version I can find online via GIS is 404ing and is small (~300x300). Also, does anyone know the providence of the photo? Email me at john dot lynch at gmail dot com if you have any leads. Thanks.
jlynch | September 29, 2006
As Jack Cafferty notes, the MCA 2006 bill passed by the Senate yesterday snuck in a clause that absolves the Bush administration of any potential war crimes that may have occurred since 11th September 2001. Handy.
It is also revealling to look at the ammendments that were voted down:
One that would have struck the habeas corpus provision,
one that would have established a five year sunset on the legislation,
one that would have require the Central Intelligence Agency to submit to Congressional oversight, and
one which would have required the State Department to inform other nations of what…
jlynch | September 28, 2006
Today marks the 15th anniversary of the death of one of the great musical artists of the 20th century, Miles Davis.
jlynch | September 28, 2006for the government to torture and indefinitely detain individuals without criminal charge. HR 6166 ("the Military Commissions Act of 2006") passed 65 to 34 in the Senate, with 12 Democrats (including, surprise, surprise, Lieberman - but neither of the AZ Democrats) voting with the Republicans (only one of whom, Lincoln Chafee, dissented from his party line). As the WaPo notes:
Thirty-one former ambassadors, including 20 who served in Republican administrations, jointly wrote Congress this week that "to eliminate habeas corpus relief for the citizens of other countries who have fallen into our…
jlynch | September 28, 2006Over at the World's Fair, Ben and David have posted results from their taking of the Earth Day Ecological Footprint quiz. Here are my results:
CATEGORY / ACRES
FOOD / 5.4MOBILITY / 1.7SHELTER / 6.9 GOODS/SERVICES / 7.9 TOTAL FOOTPRINT / 22
IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON. WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON. IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 4.9 PLANETS.
At least I'm doing better that the US average ... but that's not really saying very much!
jlynch | September 27, 2006
Just got back from a pleasant evening spent with my fellow SciBling Chris Mooney. Chris gave a great talk here in Tempe which not only gave the gist of his book, The Republican War on Science, but also detailed positive ways in which things can be changed. Needless to say, scientists bear some of the load in changing things.
Following the talk, I got to meet some of my readers (and also readers of Chris' blog) and to hang with Chris and some of his family for a few hours. Pictured above are I, Chris and his (somewhat evil looking but good guy) uncle Tom Cole at a local hostelry after a beer…
jlynch | September 26, 2006So the Arizona Cardinals moved out of Sun Devil Stadium (home of the ASU Sun Devils) and got themselves a new state-of-the-art facility in Glendale, a city in the west valley. By all accounts it is a sweet stadium.
With Super Bowl XLII in 2008 on the horizon, the naming rights for the new stadium are up for grabs and the Cardinals went with ... University of Phoenix Stadium. Yup. $154.5 million later and a 20-year deal and those powerhouses of the NFL are willing to sound like a freeking college team. At least they play like one.
UoP, for those that dont know is a for-profit school that is…
jlynch | September 26, 2006Bumping this up so as to give Chris some Tempe loving ...
Changing Hands is a legendary bookstore here in Tempe, and tomorrow it will host Chris Mooney at 7pm for a talk on his wonderful book The Republican War on Science which is now available (updated!) in paperback. Chris' book is an eye-opening account of how the GOP has taken the politicization of science to a whole new level and is required reading for anyone (scientist or not) who cares about science in 21st Century America. Bring your copy as Chris will be signing.
Oh, and I'll be there - this might be your chance to meet two…
jlynch | September 25, 2006
Today marks the birth (in 1791) of Théodore Géricault, one of my favorite painters. Best known for Raft of the Medusa (see above, properly titled Scene of Shipwreck), Géricault's short career came to an end at the age of 33, not before his completion of a haunting series of portraits of asylum inmates, this ghoulish depiction of two heads, and a study of truncated limbs:
In an unplanned coincidence, my honors class is discussing Scene of Shipwreck today, in particular the artistic decisions Géricault made.
jlynch | September 24, 2006In November 1920, the celebrated author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle announced the beginning of a new "epoch in human thought." He believed that he was presenting "a strong prima-facie case" for the existence of fairies, based on photographs taken by two pseudonymous young girls in July and September 1917. Noting that "in a matter involving so tremendous a new departure one needs overpowering evidence before one can say that there is no conceivable loophole for error," he laid out the case for the existence of fairies in the village of Cottingley, Yorkshire. Some have seen this announcement in The…
jlynch | September 24, 2006Over at Fark.com someone posted a link to a game called Line Rider (you can play it here). Then someone posted the movie below. Someone has too much time on their hands!
jlynch | September 23, 2006 ASU (#18) are playing the Cal Golden Bears (#20) at Berkeley. The first half has just ended and the Devils are down 42-14. After a good opening scoring drive, ASU have just collapsed, with the only ray of sunshine being the running effort of (third-string RB) Ryan Torain, a JC transfer from Kansas. Rudy Carpenter has thrown two interceptions to Daymeion Hughes (one for a touchdown), and has not been on form. A punt was returned for a touchdown. Worst of all there is a whole half left to go.
At this rate, watching Notre Dame being beaten by Michigan State later this evening will be the…
jlynch | September 22, 2006
An Atlantic tripletail caught in the Bristol Channel this week may be the first recorded occurrence of the species in Britain.
The Atlantic tripletail, Lobotes surinamensis, is found in tropical and subtropical waters around the world, but is exceptionally rare north of the Mediterranean Sea. Experts believe that the catch is another indication that subtropical fishes are migrating into the temperate waters of the UK as temperatures rise due to global warming.
More here.
jlynch | September 21, 2006
Pure Nerd73 % Nerd, 26% Geek, 30% Dork
For The Record:A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork…