jlynch | July 18, 2006Brownback's antics aside, HR 810 passed today 63-37, not enough to overide any veto Bush wants to throw in the way. It's wonderful how someone who shows all signs of having slept his way through science classes gets to override the general public, the scientific community and the Senate on this issue, all for a few votes come November.
jlynch | July 18, 2006H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, allows scientific use of embryos which were "created for the purposes of in vitro fertilization ... and in every single case are slated for medical waste." This doesn't prevent Sam Brownback (R-KS) from distorting this on the senate floor and playing the "will someone please think of the children" card.
This is a chart she [Hannah, a seven year old child who was adopted as a frozen embryo] did last year when she was in Washington, talking, when the House was considering legislation, the same legislation, she did this chart, this letter that…
jlynch | July 18, 2006So let me see if I've gotten this straight. He gropes the German Chancellor, addresses the British Prime Minister as "Yo, Blair", and wants Hizbollah to "stop doing this shit" (news). Brings whole new meaning to "special relationship". That's some representative we have up there on the world stage.
jlynch | July 18, 2006Coturnix the Chronobiologist offers an oldest book meme. I guess my library is in as much disarray as his - especially as it's split between home and office - so here's what I have to hand and own that pre-dates 1900:
Geology and Revelation: of The Ancient History of the Earth Considered in Light of Geological Facts and Revealed Religion. Gerald Molloy, 1873 (2nd ed).
Memoir of Robert Chambers with Autobiographic Reminiscences of William Chambers. William Chambers, 1872.
Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation. James M'Cosh and George Dickie, 1857.
Not very much, I know. I like old books…
jlynch | July 17, 2006This story in the Times of London (breathlessly titled "How man's best friend overcame laws of natural evolution"*) has been linked to by Dembski over at his blog and by a number of other creationists around the web. I guess they think it somehow disproves evolution or problematizes natural selection. It discusses an article in Genome Research which used mtDNA analysis to examine selection in dogs and wolves and notes (according to the article) that natural selction
was relaxed when dogs became domesticated. Living with people allowed harmful genetic variations to flourish that would never…
jlynch | July 17, 2006Eric Margolis in the Toronto Sun on the current situtation in the Middle East:
All parties involved are to blame for this frightful mess: The Palestinians and Hezbollah for provoking Israel, and Israel for its continuing brutal repression of Palestinians and assassinating their leaders. But most at blame is the Bush administration whose catastrophically misguided Mideast policies have fed this crisis.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies at the heart of Mideast troubles, and is the primary generator for anti-Western violence known as terrorism. It is a weary truism that no nation can bring…
jlynch | July 16, 2006The caterpillar of a Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus):
(Adult here)
According to here, "The fact that the false eye spots even swell out from the spicebush swallowtail caterpillar's body, as do actual eyes, is proof to us that these little souls were created by intelligent design."
Ignoring the theological problem of "little souls" (is there a heaven for caterpillars?), I think it's fair to say that whatever designed these boyos was doing some serious drugs.
jlynch | July 16, 2006On Ms Coulter, Zeno writes:
As she plies her trade as a self-proclaimed snoutfair and prunk dispenser of scaum, we can imagine she cut her teeth as a flarting nazzle. Time, however, is not the ally of this cock-throppled fishfag, now well on her ostentiferous way to becoming a dwizzen-faced hurrion. She may not anticipate her condign fate while still basking in the puzzomous regard of the national media and girding her loins in defense of the rhonchisonant quockerwodger in the White House, but she will end up well and truly scunt, both morally and financially.
No folks, this isn't nonsense (…
jlynch | July 16, 2006Can anyone guess where this is? And equally, why it is topical?
Clue: "Batter my heart, three person'd God"
[I stole the idea from Alex's Map That Campus quiz]
jlynch | July 15, 2006"We found out the hard way that Ann Coulter is not a major draw for donors." (source)
Coulter charges $20,000+ for speaking appearances (see here).
Amount raised at a Republican fundraiser featuring Coulter on March 28th? $0
And that was before her subtle comments on the 9/11 widows.
Hat tip to Jim Lippard.
jlynch | July 15, 2006Today is the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt van Rijn. In honor, I give you The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632) which is probably my favorite Rembrandt painting.
[click above for much larger version]
For more on the painting, see here.
jlynch | July 14, 2006I have in the past hammered home the point that mathematicians, engineers, lawyers etc have little business critiquing evolutionary biology (see here, for example). Over at Evolutionblog, Jason, himself a mathematician (and responding to the DI lawyer Casey Luskin), hits the nail on the head:
There is absolutely nothing in a mathematician's training or professional work that qualifies him to discuss evolution. Unless you are one of the very small percentage of mathematicians who actually work in mathematical biology, evolution is not something that ever arises in your graduate school courses…
jlynch | July 14, 2006All hell appears to be breaking out between Israel & Lebanon and Bush refuses to pressure Israel. Things are heated between India & Pakistan. North Korea and Iran are problematic. And these jackasses are happy.
Is it time to get excited? I can't help the way I feel. For the first time in my Christian walk, I have no doubts that the day of the Lords appearing is upon us. I have never felt this way before, I have a joy that bubbles up every-time I think of him, for I know this is truly the time I have waited for so long. Am I alone in feeling guilty about the human suffering like my joy…
jlynch | July 14, 2006
This one-pound lobster that was caught in Maine apparently is missing pigment on one half of its body. Quote at end of the story: "Lobsters are interesting but not personable."
jlynch | July 14, 2006Here's an interesting story over at Discover regarding bacteria in the high Arctic - Ellesmere Island, to be precise - and what they might bring to the search for extraterrestrial life.
Mike Price, the author, just graduated from ASU with an honors degree in Journalism and is heading off to the prestigious science journalism program at Johns Hopkins. Mike did his honors thesis with me on coverage of the Kitzmiller case.
jlynch | July 14, 2006
This is cool. A rainbow and lightning in Arkansas (source). But the comments appear to miss the point of basic physics:
Incidents like this make we wonder how some people say there is no God.
The pictures are truly amazing!! Proving outright the power and existance of a higher power.
I, too, witnessed the rainbow in the sky last night. It was an awesome experience. It reminded me that God is really in control.
While the newspaper running the story is British, the comments about God are American. No surprises.
jlynch | July 13, 2006 Apparently older meerkats (S. suricatta) teach pups how to obtain food by incrementally introducing dead, injured and then live prey. As the University of Cambridge press release notes, although learning per se wouldn't be surprising, whether wild mammals teach their young was still debated. This paper provides evidence for teaching, using the Caro and Hauser definition of teaching: "(i.) an individual, A, modifies its behaviour only in the presence of a naïve observer, B; (ii) A incurs some cost or derives no immediate benefit; and (iii) as a result of A's behaviour, B acquires knowledge…
jlynch | July 13, 2006Over at National Review Online, John Derbyshire tackles George Gilder's expectorations on evolution. He writes:
It's a wearying business, arguing with Creationists. Basically, it is a game of Whack-a-Mole. They make an argument, you whack it down. They make a second, you whack it down. They make a third, you whack it down. So they make the first argument again. This is why most biologists just can't be bothered with Creationism at all, even for the fun of it. It isn't actually any fun. Creationists just chase you round in circles. It's boring.
So true.
And ...
There are two reasons why…