Politics
oracknows | December 27, 2007...this is what a troll is on the Internet.
Personally, though, I prefer the Flame Warriors version, although I'm not sure that I agree with Mike Reed's characterization of trolls as "generally quite harmless."
clock | December 27, 2007Yesterday, President Bush signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007 (H.R. 2764) which, among else, mandates the repository of all NIH-funded research into PubMedCentral within at most 12 months after publication.
Until now, the placement of NIH-funded research papers into publicly accessible repositories was not mandated, but recommended. However, only about 5% of the authors actually did it, as the process was complex and not always clear. This number is growing, but far too slowly. From now on, authors will have clear guidelines and assistance in making sure that all the…
terrasig | December 27, 2007After hearing this morning of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, I had wondered if any science bloggers might weigh in since Bhutto had attended Oxford and earned a BA at Harvard's Radcliffe College.
Fellow ScienceBlogger, Greg Laden, relates a story from when Bhutto returned to Harvard to give the commencement address.
Beyond the chaos among the general population, I cannot imagine trying to conduct scientific research in the current climate of Pakistan. The University of Karachi, in particular, maintains an excellent Department of Pharmacognosy in the School of Pharmacy - we…
gregladen | December 27, 2007Few have had the opportunity or responsibility to comment on their own assassination.
gregladen | December 27, 2007 Benazir Bhutto
As you have surely heard, Benazir Bhutto and at least 15 other people were killed by a suicide bomber. Bhutto was in shot in the neck by the attacker, who then set off the bomb. This happened in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This was expected.
And it was expected for years. The main difference between Benazir Bhutto and other leading figures in Pakistan is that the latter pay a lot of attention to security, and Benazir flaunted her freedom and minimized the importance of security. It was easy to get to her.
Otherwise, the situation in Pakistan is normal. Out of control mayhem.…
pharyngula | December 27, 2007Well, they've got one Republican and one Democratic congressman to agree to co-chair a presidential debate on science, which is good news. The framework for the debate is coming together…now all they need is some debaters.
razib | December 26, 2007Ed and Mark are asking what's up with Ron Paul and the Neo-Nazis? I think...it's complicated. Colugo sketches out the general lay of the land pretty well, Ron Paul is a "paleo," specifically a paleolibertarian. He derives his ideology from the Old Right, and promotes a personal bourgeoise ethic. Three points:
* Ron Paul's intellectual mentor was a Jew, Murray Rothbard, and the greatest intellectual in his firmament was a Jew, Ludwig von Mises. If Ron Paul is a closet Neo-Nazi he is a strange sort indeed. I think we can dismiss the idea that Ron Paul is a closet white nationalist. In…
pharyngula | December 26, 2007Yeah, they're already pouring in: everyone has a list of the best or worst of 2007. Most I couldn't care less about, but the Beast's 50 most loathsome people in America is at least primo grade-A disgust.
The winners in this year's list weren't just predictable, they were inevitable.
drorzel | December 26, 2007Hey, Mike. Rough month, eh? You're doing all right in the polls at the moment, but just getting hammered from all sides in the blogosphere. You're getting blasted for denying evolution, but also for not denying it fiercely enough for Ann Coulter. People are none too happy about your ill-informed ideas about public health, or your attempts to link law and religion. And to top it all off, you got dogged by a seven-year-old girl.
Dude, that's harsh.
I'm here to help, though, Mike. I've got your back at ScienceBlogs.
No, I don't actually agree with any of your goober-iffic views on science,…
denialism | December 26, 2007I'm so confused. I've got Ed telling us that the neo-nazis are claiming them as one of his own, which I would usually dismiss since they're usually just lying about everything. But then I see Ron Paul supporters blame a Jewish Cabal for the allegations? That, and David Duke coming to his defense? I prefer my brother's explanation better, that Ron Paul is really the Drizzle.
I don't have time to piece this together, I've got to drive down to C-ville today. I want a full report on what the hell is going on with all these cranks by the time I get there.
pharyngula | December 26, 2007Ann Coulter is unhappy with Huckabee, but not for his many failings that rational people see as an obstacle—but because he is insufficently critical of evolution. She really wants a presidential candidate to not just deny modern science, but to advocate a platform that proposes to take action in the schools against it.
Asked on CNN's "Larry King Live" Monday night about his beliefs on evolution, Huckabee rushed to assure King that he has no interest in altering textbooks that foist this fraud on innocent schoolchildren.
It's very strange. We've recently seen big-mouthed conservative…
j7uy5 | December 26, 2007I know people are complaining that I go too easy on
political candidates. It is true. But with
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney" rel="tag">Mitt
Romney, I will make an exception.
I wanted to like Romney. George Wilcken Romney, Mitt Romney's
father, had a truly inspirational life. He was a Mexican
immigrant who became a successful businessman. In fact, he
led American Motors to some degree of success, albeit short-lived, when
he promoted the sale of small cars.
He later became an influential politician, a Republican governor in a
heavily-Democratic state. He was…
gregladen | December 25, 2007A chain was fastened around my waist and I was handcuffed to the chain. Then my legs were placed in chains. I asked for permission to make a telephone call but they refused. So secured, I was taken from the airport terminal in full sight of everybody. I have seldom felt so bad, so humiliated and all because I had taken a longer vacation than allowed under the law.
Oh, wait, no, I got the information counfsued. This was a 33 year old woman from Iceland with a minor visa issue shackled, jailed, and mildly tortured by Homeland Security officials at JFK Airport in New York.
To be honest, I think…
clock | December 24, 2007This is hair-raisingly scary:
Iceland complains to US about treatment of tourist in New York:
REYKJAVIK, Iceland: Iceland's government has asked the U.S. ambassador to explain the treatment of an Icelandic tourist who says she was held in shackles before being deported from the United States.
The woman, Erla Osk Arnardottir Lillendahl, 33, was arrested Sunday when she arrived at JFK airport in New York because she had overstayed a U.S. visa more than 10 years earlier.
Lillendahl, 33, had planned to shop and sightsee with friends, but endured instead what she has claimed was the most…
gregladen | December 24, 2007Huckabee Alert:
Ed Brayton discusses Huckabee's recent assertion that the Ten Commandments for the basis of US Law... More Huckabee Absurdity
And Robert Novak dropping names and generally being alarming:
Baptists Not on Board
When Mike Huckabee went to Houston on Tuesday to raise funds for his fast-rising, money-starved presidential candidacy, a luncheon for the ordained Baptist minister was arranged by evangelical Christians. On hand was Judge Paul Pressler, a hero to Southern Baptist Convention reformers. But he was a nonpaying guest who supports Fred Thompson for president.
Huckabee…
oracknows | December 24, 2007Even though it's Christmas Eve and I hadn't been planning on posting anything except what I hope to be humorous holiday greetings, I couldn't resist mentioning this example of political correctness run amok:
A Croatian rock star accused of anti-Semitism will be forced to undergo tolerance counselling as a condition of entry to Australia.
A Jewish rights group on Friday expressed anger over the federal government's decision to allow Marko Perkovic into Australia.
Mr Perkovic, singer and songwriter with the Croatian rock band Thompson, has been criticised for making strongly anti-Semitic…
grrlscientist | December 23, 2007tags: Carnival of Political Punditry, blog carnivals
I have written three essays about ScienceDebate2008 and was disappointed to see that none of them was picked up by SlashDot, so I sent them in to a variety of political blog carnivals, hoping to increase the visibility of this important issue: the campaign to have the presidential candidates discuss their policies as they relate specifically to science and technology. If you wish to read these essays, along with other political commentaries, then you should visit today's edition of the Carnival of Political Punditry.
clock | December 23, 2007Opposite of what Obama is trying to sell as a recipe, as Paul Rosenberg explains eloquently and logically, with data and graphs.
clock | December 22, 2007Then read this and the comment thread below it. That's all you need to know.