Politics
pharyngula | January 30, 2006Remember these names when Alito screws us over. These are the ones who didn't even try to stop him.
Akaka, Daniel K. (Coward-HI)
Baucus, Max (Doormat-MT)
Bingaman, Jeff (Toady-NM)
Byrd, Robert C. (Ditherer-WV)
Cantwell, Maria (One-termer-WA)
Carper, Thomas R. (Lickspittle-DE)
Conrad, Kent (Stooge-ND)
Dorgan, Byron L. (Loser-ND)
Inouye, Daniel K. (Pawn-HI)
Johnson, Tim (Milksop-SD)
Kohl, Herb (Flunky-WI)
Landrieu, Mary L. (Parasite-LA)
Lieberman, Joseph I. (Sycophant-CT)
Lincoln, Blanche L. (Puppet-AR)
Nelson, Bill (Candy-ass-FL)
Nelson, E. Benjamin (Lowlife-NE…
stcynic | January 30, 2006I love watching C-SPAN on days like today when the hypocrisy of both parties is on full display. The Democrats go on about not having enough time for adequate debate when everyone knows that the attempted filibuster has nothing at all to do with that. The Republicans talk about the undue and thoroughly lamentable influence of "interest groups" trumping the will of "the American people", as though there are no conservative "interest groups" pressuring Republicans. Orrin Hatch, of all people, stands up and delivers a self-righteous screed about the horror of a judicial nominee being denied an…
pharyngula | January 30, 2006It's got everything a fascist dictator might want in a law.
A new provision tucked into the Patriot Act bill now before Congress would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any "special event of national significance" away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter.
[The] measure...would extend the authority of the Secret Service to allow agents to arrest people who willingly or knowingly enter a restricted area at an event, even if the president or other official normally protected by the Secret Service isn't in attendance at the time.
(via Nathan…
pharyngula | January 30, 2006
I will join the chorus in praising Bérubé's essay on academic freedom. It's excellent; now if only the people most desperately in need of reading it weren't barely literate anti-intellectual thugs, it would be an awesomely persuasive rhetorical tool.
That Mannion fellow explains why the Republicans don't want us to fight Alito. I always thought Linus was a prissy apologist for the status quo, and that that blanket was a symbol of his inability to stretch his mind beyond his narrow Judaeo-Christian bias.
jlynch | January 29, 2006South Carolina is currently undergoing a dalliance with ID. WIS10, a TV station in Columbia, ran an interview with the SC Governor, Mark Sanford. Here is a choice portion wherein Sanford demonstrates that science classes were wasted on him:
Q: What do you think about the idea of teaching alternatives to Darwin's Theory of Evolution in public schools; for instance Intelligent Design.
MS: I have no problem with it.
Q: Do you think it should be done that way? Rather than just teaching Evolution?
MS: Well I think that it's just, and science is more and more documenting this, is that there are…
pharyngula | January 29, 2006The Committee to Protect Journalists lists 61 reporters killed in Iraq, 13 killed by the US.
Iraq, the most dangerous place for journalists in 2005, also became the deadliest conflict for the media in CPJ's 24-year history. A total of 60 journalists have been killed on duty in Iraq from the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 through the end of 2005. The toll surpasses the 58 journalists killed in the Algerian conflict from 1993 to 1996.
Reporters without borders lists 79 dead.
I wonder if this recent serious wounding of Bob Woodruff will finally make people notice?
pharyngula | January 29, 2006This post on the Republican war on science was chilling enough, but did you really have to draw the logical conclusion of it all at the end? I'm trying hard to preserve the tattered shreds of my optimistic state of denial, you know.
pharyngula | January 28, 2006…but I guess everyone has their snapping point. Jaquandor doesn't usually snarl at people, but he's done a fine takedown of wingnut stupidity.
What tipped him over? Jonah Goldberg. I can't blame him—I studiously avoid NRO's corner because it reminds me too painfully of how idiotic some people can be. The NRO gang are just freepers with Buckleyesque pretensions.
jlynch | January 27, 2006Do you agree that "[o]ne of the great strengths of the Endangered Species Act is its
foundation in sound scientific principles and its reliance on the best
available science"? As this letter notes, "[u]nfortunately, recent legislative proposals would critically weaken this foundation. For species conservation to continue, it is imperative both that the scientific principles embodied in the Act are maintained, and that the Act is strengthened, fully implemented, and adequately funded." If you are a professional biologist - or working towards an advanced degree - please consider co-signing the…
pharyngula | January 26, 2006My small town isn't as bad as this, I'm happy to say.
"Where would the condoms be?" I asked with total sincerity and seriousness—I am an adult after all.
"We don't have condoms."
"You're a pharmacy without condoms?"
"Well," she scoffs, "that's not exactly the kind of behavior we want to promote now, is it?"
pharyngula | January 25, 2006If this sell-out goes down, you can call me an utterly disaffected Democrat. I've been a voting Democrat since 1976, but if this current gang of slimy myxomycetes can't even coagulate together enough fiber to fight Alito, they aren't my party anymore. I wrote to Howard Dean, to Mark Dayton (I even stooped to writing to Norm Coleman…I know, it was a waste of time, but he is one of my senators. I was being thorough)—I told them all it wasn't enough to just vote "no" on Alito, I want them to fight against the imperial presidency and for women's rights.
I'm in complete agreement with David…
tsmith | January 25, 2006Day 1: History of Pandemic Influenza.
Day 2: Our adventures with avian flu.
Day 3: Challenges to pandemic preparedness
Day 4: 1918 influenza virus reconstructed
Day 5: How ready are we, and what can YOU do?
Many more influenza posts can be found at this link.
pharyngula | January 24, 2006The speakers for the science panel at the Yearly Kos convention have been announced, and they are Chris Mooney, some goofy guy named PZ, and Wendy Northcutt. We're going to Vegas! Since I only drink in moderation, never gamble, and the only showgirl I want to see is my wife (who will be coming along), I'm not going to have much to do other than castigate wobbly Democrats, and maybe argue with those annoying progressive Christians. There better be some firebreathing, let me tell you…the only magic show I want to see is a bunch of Democrats with spines, and skip the animal tamers—I want to see…
pharyngula | January 23, 2006A few months ago, after learning that Bill Gates was giving money to the Cascadia branch of the Discovery Institute (which studies transportation issues in the Pacific Northwest), I wondered if the DI was as incompetent and delusional about transportation as evolution. Here's one answer—not surprisingly, they may again be tools of interests opposed to real advances. I am not by any means an informed expert on these issues, but I do know the Seattle area desperately needs better mass transit—I have seen rush hour on I5, and do not know how people can stand it—yet what the DI offers is a…
stcynic | January 23, 2006As a measure of just how far our political system has fallen, the White House has actually put out the word that President Bush is now taking unscripted questions from audiences when he makes appearances around the country:
Bush has been taking questions from audience members in recent speeches, and the White House says none has been prescreened. It's a throwback to the folksy style on the campaign trail that helped him win re-election and a departure from the heavily scripted speeches that were the norm last year.
Someone remarked the other day after I posted James Madison's Memorial and…
jlynch | January 21, 2006Over at Dispatches, Ed makes two interesting points about the Buttars bill I mention below. Firstly, the bill is in danger of being destroyed should it be challenged in court as the religious intent expressed by its supporters would clearly fail the Lemon test. Secondly,
We don't allow people to practice in many fields without demonstrating that they have some expertise in it. We won't even let someone cut hair without a cosmetology license in this country. And yet we allow ignorant legislators pass laws on those issues without demanding that they know anything about them. I propose a new…
jlynch | January 21, 2006Things have been quiet here - primarily because it was the first week of the semester and everything that entails. But it's over now and hopefully I can get back to blogging.
While I was away, Buttars' bill in Utah apparently advanced on to the next stage of Senate consideration. Buttars states "I've never advocated for, never included anything about intelligent design, creationism or any faith-based philosophy," this despite his statement in USA Today (8/8/05) that "I believe those fighting against the teaching of intelligent design in
schools have an ulterior motive to eliminate references…
pharyngula | January 20, 2006James Wolcott:
Inside, a NY editorial titled 'Nuts!' begins with a little historical lesson explaining the cover line.
"It may be the most famous one-word sentence in American military history, and it's time to dust it off after yesterday's pronouncement from Osama bin Laden: 'Nuts!' That's how Brigadier Gen. Anthony McAuliffe responded to the Nazis when asked to surrender the town of Bastogne on December 19, 1944. Outnumbered and surrounded by Panzer tanks, McAuliffe gave his one word response to a courier."
Did you see the problem with this Victor Davis Hanson-ing? The United States isn't…