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stcynic | June 8, 2006I'm thinking of sending a box of cheese to the Discovery Institute, to match with their perpetual whine. Identify them as creationists, as they themselves often have, and you will hear a chorus of whines emenating from Seattle. Last week it was Luskin complaining about Science magazine describing the Discovery Institute as a "creationist think tank" - despite the fact that Lusking himself has said that ID advocates are creationists. Now another hired DI flack, Rob Crowther, is writing letters to Science alleging professional misconduct for daring to call them creationist. Why? Because the DI…
tqa | June 8, 2006By now most of you will have heard about 1LT Ehren Watada, the army officer who is refusing to obey an order to deploy to Iraq. This is an issue that's getting a fairly large amount of play on the various blogs, and it's stirring up strong emotions on both sides of the political spectrum. (One look at the results of a technorati search on "Watada coward" is enough to show that.) My own feelings are strong, too - strongly mixed.
On the one hand, I think that Lt. Watada has made an exceptionally bad decision. He has said that he cannot claim conscientious objector status because he isn't…
tqa | June 7, 2006It's amazing how often doing good science walks hand in hand with looking like a bloody fool. It's entirely possible that doing something that looks absolutely insane is a necessary step in the development of a decent scientist (if so, there are many good scientists who never escape this stage).
There are lots of good examples of this. A series of experiments published last year in the journal Nature demonstrated that some species of Amazonian ant are capable of gliding back to the tree if they fall off the trunk. Like many things in science, this was first discovered as the result of an…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2006The Mothership asks;
Question: Do you think there is a brain drain going on (i.e.; foreign scientists not coming to work and study in the U.S. like they used to, because of new immigration rules and the general unpopularity of the U.S.) If so, what are its implications? Is there anything we can do about it?
The short story: From my own personal experience, approximately half of my scientific colleagues at the postdoc level are foreigners, and I have never in my life, worked in a lab that was monolingual (and honestly, I cannot imagine working in such a boring environment ever again as those I…
tqa | June 5, 2006Last week, back at the old joint, I wrote a post about an issue that had come to my attention after reading an article at Dispatches from the Culture Wars. This particular issue involved an assault on religious freedom that was coming from the branch of the Veterans Administration that is responsible for our National Cemeteries - they were (and are) refusing to allow the widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan to place a Wiccan pentacle on his memorial marker. Given the long and very inclusive list of religions (more than 30, almost half of which are Christian denominations) that are…
grrlscientist | June 5, 2006A new blog carnival is available for your reading pleasure -- the first one of the week! This one, the Literature Carnival, is relatively new to me but it is already in its 13th edition. It includes a collection of links to essays about reading, writing, and the world of literature that you might enjoy reading.
goodmath | June 5, 2006One of the things I get to do now as a member of the scienceblogs gang is answer these weekly "Ask a science blogger" questions. This weeks is actually really quite appropriate for me given stuff going on this week at home.
The question: "Do you think there is a brain drain going on (i.e. foreign scientists not coming to work and study in the U.S. like they used to, because of new immigration rules and the general unpopularity of the U.S.) If so, what are its implications? Is there anything we can do about it?"
My answer? For me, I'd have to say that there is absolutely no question that there…
stcynic | June 5, 2006Fake controversies like this just crack me up. The former Archbishop of Canterbury is raising a stink about the next coronation to take place in England, when Prince Charles takes over the throne from his mother:
In a television interview to be broadcast later this month, Lord Carey says: "When the time comes for the next coronation there's got to be a number of changes. Very significant changes. The Queen came to the throne at a time when the Church of England was really the only Christian faith in the country.
"And there were no Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus around to be in any way evident in the…
stcynic | June 4, 2006Sandefur has an interesting post at Positive Liberty about what he calls hyperlexicophilia, the tendency of some, particularly political philosophers, to use language to appear to say something meaningful when, in reality, they've said nothing at all. He links to the absolutely brilliant postmodern essay generator (I still want a version of this that would generate your standard conservative essay, full of all the empty catchphrases - family values, judicial tyranny. the moral fabric of America, etc - that pretend to say much and say nothing at all) as an example of how such vacuous essays…
grrlscientist | June 3, 2006
It's true that I've recently been feeling somewhat depressed about my future (well, honestly, in my place, what sane, rational person wouldn't feel bad?). Inspired by that education (unemployment) cartoon I just posted, a reader, named "Concerned Muggle", wrote one of the funniest, most thoughtful and entertaining comments that I've read in a long time, and of course, I had to share it with you all .. (below the fold);
Although Dumbledore is dead, Voldemort is back, Ollivander's and Fortescue's have both closed their doors and Hogwarts may not reopen for the fall term either, I still…
grrlscientist | June 3, 2006I know this sounds somewhat unbelievable, but there are some people out there who have taught their horses to play soccer. The game is somewhat unconventional (the ball is a little bit bigger than your typical soccer ball, for example), but it appears that the horses enjoy it. The linked website includes video.
After horse trainer Renee Miller noticed that one of her skittish beasts enjoyed kicking her children's 50-inch rubber ball, she came up with an idea: horse soccer.
Miller began inviting fellow equine lovers to her Rockin' Double R ranch for matches and then launched a league. "I…
stcynic | June 3, 2006I'm sure most of my readers remember Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron's evangelistic partner in crime. He's the guy who claims that the fact that a banana fits perfectly in the hand of a monkey is proof of intelligent design (and unlike Paul Nelson, I'm not making that up). Well it turns out that he's in a bit of trouble with the Secret Service:
On June 1st, 2006, Secret Service agents showed up at the office of Great News Network in Dallas, Texas and demanded their entire stock of $1 million dollar gospel tracts that are produced by Ray Comfort's ministry, Living Waters. The tracts are used by Ray…
grrlscientist | June 2, 2006
Are you an amateur satirical cartoonist? Are you seeking greater exposure for your editorial cartoons about science and scientific integrity? Never fear, there now is a new contest especially for you.
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) today announced that they are teaming up with leading editorial and strip cartoonists to present an editorial cartoon contest. The goal? To draw attention to political meddling in science while simultaneously bringing together aspiring cartoonists to compete for a number of prizes, including an all-expenses paid trip to meet the celebrity judge of…
stcynic | June 2, 2006Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy on ESPN.com, is the best sportswriter alive and here's a perfect example why. As a pop culture fiend, he's noticed, as I have, that David Hasslehoff is suddenly showing up in odd places. In Dodgeball, he shows up in a cameo, berating the German team after they lose to the Average Joes (while in S&M clothing, I might add). Then at the final of American Idol, after they announced that Taylor Hicks won, the camera pans the audience and stops on Hasslehoff as he wipes tears from his eyes. And then, on top of that, he shows up at a Dallas Mavericks playoff game…
stcynic | June 2, 2006It seems that Paul Nelson has managed to distract at least one person's attention away with his frantic handwaving. Andrew Rowell, a British ID supporter, seems to have fallen for the shell game hook, line and sinker. First, Rowell falsely thinks that Nelson admitted to deliberately distorting MIller's position:
Paul seems to me to have been clear that in the heat of a public event he deliberately tried to make Keith Miller look silly by over simplifying his arguments. He seems to have been full in his apologies for this and for making public what was thought to be a more private email…
stcynic | June 2, 2006I was pleasantly surprised to see that John Rennie, editor-in-chief of Scientific American, noticed my posts about Paul Nelson's dishonest treatment of Keith Miller and linked to them.
stcynic | June 2, 2006From the "this child has no chance at all" department: Anna Nicole Smith is going to give birth.
jrosenhouse | June 1, 2006I recently received an e-mail Ken Parejko, a biology professor at the University of Wisconsin at Stout. He described his experiences in taking the PRAXIS II Content Exam in science. He points out that the exam is overwhelmingly based on the facts of science, with no attention paid to science as a process. I think he raises some important points, and I have posted below the fold, with his permission, a letter he sent to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on this subject.
I have some experience with training future elementary and secondary mathematics teachers, and can report…
stcynic | June 1, 2006No, you probably don't know who Joseph Farber is. He was one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the Dover ID trial last year and was an associate with the Pepper Hamilton law firm. He died of a brain tumor last week at his home at the age of 34. He was a very talented young attorney with a bright future ahead of him. My condolences go out to his friends and family. Perhaps Nick Matzke will stop by and add some words of his own, since he got to know Farber while working on the case last year. He is survived by a wife and two sons who lost their father far too young.