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choofnagle | March 29, 2012The point raised by yesterday's Times article on Ron Paul was that while Paul attracts big crowds, these crowds do not translate into voter turnout.
Perhaps the problem is that Paul has appeal within his fervent base, but that base is unable to influence people outside the circle. If Paul can attract thousands to a rally, many more should actually vote for him. Paul himself discusses the problem in the article:
"I don't have a full answer for that," says Mr. Paul, who says he believes ballot irregularities have chipped into his numbers in some places. He adds, "I think there's some problem…
tsmith | March 28, 2012She just bought two pairs of new shoes.
This is the refrain my brain keeps returning to, as if that will make the outcome any different. She hardly ever bought new shoes, or clothes, and especially furniture. Yet in the past year, as she decided she'd go on dialysis and stick around awhile, she purchased all of that. The shoes were just mere weeks ago. So she can't really be gone.
My Grandma had been preparing for her death for literally decades. She'd occasionally show me things--knick knacks, collectibles, heirlooms, etc.--that she'd tagged with a sticker on the bottom bearing my name. She…
gregladen | March 28, 2012Marie-Claire Shanahan is going t be interviewing David Dobbs about his book, Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral on Skeptically Speaking.
So, that would be one of my favorite people interviewing one of my favorite authors about one of my favorite books which is, in turn, about one of my favorite topics, on my absolutely favorite radio show/pod cast which is usually run and operated by one of my favorite people. Holy crap!
As you know, I interviewed David about this book on Bloggingheads a while back.
The interview will be on April 1st, Sunday at 6:…
hrynyshyn | March 28, 2012Now on CNN:
Imagine you are sitting in your office simply doing your job and a nasty e-mail pops into your inbox accusing you of being a fraud. You go online and find that some bloggers have written virulent posts about you. That night, you're at home with your family watching the news and a talking head is lambasting you by name. Later, a powerful politician demands all your e-mails from your former employer.
It sounds surreal. But it all happened to ...
Michael Mann.
gregladen | March 28, 2012What are we looking at here? Your answer will depend on the angle with which you approach the problem.
hat tip: Sarah Moglia.
gregladen | March 28, 2012I will be interviewing Maggie Koerth-Baker this Sunda, April 1st, no fooling.
Maggie Koerth-Baker is the author of the new book, "Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us". Maggie is the science editor and a regular writer at Boing Boing, and hails from the Twin Cities. She was once described as "A lighthouse of reason in a churling ocean of stupidity," which is exactly why we all need to read her book and listen to her interview Sunday, April 1st on Minnesota Atheists Talk Radio.
From the publisher's review of "Before the Lights Go Out":
"Hi, I'm the…
gregladen | March 28, 2012Just wanted to let you know that Matt Soniak, science writer, was interviewed on Skeptically Speaking last Sunday, March 25th, and a cleaned up version of the interview will be released on Saturday as a podcast . Matt was talking about Predators and Prey.
And, on the podcast there will be a pre-recorded conversation with Desiree Schell and me on "Man the Hunter" (more or less), a new installment of "Everything you know is sort of wrong."
Details here.
gregladen | March 27, 2012Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I'm still reading Drift. It's been hard to get the time with all this conventioneering I'm doing, but I'm loving it.
See also this preliminary look at the book.
gregladen | March 27, 2012There is a spreading belief that if you put Nitrogen (instead of regular air) in your car tires, that you will get better gas mileage. The reasoning behind this may be sound, but the facts on which the reasoning is based are not correct. Therefore, the answer is no, it is not advantageous for the average person to use Nitrogen in their car tires. On even more detailed examination, it maybe that regular air is better than Nitrogen for most people. Nitrogen is in fact used in certain tires, and there may be a good reason for that, though the information I have is probably missing something…
gregladen | March 27, 2012Tennessee "monkey bill" passes legislature
House Bill 368 passed the Tennessee House of Representatives on a 72-23 vote on March 26, 2012, the Chattanooga Times Free Press (March 26, 2012) reports. The bill would encourage teachers to present the "scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses" of topics that arouse "debate and disputation" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning"; it now proceeds to Governor Bill Haslam, who will have ten days to sign the bill, allow it to become law without his signature, or veto it. Haslam previously…
gregladen | March 26, 2012Click Here to explore freeDOS's new site design, now in testing stage. I think it looks much much better than the old site and is noticeably more functional. It is actually a good model for other similar software supporting sites. The thing I like about it most is that you need to do very little work to find out what the heck the software is, if, why, and how one might install it, and what you can use it for . I would add a single sentence or two to the context material, but otherwise it looks nearly done.
While you are there, visit the bottom of the page to find links to the freeDOS…
gregladen | March 26, 2012Run!
Interesting. I don't know what I think of the US thing. How's that working out with Torchwood? (I'm a year behind on everything because I only see these things on Netflix.)
gregladen | March 25, 2012
This is what a Democratic Party Walking Caucus looks like. It is a thing we do in Minnesota. It is so arcane and complicated that the press never covers it, so no one has any idea that we are doing this to select our nominees for political office. We have a fake "primary" at the beginning of the process, and that is what the press reports, but the "primary" result has nothing to do with the outcome of the process.
In this particular caucus, in my State Senate District, one of the main issues was selecting delegates for US Congress. In this race, Sharon Sund's team more or less wiped the…