March 19, 2008
There's much discussion and analysis of Obama's speech yesterday. I continue to be amazed, as I look at Obama's speeches, simply that they are written with complete paragraphs, and not (as in so many speeches, even Hillary's) with a single sentence per paragraph. That is how Obama thinks, and I…
March 18, 2008
There has been much wringing of hands over video of a speech delivered by Sen. Obama's pastor. Pastor Wright says various and sundry things which go well beyond what ought to be said at a pulpit, and beyond what a presidential candidate would consider, well, presidential. Obama has responded,…
March 18, 2008
Via Brave New Films Tony Perkins takes on eco-friendly Southern Baptists.
Perkins says "people are told and taught to look inwardly and making sure that they are spiritually prepared to meet the End Times, not throw away the keys to your SUV and jump on the Al Gore bandwagon."
In other words,…
March 17, 2008
G. Wayne Clough, president of Georgia Tech, was tapped to run the Smithsonian Institution. As we've reported, he steps into a deeply troubled organization. His predecessor allowed infrastructure to crumble, appropriated museum artifacts for personal use in his offices, and focused more on cozying…
March 14, 2008
Mmmmmm pi. Inexplicably, this is not a paid holiday at NCSE, but we do consume copious volumes of pie (including pizza), so it all works out.
My contribution is strawberry-rhubarb. King of pies. Discuss your favorite pie, pi, or pie-blogging in the comments.
March 13, 2008
Todd Tiahrt, Republican congressman from Wichita, is worried. In the course of a heated debate, he told his colleagues on the House floor "If you have a single ounce of self-preservation, you'll vote no."
What, you might ask, is so crucial to their survival? Is this more heated rhetoric over FISA…
March 12, 2008
Pew reports:
Public awareness of the number of American military fatalities in Iraq has declined sharply since last August. Today, just 28% of adults are able to say that approximately 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war. As of March 10, the Department of Defense had confirmed the deaths of 3…
March 12, 2008
Our Seed overlords have created a way to reward the loyal Scienceblogs readers. If you'd like to be part of this elite squad, shoot me an email today (Thursday).
Basically, you'll be asked to read Scienceblogs (as you do already), and bookmark a few posts a week to a special account at del.icio.us…
March 12, 2008
Via BoingBoing, we find this graphic
by Adam Nieman/Science Photo Library. On the left, a globe with all the water collected into a tiny marble, and on the right, a globe with all the air collected into a marble.
We think of ourselves occupying the globe, but really, those two tiny spheres are…
March 12, 2008
Michael Heller, this year's Templeton Prize winner, may be more willing to merge science and religion than many scientists are, but he's no pal of ID. In a statement at the press conference announcing the award, he explained:
Adherents of the so-called intelligent design ideology commit a grave…
March 11, 2008
Geraldine Ferraro:
I really think they're attacking me because I'm white.
More precisely, they're attacking her because she told a Los Angeles paper:
If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be…
March 10, 2008
In an article arguing that "sniping by aides hurt Clinton’s image as manager," this quote from senior adviser Harold Ickes doesn't help:
“It’s hard to draw conclusions about her management style,” he said, “because she is, in fact, not the manager of her campaign.”
The image projected in the piece…
March 7, 2008
Because it's that sort of day.
"Prairie Fire That Wanders About" by Sufjan Stevens from the album Illinoise (2005, 2:11).
"License to Kill" by Bob Dylan from the album Infidels (1983, 3:34).
"Spirit in the Night" by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973, 5:00).
"…
March 7, 2008
Yesterday, Pulitzer-winning author and Obama advisor Samantha Power told reporters:
"We f***** up in Ohio," she admitted. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win.
"She is a monster, too -- that is off the record -- she is…
March 7, 2008
What John said:
those of us who do not condemn someone for holding religious beliefs were caricatured as "feeling good that someone has religion somewhere". Bullshit. That is not why we dislike the Us'n'Themism of TGD. We dislike it because no matter what other beliefs an intelligent person may…
March 6, 2008
The American Friends Service Committee has a great video about the cost of the war in Iraq:
March 5, 2008
Today was crazy. No time for thinking. Enjoy some nice music.
"Somedays I See The Point" by Billy Bragg from the album Must I Paint You A Picture?: The Essential Billy Bragg (2003, 4:57).
"Stupid's Song" by Ani Difranco & Utah Phillips from the album Fellow Workers (1999, 2:43).
"Water May…
March 4, 2008
I think there were other contests today, but the important thing is that creationist challengers for two Texas Board of Education seats failed:
Veteran State Board of Education member Pat Hardy of Fort Worth [has] defeat[ed] a challenger in the GOP primary Tuesday night, holding off an effort by…
March 4, 2008
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, recently elected from the Kansas 2nd, took a strong stance against granting retroactive immunity for telecoms that broke the law by letting the government listen to your phone calls without a warrant.
"I am adamant about protecting the Constitution," she explained. "…
March 4, 2008
Don't forget to caucus at 7:15 tonight, and to vote early and often.
March 3, 2008
I think it's time to replace my bumper stickers from Kansas and Ohio with more regionally relevant stickers. Hopefully even with stickers that will remain relevant in a few years.
That means "Obama '08," while admirable in many ways, is suboptimal. And Diane Feinstein won't face a primary…
March 3, 2008
I've said it before, and will keep saying it until it becomes some sort of meme: Like all great indie acts, John McCain's early work was better.
There was a time when McCain at least put on a good show, presenting himself as an opponent of the corrosive effects of money on politics, and working to…
March 3, 2008
Via the Columbia Stats blog, we learn that there is a strong negative relationship between the number of Starbucks per capita and the number of Walmarts per capita. This isn't surprising, but it is informative. It also means that people who don't like expensive coffee or cheap Chinese crap…
March 1, 2008
Bush's Czar to Rebuild Gulf Coast Is Resigning - New York Times:
The White House said Friday that the administration's Gulf Coast reconstruction czar, Donald E. Powell, was resigning to return to his family in Texas. ...
Despite the billions of dollars spent, much of the city remains vacant and…
February 29, 2008
Would someone kindly hire Disco. Inst. lead vocalist Rob Crowther a copy editor? It wouldn't necessarily make what he says any less bogus, but at least his argument would be readable. It took me a long time to even find a grammatically correct interpretation of the title of his latest post "…
February 28, 2008
As Barack Obama clears his millionth individual contributor, the Congressional influence of large corporate donors continues to generate controversy.
The fight currently focuses on the question of warrantless wiretapping. The story goes like this:
Some time in 2001 (before 9/11), the Bush…
February 27, 2008
Making Light reminds us of William F. Buckley's greatest hits:
“The central question that emerges…is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas where it does not predominate numerically? The sobering…
February 27, 2008
While Matt Selman's rules of book shelving are clearly insane, Ezra Klein's response is clearly not quite right either. The basic rule, from which all the others follow like a pack of hallucinating baboons, is:
It is unacceptable to display any book in a public space of your home if you have not…
February 26, 2008
Bruce Chapman, president of the creationist Disco. Inst., complains about "young adults talking about politics and making fools of themselves in television and radio interviews." This is already rich, coming from a group that hosts such intellectual lowlifes as Johnny West and Billy Dembski. But…
February 25, 2008
Americans Change Faiths at Rising Rate, Report Finds - New York Times:
More than a quarter of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood to join another religion or no religion, according to a new survey of religious affiliation by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The report,…
