June 7, 2007
The April 5, 2004 edition of the New Yorker had a fascinating article about height. (Incidentally, I highly recommend The Complete New Yorker.) It centers on a researcher named John Komlos, an anthropometric economist at the University of Munich, and work he's done to trace heights of different…
June 6, 2007
A few days ago, Billy Dembski responded negatively to a review of Michael Behe's new book by my fellow ScienceBlogger Mark Chu-Carroll. In particular, Dembski questioned whether it was really a review, telling his readers to "Judge for yourself whether this deserves to be called a review." (It is…
June 6, 2007
From last night's debate:
FAHEY: (inaudible) do not believe in evolution. You're an ordained minister. What do you believe? Is it the story of creation, as it is reported in the Bible or described in the Bible?
[Governor] HUCKABEE [of Arkansas]: It's interesting that that question would even be…
June 6, 2007
DaveScot quotes Martin Niemöller's famous "First they came… poem" arguing that:
Those who believe Guillermo Gonzalez’ involvement with ID outside the Iowa State campus can be justly used in consideration of whether or not to grant him tenure would be well served to think about this.
No. Guillermo…
June 5, 2007
Just so I'm clear, what role does the Spanish Civil War play in Pan's Labyrinth? Is there a deep allegorical link, or could an American version set in Bloody Kansas have worked equally well? A woman and her daughter have married Quantrill or some other border ruffian, but their farmhands are…
June 5, 2007
There's very little agreement on the immigration issue, and unlike so many issues, it is not a purely partisan issue. One area where everyone seems to agree is that illegal immigrant labor drives down wages in at least some industries.
I should point out that the evidence of economy-wide effects…
June 4, 2007
The Representative who hid money in a freezer is likely to be sent to the cooler himself. He is innocent until proven guilty, of course, but I don't have too many doubts about the outcome of this, give the evidence that's already leaked out.
Democratic leadership took heat from the Congressional…
June 4, 2007
The only actual submission to this week's carnival of Kansas blogging comes from emaw, who has found more creepy crawlies – a spider he has some interesting ideas about:
Given the radon levels in our basement, this quite possibly could be the kind of radio active spider that gave Spiderman his…
June 4, 2007
Why are basic scientific facts controversial in the public realm? What can scientists and their friends do to engage the public and move them past those misunderstandings?
Those are the questions motivating fellow ScienceBloggers Chris Mooney and Matt Nisbet as they tour the country giving a talk…
June 4, 2007
PZ Myers explains his objection to religion:
the bible is inferior. No pirates. No cephalopods. No swashbuckling. No undead monkeys. No men with tentacles.
Those are fair points, but for Cosma Shalizi's explanation of The Reason for the Season, with it's link to a working paper from the Vampire…
June 3, 2007
I've been having an email correspondence with someone who took issue with my suggestion a few days ago that all the talk in the immigration debate about our American Heritage may just be xenophobic blather.
My suspicion that xenophobia contributes a nontrivial chunk of that rhetoric is strengthened…
June 3, 2007
Mousie Cat points out that you can finally vote for the Eight Wonders of Kansas. It may be cheap promotional tourist nonsense, and you have to give them your email address, but it's still a nice look at what makes Kansas unique. I don't know why L. L. Dyche's diorama in KU's Natural History…
June 3, 2007
On Friday, I got an email from KU's new safety alert system, implemented after the Virginia Tech shootings. About 15 minutes later, I got another telling me:
UNIVERSITY POLICE HAVE COMPLETED A COMPREHENSIVE SEARCH OF CAMPUS IN RESPONSE TO AN UCONFIRMED REPORT.
THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF ANY THREAT…
June 2, 2007
Creekstone Farms wants to test every steer they slaughter for mad cow disease. The USDA, under pressure from larger meatpackers, says they can't:
The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.
The Agriculture Department…
June 1, 2007
While writing an email lamenting that there aren't more hours in the day, or at least fewer smart people saying interesting things on the intarweb and the literature, I signed off "Oy."
Then, as I was doing a last editing pass, I thought of changing it to "Argh." Or perhaps even "Arrrrrgh."
Which…
June 1, 2007
Less than a week before a G8 meeting at which Tony Blair tried but failed to get the major industrialized nations to commit to major greenhouse gas cuts, George Bush announced his own climate change conference. The Guardian writes that this action "threw international efforts to control climate…
May 31, 2007
One of the best ways to illustrate the growing societal consensus on global warming is the reaction of businesses. An alliance of conservation groups, car makers, utilities and industrial manufacturers is backing a system of cap and trade which would reduce allowable carbon emissions over several…
May 31, 2007
Shorter Sam Brownback: Science and theology don't conflict, but when they do, science is wrong.
Even shorter Sam Brownback: Vote for me. I'm the real conservative.
What fun we had when Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo and Mike Huckabee distinguished themselves from the pack of Republican candidates for…
May 29, 2007
The question of how to cut our production of carbon dioxide grows more urgent every day, and the focus tends to be on new sources of energy. Increased efficiency tends to get lost in the mix, even though it's the easiest and most readily implemented approach.
Improving the carbon efficiency of…
May 28, 2007
Mousie Cat writes:
our Ken-doll of the Religious Right is headed for big things
So many options on who that could be. Sam Brownback? Fred Phelps? Jerry Johnston?
None of them seems likely to reach higher office, thankfully.
No, just little old Ken Willard, hero of the creationist board of…
May 28, 2007
On this day when we remember our war dead, it's worth looking back at the when and the how of the 3455 US military fatalities in Iraq, 100 of them soldiers from Fort Riley. Rates of woundings and fatalities in Iraq show the same pattern, a sharp rise in fatalities and woundings since roughly last…
May 25, 2007
The purchasing power of the minimum wage has dropped to the lowest level in 50 years, but a bill passed yesterday will bring some relief to working Americans at last. The hike $5.15 per hour to $7.25 over two years will provide an income of around $15,000 per year (depending on overtime and time…
May 24, 2007
Via Peg Britton, we learn that this Sunday you too could enjoy the Annual Testicle Festival at Al's Bar and Grill in Wilson, KS (right off I-70):
For $20.00 you can have all you want to eat from the buffet of Rocky Mountain oysters, fried fish, salads, French fries, beer and music. It starts at…
May 23, 2007
The New York Times and Paul Decelles point out that wingnut Kansas Board of Ed. member Kenneth Willard is running unopposed to be president of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Willard's faults include voting for and strongly promoting the atrocious science standards last year…
May 23, 2007
The Star's Buzz blog reports:
According to the AP, President Bush plans to rally support for the war by citing intelligence reports that have Osama bin Laden ordering "a terrorist unit to hit targets outside Iraq, and that the United States should be first [hit]."
At some point, we were "fighting…
May 23, 2007
One of the lines you hear a lot in the immigration debate goes something like "we need to strengthen the idea of assimilation to immigrants. Keep your heritage, but you are now Americans. If you want to live in America, you are Americans first."
I don't know exactly what that is supposed to mean.…
May 22, 2007
From The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Vol.1: The Path to Power by Robert A. Caro, describing Herbert Hoover's response to the Great Depression (beginning October 29, 1929):
In December, 1929, he had said, "Conditions are fundamentally sound." In March, 1930, he said the worst would be over in sixty…
May 22, 2007
A while back, the Reverend Jerry Johnston, intolerant blowhard extraordinaire, was revealed to have been skimming the till from his First Family Church. It's the all-too-familiar tale of a conservative megachurch with a TV audience. Family on the payroll, bogus accounting, a lavish lifestyle for…
May 21, 2007
Reposted while I unearth myself from a bunch of work I have to get through. From the old TfK, and still relevant.
The editor of the racist VDare.com explains that white nationalists are different from white supremacists becasue:
They brush their teeth.
This has been today's edition of the field…
May 21, 2007
Apologies for the long absence, I've had some personal issues and a period of a lot of work to contend with. Back to regular bloggery shortly.
