Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at the National Center for Science Education. He is formerly a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas, in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. When not battling creationists or modeling species ranges, he writes about developments in progressive politics and the sciences.
The opinions expressed here are his own, do not reflect the official position of the NCSE. Indeed, older posts may no longer reflect his own official position.
The gang has been examining Conservapedia, "the conservative encyclopedia you can trust" (unlike Wikipedia). There's much fun to be had, like the debate over: "Crusades … Good or Bad?," featuring Conservapedia creator Andrew Schlafly (son of Phyllis Schlafly) arguing:
I don't see anything wrong…
The bill's sponsor was philosophical:
“So that's not going to happen this year, it looks like. I think as far as legislation goes, no, as far as education and activity, yes. I mean if anything that's the bottom line that has been. We're very proud of the inroads we've made in educating some of my…
The Kansas state minimum wage (which affects only those outside federal standards) is $2.65. The recent push to boost the federal minimum wage inspired some legislators to try boosting the state minimum, but 62 Kansas House Republicans rejected the increase.
Rep. Benjamin Hodge reportedly rejected…
For whatever reason, there is some sort of conventional wisdom that, in 2006, Nancy Boyda "didn't win, the district, Ryun lost the district." That quote comes from Duke University's David Rohde, and here is the Wichita Eagle's comment on Boyda's choice not to accept DCCC support:
This will make…
Ed Humes, author of the acclaimed Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul, will be speaking twice in Kansas next month.
He'll be speaking at KU's Dole center on the 28th, and then at the JCCC at 7 PM on the 29th.
Both promise to be interesting events.
Witches and scientists is (rightly) upset. Observing the conservative commentariat at Human Events mangling Carl Sagan's legacy, Genexs writes:
I can't help noticing how much the Global warming deniers, Intelligent Design advocates, and other Dominionsts keep claiming the growing mountains of…
YearlyKos is one of those great and cool ideas, a gathering of the Kossack hordes. They are gearing up for the neoconvention, and to fund it, they are selling "unConventional," an anthology of photographs and essays about progressivism, activism, and online communities.
I'm setting aside some…
Brad Delong is surprised. The National Review organized a Presidents' Day symposium of historians on great presidents, yielding this list:
Richard Brookhiser... George Washington
H. W. Crocker III... Ronald Reagan
John Derbyshire... Calvin Coolidge
Bruce Frohnen... William Henry Harrison…
Apologies for being a day late on this. It's been a busy weekend, but things are settling down again.
We start out with an open invitation from John B. of Blog Meridian. He'll be bringing some of his students up from Wichita to visit the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum on Saturday, March 3. He'll be…
As I'm clearing out material I keep meaning to write about, I came across an excellent post about Bayesianism and 21st century intellectualism:
Popperian falsification is just a special case of the Bayesian view: if the likelihood P(data|model) is zero (indicating that the data is impossible given…
What would we do if Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts weren't there to save us from nonbinding resolutions opposing the escalation. All that would stand between democracy and our policy in Iraq would be Joe Lieberman.
Conveniently, John McCain had to be out of town for an ice cream social and to teach…
In response to Amanda and Melissa's comments on their recent adventures with right-wing's attack machine, the response has been predictable. When they post examples of death threats leveled against them, the braintrust at protein wisdom writes:
The speech is protected; there is no right, on the…
Despite what feels like a very cold winter right here in Lawrence, new ScienceBlogger commonground observies that January's Heat Record Isn't Broken it's Smashed.
From the Congressional Record:
Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to a valued member of the Armed Services Committee, the gentlewoman from Kansas (Mrs. Boyda).
Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the most critical issue this Congress, indeed our…
Getting along together is tough. In ecology, the problem is often stated the way the great G. E. Hutchinson did in a famous paper "Why are there so many kinds of animals?" In principle, a given species at some location should be a little better at getting food than others, and it ought to…
Billy "Isaac Newton of Information" Dembski complains about the new Kansas Science Standards. The new standards making this change "scientific knowledge describes and explains the natural world physical world in terms of matter, energy, and forces." Dembski complains:
Indeed, try to justify the "…
The origin of the flowering plants is, as DarkSyde observes, critical to the world as we know it. Not just because chocolate is lovely, as are roses. But because honey tastes good, and the diversity of butterflies is a never-ending source of joy to us all. If not for flowering plants, the…
Kansas Science standards were officially revised. There was little doubt this would happen, but it's nice to see the democratic system at work.
The revision removes amendments written by the Intelligent Design Network's John Calvert and Bill Harris. Instead, the science standards will be those…
The always excellent Greg Beck explains what happened in his dreams.........every night:
I might as well fess up and come clean with it. Some of you have probably already guessed it and the rest of you might as well hear the news from me instead of reading it in the stinkin tabloids.
Warning.…
The inimitable Dave Springer broadens his anti-science screeds to include the science of climate change, claiming he's "exposing the lies." He claims a NASA page demonstrates "frank admissions of broken atmospheric models, [and] declining atmospheric temperatures."
Of course, that's the opposite…
Discovery Institute - Upcoming Event:
Discovery Institute is pleased to co-present with CityClub of Seattle and the Seattle World Affairs Council a luncheon featuring U.S. Senator John McCain.
As I've said before, "Like all great indie acts, his early work was better." There are lots of places…
Via Mousie Cat, we learn that Monkey Girl author Ed Humes has a bone to pick with the Wall Street Journal. Humes book has received high praise for its coverage of the Dover trial, even earning the coveted scorn of the DI's bitching and moaning media complaints division.
The Wall Street Journal…
198 years ago, Charles "Chuck D." Darwin was born to an English physician who had married into the family famous for Wedgwood china. Halfway around the world, in a log cabin on the frontier, young Abraham Lincoln was born. Those two births changed the world, bringing forth a set of ideas that…
During debate on a measure in the state legislature that would oppose the escalation of war in Iraq, new state GOP chairman Kris Kobach and a state senator both misrepresented Nancy Boyda's vote on a spending measure, a resolution setting 2007 appropriations based on the 2006 funding levels.…
In a post that Billy D. titled Dembski’s pseudo-mathematical posturings, he manages to complain that:
The combination of ignorance and arrogance on the part of this individual is staggering.
Astoundingly, "this individual" is not meant as a reference to himself. It is a reference to an entirely…
The House Science Committee held a historic hearing on the IPCC report and the status of climate change (link to RealPlayer video of the hearing). It was especially historic because Speaker Pelosi made it the first committee she testified before as Speaker. She expressed her concerns about…
The Wall Street Journal polled 60 economists, and a big majority backed a carbon tax:
Forty of 47 economists who answered the question said the government should help champion alternative fuels. "Economists generally are in favor of free-market solutions, but there are times when you need to…
