links for 2009-04-30

"My hero is a scientist. Every day they mak EXITING discoveries. They also make AWESOME potions, space probes and cool new ships. They launch rockets and space ships. I like it when the Space Shuttle goes up. It always makes me think of the scientists who made it. Scientists are really cool!"

"One of the quirks of the elite political debate is that it tends to occur in dense cities with extremely impressive transportation infrastructures. DC. New York. Places where cars are more of a luxury item. But that, as the graph shows, is not how most Americans think of them. Car stereos are a luxury. Cars are a necessity. They're ranked as more important than a phone, a computer, or an air conditioning system."

"Keller is different, I think. She's collecting new data. Maybe she's wrong, and maybe her paper doesn't deserve to generate headlines like "New blow for dinosaur-killing asteroid theory". But lots of scientists are wrong - even scientists who are right most of the time. That doesn't make those scientists the equivalent of the Discovery Institute."

"Yes, I understand that President Obama has said that sacrifices need to be made by each of us. Fine. In the spirit of this national sacrifice, I will still brush my own teeth. But Mr. President, you have to meet me half way. Where are my ninja powers? And my Mustang? And why are my telomeres still degrading, meaning that every day I look more and more like Ernest Borgnine? This is not the America I want to live in, Mr. President. You have to do your part, too."

A good response to Jerry Coyne's silliness about the NCSE, from somebody who works for the NCSE.