Bits and Pieces
jlynch | May 18, 2009
(I was originally going to hold off posting this until May 31st, but there seems little point)
I've been blogging here at Scienceblogs since January 2006, nearly three and a half years. During that time I have made many good friends - both fellow bloggers and readers - and have enjoyed the support of Seed Media Group. The time has, however, come for me to move on. The reasons are numerous but are also not really worth recounting here.
I do intend to continue blogging and will be found at http://jmlynch.wordpress.com at least for the short term. Hopefully some of you will follow me there.…
sb admin | May 18, 2009From a report released by BIO: The Biotechnology Industry Organization:
On average, only 28% of the high school students taking the ACT , which is a national standardized test for college admission , reached a score indicating college readiness for biology and no state reached even 50%.
Only 52% of 12th graders are at or above a basic level of achievement in the sciences, and for 8th graders only 57% are at a basic level of achievement.
Average scores for 12th graders in the sciences have actually declined from 1996 to 2005 and shown no improvement for 8th graders both on overall and the…
sb admin | May 15, 2009NCSE has announced that two remaining anti-evolution bills have died in committee: Alabama & Missouri.
To recap the year:
Mississippi - dead in committee
Oklahoma - dead in committee
Iowa - dead in committee
New Mexico - dead in committee
Florida - dead in committee
Alabama - dead in committee
Missouri - dead in committee
Texas - in committee
The boys over at the Discovery Institute must be a little down this evening. With a record like that, they are the Detroit Lions of anti-evolutionism.
sb admin | May 15, 2009
Finished grading today, so the Spring semester is finally over. I'm out of here for a few weeks. See you sometime in June.
jlynch | May 15, 2009
Finished grading today, so the Spring semester is finally over. I'm out of here for a few weeks. See you sometime in June.
jlynch | May 11, 2009So I'm trying to simplify things in real life as I think I am suffering from information overload (among other things).
First task was to clean up my Facebook friends. From here on, it's family, colleagues and (usually graduate) students. Folks I know only in virtual space are likely to have gotten bumped. Sorry if you were one of those - truly, no offense was intended. I'm willing to follow folks on Twitter though, so feel free to join that way. Just follow me and I'll reciprocate. There's also Friendfeed.
Second task will be to prioritize regarding blogging. That will involve some thinking…
sb admin | May 11, 2009So I'm trying to simplify things in real life as I think I am suffering from information overload (among other things).
First task was to clean up my Facebook friends. From here on, it's family, colleagues and (usually graduate) students. Folks I know only in virtual space are likely to have gotten bumped. Sorry if you were one of those - truly, no offense was intended. I'm willing to follow folks on Twitter though, so feel free to join that way. Just follow me and I'll reciprocate. There's also Friendfeed.
Second task will be to prioritize regarding blogging. That will involve some thinking…
sb admin | May 10, 2009Turns out that yesterday I posted my 2000th post here at Scienceblogs without even noticing it. Heh!
jlynch | May 10, 2009Turns out that yesterday I posted my 2000th post here at Scienceblogs without even noticing it. Heh!
sb admin | May 10, 2009Back in December 2006 I referred to Francis Beckwith as an ID supporter. This resulted in he informing me that he "has never been much of fan [of] design arguments, ever [and that his] interest in the debate focuses on the jurisprudential questions involving the First Amendment and what could be permissibly taught in public schools under that amendment." At that time I retracted and removed any reference to Beckwith as a supporter. More recently, Beckwith has objected to others referring to him as a creationist and an ID supporter. Tim Sandefur has replied, and now Barbara Forrest has offered…
jlynch | April 22, 2009PZ gets it right regarding the Huffington Post: It's the People magazine of the lefty blogosphere. Why anyone pay's attention while Jim Carrey spouts on about autism, I don't know.
jlynch | April 19, 2009
J.G. Ballard has died. So I give you "Atrocity Exhibition" by Joy Division. This is the way, step inside.
jlynch | April 9, 2009I'm currently reading Hoelldobler & Wilson’s The Superorganism and just ran across this post by Alex Wild which claims that
the whole section of The Superorganism devoted to the evolutionary history of ants is muddy, incoherent, and entirely at odds with the increasingly clear picture emerging from modern studies of ant relationships.
Alex is inaugurating Scienceblogs' new photoblog, Photo Synthesis, and will be guest-blogging for a month, so wander on over and check it out. His own blog is also worth a read and his photos (here and here) are excellent.
jlynch | March 22, 2009Nicholas Hughes was an evolutionary ecologist specializing in salmonids at the University of Alaska (Fairbanks). He was also the son of poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. He killed himself by hanging yesterday after a bout with depression. He was 47. Times of London obit is here.
(HT to TR Hummer)
jlynch | March 11, 2009The following is shamelessly lifted from Jim Lippard's blog:
On March 28, SkeptiCamp Phoenix 2009 will take place at Arizona State University in Tempe.
Participants include Mike Stackpole of the Phoenix Skeptics on "Practical Techniques for Street Skepticism," John Lynch on "Academic Freedom and Intelligent Design," and Tony Barnhart on "Methods of the Pseudo-Psychic."
The event is sponsored by the Skeptics Society/Skeptic magazine, the Center for Skeptical Inquiry/Skeptical Inquirer magazine, and by the James Randi Educational Foundation. It will be the fifth SkeptiCamp, after two in…