local
milhayser | July 27, 2017On Class M, James Hrynyshyn shows us how climate change will benefit the economies of some U.S. counties while damaging many others. This mostly has to do with location; coastal areas and southern latitudes are more threatened, with Florida poised to suffer worst of all. James writes, "we're not just talking about polar bears anymore. It's now about jobs, wages, infrastructure, crime." Meanwhile, William M. Connolley reports Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf is 12% smaller due to a giant iceberg splitting off and heading (presumably) toward Miami. Greg Laden says denial of global warming has…
sastyk | May 8, 2012it has been quiet around here because late last Tuesday we got a placement of two boys, C., 7 and K., 8. In the chaos of getting everyone settled, dealing with all the legal requirements, paperwork and appointments that a foster placement entails and getting them back to school, the blog has taken a backseat, but I'm more or less back. The boys are doing great, and are truly sweet, wonderful kids. They've had a really rough time, but everyone is really getting used to each other and having a blast. They'll be with us until at least mid-June, so we are in for some spring fun with six boys…
pharyngula | February 14, 2012It's on! Students here at UMM got together and have organized their very own Midwest Science of Origins Conference, to be held in Morris on 30 March-1 April. As the big name speaker, they've got Neil Shubin to tell us all about Tiktaalik, and some other regional folk to talk about physics, biology, anthropology, and philosophy…and also Chris Stedmaaaaaan (you can tell right away that this isn't a case of me dictating to them what to do — this is entirely student-organized and run). Come on out and learn!
What, you say, you can't come all the way out to itty-bitty Morris on the edge of nowhere…
pharyngula | January 26, 2012We're having a visit today from Shawn Lawrence Otto, a fellow who has been fighting against the un-American war on science on the web and in a book, Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. He's speaking on campus tonight at 7:30 Central, in the HFA Recital Hall — I urge local community members to show up, he has important things to say about education and climate change — and that talk is going to be streamed live, so all you distant strangers can also watch the show.
It was a little strange, though, to get messages from the university administration telling me I'm expected…
sastyk | December 1, 2011I'm going to be buried under my book for the next few days as the Adapting-In-Place book finally goes to my editor, but I did want to respond to this email, or rather, get my readers to respond. Gwen writes:
"I just lost my job, and after a lot of late nights and panicked budget making, we think we can get along on just my husband's income, but it will be very tough and there will be no money at all for extras of any kind. We've always used our discretionary income to support things we care about - in the last few years this was local farmers and craftspeople, and making ethical choices…
pharyngula | July 26, 2011Scum of the earth. Parts of Michele Bachmann's district contain the most smug, pious, conservative rat-buggering jerks on the planet (like Marcus Bachmann and his anti-gay "clinic", for instance). And the symptoms are beginning to show: the Anoka-Hennepin school district, part of Bachmann's domain, home of the Elmer Gantry-wannabe Bradley Dean, is also the epicenter of an epidemic of teen suicides, 9 in the last two years. These are kids who were bullied for being gay, or suspected of being gay, or not fitting in to the their inbred little community (and who would want to?), and the school…
pharyngula | May 27, 2011I was reading Roger Ebert's lament over the disgraceful decline of quality in theater projection (a function of theater owners who just don't care anymore and the corrupting influence of bad 3D), and then I remembered that last year I took some pictures of the funky old technology in our local movie house, the Morris Theatre.
This is a classy old place, a bit run down now, but once it was the entertainment center for the whole community. It was built in the 1940s, and it's very old school: a single screen, so you don't get many choices here. What's playing this week is what's playing this…
pharyngula | May 25, 2011I'll be on Minnesota Public Radio on 31 May, on a program called Bright Ideas, in front of a live studio audience, which will probably pepper me with obnoxious questions. Or fun questions. We'll find out.
This event may have already been 'sold' out (tickets are free) — but you locals can try to get in here (Never mind, it is already sold out).
pharyngula | May 1, 2011Michele Bachmann opened her mouth again. She compared increasing the tax rates for the rich to the Holocaust.
She said she was shocked to hear that many Americans weren't aware that millions of Jews had died until after World War II ended.
Bachmann said the next generation will ask similar questions about what their elders did to prevent them from facing a huge tax burden.
"I tell you this story because I think in our day and time, there is no analogy to that horrific action," she said, referring to the Holocaust. "But only to say, we are seeing eclipsed in front of our eyes a similar…
pharyngula | April 9, 2011Hey! Martin Rundkvist is in Minnesota, and Greg Laden will be interviewing him for Atheist Talk radio tomorrow morning at 9am Central time.
Now I'm tempted to drive in to Minneapolis tomorrow for the brunch at Q Cumbers. Must finish projects first…must finish prep for Monday class, too…aargh, don't know if time will allow.
pharyngula | March 21, 2011Living in paradise, the Pacific Northwest, has probably spoiled her, so it's good that Mother Nature is preparing for her visit. Right now, Minnesota is looking horribly bedraggled and grubby — we've been thawing, slowly, over the last few weeks, so the snowpack burying us has diminished by a foot or two, and what's left is the filthy black dirty detritus covering everything, with a few exposed brown patches here and there. But nw we hear that temperatures are about to plummet again, and a snowstorm is on the way, timed to arrive just when I'm picking her up! She'll get to experience the…
pharyngula | March 5, 2011This is a local reminder: we're gathering at the Morris Public Library today at 3pm to discuss the lies of our recent creationist visitor. All are welcome, if you want to try to defend him, please do…just be aware that there will be a group of intelligent, well-educated UMM students present who will add you to the menu. But hey, we were brave enough to show up for the Mortenson follies, are you brave enough to step into the lion's den?
pharyngula | February 25, 2011This week, the University of Minnesota Campus Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists will be hosting an Ask an Atheist panel discussion on Thursday, March 3, from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. This will take place on the UMTC campus, at:
Amundson Hall B75
421 Washington Avenue SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Here's how it is described:
This week we are welcoming everyone from all theological backgrounds to come and learn more about atheists. We want to hear your questions and be able to answer them, candidly, to clear up any misconceptions about atheists that you may have. We will have a panel of an undergraduate…
pharyngula | February 18, 2011It's state representative Mike Beard. Republican. Christian. Moron.
He thinks we don't have to worry about natural resources.
God is not capricious. He's given us a creation that is dynamically stable. We are not going to run out of anything.
Nuclear war and the death of a few hundred thousand people? Whatever. Get over it.
How did Hiroshima and Nagasaki work out? We destroyed that, but here we are, 60 years later and they are tremendously effective and livable cities. Yes, it was pretty horrible. But, can we recover? Of course we can.
No, he's not from the same district as Michele Bachmann…
pharyngula | February 16, 2011I'm going to be on Atheist Talk radio on Sunday morning at 9am, for a whole hour. Greg Laden is going to be interviewing me, and he's put up a thread asking for questions. Any questions. Go ahead, make me writhe and suffer and struggle on Sunday — I don't mind, and it'll be entertaining. Greg also has a sadistic streak, so he'll have more fun if he can pin me down and needle me for an hour.
I've got a busy weekend ahead of me, but fortunately I don't have to travel too much this time. I'll be speaking to the Humanists of Minnesota at 10am on Saturday at the Nokomis Recreation Center (2401 E…
pharyngula | February 7, 2011It's astonishing how regressive Republicans can be. Would you believe the Minnesota Republicans think women are worth less than men, and are willing to pass legislation legalizing that view?
Minnesota Republicans have introduced legislation that would repeal the 1984 Local Government Pay Equity Act (LGPEA), which directs local governments to ensure that women are paid the same as men. While local governments say reporting requirements are costly, equal rights groups say the law needs to stay intact in order to ensure fair pay, especially for women of color.
HF7/SF159 would repeal a laundry…
pharyngula | February 6, 2011Way back in October, I told you we were trying to hire a new cell biologist. We had a very successful search, found a whole lot of brilliant candidates, and then brought a few of them out for interviews, where they shone like stars and dazzled us with their potential…and then they all turned down our offers. We should have mentioned in our criteria that working here demands that you be slightly mad — only slightly, though, just enough to be committed to undergraduate education in spite of a remote rural location, but not enough to be be, you know, committed. It probably didn't help to be…
pharyngula | January 29, 2011The University of Minnesota Morris has a special guest coming to town: Roger Nygard, the filmmaker best known for making the movie Trekkies, about the Star Trek culture. He's here as a guest of our philosophy department, though, because his latest movie is The Nature of Existence, in which he asks various people about the meaning of life.
I don't know. Wandering around the world asking strange weirdos to explain why the world was created sounds like a lousy way to do philosophy, and an even worse way to do science, but it might be a great way to do entertainment. We'll have to see.
He's…
pharyngula | January 26, 2011At the end of February, I've mentioned that a flack from Answers in Genesis will be appearing in Morris. I guess the local hosts of that event are a little worried that I might breathe fire over their little church, so they just sent me a note.
Professor Myers,
I am the local coordinator for the Answers in Genesis conference which will be held in Morris on Feb. 27 and 28 featuring Dr. Terry Mortenson. I realize that there is a lot of real estate between our opinions on this subject. My hope is that we create a respectful discussion about this issue which will be challenging.
I would…
pharyngula | January 19, 2011A representative from Answers in Genesis will be speaking here in Morris, Minnesota! And none of the scheduled talks conflict with any of my classes! Not that I'll go to them all — I do have limits on how much BS I can be served before gakking up chunks — but I'll go to some, and will live-tweet the foolishness and blog up the events afterwards. My introductory biology students will also get some extra credit for attending.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 to Monday, February 28, 2011
Dr. Terry Mortenson
Schedule
Note: Any overlapping times indicate multiple, simultaneous sessions
Sunday,…