Author: Chad Orzel

Dispatches from the Class War: Educational Consultant Edition

The New York Times has a habit of publishing these loathsome little profile articles that either belie the paper’s liberal reputation, or are a stealthy attempt to bring about the Red Revolution by stoking class hatred. These generally take the form of profile stories about wealthy suburbanites in Westchester County or Connecticut, who have more… Continue reading Dispatches from the Class War: Educational Consultant Edition

links for 2009-07-19

Clowns Kicked KKK Asses – Neatorama "“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”. “White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced… Continue reading links for 2009-07-19

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links for 2009-07-18

slacktivist: TF: Bruce’s sermon, part 1 "There’s a monster at the end of this book. And if the authors succeed at what they’ve set out to do, that monster is you. That’s part of why one should only read these books slowly, in small, weekly doses, while pausing to scream at or mock every page."… Continue reading links for 2009-07-18

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Belated Baby Blogging 071709

After a long service outage, our home Internet is back, and I can post Baby Blogging pictures. Of course, it’s not as easy to get those as it used to be, because SteelyKid is always on the move these days: You pretty much have to hold her in place to keep her in the frame:

Unscientific America: The Pluto Thing

I’ve been really surprised at the number of people writing about Unscientific America who are confused by the discussion of the Pluto incident (Mad Mike is the latest, but it’s not hard to find more). For those who haven’t read the book, the first chapter opens with a description of the public reaction to the… Continue reading Unscientific America: The Pluto Thing

Belated Baby-and-Dog Video

This clip of Emmy and SteelyKid is actually from almost two months ago– I posted it on Emmy’s Facebook page, but not here. But it’s still cute, and ought to give SteelyKid’s adoring public something to tide them over until we get our DSL back and I can post this week’s Baby Blogging.

Wanted: Non-Academic Scientists

Having spent the last couple of posts talking (in part) about the need to change academic culture, and de-stigmatize non-academic science jobs, here’s an attempt to step up and do something direct and productive. No, this won’t cost you anything. One of the difficulties with trying to broaden the usual definition of scientists is that… Continue reading Wanted: Non-Academic Scientists

Scientists vs. the Scientific Community

This isn’t actually about a literal or metaphorical smackdown– it’s more about a distinction in language, related to a number of the comments that have been made regarding Unscientific America. (Yeah, I know. I’ll find something else to talk about soon.) The issue is most clearly laid out by Janet, who writes: In addition to… Continue reading Scientists vs. the Scientific Community

Unscientific America on Jobs in Science

The most unfortunate thing about the furor over Unscientific America is that the vast majority of the shouting concerns a relatively small portion of the actual argument of the book. Far too much attention is being spent on the question of whether Chris and Sheril are fair to Myers and Dawkins, and not nearly enough… Continue reading Unscientific America on Jobs in Science