Charles Kuffner reports on an “Innocence Summit” in Texas last week, and points to two more reports from Grits for Breakfast that provide more colorful detail. The news story already says most of what needs saying, though: AUSTIN — Nine wrongfully convicted men who spent a collective 148 years in Texas prisons met with a… Continue reading Why Capital Punishment Is a Bad Idea
Category: Politics
On the Bitterness of Academics
Jake Young points to a Bloggingheads conversation between Dan Drezner and Megan McArdle about, among other things, whether academics are bitter and why. This mostly comes out of a post Megan wrote (link is a leap of faith– the site is down as I type this), and serves as a lead-in to a discussion of… Continue reading On the Bitterness of Academics
Non-Dorky Poll: Fake News
I’m going to be busy all day (more or less) at the Steinmetz Symposium, listening to talks about the fantastic things our students have been doing with their research projects. So it’s going to be a “talk among yourselves” day here at Uncertain Principles, for the most part. For this one, I’ll crib from Popdose,… Continue reading Non-Dorky Poll: Fake News
Scientists Don’t Have to Do Everything Themselves
The Mad Biologist, like 80% of ScienceBlogs, is mad at Chris Mooney: Here’s the problem: you keep coming to evolutionary biologists with a problem (the perception of evolutionary biology), and you don’t have a solution. Do you think there’s a single evolutionary biologist who is happy with public opinion regarding evolution and creationism? But you’re… Continue reading Scientists Don’t Have to Do Everything Themselves
A Flock of Dodos
Randy Olson’s movie A Flock of Dodos comes up again and again in the course of arguments about public communication of science, but I had never gotten around to seeing it. I finally put it on the Netflix queue, and ended up watching it last night. For those who have been living in caves and… Continue reading A Flock of Dodos
The Class Project
Lawrence Watt-Evans is reposting some old Usenet essays on the subject of class, which regular readers will recognize as a hot-button issues for me. So far, he’s up to part four of six. The list: Defining Terms Who I Am Attitudes & Money On the Job It’s excellent stuff. A sample, from Part 4: Work… Continue reading The Class Project
A Pro-Science Film Festival: Why Not?
Over at Shifting Baselines, Randy Olson posts a comment suggesting how to combat anti-science movies like Expelled: You want to know how to start — why doesn’t somebody run a film festival for pro-evolution films? THAT is how you reach out to tap into new voices, new blood, new perspectives. THAT is what is desperately… Continue reading A Pro-Science Film Festival: Why Not?
Curse You, Georgia
At Inside Higher Ed this morning, there’s an article with the headline At U. of Georgia, Furor Over Clarence Thomas. As always when I see such things (or, say, complaints about having Mike Huckabee speak on campus here), my first thought was “Curse you, Georgia, for making me think, even for a nanosecond, that David… Continue reading Curse You, Georgia
Loan Forgiveness for Public Service
As I may have mentioned in the past, we at Chateau Steelypips have benefitted greatly from Yale Law School’s loan forgiveness program for graduates taking public service jobs. Since Kate shattered my dreams of a self-funded basement lab by deciding to use her pricey law degree for good rather than racking up billions as Evil… Continue reading Loan Forgiveness for Public Service
Mike Huckabee, Self-Governance, and Frustration
Mike Huckabee spoke on campus last night, to the second-biggest crowd I’ve seen for an on-campus speaker (the biggest was Maya Angelou, back in the fall, where a few hundred people were turned away). It was a very good speech in a lot of ways, but ultimately, the whole thing was kind of frustrating, both… Continue reading Mike Huckabee, Self-Governance, and Frustration