Following on an article in Seed and an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, ScienceBloggers Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum (of
Category: Politics
Mortgage Crisis Question
Brad DeLong gives his stamp of approval to Steven Pearlstein’s explanation of the mortgage collapse now in progress. It is, indeed, a very clear explanation of what went wrong: Stick with me now, because this is where it gets interesting. For it is at this point that the banks got the bright idea of buying… Continue reading Mortgage Crisis Question
Is Our Schools Failing?
Kevin Drum looks at the latest story about American students lagging the world in science test scores, and notes that this has been going on at least since he was in school. This leads him to wonder whether it’s really as bad as all that: I still wonder about this. If American kids are getting… Continue reading Is Our Schools Failing?
The College Football Bowl Picture
Over at Inside Higher Ed, they have a piece looking at the state of college football as we enter bowl season. This is dominated by two large tables of numbers, one good, and one bad. The first table is the good one, as it explains why the college football “championship” is so messed up. It… Continue reading The College Football Bowl Picture
Hateful Talk Radio Update
I generally listen to ESPN radio in my office in the morning, because I like the Mike & Mike show. Unfortunately, they’re followed by Colin Cowherd, who is a world-class pinhead. He’s currently holding forth on the death of Sean Taylor, with his basic position being that Taylor had it coming because he had a… Continue reading Hateful Talk Radio Update
Simple Answers to Needlessly Complicated Questions
Kevin Drum is thinking about debate formats: Now, there’s nothing wrong with a few beachballs. Giving every candidate a couple of minutes to simply explain their healthcare plan — or whatever — without interruption is fine. But then what? Do we really want several months of “debates” in which candidates do nothing but rattle off… Continue reading Simple Answers to Needlessly Complicated Questions
The Pipeline Problem
Inside Higher Ed has an article on yet another study of why there aren’t more conservatives in academia: Colleges have been increasingly competing to offer “family friendly” policies — in the hopes of attracting the best academic talent from a pool of Ph.D.’s that includes both more women than ever before as well as many… Continue reading The Pipeline Problem
Simple Answers to Complicated Questions
Dave Bacon watched “Judgement Day” last night, and has a question: It’s not like, you know, there aren’t people who think quantum theory is wrong or that quantum theory is somehow related to the Vedic teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. So why is it that quantum theory (which after all is “just a theory” wink,… Continue reading Simple Answers to Complicated Questions
Judging “Judgement Day”
So, in case you missed the splashy banner ads that have been running here for the last week, NOVA ran a show about the Dover, PA “Intelligent Design” trial last night. You can find all manner of commentary on ScienceBlogs, for example here, here, and here. I’m not as, shall we say, personally invested in… Continue reading Judging “Judgement Day”
Politics of the Purple Cow
There’s been a bunch of talk in the blogosphere about the Democrats taking over the Virginia Senate. I’ve only really glanced at these, because I don’t live in Virginia, but I got email today pointing out that I have a personal connection to one of the “Key Races.” In District 34, J. C. “Chap” Petersen… Continue reading Politics of the Purple Cow