Writings, Rant, and Wit from a skeptical life science major. Featuring current events, science, politics, music, book reviews, logical thought, and random machinations. Enjoy!
In what may be the most terrifying Supreme Court decision in decades, the highest judicial body in the land has overturned McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation, allowing completely unlimited campaign spending by corporations. The conservative ideology behind this ruling is that corporate spending is protected as free speech under the Constitution. A very, very curious perspective, as corporations are neither individuals nor citizens, and as such are not protected by the Bill of Rights. Corporations are abstract constructs of the state, designed to limit liability and pool capital in commercial endeavors. They were NOT designed to be unrestrained political machines able to use the profits obtained in part through their inherent legal/financial protections to completely override the campaign contributions of citizens and thoroughly undermine the democratic process. This is a very scary time indeed.
House Democrats, led by Barney Frank, will be attempting swift action to legislate around this unprecedented (no pun intended) ruling and curb the damage of unrestricted corporate campaign spending on our political system:
Now that Scott Brown (R-MA) has been narrowly elected to fill the late great Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, the Democrats have effectively lost their beloved Supermajority. The Republicans (still numbering a paltry 41 in the upper house) have hailed this as America’s rebuttal to the policies of the President and the ruling party. While this is certainly not the case, the loss of the Supermajority means that the
Democrats in the Senate cannot override a filibuster. This sucks, no?
I don’t think so. For the past 8 months, Democrats in the Senate have had a simple majority for very strong versions of Health Care Reform. Progressives have watched with dismay as the reforms we’ve waited for for so long have been watered down and stripped of their teeth (Public option? Medicare buy-in? Prescription drug re-importation?), all to appease a handful of conservative Democrats and the repugnant Joe Lieberman and get to a 60-vote filibuster-proof Supermajority passage of Health Care Reform in the Senate.
This weakening of reform legislation has already angered a great deal of progressives in the House, many to the point of no longer supporting the Senate version of the bill. Now that the Senate can not longer achieve a Supermajority passage even with the Conservadems and Joey No, their only option for passage is reconciliation. And that makes those Democrats (and Independent) in favor of a weaker bill completely irrelevant!
Conservatives may not realize it, but in getting Scott Brown elected in Massachusetts, they have significantly increased the odds of getting a strong Health Care bill passed. With only the liberal House and 51 Senators required for passage now, Democrats could (based on vote calculations from the summer) now pass the public option if they so chose, or a medicare buy-in, or any other such progressive policy as they see fit!
What may have last night seemed like a devastating blow to the morale of Democrats, the loss of the seat of the strongest champion of Health Care Reform in recent history, may indeed turn out to mark a turning point in the fight to bring his legacy to fruition.
This season, why not try out a new holiday beverage? Born of an unwitting flick of the wrist while unwrapping a starlight mint near a glass of juice, I call it:
The Crandy Cane
You’ll need:
80 0z. Cranberry Juice
4 Peppermint Candy Canes (or starlight mints in a pinch)
Pour chilled cranberry juice into four wine glasses or goblets, placing one candy cane in each. Allow at least 4 minutes for partial dissolution. Serves 4.
The tartness of the cranberry juice is a lovely match for the cool tingle of the mint, with the mint flavor increasing as you drink, leaving a refreshing winter finish. And seriously, it takes like ten seconds to make. Add vodka for an extra kick!
The Ugandan Parliament is expected this month to pass legislation entitled “The Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009″, with the following legal implications:
Life Imprisonment for the “offense” of Homosexuality.
Death by Hanging for Homosexuality with HIV positive status.
Three Years in Prison for failure to actively turn in a known Homosexual within 24 hours of disclosure.
Seven Years in Prison for advocating for the rights of Homosexuals.
Forbids Landlords from renting to known Homosexuals.
Bans public discussion of Homosexuality.
This unthinkable legislation is certainly the most heinous persecution of gays and lesbians in recent history, and has been condemned by much of the Western World. I say ‘much’, because although the Obama administration has condemned the legislation, many conservative American politicians and evangelical groups have refused to denounce the legislation and have even praised Uganda and Ugandan leaders.
It’s time for the ProfessorTreeFrog First-Ever Holiday Gift Guide!!!
1) This line of plush toys is seriously cute and seriously awesome. They’re called “Evolvems“, and are zip-inside-out plushies demonstrating major evolutionary milestones. They have the Coelacanth-to-Ichthyostega transition, as well as Dimetrodon-Cynognathus, Yinlong-Styracosaurus, and Pakicetus-Squalodon!!!
2) Also a line of plush toys, “Foodchain Friends” is for those with a more ecological than evolutionary bent. Like some sort of cute, twisted take on Matryoska dolls, each plushie fits neatly inside the mouth of the next-largest plushie in its set, forming an adorable semi-creepy food-chain. These are three different sets, set in a prairie, forest, and river on the fictitious planet of Daro:
3) Ever thought of giving your significant other Herpes for Christmas? How about giving your friends the oh-so-timely Swine Flu? Now you can with Petri Dish Plushies! Choose from a wide array of horrific diseases, or maybe invest in a few extra neurons?
4) For those of you not into plushies (you people suck), why not go with the super-preachy Global Warming Mug? Oh, you know you’d love to pour yourself a cup of coffee and annoy the heck out of the climate-change-denier at the next desk…
5) For all your closest teen vampires who have nothing better to do, there’s the Blood Caffeinated Energy Potion! This product is the “same color and consistency of real blood. It has many of the same nutrients of the rubicund liquid we love to consume (iron, protein, electrolytes, and caffeine) and has a delectable fruit punch flavor!!” It even comes in its own transfusion bag! Lame.
6) For those with a more historical bent, how about adopting a scientist from the Unemployed Philosophers’ Guild? They’ve got Darwin, Einstein, Curie, even Schrodinger’s Cat!
7) For your perennially tardy friends, why not get a Relativity Alarm Clock or Watch? The rotating face quickly turns 9:00 into 3:00 in just 30 seconds! Yes, it actually tells time, but in an innovative and quirky way!
[8] For you tech geeks with trust funds, the fabled Optimus Maximus Keyboard has finally come on the market. Every key is a tiny screen. EVERY KEY. That’s 113 screens on your keyboard, each able to dynamically change based on what you’re doing. Amazing. The fact that it costs sixteen hundred dollars? Not so amazing….
Eight seems like a good number, so this officially concludes the ProfessorTreeFrog First-Ever Holiday Gift Guide!!!
I’m all for new and innovative technology, but the new Google Wave format scares the crap out of me. The concept is great: a real-time multi-person interactive document and media sharing platform, where everyone can chat and collaborate on projects. Beta-testing is currently underway, with invitations flying and everyone getting super excited. Sounds like a great thing, no? The next Twitter or Facebook?
Not so fast, progress! How does this work, and what’s happening to the information we’re producing?
“complete threads of multimedia messages (blips) are perpetually stored on a central server”
So it can work so fast because you’re keeping a copy on your fancy Google servers in California, but what do you mean by “perpetually”? A further perusal of the FAQ page on the Google Wave website brings up the following disturbing passage:
“Any Waves which have other participants will to continue to exist in the Google Wave system, including all of the content that you provided in those Waves. Any Wave for which you are the only participant will be deleted from the system within 60 days and may remain in our offline backup systems.”
What!??! So you’re keeping a copy of everything we say, do, or create not only so long as we’re working on it, but even after we exit/delete the “Wave”? That sounds pretty fishy. Who’s going to be able to see/use our info? Is it only for use with the Google Wave, or even just Google itself?
There are only certain limited circumstances when Google allows access to your information. We may give access to:
Subsidiaries or other trusted businesses that help us provide our services to you (we make sure they promise to keep your data private);
Law enforcement or others when we believe we are required to do so by law;
Others as necessary to enforce the Terms of Service or our policies, to protect against harm to Google or others, or to prevent or address fraud, security or technical issues.
So basically businesses get to see and use our information – which Google can keep forever – as long as they help Google provide services? What sort of services? Wait, isn’t the way Google provides all of its free services through Ad sales? Does this mean Ad agencies will have access to our information? Also, what about intellectual property? If I’m going over the draft of an academic journal article I’m writing, and you get to keep a copy of it, what does that entail for me trying to publish it? Or what if I’m an inventor and I’m going over schematics with a colleague? You get to keep a copy forever? Why???
Also “Law enforcement or others when we believe we are required to do so by law” – and since the Patriot Act is still in effect, you’ll be sharing our information to anyone with a badge, with or without a warrant, I assume?
Overall, these policies freak me out. I may or may not get Google Wave, but If I do I sure won’t put anything I want to keep ownership of on it, including pictures or academic work. And I sure won’t be saying anything of a sensitive nature or any personally identifying information.
These three men represent what I consider the journalistic ideal. What else do they have in common? They are no longer reporting. Well, sort of. As you know, Walter Kronkite passed away in July, after a lifetime of diligent reporting and being voted “the most trusted man in America”.
Carl Kasell, the voice behind Morning Edition on NPR News since its inception in 1979, has stated that he will no longer be reporting as of December 30th, 2009. Kasell will, however, continue announcing for the NPR news quiz Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.
Bill Moyers was the White House Press Secretary during the LBJ Administration, and went on to have a lengthy career with National Public Radio, as well as smaller stints on CBS and NBC. Since 2007, Moyers has hosted Bill Moyers Journal, discussing some of the most important and least-covered stories of the day with experts from multiple perspectives. I personally haven’t missed an episode of the Journal since its inception, and to me Bill Moyers represents the perfect journalist, one whose concern is uncovering the truth for the American people. Moyers is an outspoken critic of the American media, whose focus in recent years has shifted more and more to ratings and profits. Moyers is one of the few journalists who realises what “balance” truly is:
“The journalist’s job is not to achieve some mythical state of equilibrium between two opposing opinions out of some misshapen respect—sometimes, alas, reverence—for the prevailing consensus among the powers-that-be. The journalist’s job is to seek out and offer the public the best thinking on an issue, event, or story.”
Moyers has stated that he will no longer be producing the Journal as of April 30, 2010, and as of yet he does not have plans for another show. Let’s all hope that changes, for the good of America. Seriously, this man should be president.
I don’t know how I’ll feel once Kasell and Moyers are off the air; I certainly felt sick when Kronkite died. It really sucks having the wise older folks you trust no longer supplying you with vetted and insightful information. Who are we supposed to trust now?
Now that the Health Care Reform bill (HR 3200) has passed the House, getting the Senate to pass a similar bill is the next big hurdle. While the Democrats have a clear majority (58 seats plus two independents), three conservative Democratic Senators have threatened to vote against even starting debate. The New York Times would like you to meet the Holdouts:
In order to move Health Care Reform forward, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) must convince these three Senators to vote to allow debate to begin. There may be significant arm-twisting involved, with the Progressive Caucus hinting that it may revoke Committee seats if these Senators vote against their own party. Let’s hope those seats mean more to Senators Lincoln, Landrieu, and Nelson than the huge campaign contributions they receive from the special-interest groups that oppose Health Care Reform.
Tonight was the season finale of Project Runway, in which a collection of vibrant, diverse, and innovative clothing was passed over in favor of a parade of unimaginative black sweaters and felt helmets. I am of course speaking of the shocking defeat of Carol Hannah Whitfield, with the PR judges instead selecting Irina Shabayeva instead as the winner for Season 6.
The third finalist, Althea Harper, produced what was in my opinion an all-over-the-place collection of boring separates and knitwear. The clothes themselves were nice, but they didn’t go together on the models and really looked like something you could buy at Target. What is most infuriating about Carol Hannah’s loss was the way in which the winner was announced. Instead of Althea being told she was going not the winner first, and having Carol Hannah and Irina as the last two standing, Carol Hannah was sent home first. This made it seem as though Althea’s collection was better than Carol Hannah’s, which it patently was not. The judges’ comments even backed this up. The main – and really only – critique of Carol Hannah’s collection was the lack of “common thread”, a quality that was far, far more present in Althea’s line. Carol Hannah was complimented on her designs and fabulous use of color. Irina’s line, on the other hand, was almost entirely black, with repeated motifs of armor and metal. It was dark-on-dark and much the detail was hidden from easy view. It honestly seemed like Irina had become fixated on the idea of a black sweater with metal accents, for that is what she gave us model after model. Even her gown had the same accents, with what seemed like the same strips of metallic fabric done in almost exactly the same way. Overall, a major upset that will surely have mouths flapping for weeks to come.
Here’s a taste of Carol Hannah’s line:
And here’s some of Irina’s line:
To see all 36 designs by the three finalists, visit the Elle website. They’re all jumbled up in an attempt to keep the winner a secret pre-finale, but essentially if it has a headband or is a non-black sweater with long sleeves, it’s Althea’s. If it has a felt helmet, a high ponytail, or is black and ominous, it’s Irina’s. If it’s perky, colorful, and wearable while still being high-fashion, it’s Carol Hannah’s.
Today is the day that Ray Comfort, the creationist of hand-banana fame, will be distributing copies of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species at “the top 100 universities nationwide”. The catch? A 54-page introduction equating the theory of evolution with Nazism, and overall bashing the venerable Charles Darwin with lies and misinformation. The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has launched a campaign to warn the public of Comfort’s tactics, including a mass bookmark-distributing effort. I love the NCSE and everything for which they stand, and luckily (disappointingly?) Comfort’s website does not list my university as a target for the book distribution.
On the up side, no impressionable undergraduates at my school will be swayed by Comfort’s tactics, which is, of course, to have laypeople read his introduction and then get bored and close the book. This is a good tactic, because let’s face it, if you’re a non-scientist and someone hands you On the Origin of Species you’re going to read the juicy first couple dozen pages of drivel and then get bored when you hit the 18th-century science-speak. On the down-side, I don’t get to picket the distribution site with a poster explaining what these awful people are doing. Darn. :/
