Here’s Romney’s “candidate” page:
Here’s Obama’s: Continue reading Romney vs. Obama on Facebook
Monthly Archives: September 2012
Michele Bachmann Could Be Replaced
For various reasons, it has been difficult for the Democrats in Minnesota (called “DFLers”) to unseat Republican Congressional Representative Michele Bachmann. This has been partly because the candidates put up were not properly selected (probably) and partly because the people in her district simply liked her. Personally, I think her district started to like her less before the last Congressional election but supported her anyway because of her celebrate. But I have another theory as well, which is that the Tea Party is done. Out of date. No longer relevant. Michele Bachmann’s district’s voters have tired of the Tea Party and Michele Bachmann is the Tea Party.
And there are polls to indicate that this may be the case. Jim Graves, Michele Bachmann’s DFL opponent in the Sixth District Race in Minnesota, is creeeping closer and closer to Bachmann’s numbers, and it is possible that this race could even up over the next few weeks.
From the Minnesota Progressive Project:
A new poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan indicates that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is more vulnerable to her Democratic challenger than previously believed.
The polling firm surveyed about registered likely voters in the Sixth Congressional district of Minnesota from August 29 to August 30. The results indicate only forty per cent of the voters in Bachmann’s politically conservative district rate her performance “Excellent/Good.” Thirty-five per cent of those polled rate Bachmann’s performance “Poor.”Asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, forty-eight per cent of those polled indicated that they would vote for incumbent Bachmann and forty-six per cent indicates they would vote for her opponent Jim Graves, a newcomer to politics.
Minnesota Political expert Bill Pendergast gives his analysis of this here. That site is getting a lot of sudden attention so it may take a moment to load, give it time. Continue reading Michele Bachmann Could Be Replaced
Fox Coverage Of The Conventions (Jon Stewart, Mockingly)
Which American Political Party is More Violent?
A while ago, I wrote Who is to blame for politically shaded shootings? in which I made this rather extreme statement which was only weakly opposed by any commenters:
Generally speaking these days, progressive movements and for the most part the “left” in America speaks out against violence, is more or less either anti-gun or pro gun regulation, mostly anti-war, and mostly pacifist, while the right wing tends to form heavily armed paramilitary militias, is totally against almost any kind of gun related regulations, is pro war, and bellicose. So when someone from the right shoots someone on the left, it really is a natural extension of what they talk about. When someone on the left shoots someone on the right, that’s a crazy person.
Correct?
Today, I came across this interesting graph on Google+:
See this for source and for a discussion on what it all means.
The data are drawn from Greg Corell’s Right & Left Violence: Timeline.
Comments?
Romney on Pre-Existing Conditions
Romney would replace Obamacare with a law that would require insurers to do what they were already doing before Obamacare, but makes it sound better than it is:
The key phrase here is “continuously insured.”
As pointed out by Jonathan Cohn via Think Progress:
the federal government already forbids insurers from denying coverage to the continuously covered through the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). But the measure has been seen as a failure because “there is no limit on what insurers can charge under HIPAA” and the law does “little to regulate the content of coverage, leaving the door open to insurers to offer bare-bones policies. In addition, HIPAA notice requirements are weak, making it hard for people to know about this protection.”
Ever thought about why a woman would want an abortion?
The Galileo Thermometer was not invented by Galileo
According to Peter Loyson, who has written a corrective article for the Journal of Chemical Education, Galilio did invent a temperature measuring device called a thermoscope.
In the period 1602–1606, while he was professor at the University of Padua, he made a thermoscope, also called an air thermometer, for measuring relative changes in temperature. He took a “glass bulb with a long slender stem and as narrow as a straw; having well heated the bulb with his hands, he inserted its mouth in a vessel, containing some water, and, withdrawing the heat of his hand from the bulb, instantly the water rose in the neck more than a palm above its level in the vessel. It is thus that he constructed an instrument for measuring the degrees of heat and cold”, according to a letter written by Castelli, one of his pupils. The different degrees of temperature would then be indicated by the expansion and contraction of the air that remained in the bulb, so that the scale would be the reverse of modern thermometers, as the water would stand highest in the coldest weather. About 1611–1612 Galileo substituted spirit of wine for water and later still the Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Florence, a former pupil of Galileo, used colored spirit of wine and reduced the dimension of the tube.
Since the thermoscope also responded to air pressure it was both a thermometer and a barometer, until modifications in 1653 were made to the design to remove air from the area above the liquid.
You can get a copy of the original paper here.
Peter Loyson (2012). Galilean Thermometer Not So Galilean J. Chem. Educ, 89 (9) DOI: 10.1021/ed200793g
Nicknames
It has always been difficult for people to come up with a nickname for me. One friend in high school called me Paris, short for G. Laden Paris, which I never quite understood. The Efe Pygmies called me Simon. Which I never quite understood. Lately many of us Progressive or Feminist bloggers have been routinely denigrated by worthless scum trolling drekazoids and nicknames have been involved, such as ‘Twatson’ for Rebecca Watson. My winged monkey nickname became Osama bin Laden which is totally stupid because it is just some dead guy’s name.
There are people who unilaterally decide to call me ‘Greggy’ when they want to be disrespectful, and I do find that annoying, but for reasons I never quite understood. I do know, though, that when I become ‘Greggy’ (or ‘Greggie’), the nicknamer from then on on is conversing alone.
But that was then and this is now. Those days of paucity in cleverness are gone, because one of my detractors has finally hit on a nickname I can live with. The term is, I am told, used in a hate video directed at me, that I’ve not seen (nor will I). In this production by a misogynist men’s rights advocate (most of them are former teenage molesters or rapists now busy turning guilt into blame, I suspect) I am known as …
… SkepDickPrick.
I am SkepDickPrick. Hear me roar.
Ooops
We have the coolest bus
The Twin Cities Metro Transit (which we voted some time ago to call “The T” but still haven’t really started doing yet) has added a very cool bus to its fleet. It is Minnesota Made which is nice, and super efficient in part for reasons that I had not realized were important. From the T’s web site:
- Advanced engine and hybrid technology
- Optimized onboard systems for improved efficiency
- Reduced emissions from less time spent idling
- Less idling + more efficiency = buses that run cleaner and pollute less
Unlike other buses, even some hybrids, the Xcelsior uses super efficient All Electric components, many that eliminate power-sucking hydraulic systems. Instead, itt uses an all Electric HVAC system, electric power steering rather than hydraulic and an electric air compressor to power pneumatic accessories like doors and airbrakes.
On The X Blog
In case you were not noticing, a few items have come up on the X Blog for your attention. I made a few observations from Bill Clinton’s amazing speech last night and have a suggestion for my Republican friends. There’s a wonderful bit of video in which Mitt Romney sits down with a plaid flannel jacket wearing Vet to hob-nob with the masses, and accidentally ends up in a conversation about gay marriage with a guy who would really like to share is veteran’s benefits with his significant other. Be sure to watch it through to the end! And, there’s been several special editions of the Sunday Funnies. And more, you can dig around.
On Scienceblogs
A few items of interest over on my other blog:
It's the Heat of the Night
Global Weirdness: Severe Storms, Deadly Heat Waves, Relentless Drought, Rising Seas and the Weather of the Future
…Sixty easy-to-read entries tackle such questions as: Is climate ever “normal”? Why and how do fossil-fuel burning and other human practices produce greenhouse gases? What natural forces have caused climate change in the past? What risks does climate change pose for human health? What accounts for the diminishment of mountain glaciers and small ice caps around the world since 1850? What are the economic costs and benefits of reducing carbon emissions?
Robert Krulwich at NPR pulled a nice graphic out of the book to exemplify one of the topics covered. Have a look:
The reason for the longer frost free periods is primarily increased warmth at night, when the last and first frosts tend to happen. This, in turn, is the result of an atmosphere that holds more of the heat that would normally radiate out into space. This was predicted, it happened, and there you go.
Warning: This graph should not be used for developing your own local gardening plans. The lengthening of the frost free season is highly dependent on geography. Your mileage will vary.
Hey, if you want a free chapter from the book, click here to download a PDF courtesy of the National Center for Science Education.
Minda Berbeco Joins NCSE
“I have long respected NCSE’s defense of evolution education and I am thrilled that the organization has taken up climate change” says Berbeco. “I’m even more thrilled to be part of NCSE’s new climate change team.”
From droughts to rising sea levels, climate change will have global effects. “Ignoring the science won’t change the realities of climate change”, says Berbeco. “We need a fully informed public—especially students, teachers, journalists, politicians—who have a solid grounding in climate science basics”.
Genie Scott Wins Dawkins Award
NCSE’s executive director Eugenie C. Scott received the Atheist Alliance of America’s Richard Dawkins Award at the group’s annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, on September 1, 2012. Unable to attend the ceremony in person, the namesake of the award began his video introduction by saying, “Eugenie Scott is one of my very favorite people, although we have our civilized disagreements, as I shall tell,” and adding, “it’s impossible to meet Genie without loving her, whether you agree with her or not.” Scott began her acceptance speech by joking, “I now possess awards in the names of both Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins. This demonstrates that I can get along with everyone. Regardless of my historic amiability, however, I do not anticipate ever being presented with the Ken Ham award, if such exists.”