Sarah Palin resigns

Yes, it's true. Sarah Palin resigned today. Although the collective political IQ in America just went up about fifty points, the Alaskan moose just became a little bit more endangered. Here's PZ's take (presumably with apologies to Monty Python & The Holy Grail):

Brave Dame Sarah ran away. ("No!") Bravely ran away away. ("I didn't!") When danger reared it's ugly shead, She bravely turned her tail and fled. ("no!") Yes, brave Dame Sarah turned about ("I didn't!") And gallantly she chickened out. Bravely taking ("I never did!") to her feet, She beat a very brave retreat. ("all lies!") Bravest of the braaaave, Dame Sarah! ("I never!")
Yeah, I LOL'd. We'll miss ya Sair ... you betcha.

Continue ReadingSarah Palin resigns

Richard Feynman and Doubt

Richard Feynman was one of the brightest physicists ever. His books, although dense and precise, are nevertheless some of the most accessible. He stood on the field at Trinity and looked at the first atomic explosion without dark glasses because (he said) he knew the simple bright light couldn't hurt him. He was a tireless debunker of nonsense, a very funny man, and he blamed bongos. But the thing that made him special...he was never afraid to look and he never used tinted glasses to do it. Via pharyngula.

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Six years later, we’re starting to talk sense

Why did the U.S. invade Iraq? Nothing floated by the Bu$h administration made any sense. All of Bush's reasons have long been shot down. Now we learn of an April 2001 report, "Strategic Policy Challenges for the 21st Century," prepared by the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy at the request of then-Vice President Dick Cheney. Truthout discusses the report and the historical context:

Two years before the invasion of Iraq, oil executives and foreign policy advisers told the Bush administration that the United States would remain "a prisoner of its energy dilemma" as long as Saddam Hussein was in power.
I'm not suggesting that an oil grab was a legitimate reason to invade. I'm merely suggesting that it was the real (and unadmitted) reason for Bu$h to invade.

Continue ReadingSix years later, we’re starting to talk sense