I’ve spent the last week or so making my big move; dealing with movers and our new apartment, getting the inevitable administrative details of a new department dealt with, and trying to make sure my graduate students are settled. Consequently, I haven’t been posting. I have, however, been reading here and there, and thought that, in lieu of a full post, I’d drop in some links to some of the things that caught my eye:
In celebration of Darwin’s bicentennial, The Guardian is publishing abridged extracts from the first edition of “On the Origin of Species”
Writing in Salon, Nancy Goldstein let’s Obama have it for thinking that inviting Gene Robinson to play a role in the inauguration makes up for the insult of having Rick Warren there. One prominent gay bishop doesn’t cancel out choosing a bigot.
In February, Comet Lulin will pass close enough to Earth to be visible with the naked eye.
The Canadian Light Source synchrotron is getting a Sci-Fi writer in residence.
There’s also apparently something big going on in Washington next week, and while it isn’t clear what it’ll mean for the role of science, at least the initial quotes are good.
Well, I’m off to work on a talk I’m giving in Aspen, at a conference I’ll tell you about soon.
January 14th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
May I just take issue with the idea that being opposed to gay marriage equates with bigotry? It certainly can, mind you, and I do think it generally equates with intellectual laziness. But living in the bible belt, I know a lot of good people, people with close gay friends, who are very much not bigots but who still oppose gay marriage. They’re people who believe in the literal truth of the bible, a belief which they feel boxes them in to being opposed to gay marriage. But as often as not, I get the sense many would rather not be against it, if the bible avoided any discussion of homosexuality.
To be clear, I disagree with them profoundly. But I think it’s a little too easy dismiss our opponents as bigots.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Actually, I am wondering “why have an invocation at all”?
It would be nice to see us move away from this superstition but I am not holding my breath.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I just like to stop receiving political stuff in my “science” feeds.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Why go to the Guardian’s abridged extracts from the Origin when you can get the full text of all editions, plus everything else Darwin published, for free at http://darwin-online.org.uk/.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Go read our “about” page Jim.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I take your point Matt, but, although I think one could make a strong argument for it, in the post I didn’t actually claim that being against gay marriage makes one a bigot. I claimed that Rick Warren is a bigot.
January 14th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Fair enough, Mark. And the link trail from your post seems to support that assertion more than I’d realized.
January 15th, 2009 at 7:40 am
Meanwhile…
Unfortunately, it looks like Comet Lulin is really going to be way too faint to be seen without binoculars or a small telescope, unless it flairs up unexpectedly…
January 15th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Mark,
I’m such a dozy pillock I hadn’t even picked up on the fact you had moved! I’ve only been to Philadelphia once, but loved it.
Did you know that, in this time of financial crisis, Hollywood is saving money by requiring that all remakes involve several films rolled into one? An example of this is that they are now making a new combination of Evita , Von Ryan’s Express and Philadelphia . The new film is going to be called Von Ryvita and Cheese.
Peter
January 15th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Thanks for the update Tod.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:36 am
It’s a fun city Peter – come and visit! It’s close enough to Christmas that I’ll assume you got that joke out of a cracker.
January 15th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Sorry Matt, opposing gay marriage does equate with bigotry. If one says “I don’t want MY church to ordain gay marriage,” well, that’s parochial prerogative. But if one says, “I don’t want ANY church to ordain gay marriage,” that’s bigotry. Do your Bible-literalist friends really think it’s God’s will to obstruct health benefits and hospital visitations?