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Rick Perry: Not a Libertarian

The Intersection — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:00:13 +0000

By Jon Winsor

One recent discussion on this blog has been whether the tea party is libertarian or authoritarian. Rick Perry, the tea party’s candidate of choice, has been billing himself as a states rights-inflected libertarian, as his recent book Fed Up! attests. (See the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus for some highlights here.)

But columnists have been pointing out that the ostensibly libertarian Fed Up is of fairly recent vintage. The older Perry had quite a different political brand: that of a crusading culture warrior. Dana Milbank writes,

Yes, Perry is passionately anti-government, or at least anti-this-government. But the man who suddenly tops the Republican presidential polls is no libertarian.

For an eyeful of the full Perry, crack his 2008 book, On My Honor… [One quote:] “The radical homosexual movement seeks societal normalization of their sexual activity. . . . They must respect the right of millions in society to refuse to normalize their behavior…”

In a series of hoary bromides, the supposedly libertarian Perry condemns the “litigious advocates of licentious behavior” (that’s the ACLU) and informs us that “Sometimes the rules must protect society at large at the expense of individual expression when that expression is deemed harmful to others and society at large…”

Among the ...

Daryl Hannah Joins The Resistance At The White House Against The Keystone Pipeline

The Intersection — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:29:39 +0000

This is a guest post by Jamie L. Vernon, Ph.D., a research scientist, policy analyst and science communications strategist, who encourages the scientific community to get engaged in the policy-making process

***Update (huffington post): Actress Daryl Hannah has joined the over 500 people who have been arrested since August 20 for a sit-in protest outside the White House.

I just left the White House where environmental activist Bill McKibben was joined by actress Daryl Hannah and dozens of concerned citizens to prepare for another day of protests against opening the Keystone XL Pipeline. They are opposing U.S. approval of the pipeline, a 1,700-mile pipe from Canada to Texas, that would transport petroleum fuels across multiple states and below one of the nations largest aquifers. The campaign has been going on since August 24 and over 500 people have been arrested including Dr. James Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Dr. Hansen explained his participation in the protest by stating, “Einstein said to think and not act is a crime. If we understand the situation, we must try to make it clear.” ...

Measure rainfall, help scientists learn more about Hurricane Irene

The Intersection — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 13:44:32 +0000

This is a guest post from Darlene Cavalier, founder of Science Cheerleader and Science For Citizens and contributing editor at Discover Magazine.

Scientists want you to record and share rain measurements and other on-the-ground observations in part to help pinpoint hurricane Irene’s actions, determine her next steps, and better predict and react to future storms. In addition to your help recording on-the-ground rain precipitation, scientists rely on watershed volunteers to provide important clues about the effects of storm-water runoff, carbon cycles of waterways, etc. Here’s a list of opportunities to get involved in local watershed monitoring efforts.

To help scientists record on-the-ground rain measurements, you will need a high capacity rain gauge.

Don’t have a rain gauge? Enter here to win a free one so you can join in next time! Through the Changing Planet series, a partnership with National Science Foundation, NBC Learn, and DISCOVER Magazine, we’re offering up to 20 of these gauges to our members, free of charge ($25 value).

(Note: Safety first. Please heed all evacuation recommendations issued in your area.)

Not able to collect and measure rainfall? Anyone with a ...

An Earthquake Of Another Sort Rocks My House.

The Intersection — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:42:07 +0000

I woke up this morning to an unexpected jolt, and I don’t mean another earthquake shake. Nope, this was a little more invigorating. It seems PZ Myers didn’t like my post about Richard Dawkins and he has decided to turn me into a pinata. I rather enjoyed his piece. He makes some interesting and entertaining points (some well-founded, some…not so much). I don’t mind taking some heat for my opinions. We all know it’s part of being a blogger, right?

I’ve always been amazed by the mob that he unleashes on unsuspecting religious fanatics. They are quite effective at taking down their prey. I wish I had been given more notice, I would have at least done my hair and makeup before the party. I sincerely welcome all the new commenters to The Intersection. I hope Chris doesn’t mind that I’m wrecking his house while he’s away.

If you don’t know Mr. Myers, he’s an atheist blogger who takes a zero tolerance stance against religion. Personally, ...

Rick Perry Doesn’t Believe Much in Science, But He Sure Believes in His Social Science “Eggheads”

The Intersection — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:46:33 +0000

By Jon Winsor

Rick Perry leaves a lot to be desired on science policy. But paradoxically, his campaign makes rigorous use of the scientific method–more than any other campaign. According to reporter Sasha Issenberg, the Perry campaign has a team they call “the eggheads” who advise them on what campaign appearances they should schedule and when. Here’s Issenberg interviewed in the New York Times:

No candidate has ever presided over a political operation so skeptical about the effectiveness of basic campaign tools and so committed to using social-science methods to rigorously test them.

As the 2006 election season approached, the governor’s top strategist, Dave Carney, invited four political scientists into Perry’s war room and asked them to impose experimental controls on any aspect of the campaign budget that they could randomize and measure. Over the course of that year, the eggheads, as they were known within the campaign, ran experiments testing the effectiveness of all the things that political consultants do reflexively and we take for granted: candidate appearances, TV ads, robocalls, direct mail. These were basically the political world’s version of randomized drug trials, which had been used by academics but never ...

Washington Post Dings Rick Perry’s Climate Denial

Chris Mooney — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:10:41 +0000

Here’s the fact checker:

Despite our repeated requests, neither spokesman [for Perry] provided any evidence to back up Perry’s claim that “a substantial number of scientists … have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects” — perhaps because that particular scandal appears to be a figment of Perry’s imagination.

Perry appears to be referring to hundreds of e-mails that were stolen from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Britain and then disseminated on the Internet in 2009. One e-mail made references to adding a “trick” in the data, leading climate change skeptics to claim the data was manipulated.

But, although Perry claimed the scientists “were found to be manipulating this data,” five investigations have since been conducted into the allegations — and each one exonerated the half-dozen or so scientists involved.

So, in contrast to Perry’s statement, there have not been a “substantial number” of scientists who manipulated data. Instead, there were a handful — who were falsely accused.

And so Perry gets four Pinocchios. But don’t expect Perry–or his supporters–to admit that they’re wrong or change their views!

That would be so…scientific.

Arizona Cardinals (SCIENCE) Cheerleaders: Ask them anything.

The Intersection — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:30:49 +0000

Guest blog post from Darlene Cavalier, founder of Science Cheerleader and Science For Citizens and contributing editor at Discover magazine.

Arizona Cardinals Science-minded Cheerleaders Will Take Your Questions Now.

Six Arizona Cardinals cheerleaders, pursuing science and engineering careers, are now fielding questions from the public. Ask them anything. Questions with the most votes from the public will be answered by the cheerleaders during a videotaped interview on August 25.

The Science Cheerleaders are part of a troop of more than 100 current and former NFL and NBA cheerleaders pursuing science careers. Their goal is to playfully challenge stereotypes and inspire young women to consider science and technology fields.

These women are mathematicians, medical doctors, chemists and engineers. Their goal is to challenge the stereotypical image of
female scientists as lonely, unhappy, lab rats and show young girls that there is another path forward.

The Science Cheerleaders have demonstrated an ability to connect to groups traditionally underrepresented in science and technology fields, potentially broadening educational and workforce funnel.

Cheerleaders from the Redskins, Titans, Chiefs, Texans, Eagles, and Rams among others perform across the ...

Help the planet TODAY between 4:00-7:00 pm local time.

The Intersection — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:24:34 +0000

This is a guest post from Darlene Cavalier, founder of Science Cheerleader and Science For Citizens and contributing editor at Discover Magazine.
If it’s sunny wherever you are today between 4:00 and 7:00 pm local time, contribute to science by taking a photo of a blank white piece of outside in the sun (try to avoid cloud cover). Your photo will be used in an informal study to measure how much of the sun’s energy is reflected back into the skies from the Earth — our planet’s “albedo.” It’s one way scientists can monitor how much energy – and heat – is being absorbed by our planet.

Here is what you need to do to participate in this citizen science project on ScienceForCitizens.net (a partner of Discover Magazine , NBC Learn, and the National Science Foundation’s Changing Planet series):

Today, (August 5, 2011) take a photo between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm local time. Put a white piece of paper on a flat surface. The white paper should fill 1/4 to 1/2 of the total view. Do not cast a shadow on the image. ...

Jon Huntsman: The GOP’s Anti-Denialist Candidate?

The Intersection — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:38:38 +0000

By Jon Winsor

Mitt Romney has been trying to do the impossible. He’s been trying to claim a science-based position on climate change and be a tea-party friendly candidate who can compete with Michele Bachmann. His recent populist growls to keep his base happy seem like attempts to do this.

Now comes Jon Huntsman, who is clearly trying to scoop up the non-tea-party vote. As the Politico reports on Huntsman’s recent speech to Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP):

“Conservation is conservative,” Huntsman said. “I’m not ashamed to be a conservationist. I also believe that science should be driving our discussion on climate change….”

Apparently, this position has gotten some attention from someone Chris is familiar with Steve Milloy and Junkscience.com:

Outside the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, climate change skeptics from JunkScience.com had a digital billboard mounted on the back of a pickup truck circling the block. The display called the group “Rinos for EPA Protection,” and labeled Huntsman “Utah’s Al Gore.”

Interestingly, there is another front that Huntsman has been a “fighting moderate” on: the debt ceiling crisis. Romney has studiedly refused to make committed statements on the debt ceiling, leaving those statements to the likes of Michele Bachmann. Dave Weigel (Slate’s reporter ...

Update: The newly crowned Ms. United States [hearts] science.

The Intersection — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:47:34 +0000

This is a guest blog post from Darlene Cavalier, founder of ScienceCheerleader.com and ScienceForCitizens.net

Last night, Laura Eilers, AKA Ms. Virginia, was crowned MS. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! The Science Cheerleaders–current and former NFL and NBA cheerleaders pursuing science and engineering careers–are very fortunate to have Laura as our extremely talented choreographer and creative director.

In addition to being a former cheerleader for the St. Louis Rams, cheerleader and choreographer for the Kansas City Chiefs, and an NFL Hall of Fame Game Cheerleader, she’s also the creator of Going Pro Entertainment, LLC, a network of professional cheerleading and dance alumni.

In school, her favorite science projects included “creating an amoeba structure out of cookie cake and icing, researching anthropologist Dian Fossey and her work with gorillas, as well as engineering a balsa wood structure that could withstand heavy weights. My team and I tested the structure repeatedly and competed with other schools for the strongest balsa structure.”

And, yes, she “most definitely believes evolution should be taught to our children.”

Congratulations, Laura!

And now, I’d like to turn your attention to a recent blog post written ...