Capitalism Is Killing The Advance Of Healthcare
The scientific advances of the last century - and even of that last ten years - have been dizzying. The ability to turn ordinary skin cells into stem cells that…
science
Communication Fail: Why the IPCC Must Do a Heck of a Lot Better in 2013
IPCC-Logo.jpg Regular readers know I’m pretty critical of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change--particularly when it comes to how this expert body communicate...
The Darkness Strikes Back
I've begun a series of video-essays on YouTube (my channel is here) titled "Welcome to our Semi-Dark Age". The first episode is now up (in three parts, due to time…
New Rule: Only People With PhDs May Give Opinions.
This appears to be the premise of an unduly dismissive commenter. For your enjoyment, here is what he/she had to say: Hi Ron, I hope you will forgive me for…
Number One Lesson *Not* To Take Away from Hurricane Irene
800px-Atlantic_hurricane_tracks.jpg I was watching CNN this morning. I don’t know why—except that it was on in the gym at the hotel where I’m staying. Pretty soon, I was arguing...
Homeopathy Under Fire in the US, UK, Italy, Israel and Australia
Skeptic North, a well-written Canadian team blog advocating for science, skepticism and rationalism, has been a great source of information on the ongoing scientific, intellectual and moral train-wreck that is…
Endorsing Justin Trottier, Green Party of Ontario Candidate, Parkdale-High Park
I am proud to throw my out-of-riding support behind Justin Trottier, Green Party of Ontario, whom is seeking to represent the Parkdale – High Park riding. Justin Trottier is a…
Hurricane Irene, Climate Change, and the Need to Consider Worst Case Scenarios
Irene Track Aug 25.gif In May of 2005, a few months before Hurricane Katrina, I wrote an article that nobody noticed. It was entitled “Thinking Big About Hurricanes: It’s Time…
(2) The Challenge: To be seen as having a plan: The Four Challenges to the Alberta Liberal Party
There are challenges to the Alberta Liberal Party forming government in Alberta. In this series of posts I’ll write about some of the challenges that Liberals face in this province…
The Republican War on Science Returns
republican war.jpg As author of the 2005 book The Republican War on Science, I’ve watched recent developments in the presidential race with fascination. It is not exactly news that man...
Computers do not ruin physics…
… physicists ruin physics (bumper sticker — I doubt if it exists, but it should) The efficacy of a computer simulation (or of any other numerical computation) in predicting the…
Become What You Despise? Why "Beating" Conservative White Male Climate Deniers May Mean Joining Them
1112_no-nukes.jpg David Roberts of Grist has written a wonderful and psychologically deep portrait of why conservative white males deny climate change—and much else—and how this ...
Tomorrow’s Dinner: Homeopathic Chicken Stirfry
Save time and money and stick it to Big Agriculture and Mega Farms with Homeopathic Chicken Dinner!
The Attacks on Climate Science Education Are Picking Up Steam
Teacher-writing-on-blackb-007.jpg A few months back, those who care about accurate climate science and energy education in high school classes registered a minor victory. Under fire from outlets ...
Here Comes the Atlantic Hurricane Season
2011218gosst.png This has been a year of dramatic disasters and weather extremes. From tornadoes to droughts to heat waves, the U.S. has been battered. Unfortunately, the hurricane season that&rs...
The Bias Trap: Are We All Just A Bunch of Motivated Reasoners?
1112_no-nukes.jpg There were a ton of great responses to my last post about conservative white men and climate change denial. Perhaps most notably, some savvy respondents called into question whe...
What’s Up With Conservative White Men and Climate Change Denial?
Rush_Limbaugh.jpg They come at you at public events, wanting to argue. They light up the switchboards whenever there’s a radio show about climate change. They commandeer your blog comments ...
Religion’s Changing Domain of Knowledge
Religion has long claimed ultimate Truth in two differing domains of knowledge: what is, and what ought to be; descriptive and normative; knowledge about the nature of the universe and…
Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your midweek reading.- Not surprising: Canadians find Stephen Harper's constant politicization of everything - including awards for volunteers - to be improper. Even less surprising: Stephen Harper…
The Annual Arctic Sea Ice Drama Begins
N_daily_extent_hires.png In my last post, I discussed how the increasing risk of devastating heat waves—unlike the worsening of tornadoes—is definitely a phenomenon we can link to glo...