Republican Leadership Tries To End Probe Into Trump

Were you thinking that the Republicans in Congress want to get to the bottom of the Russians stealing our election? That was never true, you were always wrong, it is time to stop pretending. The document below can be found in PDF form here. Here is Rachel Maddow’s take on it: This is what dictators…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/29/republican-leadership-tries-end-probe-into-trump/

Please, MSNBC, can we stop now?

MSNBC has added Bret Stephens, climate denier formerly of the WSJ, lately of the NYT, to their list of commenters. Shame on them. Also, shame on Wikipedia and others for referring to Stephens as a journalist. He is no more a journalist than Anne Coulter. He is a commenter. (He’s way better than Coulter, of…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/29/please-msnbc-can-we-stop-now/

Trump Dictates To The Press: Mika, Obamacare, Bullying the Press Corp

Trump is reportedly pressuring public news media and other outlets to not distribute information about Obamacare, as they normally would, in an effort to sabotage the n-Law. This is what dictators do. Trump’s people in the “press” room have bullied the press to the point that they are finally starting to lash out. This is…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/29/trump-dictates-to-the-press-mika-obamacare-bullying-the-press-corp/

Pregnancy, C-Sections, and Postpartum Depression Are Preexisting Conditions in New American Healthcare Act

This is from Parents magazine: When you talk about “preexisting conditions,” you probably think of things like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. But the reality is that healthcare companies consider a whole slew of common health concerns preexisting conditions. Odds are, if you’re a mom, you probably already have one of them. And now that…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/29/pregnancy-c-sections-and-postpartum-depression-are-preexisting-conditions-in-new-american-healthcare-act/

Trump, Perry, Energy, Climate, #Sad

Two items I know you’ll want to check out. The ‘intellectual’ debate Rick Perry says he wants is already over Last week, Energy Secretary Rick Perry told CNBC he considers his skepticism towards climate data to be a sign of a “wise, intellectually engaged person.” Yesterday, at a press briefing at the White House –…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/29/trump-perry-energy-climate-sad/

This is how a dictatorship works.

The press has had enough of being called liars by the liars. I’m not a big fan of MJ, but the very fact that MJ has quotable conversation about this is a change in how the world works. Here’s another thing dictators do: Make up accolades. Trump created a fake TIME magazine cover and hung…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/28/this-is-how-a-dictatorship-works/

NGS Coal Industry Documentary Free For A While

There is no free lunch, but you can watch a normally unfree documentary for free on the usual streaming networks for a little while. Click here to get to the NGS site From Hollywood Reporter: Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies, says, “Coal affects our lives and planet in important ways, but people often take…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/27/ngs-coal-industry-documentary-free-for-a-while/

Cheap books of interest alert: Science, politics, fantasy

These books are one or two books in kindle form right now, get ’em while they’re still cheap: Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World Blind Ambition: The White House Years The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 6

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/27/cheap-books-of-interest-alert-science-politics-fantasy/

Here is John Oliver on Vaccines generally and in Minnesota

The benefits of vaccines far outweigh the minuscule risks, but some parents still question their safety. John Oliver discusses why some people may still feel uncertainty about childhood vaccinations.

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/27/here-is-john-oliver-on-vaccines-generally-and-in-minnesota/

Happy Anniversary Harry Potter!

Today is the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Harry Potter phenomenon.Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was published on this day in 1997, and Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix,…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/25/happy-anniversary-harry-potter/

Some inexpensive science related books

I know some of you cheapskates will want to pick up these books … well, not really pick them up, but rather, instantiate them on your eReader. These are all 2 bucks or less for the Kindle version, at the moment, price presumably subject to change at any moment. How the mind might or might…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/23/some-inexpensive-science-related-books/

Rick Perry got a “C” in Sheep and Goats

… or do the sheep lie?!?!? Anyway, I need the brilliant and well informed people who read this blog to have a gander at this college transcript and interpret it. Place your comments below.

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/23/rick-perry-got-a-c-in-sheep-and-goats/

Atlantic Hurricane Season 2017

We still hear the yammering that climate change has not affected storms. “They said there would be more storms. There’s no more storms,” they say. They are wrong in so many ways. For example, the total energy observed in tropical storms around the globe is up. There have been several big huge scary storms in…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/19/atlantic-hurricane-season-2017/

Michael Mann Receives A Schneidy!

Michael Mann, author of some of the best books on climate science (including The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy, The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines, and Dire Predictions, 2nd Edition: Understanding Climate Change) and discoverer of the…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/19/michael-mann-receives-a-schneidy/

Congressmen: Do we shoot them or do we not shoot them?

Short answer: No, we do not shoot them. But the argument that we don’t shoot them is not as simple as it seems. Rand Paul: Shoot the Congressman The purpose of the second amendment, and the reason to stay heavily armed and to be prepared to use the firearms the Constitution guarantees we can keep,…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/14/congressmen-do-we-shoot-them-or-do-we-not-shoot-them/

A Letter To The Logging Company That Is Suing Greenpeace

This is interesting. It is a letter from Hachette Livre, a major international publisher, to Resolute Forest Products, the group that is trying to sue a number of environmental groups into submission. (See these posts: Taking The Axe To The Environmental Movement: Resolute v. Greenpeace and Freedom of Speech, Resolute Forestry, Stand.Earth, Greenpeace: New Developments)…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/14/a-letter-to-the-logging-company-that-is-suing-greenpeace/

Who shot first?

No, this is not about that. I believe it is true that for decades, shooters and politically violent people (two overlapping categories) in the US were right wingers, almost always. Case in point: the white supremacists who have now all been handed (a little bit of) jail time for emptying a pistol into a crowd…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/14/who-shot-first/

Best Father’s Day Gifts

… for the science literate or geek. It is hard to think up gifts at the last minute, so I’m passing on a few suggestions that have been mentioned lately in my presence. Some Amazon Kindle e-readers are $20 off A second monitor (or a third). I like this one. A Darth Vader Pen Holder…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/11/best-fathers-day-gifts/

Cheap Books, Random Thoughts

The following random thought will eventually become a more carefully written blog post, but I want to get this out there sooner than later. Mention electric cars, or solar panels, or any other kind of thing a person might buy and deploy to reduce their Carbon footprint. Mention that to enough people and some wise…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/09/cheap-books-random-thoughts/

The Oldest Human Bones, Jebel Irhoud, Morocco

You’ve heard to story. I’m here to give you a little context. But in case you haven’t heard the story, this is from the press release which is, so far, the only information generally available: New finds of fossils and stone tools from the archaeological site of Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, push back the origins of…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/07/the-oldest-human-bones-jebel-irhoud-morocco/

Coding iPhone apps for Kids

I can’t give this a meaningful review because I don’t have the setup to test it out, Coding iPhone Apps for Kids: A playful introduction to Swift by Gloria Winquist and Matt McCarthy looks like it is up to the high standards of this publisher and these authors, and might be just the thing for…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/07/coding-iphone-apps-for-kids/

The New Climate Alliance

Screw the so-called Federal Government, once part of a great democracy, now a great joke run by an insane clown and his posse. Most of the hard work in the energy transition needs to be done at the levels of the state and the individual anyway. So, with Trump taking the so-called Federal Government, which…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/06/the-new-climate-alliance/

Rachel Maddow’s Book Cheap

I know you all loved Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow, but perhaps some of you have not read it yet or, like me, Rachel gave you a physically real copy of it so you don’t have the Kindle version. Now is your chance, since the Kindle version is $1.99 right…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/06/rachel-maddows-book-cheap/

A guide to the butterflies (book review)

A Swift Guide to Butterflies of North America is a field guider’s field guide. It is the shape and size of a traditional field guide. The designers of this book said “we don’t need no stinking margins” so there are no margins. Color bleeds on the page edges allow a quick index to major butterfly…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/05/a-guide-to-the-butterflies-book-review/

Michael Mann Endorses Rebecca Otto for Governor of Minnesota

State Auditor Rebecca Otto is running for Governor of Minnesota. She will seek the DFL (Democratic Party) Endorsement. There are several other candidates either declared or likely to run, but Otto stands head and shoulders above all the others, especially in three areas: 1) Honesty and integrity in government. Otto has been recognized nationally by…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/05/michael-mann-endorses-rebecca-otto-for-governor-of-minnesota/

If you were not an opera fan, you will be now, I guarantee it

I wonder if the original old fashioned operas were like this, about events of their times, and thus engaging and compelling like this one is. Plus, ROFLMAO. Check it out:

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/04/if-you-were-not-an-opera-fan-you-will-be-now-i-guarantee-it/

Recommended music player and radio for the gym

Several weeks ago I tried once again, after many prior ill fated attempts over several years, to get a device that would play music, audio books, and be a radio. The audiobook part wasn’t the most important part, but the ability to play various audio files AND act as a radio AND not be a…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/04/recommended-music-player-and-radio-for-the-gym/

Standing Up To The Politics Of Greed: Rebecca Otto

The amazing Betty Folliard, former school board member, Minnesota house representative, and the woman behind a number of important political campaign, has a radio show on AM950 The Progressive Voice of Minnesota (where I occassionally voice as well, but on a different show) called “A Woman’s Place.” Today, Betty interviewed Minnesota State Auditor Rebecca Otto,…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/03/standing-up-to-the-politics-of-greed-rebecca-otto/

Some science and coding books you want that just got cheap.

This just came across my desk. These are not amazing deals, but they are pretty good deals. I’ll put the list price and asking price down so you can decide if you want to ignore this. A Global Warming Primer: Answering Your Questions About The Science, The Consequences, and The Solutions was $15 is now…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/03/some-science-and-coding-books-you-want-that-just-got-cheap/

Various comments and current news

For some reason, Facebook is not posting reliably and I will not abide writing paragraphs that the Internet sucks into oblivion! So, I have a few thoughts I’ll put here and try to link to. Rebecca Otto for Governor Let’s start with Rebecca Otto, who just gave a great talk at the DFL (that’s what…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/03/various-comments-and-current-news/

Trump Lied

I got a letter from a Minnesota-based teacher who is getting inundated by students asking questions about Paris. Many of those questions are dogwhistles (the students do not realize that) indicating that they’ve been getting their information from Trump supporters, or so I can confidently guess. (The school is in an area where many voted…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/02/trump-lied/

We’ll always have Paris

If you are upset about Trump and upset about Trump pulling the US out of the Paris agreement, please let me help you get through the day. Trump announcing that the US is pulling out of Paris does not mean the end of Paris, the end of action on climate change, or much else about…

source http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/02/well-always-have-paris/