I'm not going to link it directly, but via Boing Boing, one Michael Goldfarb is making the case that progressives who read Daily Kos are like tweeners playing Dungeons & Dragons in mom's basement. Now, the knee jerk reaction here would be to state "But I'm not playing D & D in my mother's basement!" But you know what? I'm not going to play that role and I'm not going to be nice.

Mr. Goldfarb was one of the original PNAC boys, the lovable neoconservative guys and gals who dreamed up and then whined for an invasion of Iraq starting in the late 1990s, claiming it would be decisive, quick, cheap, and easy. If that sounds familiar, it's because these are the very same opportunistic assholes who used a bogus WMD threat to stampede a spooked nation into their cherished war on Iraq in the traumatic aftermath of 9-11. When the wheels fell off their experiment and it ground to a brutal halt on the streets of reality, true to neocon form, they scattered and ran hitherto, pointing fingers at the CIA, the Democrats, blaming anyone and everyone else for their giant, massive, bloody Baghdad fuck-up, once it became clear what a colossal fuck up it was.

Mr. Goldfarb, please accept this with all the venom and hostility you can conceive of: D & D players don't scare me. They hang out quietly in dorm rooms and apartments playing their RP game hurting no one. You and your friends at PNAC on the other hand stand guilty of practicing gross fatal global negligence to a degree so grotesque I would not have thought it possible in this modern nation. You and your friends started a war you cannot finish, now you blame it on those who warned against it, you did this at a cost to date of over four thousand US soldiers' lives and growing every week, tens of thousands wounded, a hundred thousand or more dead, innocent Iraqi civilians¹; all bought and paid for by almost one-trillion US tax dollars. You started this bloody cluster-fuck against the wrong nation and, in the process, helped allow the masterminds of 9-11 get away scot free.

Mr. Goldfarb, Mission Accomplished, sir.

Better to play D & D well as an adolescent, than play a shitty game of Risk as an adult. Yes, you played Risk, Mr. Goldfarb, only you played with real blood and guts, just not of course, your own. You played Risk, Mr. Goldfarb, you mendacious twit, and you play it poorly, and you have lost. May whatever deity you worship have mercy on what's left of your rotten soul.

Tropical Storm Fay is taking aim at south and southwest Florida and could arrive as a hurricane by Tuesday. Although the storm is comparatively weak at this time, residents in the warning area should take her seriously. Since the storm is likely to parallel the west coast of Florida, even small wobbles in the track could mean big changes in both landfall location and intensity:

The outliers in the 8 pm EDT runs continue to be the NOGAPS and UKMET models, which continue to forecast a landfall on the mid-Florida Panhandle or Big Bend area of Florida. In contrast, the 2 am EDT run of the GFS model is doing what the ECMWF model was doing yesterday--taking Fay across central Florida into the Atlantic, then bringing it back across the state from east to west, then into the Panhandle, resulting in a triple hit on Florida. Although these solutions are outliers, we cannot dismiss them. The latest 2 am EDT HWRF model run has moved considerably further south, bringing Fay ashore near Fort Myers as a 70-75 mph storm with a 977 mb pressure. The latest GFDL is almost identical, bringing a 75-80 mph Category 1 hurricane with a 977 mb pressure ashore near Fort Myers. Both models then anticipate a possible threat to South Carolina later in the week after Fay crosses Florida and emerges in the Atlantic. Right now, the best guess is that Fay will hit the coast between Naples and Sarasota, largely sparing the Tampa Bay region.

The triple whammy scenario might sound a little out there. Then again, Fay has been nicknamed "The Joker" by Jeff Masters at the Weather Underground for a reason: she's about the quirkiest, most unpredictable storm I've ever watched develop. The Joker may have a trick or two left up her sleeve, so for those of you in Florida and surrounding states, it's a good idea to check in with the National Hurricane Center and Wunderblog periodically throughout the day.  

When it comes to Bush's ban on embryonic stem cell research, John McCain has at times almost lived up to his mythical maverickness, even going so far as to state unequivocally in one of the early GOP Presidential debates that he would reverse it. But from an article ironically titled Candidates Vow To Keep Politics Out Of Science, it sounds like the Arizona Senator could be laying the groundwork for another inglorious flip-flop:

[McCain] has said that he would support legislation that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and place fewer restrictions on it. But in a nod to the anti-abortion community, his adviser also has said that he hopes to not have to rely on embryonic stem cells in the future. In terms of scientific funding, McCain is sympathetic to the need to fund basic research but is not sure where the government would find that money.

Indeed, one ultimate hope of regenerative medicine is to be able to reprogram existing adult stem cell populations to create new tissue and organs on demand, without directly using an embryonic stem cell middle man. But top researchers agree we're not going to get there anytime soon if researchers are restricted from using new lines of embryonic stem cells to guide their work. Despite overwhelming voter approval for ESCR across all parties, anticure groups continue to vomit up any obstacle they can to regenerative medicine. It's going to take a strong, committed President to lead the way against these vocal, conservative minorities. John McCain has shown time and time again that he simply can't be trusted to do that.

This recent hedging isn't just another example of John McCain's muddled thinking. It's an intentional strategy to signal his true intent to the anti-choice and anti-science factions upon which all modern conservatives rely, and it's being quietly doled out to those voters on venues they frequent:

Backers of making taxpayers fund embryonic stem cell research are concerned presidential candidate John McCain would change his position on the issue if he becomes president. That's exactly what pro-life groups hope will happen ... Should McCain refrain from public funding, it would be a return of sorts to his original position against embryonic stem cell research funding, adopted before Nancy Reagan lobbied him on the issue in 2005, The Hill indicates.

And irony of ironies; any candidate who cheers on a century or more of US involvement in Iraq at 10 - 15 billion a month, or trillions in corporate welfare and billionaire tax breaks, should be laughed out of the race if they're 'not sure' where they can find the money for anything. Let alone the relatively modest funds to develop revolutionary new treatments and perhaps even miraculous cures, for almost every currently incurable disease and irreparable injury known to modern medicine.

Just a few weeks ago it looked like the more ominous Arctic forecasts issued earlier in the year wouldn't be realized in 2008. Now, with a hat tip to Johnny Rook, scientists aren't so sure. Either way though, an ice free summer Artic is still right on track in the next few years and maybe even sooner:

Satellite images show that ice caps started to disintegrate dramatically several days ago as storms over Alaska's Beaufort Sea began sucking streams of warm air into the Arctic. As a result, scientists say that the disappearance of sea ice at the North Pole could exceed last year's record loss. More than a million square kilometres melted over the summer of 2007 as global warming tightened its grip on the Arctic. But such destruction could now be matched, or even topped, this year.

Meanwhile, far away from the land of the midnight sun and melting ice, conditions for tropical cyclone formation are becoming more favorable. Forecasts call for decreased wind shear and even warmer waters over the next few weeks. Two systems of current interest are 92L and 93L. But longer term, I found this interesting from Dr. Jeff Masters on Monday:

However, the GFS model is predicting that very low levels of wind shear will affect much of the Main Development Region (MDR) during the coming two weeks (Figure 2). In particular, the Caribbean will see some of the lowest levels of wind shear it has seen all season. The long-range wind shear forecast from NOAA's CFS model (Figure 3) foresees wind shear values of 2-4 m/s (4-8 kt) below average across most of the Main Development Region during the peak months of hurricane season.

Systems like 92L are like little fluffy snowballs, rolling gently down a snowy hill. Sometimes they come to rest on their own, they could hit something and break up, or they might curve safely north, transporting heat and turbulence away from the tropics and toward the north Atlantic -- Which is why the first part of this post is actually related to the last. But sometimes, especially when conditions are right, they gain momentum and mass until they're giant rolling house-crushing monsters, in which case they have to land somewhere.

Published on behalf of Americans for Cures Foundation -- DS

August 9, 2001. It’s been seven years since President Bush placed limits on stem cell research, by limiting federal funding support to the cell lines created prior to that date.

Ten years ago, Dr. James Thompson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered human embryonic stem cells, the undifferentiated progenitor cells that grow into mature, or differentiated, cells and tissue.

But at Americans for Cures Foundation, we’re celebrating another milestone.  We’re celebrating progress:  a new therapy based on human embryonic stem cells is ready for the clinic. In May 2008, Geron, a California-based company, announced that it had submitted an IND (Investigational New Drug) application to the FDA to study the beneficial effects of modified embryonic stem cells in patients with spinal cord injury.

The question of ten years ago, "Will stem cell research have clinical value?" has been answered. The new question is "when," not "if."

If you glance over to the right hand margin, you’ll see a diary written by a group of staunch, progressive allies from the Americans for Cures Foundation. They are one of many science advocacy groups operating on a shoestring budget who take on massive anti-science think tanks with limitless financial resources. These talented scientists, proven entrepreneurs, and visionary leaders could sit back and make a lucrative living working for corporate America. They’ve chosen instead to dedicate their professional careers opposing the forces of ignorance and greed for the mere possibility of helping millions of injured and sick Americans with shattered dreams and broken bodies become whole again.

Science stands on the cusp of dramatic new breakthroughs with the promise of improving and saving the lives of millions of Americans. Regenerative Medicine: it is the most exciting field of medical research since the development of surgery or the invention of antibiotics. But before venture capitalists and medical researchers can do molecular battle against virtually every currently incurable disease and irreparable injury afflicting humanity, we will all have to and defeat the powerful, entrenched anti-science and anti-cure movements. The stakes are literally life and death. And the anticure movement isn't the least bit hesitant to lie their asses off.

For example, every year hopeful parents flock to in vitro fertilization clinics. There, under controlled conditions, human eggs are extracted from the mother and carefully fertilized. The tiny fertilized eggs, referred to as blastocysts, are then implanted back in the mother's womb. With a little luck, one or more might begin developing into an embryo. If everything goes as planned, nine months later a child is born. For many couples this is the only way they will ever know the joy of having their own children. But what of the blastocysts left over, slated for destruction, that could be used to save countless lives? You have to see it to believe it.  

The image to the right courtesy of Karen Wehrstein illustrates the absurdity of justifying Bush's ban on embryonic stem cell research with claims that it 'saves children.' Thousands of leftover blastocysts, each about the size of the period at the end of this sentence, are discarded every year from IVF clinics. A handful could be diverted from certain destruction in a medical incinerator and kept alive for research into regenerative cures. Banning or restricting that research won't save a single one. It only guarantees all of them will be destroyed. Social conservative leaders and the politicians that pander to them call that certain destruction 'saving lives.' This inexcusable deception, waste and tragic stupidity is but a single gloomy corner in the dark, bizarro world inhabited by today's conservative denizens.

Regenerative medicine relies on research done on embryonic, adult, or cancer stem cells, it could combine somatic cell transfer, therapeutic cloning, and genetic engineering, but it means exactly what it sounds like. Over the last few centuries, medical science has made enormous strides minimizing the complications of trauma or disease. But regenerative medicine now offers the possibility of regrowing completely new, healthy cells, tissue, or even whole custom made organs or limbs to replace those damaged or lost. Despite being hamstrung, delayed, and at times plain shut down at every turn by the Bush Administration and their knuckle dragging loyalists, the first tantalizing experimental treatments are finally here.  

Regenerative therapy shows great promise for aggressively treating and perhaps, one day, curing the estimated 25 million diabetics in the US. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of blindness, heart problems, kidney disease, amputation, and premature death:

San Diego-based Novocell, reported earlier this year that they "stopped diabetes" when they implanted modified human embryonic, insulin-making cells into mice.  ... Challenges remain, but the chief scientist at Novocell vowed, "I’m convinced we’re going to do it....it’s going to take some time, but we can do this."

Geron Corp. of Menlo Park, California hopes to clear the last minute regulatory hurdles that seem to keep popping up, and begin clinical trials of an embryonic stem cell derived treatment for spinal cord injuries this year, other companies with similar approaches will follow suit. There are over a quarter million Americans with severe spinal cord injuries (Including hundreds of veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam); roughly half of them are quadriplegics, paralyzed from the neck down. The average life-time cost for traditional treatment of SCI ranges from half a million to over a million dollars. Since the median age at time of injury is 31 years-old, the  loss in wages, taxes, and increased health insurance premiums is in the tens of billions.

Parkinson’s, MS, leukemia and other cancers, macular degeneration, burn victims, ... This paragraph could go on all day. It would be far easier to enumerate the illnesses and injuries that cannot be theoretically treated with regenerative medicine than to list those that can.

In a sane, moral world, when and if the day comes when a paralyzed Iraq War veteran stands up from his wheelchair and walks or thousands of healthy children throw away their glucose monitors and insulin, it would signal the demise of the anticure movement. But we’re not dealing with sane, moral people. In years past these are the same folks who would have led a pitchfork carrying mob to lynch the world's first surgeons or burn down an early laboratory developing a primitive vaccine for smallpox. These days, the same kind of clowns spend their time begging for money on TV in between diagnosing Terri Schiavo from a video tape and blaming Hurricane Katrina on a parade.

The vast majority of what is often called the religious right is indeed composed of kind, decent caring people. They live by the Sermon on the Mount: they give to the poor, heal the sick, comfort the dying. For them, honesty, humility, and mercy are virtues. Lying, cheating, and stealing are a sin. But for the pampered fundamentalist crooks who prey upon those political congregations, telling lies and cheating their followers for power and profit is a job.

Dominionist leaders have been seduced by power and wealth, and they’re not about to relinquish it, even if that means defying the will of the electorate, rejecting common sense, and condemning millions of Americans to needless suffering and preventable death. If they can't prevent cures at the federal level, they'll work state-by-state.

In Colorado, for example, a grassroots organization wants Colorado citizens to legally define the fused nuclei of an egg and a sperm as a "person." The logic goes that if a single cell is a person, then doing research on it would be illegal, or even criminal. The always unhelpful Christian law firm Thomas More Law Center based in Michigan wrote most of Colorado legislation, and word is similar anti-stem cell legislation will suddenly appear on the November 2008 ballots in Oregon, Montana and Georgia, to name a few.

Perhaps the best examples of what’s in store for the nation -- assuming the next President lifts the current federal ban on ESCR -- can be seen in preview in California, where residents overwhelmingly voted in 2004 to bypass Bush's ESCR ban. Despite being thrashed soundly at the ballot box, opponents of regenerative medicine have managed to bring research and development to a crawl. They’ve stripped out or discouraged preference for embryonic stem cells and replaced it with an emphasis on alternatives; worked diligently to discourage private investment using any potential regenerative therapies by creating costly, time consuming regulatory hurdles; they work to stall approval of clinical trials by placing them 'under review' in infinite, ideologically stained auditing, governmental, and consulting loops, until the desired outcome is reached by one of those politically controlled orgs.

Bush & McCain's proud to be ignorant religious liaisons will fight tooth and nail to prevent or postpone the development of therapeutic applications from therapeutic cloning and ESCR, for no other reason than to preserve the already specious talking point that no therapies have been developed using them. Conservative ideology may have failed publicly and spectacularly. But its hallmark circular reasoning and shameless duplicity are alive and well in the senior ranks of conservative leadership. They still have a robust, seamlessly integrated, multi-media grassroots message machine capable of amplifying any lie or distortion they dream up and force feeding it to an entire nation, regardless if that nation is more than fed up with their medieval bullshit.

We've lost two Presidential terms worth of critical work in regenerative cures, an eight year gap that can never be filled. For too many sick and injured people who might have benefited had a wiser President and Congress been in power, the clock has already run out, their race is run. But there are millions more we can still help.

Yet another reason to vote for progressives. And if that's not enough motivation, consider this: If you live long enough, sooner or later you will probably fall prey to one or more of the diseases and injuries regenerative medicine might cure. Given those odds, it’s a fair bet that one of the lives you help save will, sooner or later, be your own.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has had plenty to reason to celebrate over the last fifty years. But for those of us who grew up on a steady diet of moon rockets and planetary voyagers, NASA's future is cause for concern. Barack Obama spoke eloquently on that uncertain future to a packed audience in Titusville, Florida this weekend. Standing not far from Kennedy Space Center, the democratic nominee said in part (Full text):

When I was growing up, NASA inspired the world with achievements we are still proud of. Today, we have an administration that has set ambitious goals for NASA without giving NASA the support it needs to reach them. ... More broadly, we need a real vision for space exploration. To help formulate this vision, I'll reestablish the National Aeronautics and Space Council so that we can develop a plan to explore the solar system – a plan that involves both human and robotic missions, and enlists both international partners and the private sector. And as America leads the world to long-term exploration of the moon, Mars, and beyond, let's also tap NASA's ingenuity to build the airplanes of tomorrow and to study our own planet so we can combat global climate change. Under my watch, NASA will inspire the world, make America stronger, and help grow the economy here in Florida.

There's a big back story here, one composed of several interlocking problems and followed at present mostly by space enthusiasts and NASA personnel. Perhaps in the near future we can shed light on some of them. But for now, be advised that Obama's comments linked above, taken with other statements made by the Illinois Senator, suggest to those of us who follow space policy closely that Barack Obama knows the convoluted details rather well. And I can tell you as a resident of Brevard County, just the possibility that he gets it is already generating a refreshing wave of hope among voters on America's Space Coast.

Whenever a new sender email drops into my inbox, I use the online equivalent of a Kevlar vest and full M. O. P. P. gear to open it. Besides the obvious, they're often rife with incoherent wingnut screeds and veiled threats, usually the spelling and whatnot is just awful. So this chain looking thing I got today was a pleasant surprise simply by virtue of being readable:

How many zeros in a billion? The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959; a billion minutes ago Jesus was alive; a billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age; A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

The communiqué then goes to complain about proposals for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction efforts, specifically New Orleans, and ends with a confusing mix of tax freedom stuff. But the numbers part was interesting, and the thing is, I think a lot of us here can comprehend a billion. These days we’re forced to struggle with a trillion.  So let's put that into perspective.

One trillion seconds ago anatomically modern humans were successfuly competing with the last bands of neandertals in ice age Europe; One-trillion minutes ago there were no modern humans at all and fire was still a million years in our hominid ancestors' future; One-trillion hours ago our direct ancestors were rat-like nocturnal insectivores hiding in cozy daytime burrows from allosaurs and raptors; One-trillion days ago there were no animals at all, but bacterial collectives had begun working together in communities that that would one day be called protozoa. And one-trillion years ago ... well there was no one trillion years ago as that would predate the observed beginning of time and space many times over.

Then again we can cram a trillion into much smaller time scales, as in the half a trillion dollar deficit Bush just admitted to, or the multi-trillion dollar war in Iraq based on a false premise, or the trillions in tax cuts and government giveaways to wealthy corporations and trust funds kids that will have to be repaid by hard-working single moms and their children for the next five generations, or the ten trillion dollar national debt almost all of which was racked up under the past three Republican Presidents.

A trillion is vast number, one thousand billion to be exact. For someone raised on the writing of the late Dr. Sagan, with a love for natural history, a billion is something I've had to learn to get my arms around. It took Republicans to teach me what a trillion feels like.

Via LiveJournal:

Today, I discovered that RealClimate is blocked. Exactly how is a climatology site objectionable? Of course, the propaganda information sites they do allow are equally interesting. There has never been a day that drug abuser Rush Limbaugh or felon G Gordon Liddy has been blocked, to my knowledge. Comedian Al Franken’s Senate campaign site - blocked. Air America was blocked, then allowed, then blocked, and now it’s allowed again I believe. For the longest time, Little Green Footballs was allowed, while DailyKos was blocked. Now, they’re both blocked.  I can get behind that - neither of those sites is official use, I’d wager. Drudge Report and WorldNutDaily - always accessible.  Slate’s Video News - blocked. Go figure.

Seriously, RealClimate? Frack.

I can't speak to the veracity of this specific claim. No doubt there may be concerns with certain sites loading on local networks that have nothing to do with political content. But the general problem outlined, and more importantly, the political bend of the lucky sites that seem to effortlessly escape notice of sysadmin time and time again, is surely familiar to all. It's time to compare notes. Are you on a government or government related network? What sites are blocked and which are allowed? Who makes those decisions at the local and national level?

As the old joke goes, an out of touch CEO is informed by a junior manager that the company is losing money on every sale. The big-wig thinks about it about for a second, and then explains that that's OK, because the company is going to make it up with volume. Well, the joke's on us: that's how the GOP approachs our nation's finances.

Reagononomists, Neoconomists, and now McConomists keep trying to sell that same old trickle-down voodoo, promising the dramatic results are just around the corner. Sure, the deficit has exploded, middle class wages are stagnant or down for three decades, the super rich are getting richer still, and once again the economy is in the tank while fuel prices are through the roof. But really, we're assured over and over, it will work this time.

Why it's so simple! Giving giving gazillionaires more gazillions will create a growing economic tide lifting all boats, trickle down to grateful wage earners, and generate gads of tax revenue to shrink the massive deficit conservatives created by giving gazillionaires more loot.

The only problem -- well there's clearly a lot of problems not the least of which is the awfully suspicious coincidence that the GOP's reverse Robinhood scam happens to grotesquely benefit the same people telling us hardworking saps what a swell idea it is -- it doesn't work:

The Bush administration on Monday plans to project the U.S. budget deficit will soar to a new record of nearly half a trillion dollars in fiscal 2009 as the economic outlook darkens and Americans elect a new president.

So far McCain's economic policy is to keep doing the same thing Bush did; racking up huge debt by giving mega-rich people more money, only bigger and better, while confidently expecting different results than the serial failures so far produced by hare-brained conservative ideology. Greed would explain it nicely, maybe with a pinch of classic insanity. But given the quality of McCain’s economic advisors, his self-professed inability to grasp even the bare basics of modern macroeconomics, and the flawless track record of conservatism losing big money on every policy and initiative, maybe they really do hope to make it up with volume.

Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming
By Michael E. Mann and Lee R. Kump
DK Publishing, $ 25.00 US or less, Available Now

Let's say you're a preeminent paleo-climate researcher who's been widely recognized for groundbreaking, dramatic work. Your reward from the usual suspects is to be attacked, shamelessly misrepresented, dragged through several legislative circuses with decidedly mixed receptions. At times openly harressed by world class industry whores, forced to appear beside Michael Crichton of all people, while antiscience ideologues eagerly take turns metaphorically beating you in public with the political equivalent of soap bars in a sock. What to do? One way out would be to lower your profile.

But if you're my courageous colleague Michael Mann, Associate Professor in the Department of Meteorology and Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, founding member of the premier climate change blog Real Climate, and one of the original producers of the now famous Hockey Stick graph, you team up with like-minded fellow PSU Geoscientist Lee R. Kump to set the record straight. In Dire Predictions, Mann and Kump do exactly that, producing along the way a unique resource for any champion of science and the environment.

Here in one book is the skinny on past climate change, current observations, future predictions, economic and geopolitical considerations; on and on the science marches; three decades worth of research compressed into 207 colorful pages. Virtually every antiscience claim is debunked. Whether rw talking points come your way from friends or family parroting energy propaganda, or wind up in your inbox from the friendly community troll working pro bono on behalf of Exxon-Mobil, this book has the accessible, scientifically based response you're going to want close at hand.

The book is organized into easily browsed, information dense, well written summaries and sections labeled with descriptive headers, such as "Fingerprints distinguish human and natural impacts on climate" or "Couldn't the increase in atmospheric CO2 be the result of natural cycles?"

How do scientists know that is is not? ... Just as the atmosphere has gradually become less radioactive over time, its ratio of carbon-13 to carbon-12 has been decreasing. This rules out natural, non plant derived carbon sources, such as volcanoes and the oceans. [Page 34 - 35]  

Natural science books in general and climate science books in particular have become something of visual/literary works of art in recent years. Dire Predictions clears that increasingly high and doubtless expensive hurdle with room to spare. The photos and artwork are exquisite, the graphs well placed, and the designers employ daring color and layout combos lending the book a rich visual texture from cover to cover. On just a handful of pages a few words of one text color would run over a similar colored background splotch, reducing the contrast or getting a tiny bit too busy for my aging eyes. This was rare and not a problem using proper lighting. Overall, that bold mix between text/background colors and image layouts was delightfully creative and successfully presented. The two copyrighted images I've reproduced above and below don't begin to do it justice.

But what sets the book apart in the mind of this reviewer is the extraordinary scientific accuracy within. Official documents, peer reviewed papers, and IPCC reports can be tedious and confusing for the layman to slog through. That immense body of work is translated into a well organized overview composed of readable chunks flowing along at a brisk pace, each with just the right touch of technical detail for readers with a reasonably good understanding of basic physical science. But these translators aren't interested onlookers into the scientific process: they're two of the scientists who helped create a significant quantity of the original material under discussion and who understand the whole of it to a degree most of us could never fathom -- if not for their remarkable, reader-friendly effort under review today.

The book is clearly a labor of love, written for those of us who share the authors' fascination for Science and Nature. Browse through Dire Predictions at the local bookstore, or online (Large file warning), and I think your first impression will agree with my conclusion: This rendering of meticulous, documented climate research, stunning crisp photos, remarkable artwork, and easy to read charts strikes clear, individual notes, while still managing to come together fully in the glossy pages like a stirring symphony of popular science.

CNN reports that Dr James Dobson, described by some as the most powerful living leader of the Dominionist movement, might be ready to kiss and make up with John McSame. The news came as a bit of a surprise -- to the irrevocably clueless anyway -- as just this year Dobson declared he could not vote for the aging Arizona Senator under any circumstance. Why the dramatic flip-flop? Ed Brayton makes a safe wager:

As I've been telling people for months, there is only one thing they really and truly want and know that they can get if they can keep Obama out of the White House: the Supreme Court. I guarantee you they have already cut a deal with McCain ...

On the wild chance that anyone really needed more or better reasons to vote for Obama, there you go. If McCain wins, odds are the next set of Supreme Court Justices will be chosen by an ultra-conservative American cleric leading a Neo-Reconstructionist movement in which public schools are blasphemous, and over zealous followers pray their hearts out for the violent end of the world every day -- just what every nuclear superpower needs. Forget about reproductive choices, science education, or equal rights. Ignorance and illiteracy breeds true. A decade or two under the purview of neo-clown winger judges groomed by the likes of Robert Bork or Roy Moore, and many of tomorrow's young women could end up in prearranged sexual servitude alternating between serial pregnancies and being locked in a menstrual shed.

Hurricane Dolly is undergoing a round of intensification prior to landfall later today near the resort town of South Padre Island, Texas, and could possibly even reach Category 2 intensity in the next few hours. From Jeff Masters:

Hurricane Dolly is putting on a impressive burst of rapid intensification as it approaches landfall on the Texas coast near Brownsville. Reports from the Hurricane Hunters show that Dolly's pressure is dropping rapidly, down 9 mb in just four hours, to 967 mb (as of the 8:30 am EDT Hurricane Hunter eye report). Dolly's central pressure dropped 15 mb in the 18 hours previous to that, so this is an impressive sudden drop this morning. Radar imagery out of Brownsville, Texas shows an well-organized hurricane, with excellent spiral banding and a 20-mile diameter eye. Visible satellite loops show an impressive eye, excellent upper-level outflow, and good symmetry. It's a good thing Dolly does not have another 24 hours over water, or it would have become a major hurricane.

[Update 11:55AM EDT by DS] NOAA/NWS is now reporting Dolly is a Cat 2 hurricane with additional strengthening still possible:

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 100 MPH...160 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS.  DOLLY IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. STRONGER WINDS...ESPECIALLY IN GUSTS...ARE LIKELY ON HIGH RISE BUILDINGS. SOME ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE BEFORE LANDFALL.

Unlimited, free alcohol consumed in public surrounded by an army of bloggers armed with every kind of recording device known to Silicon Valley. What could possibly go wrong at the official Daily Kos party? Fuck it, we'll do it live!

THE PARTY I'm referring to was produced by Kos Media. The theme was New Orleans and Billo's famous meltdown. But it was the vivacious Scout Finch who pulled it all together so well. As anyone who attended -- and who can remember attending -- can attest, she pulled it off superbly. Earlier that day, in a sober life, we jointly braved I-35, threading our way through semi trucks and hummers obviously intent on grinding us up in their over-sized wheel wells, for last minute party supplies in a two-seater the size of a healthy roller skate, all while she described getting thrown head over heels off her scooter after being plowed by a Volvo a few weeks earlier. And yet she seemed unworried by my desperate driving. Brave girl that Scout Finch ...

Scout thought it would be a nice touch if CE's were strapping on the top secret puke-orange wrist bands on NrN attendees in the Hilton Lobby that got you into the Fuck It Party. At first it was easy. Lots of people were eager to go, plus I got to meet some Kossacks I'd only known up to then by a handle and a UID number. But as time wore on, I felt the pressure to, you know, do my part with my allotment of wrist bands. Problem was I was competing against gorgeous blogger gals with a wad of bands and beautiful smiles. For some 'odd' reason party goers were more interested in being banded by those volunteers. I was finally down to half a dozen, and about to start strapping them on any random grackle that looked like they were ready for a good time when a band cranked up in the lobby.

We marched off as planned, a surging headless snake of enlightened humanity, almost a thousand strong, locking up downtown Austin traffic as we made our way to the bar. By the time we got there, the temperature had cooled off to a comfortable, ummm, 95 degrees and boy, was I thirsty.

The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America
By Laurie Lebo
The New Press
238 Pages $ 24.95

In late 2005 national media eagerly flocked to the heretofore peaceful town of Dover, PA in what many journalists labeled a modern day Scopes Monkey Trial, officially known as Kitzmiller Vs Dover Area School District. Reporters came from DC, New York, LA, along with every nook and cranny of the US, not to mention Europe and Asia. But there was one who didn't have to travel to get this story; Laurie Lebo grew up in the area, her family owned the local Christian radio station, her childhood friends were pastors, teachers, and parents embroiled in what would become a bitter controversy turning neighbor against neighbor. When America's simmering culture clash erupted into a full blown firefight, she found herself smack dab between opposing forces fighting tooth and nail in a battle to the idealogical death. Lebo leverages that unique geographical perch with writing skills that can only be described as both gritty and brilliant. Not to mention at times refreshing, for instance:

I've thought of this notion of "fair and balanced" journalism and of how, somewhere along the line, we as journalists have gotten confused by a misguided notion of objectivity. It is our job to inform readers of the truth, not just regurgitate  lies, even if it means the stories are no longer "balanced." page 158  

This is not the usual recap of claims and counter claims, or courtroom details provided by one dimensional cookie cutter characters. The local evangelical community in Dover has been portrayed in some quarters as dishonest hicks gleefully rubbing the hands together and cackling at the thought of bringing down science. The author quickly dispatches that erroneous image; these are the kind of Christians who live by the Sermon on the Mount. They comfort the destitute and terminally ill, they volunteer long hours persuading local businesses to provide recently released felons with gainful employment; in one touching example, the author's own father literally gives a total stranger going through a tough time the brand new shoes off his feet.

Despite her roots and understandable affection for the opinions of friends and family, Lebo courageously exhibits the highest standards in intellectual honesty and journalistic ethos. She doesn't go easy on those who led Dover ISD residents into a bitterly divisive, legal maelstrom based on crack pot pseudoscience. Far from it. Part of the great appeal of this book is that those conflicts are woven into compelling personal narratives and observations from an author who is clearly conflicted on both a professional and emotional level. Rather than trying to hide that internal pain, the author lets it all hang out to the great benefit of her lucky readers. And that's what makes this book such an important read for residents of other close knits communities all over the nation that may be or are being drawn into this debate: the price paid by the local community goes far beyond the cost assessed on the school district (In the case of Dover it ended up costing local taxpayers a cool one-million dollars). Once friendly neighbors become enemies, relationships are tested to the breaking point. And in some cases, based on what's revealed in the book anyway, it sounds like those rifts may never be repaired, even long after the cameras and media celebrities have left for the next big story.

Readers who appreciate the science of evolution, or the lack thereof in Intelligent Design Creationism, will not be disappointed. Lebo wryly remarks at one point she's thankful the topic under scrutiny was not quantum physics, or she would have been hard pressed to adequately convey the scientific testimony. Nevertheless, she does her biology homework magnificently, breaking down even the more esoteric material with such proficiency it should inform those readers new to the evidence for evolution, and still delight the veteran molecular biologist. Same goes for the legal history and constitutional intricacies underpinning the issues at hand, all of which are every bit as interesting as they are far beyond the scope of this review.

In short, this is hands down the best book I've read about the landmark trial. I recommend it highly for anyone. But most especially for any local board members being courted by IDC proponents; whatever you do, before you bring this misery down on your constituents, pick up a copy of Laurie Lebo's The Devil in Dover, and read every last word of it.

Never have so many people paid so dear a price for an opportunity so squandered:

Imagine, for a moment, what we could have done in those days, and months, and years after 9/11. ... We could have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in alternative sources of energy to grow our economy, save our planet, and end the tyranny of oil. ... Instead, we have lost thousands of American lives, spent nearly a trillion dollars, alienated allies and neglected emerging threats – all in the cause of fighting a war for well over five years in a country that had absolutely nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks.

And we're still paying the price to this day. Gas prices are smothering the US economy, tanking the stock market, already over stretched families standing on the brink of financial ruin are being flung off into the abyss, and the exorbitant cost of oil enriches the very same cabals that attacked us in 2001. But to hear the two oil men in the Whitehouse and their protegé John McCain explain it, it's either the democrats fault, or a mental problem running rampant among whiny voters. Forget the ole 'are you better off than you were four years ago'? What I'd like to ask people is, do you think you'll be better off four years from now with another Republican in the Oval Office?

Those of us who are science buffs or practicing scientists tend to value data, descriptions based on repeatable, controlled events, and explanations that make testable predictions. But to be heard above the din of pop culture and reach the vast majority of non-scientists on a topic as complex as climate change, we might do better if we resist those rational impulses and engage the lay public in other, more entertaining ways.

Randy Olsen, producer of Flock of Dodos, is back with a new movie that does just that: Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy (Trailer). The first part of the movie follows the frustrating and yet light-hearted, almost slapstick back story about the making of a serious global warming documentary. But a little over half way through the film dramatically veers away from that script and takes viewers on all too real journey through one sobering illustration of the devastating heartbreaks nature may have in store for all mankind in the not so distant future. I don’t think it was quite as good as A Flock of Dodos -- which would be hard to top -- but I don't want to give too much away, so let's just say all in all it's an interesting, non-traditional approach to educating the public about climate change and one I recommend checking out with a non science friend .

This thread is now wide open.

Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere doesn't just raise global temperatures. It also turns the ocean into a toxic acidic solution and the process feedsback viciously:

Like a tooth dipped in a glass of Coca-Cola, coral reefs, lobsters and other marine creatures that build calcified shells around themselves could soon dissolve as climate change turns the oceans increasingly acidic.

Coral reefs are more than just pretty. They are the rain forests of marine ecosystems. Without them populations of fish and other plants and animals could crash precipitously leading to a disastrous cascade of death marching up the food chain the likes of which earth has not seen in millions of years. How long before the world's reefs could lay in bleached, dusty ruin? Some researchers estimate it could happen within 50 years. Fortunately our crack Whitehouse team led by Vice-President Dick Cheney is on the case ... doing everything he can to devastate the planet and wreak as much havoc as possible long after he and his gang of killer klowns leave office:

While George Bush and other G8 leaders were busy touting their agreement in Hokkaido to halve global emissions by 2050 as "a significant step forward" for climate action, this week's real story on climate flew under the radar back in the US, as a former Environmental Protection Agency official went public with allegations that vice-president Dick Cheney's office interfered directly with information about the threats posed to humankind by climate change.

Because we can't let anything threaten even one penny of Cindy McCain's portfolio or Phil Gramm's UBS bonus. And who can blame them in these uncertain times? After eight years of GOP mismanagement, the dismal US stock market is in urgent need of all the short-term bail out help it can get. So the ocean turns into a corrosive soup. Won't any of you selfish middle class taxpayers stop whining and please think of the immediate needs of our nation's poor, downtrodden zillionaires?