April 2005
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“The Berlinski Badger”
The latest dissembling technique from the creationist conmen involving "the practice of focusing on irrelevant trivia and dancing dishonestly around the issues with unbelievable circumlocutions while maintaining a facade of snooty hauteur." Details here.
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David Horowitz, “Liar Extraordinaire”
Details here; an excerpt: Enter L.A. tabloid editor David Horowitz, liar extraordinaire and author of the incomparable bullshitting manual The Art of Political War and Other Radical Pursuits (Spence Publishing, 2000). This book, much applauded by Karl Rove, promulgates a political endgame in which brute force triumphs over any notions of intelligence, truth or fair…
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“The New McCarthyism”
Juan Cole on the persecution of Professor Massad at Columbia and the cowardice of The New York Times.
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Health and Disability Law Expert Crossley to be new Pitt Law Dean
The university press release is here. She comes to Pittsburgh from Florida State University, which had recruited her away just a few years ago from a tenured post at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
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“Teach the Controversy” about Evolution, say the Creationist Conmen
May this response put this dishonest nonsense to rest.
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The New York Times has a new journalist-turned-columnist…
…and he appears to be as much of an empty vessel as the other ones. Why, oh why, would any newspaper think the opinions of journalists are of special interest, as against the opinions of people with actual knowledge, expertise, competence? "No ideas and the ability to express them: that’s a journalist," said Karl Kraus.
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Jeremy Bentham to Become CEO of Shell Hydrogen
Story here. Who knew the old Auto-Icon had so much "life" still in him? (Thanks to Craig Duncan for the pointer.)
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The Texas Taliban Makes a Move to Censor School Textbooks Again!
Unbelievable! When I started the blog two years ago, we were in the midst of a battle (which the good guys won!) over the treatment of evolution in textbooks for the public schools. Now those who carry water for the Texas Taliban in the state legislature are back trying to change the standards governing textbook…
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The Coming Attack on the Independence of the Courts…
…the fascist theocrats are cooking up new schemes; an excerpt: An audio recording obtained by the Los Angeles Times features two of the nation’s most influential evangelical leaders, at a private conference with supporters, laying out strategies to rein in judges, such as stripping funding from their courts in an effort to hinder their work.…
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Vanderbilt’s Syverud to be New Law Dean at Wash U/St. Louis
A faculty member at Washington University just wrote to confirm that Kent Syverud, the very successful outgoing Dean of Vanderbilt’s law school, has accepted the Deanship at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. More details later today. Kudos to Wash U on having secured a very talented administrator and academic leader. UPDATE: Wash…
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Philosopher Ricketts from Northwestern to Pittsburgh
Thomas Ricketts, one of the leading writers on the history of analytic philosophy, who moved from Penn to Northwestern just a few years ago, has now accepted a senior offer from the University of Pittsburgh, where he will join a number of other philosophers working on major figures in the analytic tradition (from Frege to…
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Hume Scholar Millican from Leeds to Oxford
Philosopher Peter Millican at the University of Leeds, who is perhaps best-known for his work on Hume, has accepted a University Lectureship at Oxford University. Together with other recent appointments of scholars in early modern philosophy (Peter Kail from Edinburgh, Paul Lodge from Tulane, and Bob Adams, who retired at Yale and is doing some…
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Petition by Canadian Philosophers in Support of Federal Same-Sex Marriage Legislation
The effort is organized by Norman Swartz (Philosophy, Simon Fraser); the petition and other pertinent information is here.
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The new Pope and his Nazi Past
I recommend the informative series of posts by Eric Muller (Law, North Carolina): here, here, here and here.
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Philosophical Critic of Intelligent Design, Shanks, from East Tennessee to Chair at Wichita State
Philosopher of science Niall Shanks, best-known for his (justifiably) scathing critique of intelligent design creationism, will be leaving the Philosophy Department at East Tennessee State University to take up a newly endowed chair in history and philosophy of science at Wichita State University. (Details here.) Since Kansas is on the verge, again, of undermining biology…
We’re getting outside my domain of expertise. Like I said, I don’t personally work on fluid dynamics – I work…