Scientists Clone Mice From Adult Skin Stem Cells:
For cells that hold so much promise, stem cells’ potential has so far gone largely untapped. But new research from Rockefeller University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists now shows that adult stem cells taken from skin can be used to clone mice using a procedure called nuclear transfer. The findings are reported in the Feb. 12 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Posted in Science News
If you are going to be in Chicago in early May, consider attending (or at least donating towards) the Seventh Dinner With a Dinosaur, an annual event organized by Project Exploration – a worthy investment in science education for inner-city kids.
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Posted in Science Education
A very, very sweet edition of Grand Rounds is up on Chronic Babe
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Posted in Carnivals
Time is just something that we assign. You know, past, present, it’s just all arbitrary. Most Native Americans, they don’t think of time as linear; in time, out of time, I never have enough time, circular time, the Stevens wheel. All moments are happening all the time.
Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, Northern Exposure, Hello, I Love You, 1994
Posted in Clock Quotes
Amanda resigned.
You know, if they were going to hurl this kind of crap at me every day, I’d have resigned, too. Not just that they lie about what she said and what that means, they even lie about who they are:
The Catholic League is the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends individual Catholics and the institutional Church from defamation and discrimination.
Yeah, right! Didn’t we just spend the last couple of days showing that this is a loudmouth organization of anal sphincters defending other individual anal sphincters from the – oh, horror! – hearing the truth every now and then.
We do not know the complete story yet, but of course trolls arrived on Kos insisting that she was fired, not that she quit. I don’t know, but I do not expect Amanda to lie – she would have not posted anything until she could post everything.
The dominant mood, though, at comments there and elsewhere is that this means we need to redouble our efforts in countering the rightwing swiftboaters of all kinds, religious nuts included. Especially religious nuts. Not just Donohue-The-Major-Anal-Sphincter.
Also, support Amanda by blogrolling Pandagon and hit her paypal button. If you think she was too mild on Donohue and religion so far, wait until she unleashes her real wrath on them, now that she is free of editorial shackles. This is going to be fun to watch.
Posted in Politics
[Moved to the top of the page. First posted at 1:43am]
Last year, I collected the links to notable posts about Darwin Day and posted them here. That was fun, so I decided to do it again.
I checked the Technorati and Google Blogsearch and took my picks that you can see below. I will update this post several times today and move the post to the top in the evening. If you want your post to appear here, please e-mail me at: Coturnix AT gmail DOT com.
Also, later today, I will update this post with a special announcement (pending the approval by the person in question) – naming the winner of my ten-day Rebuild The Beagle contest. The winner will get a copy of The Open Laboratory.
Update:
The Grand Winner is (drumroll, please…):
Susan Davies
So, the book will be travelling to the UK later today.
If you are new here, check the ten posts about the Beagle contest (Day 1, Day 3, Day 4
Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9 and Day 10) and see what “The Open Laboratory” is all about here.
I decided to split the posts into two groups, the first focusing on yesterday’s Evolution Sunday and the second focusing on today’s Darwin Day.
Here we go (under the fold):
Posted in Blogging, Evolution, History of Science
The 8th Edition of the International Carnival of Pozitivies (ICP) is up on 2sides2Ron.
Posted in Carnivals
Way back when, while I was still an active grad student, I was a student representative on the departmental seminar committee for about four years (going through four faculty members rotating through the position). So, I pushed for a Darwin Day seminar – inviting someone to give a talk that is not all about data, a historian or philosopher, for instance.
So, I managed to get Bob Brandon, from the Philosophy Departament at Duke one year. He talked about multi-level selection, which was great introduction to a couple of more speakers (including David Sloan Wilson himself – that was one of my big scoops) who came later in the semester. Brandon’s talk managed to “soften up” some of the core Dawkinsians in the department to be more receptive to the notion of group selection.
One year, we got Matt Cartmill, from the Biological Anthropology and Anatomy Department at Duke, who explained why Creationism – of any stripe – is bad theology, not just bad science.
And of course, we used our local talent, William Kimler, a biologist turned historian and a Darwinian scholar (student of Will Provine) who gave two lectures while I was there. I can’t wait for his new book to come out. It is “…a book on how Charles Darwin has been used as a symbol of science and the idea of evolution.”
Apparently, Will gave another one this year – I am so glad that the tradition took and that they are continuing with Darwin Day special speakers after all these years.
The first year we did it, we actually had the speaker blow the candles on the cake inscribed (with frosting) with “Happy Birthday, Chuck”.
I wish I could still manage to go to the seminars, but they are at the time of day when I can never go (even when they finally managed to get some speakers that I worked for years, unsuccesffuly, to invite, I had to miss it).
Perhaps next year….
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Posted in Evolution, History of Science
Encephalon #16 is up on Mind Hacks
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Posted in Carnivals
This post is a modification from two papers written for two different classes in History of Science, back in 1995 and 1998. It is a part of a four-post series on Darwin and clocks. I first posted it here on December 02, 2004 and then again here on January 06, 2005:
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Posted in Chronobiology, Clock Tutorials, Evolution, History of Science
OK, this is really ancient. It started as my written prelims (various answers to various questions by different committeee members) back in November 1999, and even included some graphs I drew. Then I put some of that stuff together (mix and match, copy and paste) and posted (sans graphs) as a four-part post here, here, here and here on December 2004. Then I re-posted it in January 2005 (here, here, here and here). Finally, I reposted two of the four parts here on this blog (Part 2 and Part 3) in July 2006.
This all means that all this is quite out of date. The world has moved on, more research has been done, and I have learned a lot since then. But still, today being Darwin Day, this may be a good opportunity to move the Part I here as well and you decide if it is out of date or not….
Part 2 will be reposted here again in a just a few minutes…..
Posted in Evolution, History of Science, Philosophy, Science Practice
Yes, I was never a member of Boy Scouts (no such thing in Yugoslavia, of course), but I will gladly join the Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique, the brand new organization founded by the folks of World’s Fair and the Science Creative Quarterly. Steve of Omni Brain and John Lynch have already signed up.
Above Average Physique? I am super-skinny. But OK, I am tall. And energetic. And have a deep bass voice. That should count…
So, of the possible badges, which ones apply to me? Let’s see…
Posted in Fun, Science Practice
…when painted base-by-base.
Go ahead, rip into them. I know you want to…
No Missing Link? Evolutionary Changes Occur Suddenly, Professor Says:
Jeffrey H. Schwartz, University of Pittsburgh professor of anthropology in the School of Arts and Sciences, is working to debunk a major tenet of Darwinian evolution. Schwartz believes that evolutionary changes occur suddenly as opposed to the Darwinian model of evolution, which is characterized by gradual and constant change. Among other scientific observations, gaps in the fossil record could bolster Schwartz’s theory because, for Schwartz, there is no “missing link.”
Posted in Science News
Doing a thing well is often a waste of time.
Robert Byrne
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Posted in Clock Quotes
Utter Transformative Joy – The Tarheel Tavern #103 is up on Scrutiny Hooligans.
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Posted in Carnivals
…memes. Especially when someone tries to track its spread. Especially when they call me “The Thinking Blogger”, originating from the eponimous Thinking Blog. Tagged by Greg Laden, so it is really quite simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote
I am tagging:
Archy
Jenna
Sir Oolius
Elayne Riggs
Mustang Bobby
Posted in Blogging
A bunch of new links on the Basic Concepts and Terms in Science list (or my ‘enhanced’ list, if you prefer).
Bitch PhD has a new (paying!) gig at Suicide Girls News Blog and starts out with a post explaining the Plan B: How Does This Plan Work?
Revere on Effect Measure: Freethinker Sunday Sermonette: the Edwards blogger dust-up
Ezra Klein, in an op-ed in The Guardian (online only): We want a divider, not a uniter, and more on the topic on his own blog: More Shamefaced Obama Skepticism
Chuckles1 puts it even better: The OTHER Abraham Lincoln
A comment by Elizabeth Edwards – Response to a Rhetorical Analysis – on the MyDD diary: The Problem with John Edwards’ Urban Radicalism (Or you can see the same Diary and the same comment in the context of different other commenters on DailyKos)
Catchawave: The Man Who Saved Bill Clinton’s Ass, An Anniversary 2/12/99
Kos: ‘I Was Wrong’
Digital Journal: John Edwards Blog Has A Very Refreshing Hands-Off Policy
Neil the Ethical Werewolf: Welcome Chris Bowers!
David Neiwert on Orcinus: Donohue and the Jews
Chris Bowers on MyDD is on a quest:
This Isn’t Over
Keep Piling On The Pressure
Donahue As An Example of a Large Problem
First Democratic Campaign Disses Edwards
As I indicated a couple of days ago, I’ll be collecting a big linkfest of tomorrow’s Darwin Day posts.
This is like an annual carnival I like to do.
Make my job easier by letting me know by e-mail when you post one. You know that both Technorati and Google Blogsearch are slow and untrustworthy – get your link in on time!
Update Today’s posts on ‘Evolution Sunday’ are also eligible.
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Posted in Blogging
Yup, like Amanda, Atrios and Ed, I hate the telephone.
That is why I don’t have the cell phone. That is why my landline phone has an answering machine.
If you call and the machine picks up and I actually want to talk to you at that particular moment, I’ll pick up. If not, leave a message and I’ll get back with you….by e-mail.
And if you use a phone with me, stick to the brief exchange of information. Business only. Chatting over the phone is reserved for my mother and my brother only.
I prefer to communicate on my own time, in my own way and do not like the tyranny of the phone ring.
Influence Of The Menstrual Cycle On The Female Brain:
What influence does the variation in estrogen level have on the activation of the female brain? Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Jean-Claude Dreher, a researcher at the Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNRS/Université Lyon 1), in collaboration with an American team from the National Institute of Mental Health (Bethesda, Maryland) directed by Karen Berman, has identified, for the first time, the neural networks involved in processing reward-related functions modulated by female gonadal steroid hormones. This result, which was published online on January 29, 2007 on the PNAS website, is an important step in better comprehension of certain psychiatric and neurological pathologies.
The human brain has a recompense system that predicts different types of reward (food, money, drugs…). The normal functioning of this system plays a fundamental role in many cognitive processes such as motivation and learning. This reward system, composed of dopaminergic neurons(1) situated in the mesencephalon (a very deep region of the brain) and their projection sites(2), is crucial for neural coding of rewards. Its dysfunction can result in disorders such as addictions and is also implicated in various psychiatric and neurological pathologies, such as Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenic disorders. Many studies on animals prove that the dopaminergic(3) system is sensitive to gonadal steroid hormones (estrogen, progesterone). For example, female rats self-administer cocaine (a drug that acts on the dopamine system) in higher doses after estrogens have been administered to them. The influence of gonadal steroid hormones on the activation of the reward system remained to be studied in humans. A better knowledge of this influence should make for better understanding of the differences between men and women, particularly as observed in the prevalence of certain psychiatric pathologies and in vulnerability to drugs, (for which the dopaminergic system plays an important role.) It is known, for example, that the female response to cocaine is greater in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle(4) than in the luteal phase(5). Moreover, schizophrenia tends to appear later in women than in men.
I’d appreciate it if someone could send me a PDF of the actual paper.
More….
Posted in Science News
Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.
Will Rogers (1879 – 1935), New York TImes, Apr. 29, 1930
Posted in Clock Quotes
There are several journals dedicated to biological rhythms or sleep. Of those I regularly check only two or three of the best, so I often miss interesting papers that occur in lower-tier journals. Here is one from December 2006 that caught my eye the other day:
Mammalian activity – rest rhythms in Arctic continuous daylight:
Activity – rest (circadian) rhythms were studied in two species of Arctic mammals living in Arctic continuous daylight with all human-induced regular environmental cues (zeitgebers) removed. The two Arctic species (porcupine and ground squirrel) lived outdoors in large enclosures while the Arctic summer sun circled overhead for 82 days. Would local animals maintained under natural continuous daylight demonstrate the Aschoff effect described in previously published laboratory experiments using continuous light, in which rats’ circadian activity patterns changed systematically to a longer period, expressing a 26-hour day of activity and rest? The outdoor experiments reported here, however, showed that under natural continuous daylight, both species (porcupine and ground squirrel) had specific times of activity and rest on a nearly 24-hour scale, and their activity peaks did not come later each day. The daily rhythms of the two species were recorded using implanted physiological radio capsules, and from direct observation.
You may recall that I wrote about a similar study in a much larger Arctic mammal – the reindeer, which loses the overt behavioral rhythmicity during the long summer. Apparently, these two small mammals, the porcupine and ground squirrel are different.
In the press release, they explain:
It seemed that although the scientists were very careful not to provide time cues of any sort, the animals had managed to latch onto something that gave them regularity.
“I have written for years that experimental animals seem to be hungry for cues, or time signals, to keep on a regular cycle,” Folk said. “So we tried to figure out what cue the wild animals were using, and we could find only one thing that kept a 24 hour periodicity. At Barrow, the sun travels in a circle overhead for 82 days, but at midnight the circle is tipped to the north.
“We postulate that the animals are conscious of where the sun is in the sky and that the nearness of the sun to the horizon could be a clue to animals, and even plants, to keep on a 24-hour schedule.”
This is an interesting hypothesis: not just using the clock to orient by Sun, but also using the Sun posiiton to entrain the clock. I hope this gets tested and that this was not just a case of investigators missing an alternative environmental cue. Changes in the Earth’s magnetic field show daily oscillations and are potentially one of such alternative cues that animals could use. Just like Dr.Folk states in the article, I’d also like to see this study replicated in Arctic birds, as they are known to be sensitive to the magnetic field which they can use for migratory orientation.
Posted in Chronobiology, Clock News, Clock Zoo
It is midnight, Day 10, so the contest is officially over. The winner will be announced tomorrow. But that does not mean that you should abandon reading the Beagle Project blog or helping the Beagle Project get advertised and funded.
Comments Off on Beagle – Day 10
Posted in History of Science
Hold the dates: October 19-20, 2007 for ConvergeSouth ’07 at NC A&T State University. Things are brewing on two coasts to make sure that the 2007 ConvergeSouth is more special than ever.
The Web site and blog will be online by March 1 (crossing fingers).
We are seeking proposals for interactive discussions, DEMOs and how-to sessions in these areas:
1. New media and journalism
2. New creative online models and tools
3. Blogger how-to and blog improvement
4. Music performance (evenings)
5. Original video and film
This year’s ConvergeSouth features a new track: screening original video and and film. Guidelines can be found at the ConvergeSouth ’07 site after March 1, 2007
Simultaneous hat-tips to Sue, Ed and Anton.
You bet I’ll be there.
Posted in Blogging, North Carolina
OK, I have a huge sleep debt to pay back this weekend after a long, tough week of sleep deprivation.
I taught my lab this morning which is always exhilarating yet exhausting.
Today is always a sad day – this is the fourth anniversary of my Dad’s death. I’ll have a sip of slivovitz before bed in his honor and memory.
Regular programming will return whenever I recover, likely by Monday…..
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Posted in Housekeeping
This is interesting:
Study: Sleep linked to brain cell creation:
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science research on rats found that the hippocampus portion of the brain was directly affected by a lack of sleep for a long period, the BBC reported.
By depriving rats of sleep for 72 hours, the researchers found that those animals consequently had increased amounts of the stress hormone corticosterone, and produced significantly fewer new brain cells in the hippocampus.
When the rats’ sleep patterns were returned to normal a week later, their levels of nerve-cell production remained hindered for two weeks.
The lack of production appeared to prompt the brain to increase its efforts to maintain an appropriate balance.
British sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley called the finding “interesting,” but said more study on sleep depravation might be useful.
“It would be interesting to see if partial sleep deprivation — getting a little bit less sleep every night than you need — had the same effect,” he told the BBC.
But does that have anything to do with memory?
Posted in Sleep
This book, Darwinian Reductionism by Alex Rosenberg, arrived in the mail today. I do not recall ordering it, and I know it used to be on my amazon.com wishlist, so the only explanation is that this is a gift from one of my readers who chose to remain anonymous.
I happen to know Alex Rosenberg and think that he has vastly evolved in his thinking about biology since he joined the Duke faculty several years ago (at which time he was a very genocentric Dawkinsian). He is also a wonderful person, and I hear a great teacher and advisor. I am really looking forward to reading this book.
Thank you!
Posted in Books
Your results:
You are Poison Ivy
| You would go to almost any length for the protection of the environment including manipulation and elimination. |
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Posted in Fun
This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)
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Posted in Clock Quotes
The very first edition of the Carnival of Mathematics is up on Abstract Nonsense
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Posted in Carnivals
Children’s Sleep Problems Can Lead To School Problems:
It is obvious that young children who have difficulties sleeping are likely to have problems in school. A new study shows that African-American children and children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds fare worse than their counterparts when their sleep is disrupted. The study offers one of the first demonstrations that the relationship between children’s performance and sleep may differ among children of different backgrounds. Conducted by researchers at Auburn University and Notre Dame University, it is published in the January/February 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.
More….
Posted in Science News
Alliance For Science is starting the First Darwin Day Essay Contest for high school students. Go to Neurotopia for all the details about it. I am assuming that this is going to become an annual event.
On the other hand, the rebuilding of the HMS Beagle is going to happen only once, for the Darwin Bicentennial in two years. Of course, once the ship is built and is done with its maiden voyage with all the media spotlight on it, the ship will continue to be used for scientific exploraiton and education for many years to come. [Day 9]
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Posted in History of Science
The call for submission has been issued:
This week’s Tarheel Tavern (#103 for those of you keeping score) comes on the Sunday before Valentines Day. In a declaration of vitality and ecstasy, the theme of the Tavern is Utter Transformative Joy. While all submissions will be received like family, take the opportunity to gush your gushiest goodness for our readers all over North Carolina.
This week’s Tavern will be a week to get your blogfriends and neighbors involved. Invite new voices and feel free to submit the work of other NC bloggers. I’m ready for a deluge.
This week’s Tavern will appear at Scrutiny Hooligans, with a front page link at BlueNC, BlogAsheville, and American Samizdat. Please use this opportunity to spread the word about our amazing NC blogging community.
Send your gear to scrutinyhooligans AT yahoo DOT com – Get it to me by Sunday morning at 7am.
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Posted in North Carolina
Mendel’s Garden #11 is up on Genetics and Health Blog: We Love Genetics… We Love Genetics Not!
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Posted in Carnivals
Time is not like pocket money that you can spend because time is the person spending the pocket money and the pocket money is you.
from “The Dead Fathers Club” by Matt Haig
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Posted in Clock Quotes
Ah, why do I have to be so busy on a news-filled day (no, not Anna Nicole Smith)? I barely saw the computer today. I’d get home, have about 5 minutes before I have to go out again and so on. NPR did not mention Edwards until 4pm or so (that I heard in the car), so when I first got home I only had time to open e-mail, scan about 50 new messages, home in to the one that had the news, open it, get the links and quickly post without more than a quick skim of the statements by Edwards and others, let alone any time to add commentary (except for what the title implied I felt at the time). And then there were comments I did not have time to respond to. And all the other blogospheric responses I was missing…Ah, well. The family is asleep so I’ll try to catch up now.
John McKay is about to become unemployed. I hear political campaigns are hiring bloggers with forceful voices who speak truth to the power. Perhaps anti-mammoth attack-groups will object if he gets hired.
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Posted in Blogging
I and the Bird #42 is up on Neurophilosophy blog. Beautiful rendition, formatted like Charles Darwin’s diaries from the “Beagle”, which – the ship, I mean – as you know (Day 8), is planned to be rebuilt and sailed again, but only if you help.
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Posted in Birds, Carnivals, Evolution, History of Science
John Edwards: Statement about Campaign Bloggers:
The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte’s and Melissa McEwan’s posts personally offended me. It’s
not how I talk to people, and it’s not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it’s intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I’ve talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone’s faith, and I take them at their word. We’re beginning a great debate about the future of our country, and we can’t let it be hijacked. It will take discipline, focus, and courage to build the America we believe in.
Amanda Marcotte: About My Personal Blog
My writings on my personal blog Pandagon on the issue of religion are generally satirical in nature and always intended strictly as a criticism of public policies and politics. My intention is never to offend anyone for his or her personal beliefs, and I am sorry if anyone was personally offended by writings meant only as criticisms of public politics. Freedom of religion and freedom of expression are central rights, and the sum of my personal writings is a testament to this fact.
Melissa McEwen: My Words:
Shakespeare’s Sister is my personal blog, and I certainly don’t expect Senator Edwards to agree with everything I’ve posted. We do, however, share many views – including an unwavering support of religious freedom and a deep respect for diverse beliefs. It has never been my intention to disparage people’s individual faith, and I’m sorry if my words were taken in that way.
The penultimate installment of lecture notes in the BIO101 series. Help me make it better – point out errors of fact and suggest improvements:
Posted in Basic Biology, Neuroscience, Physiology, Science Education
Foodblogging, Storyblogging, Healthblogging, Bowlging…this is turning into one busy year in North Carolina online.
But Anton can’t do it alone. Please participate and make the local blogosphere matter!
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Posted in Blogging, North Carolina
A cornucopia of interesting science today. As always, check if the press release matches the actual paper…
Adaptation To Global Climate Change Is An Essential Response To A Warming Planet:
Temperatures are rising on Earth, which is heating up the debate over global warming and the future of our planet, but what may be needed most to combat global warming is a greater focus on adapting to our changing planet, says a team of science policy experts writing in this week’s Nature magazine. While many consider it taboo, adaptation to global climate change needs to be recognized as just as important as “mitigation,” or cutting back, of greenhouse gases humans pump into Earth’s atmosphere. The science policy experts, writing in the Feb. 8, 2007 issue of Nature, say adapting to the changing climate by building resilient societies and fostering sustainable development would go further in securing a future for humans on a warming planet than just cutting gas emissions.
Comments Off on My picks from ScienceDaily
Posted in Science News
Episode 64 of the Mindcast is up! Karl J. Mogel of the Innoculated Mind blog interviews Phillip Johnson and my SciBling Ed Brayton. The blogpost also contains a number of useful links to information about the Intelligent Design Creationism political movement. You can download the entire episode here.
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Posted in Creationism
We burn daylight.
William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, Act 1 scene 4
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Posted in Clock Quotes
Hwoosh! What a day! Hit-and-run blogging instead of a nice long post about amylase I was getting ready to write….
I went to Raleigh for lunch and to start planning for the next years’ edition of the Science Blogging Anthology – stay tuned, there will be more news soon.
Of course, I was following the whole Edwards/Marcotte/McEwen saga every time I had a minute to get on the computer (which was not that much today)
Then, in the evening, we had our first Blogger MeetUp of the month. Apparently there was a game (UNC vs. Duke) going on, so not many people showed up, but we had a great time and an interesting conversation anyway.
Of the veterans, Brian Russell and Steve Cory were there.
We were joined by Billy Sugarfix, who, I understand, is quite a legend of the local music scene. He gets most traffic when he posts ads “I’ll put your lyrics to music” than anything else.
Another new face is Anna Lena, poetry editor for the online Fringe Magazine which just had a new issue out with the topic of Feminism.
She is interested in adding a blog to the magazine website, as well as starting a personal blog of her own. She is wondering if she should have one blog or two, as she has two very different interests: biking and poetry. As she is interested in other local bloggers interested in the same stuff, I pointed out two local poets I could immediately think of – Billy and Erin and the local biking blogger Nicomachus.
So, we were talking about a bunch of stuff. We briefly touched on the success of the Science Blogging Conference. Of course, we had to discuss the whole campaign bloggers brouhaha as well. Then we talked about the recent effort by the local NBC affiliate to reach out to bloggers. On that topic, Brian has more and he finds another blogger’s take on a similar effort by the NBC affiliate in NYC. Quite a lot of food for thought.
Next Wednesday, we go bowling. Feb 14 at 6pm at Mardi Gras lanes. There’s wi-fi so bring your laptops so you can liveblog the meetup (livebowling or bowlging?).
Comments Off on Busy Blogging Day Yesterday
Posted in Blogging, North Carolina
[Placed on top for updates…]
I think that the whole brouhaha that the extreme wingers are raising about new Edwards bloggers will have a) no effect on Democratic primary voters a year from now, b) no effect on national voters two years from now, and c) negative effect on the wingnutosphere as they are getting more and more obviously unhinged, and thus marginalized.
Edwards did a fantastic scoop with these hires and the outcry from the extreme Right was surely expected. He has now positioned himself as more woman-friendly and more netroots-friendly than Hillary and Obama combined. And the fact that this has touched such a raw nerve on the edge of the Right abyss just confirms that this was a brilliant move.
I suggest not to bother actually going to myriads of inconsequential Wingnut blogs (like Malkin or Protein Wisdom) to defend the hires there (though a sharp letter of rebuke to WaPo, NYTimes and ABC for publishing the atrocious AP hit-job by the certified nutter Nedra Pickler may be in order). Let them enjoy their own echo-chamber. Instead, join the growing chorus of smart bloggers who are coming out in support of Edwards, Marcotte and McEwen, for instance:
Major Danby on DKos
Kagro X on DKos
Expo on DKos and on JRE08
EdwardsRayOfSunshine
Chris Clarke on Pandagon
Sadly No
Majikthise
Misty on Shakespeare’s Sister
Pharyngula
Tom Watson
Update:
Alex Koppelman and Rebecca Traister posted another hit-job with unnamed sources and nasty speculation. The Right wing must be very worried.
Check the comments.
Also see commentary by:
Atrios
Atrios
Media Matters
Chris Bowers
Chris Bowers
Wilbur on DKos
Liza Sabater
Phoenix Woman
Phoenix Woman on DKos
Thirdestate on DKos
Melissa
The Heretik
Waveflux
Paul The Spud
All Spin Zone
…and the Diaries on the Edwards blog:
Expo
EdwardsRayOfSunshine
EdwardsRayOfSunshine
EdwardsRayOfSunshine
TehipiteTom
Rooktoven
Suswah
AdamMarin19
There has been no message from the campaign yet so all rumors are unfounded until they say something, and they promise to say something later today. Stay tuned….I hope they do the right thing and use this opportunity to hit the slimeballs back and hit them HARD!
And some more:
Zuzu
Glenn Greenwald
Pam’s House Blend (also here)
Mahablog
The Carpetbagger Report
Corrent Wire
Pharyngula
Even more….
Hotline:Blogometer
Kevin Drum
Ed Cone
Ed Cone
Ed Cone
Ed Cone
Ezra Klein
Ezra Klein
BooMan
Mike the Mad Biologist
Mike the Mad Biologist
Mike the Mad Biologist
Abstract Nonsense
Matt Stoller (not him, but the commenters)
Deborah Lipp
August J. Pollak
Think Progress
Culture Kitchen
Jill (Feministe)
Mcjoan on DKos
Scott Lemieux
Scott Lemieux
Ilyka Damen
First Draft
Sadly, No!
Tbogg
Crooks and Liars
Crooks and Liars
Crooks and Liars
Digby
Crooks and Liars
Crooks and Liars
Punkass Marc
The Liberal Avenger
Feministing
Feministing
Hugo Schwyzer
Echidne of the Snakes
Echidne of the Snakes
Rising Hegemon
The Heretic
Josh Marshall
Steve Gilliard
TPM Cafe
Pen-Elayne
Suswah
JosephGarcia
AdamMartin19
FunLuvn1
Garance Franke-Ruta (not him, the commenters)
Ilyka Damen
Thoughts From Kansas
Publius
Publius
JayAckroyd
Tbrucegodfrey
Rockridge
BobcatJH
Sarahlane
Kagro X
Aeolus
Bink
FISG
Kung Fu Monkey
The Fat Lady Sings
Paul William Tenny
Chris Bowers
Chris Bowers
Chris Bowers
The Liberal Oasis (a different angle to the story)
David Winer
Scoble
Addendum
Ilyka (in that last link) puts in words what I’ve been thinking throughout this two-day saga. This is an effort of the power elites: politicians, old-timer internet-illiterate campaign managers, and MSM to eliminate bloggers from teh conversaiton and influence. Not just Amanda and Shakes but ALL bloggers, Left or Right. All the Rightwing bloggers who jumped on this story with glee are, due to partisan blindness, underminining their own cause.
The way the MSM is framing this is as if bloggers are ALIENES!!!!
Somebody did a quick, back-of-the-envelope calculation of the traffic of the blogs linked in this post – together they reach over 20 million people. The operative word is PEOPLE!!!!!!
The bloggers, the commenters (some of those posts have several hundreds of comments!), and the readers.
They are people. Flesh and blood. Every single one of them.
Almost all of them are American citizens. Eligible to vote.
Almost all of them are voters. People who exercise their right to vote.
Almost all of them are Democrats. People who vote in primaries.
Almost all of them are party activists. People who travel to Iowa in January to knock on doors.
Almost all of them are ‘influentials’ – people who are hyperiformed about politics and cannot keep their mouths shut about politics when talking to everyone they meet.
Almost all of them are internet savvy and can influence many others through their online writings, exponentialy increasing their influence.
A concerted and persistent efforts of bloggers has before, and will in the future, force MSM to take up stories or to change their tone.
You can’t just nonchalantly dismiss all those people.
People will not be dissed.
Posted in Politics
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