Obama Administration Endorses Science

by Stuart Shapiro

Okay, so it’s not a terribly controversial position to be pro-science.   But the guidelines issued this week were a reaction to the Bush Administration’s suppression of testimony from government scientists and altering of scientific findings from agencies.  But reading between the lines, the policy is not as strong as it could be:

It’s now up to the government agencies to develop policies that put the principles into practice.

For example, the directive said that government scientists could speak to reporters and the public about their work “with appropriate coordination with their immediate supervisor and their public affairs …

Is The Right Right On DADT?

by Gabe Berman
Gabe is the author of Live Like a Fruit Fly

Arizona Senator Jon Kyl as well as other Republicans believe, or at least say they believe, that repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell will cost lives. Who knows what is actually said behind closed doors when the cameras are off.

Either way, maybe the GOP is right on this one. Although it’s proven not to be the case for other world powers, maybe it will cost lives for the United States. Who am I to know for sure?

However, here’s one thing I’m certain will cost lives: some …

“Michele Bachmann” And “Intelligence” Used In Same Sentence

by Stuart Shapiro

And it isn’t in a children’s book of opposites.  Joking aside, it is the scary news that Rep. Bachmann (R-MN) is being appointed to the House Intelligence Committee.  Steve Benen speculates on the motives of Speaker-Designate Boehner.

Voluntarily assigning her responsibilities related to top secret intelligence and our national security is more than just a mistake — it’s arguably dangerous.

I’ve heard some whispers that have suggest[ed] Boehner is actually thinking strategically on this. Members of the Intelligence Committee are generally encouraged to avoid the media spotlight, and since Boehner very likely finds Bachmann embarrassing, this is …

Is There A Reverse Doppelganger Universe Where Democrats Just Won An Election?

Yes, this sounds silly, but when you look at the universe through the eyes of Columbia University physicist Brian Greene you realize how small we really are in the multiverse. His new book, The Hidden Reality, could help put our worries in perspective.

A peak at his theories in the New York Times Sunday Magaine:

Wasn’t [our origins] already answered by the Big Bang theory? Is that outdated now?

I wouldn’t say it’s outdated. It’s been enhanced into another version called inflationary cosmology, which has a bang that is bigger than the originalBig Bang’s. In fact, there …

Sen Jon Kyle “Skeptical” About Bill To Help 9/11 First Responders; Says It’s Being Rushed Through

Senators Jon Kyle (pictured) and Dick Durbin debated the bill to get health care for 9/11 first responders on Fox News Sunday, with Kyl cautious about the bill, worried that it can’t be amended and that not enough time has been taken to debate it.

Senator Jon Kyl told Wallace “It’s a lot of money, so my early response is that I am skeptical about that bill.”

Wallace pressed harder, asking “Don’t these heroes deserve to have peace of mind when it comes to health care?” Kyl responded that he agrees, but that he believes Congress is pushing too …

Words That Made 2010

Lexicographer Grant Barrett has compiled a list of the words that made the year. A few are:

belieber: A fan of Justin Bieber, the Canadian pop singer who also spawned …

the Justin Bieber: A haircut also known as the flip and switch, the flow, or the twitch. Now driving parents crazy everywhere.

G.T.L.: For “gym, tan, laundry,” the life philosophy of the Situation, otherwise known as Mike Sorrentino of the reality TV program “Jersey Shore.” You laugh, but it’s worked for him

coffice: In South Korea, a coffee shop habitually used as an office …

VP Biden Contradicts Himself On Effects Of WikiLeaks

Vice President Joe Biden said on Meet the Press that the release of information via WikiLeaks has altered the way world leaders talk to each other, which contradicts what he said earlier in the week to NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

“There is a desire now to meet with me alone rather than have staff in the room,” Biden said in an interview airing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“It makes things more cumbersome, so it has done damage,” he said.

Biden says it’s now “more difficult to do business with our allies and our friends.”

But that’s not what Biden …

Newly-Elected GOP Congressman Under Investigation For Secret Payments

Congressman-elect David Rivera is being investigated by the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office for secret payments allegedly made eto him by the owners of a dog track company. (h/t Political Wire)

Most of the money was paid in early 2008, weeks after Rivera — then a member of the Florida House of Representatives — helped run a political campaign backed by the dog track to win voter approval for Las Vegas-style slot machines at parimutuel venues in Miami-Dade County.

The dog track — now called the Magic City Casino — made three payments totaling $510,000 to Millennium Marketing, a company …

Hardly Reported: More Than 130 Anti-War Protesters Including Daniel Ellsberg Arrested In Front Of White House

Hundreds of anti-war protesters demonstrated in front of the White House Thursday, leading to more than 130 arrests. Among the arrested were Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Ellsberg spoke in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and alleged document procurer Pvt. Bradley Manning. The arrests were peaceful, with some going limp and one attaching himself to the White House gate with a bike lock.

All were charged with failure to obey lawful order, a misdemeanor, said Park Police spokesman David Schlosser. Schlosser said the protesters would be released after either forfeiting USD 100 …

John McCain’s Bizarre Closing Rant On “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

Dana Milbank sums up John McCain’s inexplicable behavior as the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy was being repealed.

McCain’s statement on the floor was roughly one part argument, four parts tantrum. “So here we are about six weeks after an election that repudiated the agenda of the other side,” he said, and those who would repeal don’t-ask-don’t-tell “are acting in direct repudiation of the message of the American people.”

Only, it’s not true. “The American people” favored the repeal of DADT.

Saturday’s debate on the repeal of the “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” policy was only half an hour old when the Arizona Republican …

Historic Senate Vote Repeals “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

After voting to end debate on the matter, the Senate voted 65-31 to overturn the military policy called “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” that resulted in gays who acknowledged their sexual preference to be fired from the military.

The policy does not change overnight: Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen must first certify that lifting the ban will not adversely affect the military. Then there is a 60-day period as the Pentagon writes new rules.

More than 14,000 servicemembers have been discharged since 1993, when the policy became part of federal law.

The bill …