Guppies transplanted from a predator-free environment to one in which they were potentially food for other animals were able to alter their reproductive output by significant margins within about twenty generations. For guppies, that’s only about eight years. If you… Continue Reading
China is the world’s most populous nation. It is an industrialized, nuclear-armed power. Unlike the former Soviet Union, it is a major trading partner of nearly every other industrialized and semi-industrialized nation on the planet. And it is run by… Continue Reading
Rush Limbaugh called Sonia Sotomayor a “reverse racist.” But he may support her nomination to the Supreme Court anyway. Why? She’s Catholic and has an unclear record on THE ISSUE. That is why my guide to language surrounding Supreme Court… Continue Reading
President Obama is traveling to Egypt to deliver an “Address to the Muslim World.” (He’s in Saudi Arabia today.) Now, the President excels when he delivers “challenging” speeches, like his campaign addresses on religion and race. He can encourage people… Continue Reading
Sidreal has conceived of a rather elegant and clever way of depicting one’s stance on the issue. Still too complex for sound-bite, energize-the-base politics, but very useful for quickly understanding the nuances (and there are many) to an individual’s position.… Continue Reading
I ran into a buddy today at the courthouse. I asked him how he was doing, and he said, “Living the dream!” That was encouraging and uplifting. It made me feel happy for my friend and reminded me that he… Continue Reading
When I was in high school and college, lo these many years ago, the big flashpoint political issues that I can recall talking about were: Abortion Affirmative action The Cold War Balancing environmental protection with economic growth Illegal immigration Gay… Continue Reading
This charming message found its way into my e-mail today. Fortunately, the spam filter caught it but as it turned out today was a day I checked the spam filter to make sure nothing I actually want to read is… Continue Reading
Prof. Shaun Martin writes of the Supreme Court affirming the death penalty for Richard Davis, who is Polly Klaas’ murderer: It doesn’t take much to figure out what the California Supreme Court’s going to do in this one once the… Continue Reading
Let’s say you were just at a restaurant and a little kid ran away from her parent and into the kitchen — an environment with flames, hot grease, knives, slippery floors, and all manner of other dangers. And the parent… Continue Reading