Obama promises major investment in science

Obama promises major investment in scientific research and development

* Randolph E. Schmid, AP Science Writer
* On Monday April 27, 2009, 1:13 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama promised a new era of science and technology for the nation, telling the National Academy of Sciences on Monday that he wants to devote more funds to research and development.

America has fallen behind other countries in science, Obama said.

"I believe it is not in our character, American character, to follow -- but to lead. And it is time for us to lead once again. I am here today to set this goal: we will devote more than 3 percent of our gross domestic product to research and development," Obama said in a speech at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences.

That 3 percent would amount to about $420 billion.

"We will not just meet but we will exceed the level achieved at the height of the space race," he said.

That pursuit of discovery a half century ago fueled the nation's prosperity and success, Obama told the academy.

"The commitment I am making today will fuel our success for another 50 years," he said. "This work begins with an historic commitment to basic science and applied research."

And he set forth a wish list including solar cells as cheap as paint; green buildings that produce all the energy they consume; learning software as effective as a personal tutor; prosthetics so advanced that you could play the piano again and "an expansion of the frontiers of human knowledge about ourselves and world the around us.'

"We can do this," Obama said to applause.

In recent years, he said, "scientific integrity has been undermined and scientific research politicized in an effort to advance predetermined ideological agendas."

He then drew chuckles, commenting: "I want to be sure that facts are driving scientific decisions, not the other way around," Obama said.

"At such a difficult moment, there are those who say we cannot afford to invest in science, that support for research is somehow a luxury at a moment defined by necessities. I fundamentally disagree," Obama said.

"Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life than it has ever been," he said.

Obama said he plans to double the budget of key science agencies over a decade, including the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy Office of Science and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology.

He also announced the launch of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. It is a new Department of Energy organization modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, that led in development of the Internet, stealth aircraft and other technological breakthroughs.

And he said the Energy Department and the National Science Foundation will offer programs and scholarships to encourage American students to pursue careers in science, engineering and business related to clean energy.

My Gardening Attempts in South Florida (Help Needed)

Things are pretty different down here in extreme south Florida from the rest of the US, even gardening. I used to be able to throw some squash seeds in some red clay and harvest all summer long with only some powdery mildew to worry about. Similar story with tomatoes. Since I move almost as far south as you can go in the States about 1.5 years ago, however, gardening has been much more of a challenge. I have lost all 6 "crops" of zucchini I have tried- they don't even make it past about 6 inches tall. All tomato crops have similarly failed. Finally this try (planting everything in November and December) I have managed some apparent, although likely fleeting, success.

Above (from top left, clockwise): cherry tomato plants in containers in the front yard, 2 cucumber in a raised bed in the back yard with little sun, 2 cucumbers and random basil in a raised bed in the front yard (was sposta be a square foot garden, but the zucchini in the back row already died), and some chives that I have managed to keep alive in the same pot for 8 years now.


Above: Damage to my tomato plants after most damaged leaves were pulled off. We are in a drought and plants only get watered 1-2 times per week (good soaking). I saw a couple mites on the bottom of the leaves and proceeded to pull off all damaged leaves. Next I sprayed everything with neem oil, using rubber gloves to get the undersides of the leaves really well. These pictures are from a couple days later. The damage seems to be continuing. Does anyone have any ideas???????

New Web Page

http://nlhyslop.googlepages.com

Looks like a snake, but its a glass lizard from the South Carolina coast

Owlspotting � Blog Archive � The life and death of Coca-Cola C2

Owlspotting � Blog Archive � The life and death of Coca-Cola C2

Coulter vs Evolution (silly woman)

I knew I had extreme differing opinions with Ann Coulter, but I had no idea her new book was this slanted (and apparently she spends about 1/3 of it bashing evolution)! Difficult to believe the lack of science education in this country that allows her to receive so much attention and admiration from many on the right- dangerous when she keeps bashing several entire branch's of science. Here are some quotes from her new book, "Godless":

In Ann Coulter's latest book, she asserts that "liberalism contains all the attributes of what is generally known as 'religion,'" including a creation mythology (evolution), priests (public school teachers) and a holy sacrament (abortion).

From Random House's (book's publisher) own summary of the book:
Then, of course, there's the liberal creation myth: Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

For liberals, evolution is the touchstone that separates the enlightened from the benighted. But Coulter neatly reverses the pretense that liberals are rationalists guided by the ideals of free inquiry and the scientific method. She exposes the essential truth about Darwinian evolution that liberals refuse to confront: it is bogus science.

Writing with a keen appreciation for genuine science, Coulter reveals that the so-called gaps in the theory of evolution are all there is—Darwinism is nothing but a gap. After 150 years of dedicated searching into the fossil record, evolution's proponents have failed utterly to substantiate its claims. And a long line of supposed evidence, from the infamous Piltdown Man to the "evolving" peppered moths of England, has been exposed as hoaxes. Still, liberals treat those who question evolution as religious heretics and prohibit students from hearing about real science when it contradicts Darwinism. And these are the people who say they want to keep faith out of the classroom?

Liberals' absolute devotion to Darwinism, Coulter shows, has nothing to do with evolution's scientific validity and everything to do with its refusal to admit the possibility of God as a guiding force. They will brook no challenges to the official religion.


Direct quotes from the book with page numbers of where the quotes are found (taken from the "Right Wing New" web site: these are the quotes they liked the best):

"Because of liberals druidical religious beliefs, they won't allow us to save the Africans dying in droves of malaria with DDT because DDT might hurt the birds." -- P.4-5

"Assuming you aren't a fetus, the Left's most dangerous religious belief is their adoration of violent criminals." -- P.23

"The single greatest victory of the Darwiniacs is in the realm of rhetoric, not science. They have persuaded the slumbering masses that anyone who questions the theory of evolution must do so out of religious fervor. No matter what argument you make against evolution, the response is Well, you know it's possible to believe in evolution and believe in God. Yes, and it's possible to believe in Spiderman and believe in God, but that doesn't prove Spiderman true. I admire the rhetorical technique and plan to use it during all future disputes. Your time is up on the Stairmaster. You're just saying that because you believe in God. This is the express checkout lane. Oh, I get it -- you believe in God." -- P.246-247

Other quotes:
"The ethic of conservation is the explicit abnegation of man's dominion over the Earth. The lower species are here for our use. God said so: Go forth, be fruitful, multiply, and rape the planet--it's yours. That's our job: drilling, mining and stripping. Sweaters are the anti-Biblical view. Big gas-guzzling cars with phones and CD players and wet bars -- that's the Biblical view." - from column "Oil Good; Democrats bad", 12 October, 2000

"God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'" - Fox News, Hannity & Colmes, June 20, 2001.

"I would like evolution to join the roster of other discredited religions, like the Cargo Cult of the South Pacific. Practitioners of Cargo Cult believed that manufactured products were created by ancestral spirits, and if they imitated what they had seen the white man do, they could cause airplanes to appear out of the sky, bringing valuable cargo like radios and TVs. So they constructed "airport towers" out of bamboo and "headphones" out of coconuts and waited for the airplanes to come with the cargo. It may sound silly, but in defense of the Cargo Cult, they did not wait as long for evidence supporting their theory as the Darwinists have waited for evidence supporting theirs."

How to create your very own vernal pond!!!!

Free book on how to build/make/create a vernal pond on your property- great for attracting game birds, amphibians, reptiles, etc...

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/boone/documents/resources/vernal.pdf

LARGE PYTHON SAVES TSUNAMI VICTIMS

LARGE PYTHON SAVES TSUNAMI VICTIMS

Python saves tsunami victims.(Quirks in the News) Publication: UPI NewsTrack Publication Date: 30-DEC-04

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A python saved the lives of an Indonesian woman and twin girls as they were being swept away in the deadly tsunami, the Jakarta Post said Thursday. A 26-year-old clothing vendor identified only as Riza said she was swept away when the tsunami hit Banda Aceh Sunday. As she was drifting in the water, she saw her badly injured neighbor and her 9-year-old twin daughters also caught in the current. "The mother shouted, 'Please help save my children. Let me be, but please save my children,'" Riza said. A large snake the size of a telephone pole floated toward the group and Riza said she grabbed onto it with the twins. "Thank God, we landed on higher ground where the water level was only about a meter deep. The twins, who were badly injured, were safe." Riza said she slapped her face to make sure she wasn't dreaming, then realized, "God still loves me." COPYRIGHT 2004 United Press International

New

Just testing this thing out.