Stephen Colbert was very impressed with Rick PArry's debate performance. But like most of us thinks that Rick PErry is a douche.

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I have watched  a lot of pundits address Perry's ridiculous comparison of climate science to the imprisonment of Galilei Galileo, but I really think that only Colbert has put it in the proper perspective.

Plus he made it funny.

I don't think Rick Perry and his Evangelical friends are praying hard enough.

Courtesy of Collective Vision:

The meanest drought in modern Texas history looks different out here, away from the cities.There are no emerald swaths of St. Augustine lawns, no blooming shrubs, no misters cooling bar patrons as the sun goes down on another cloudless, 105-degree day. 

The disconnect between what rural Texans are experiencing and sheltered urbanites are seeing has never seemed greater.Out here, the brutality of the drought is measured not in annoying water restrictions or water pipes bursting in the dessicated ground — all now commonplace in Texas cities and towns — but threatened livelihoods, and the waning of life itself.

 So tell me again Governor Perry what are your thoughts about global warming?

"There are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects."

No serious candidate for President should have so little respect for science, and so little ability to see the evidence that surround him in his very own state.

Al Gore calls "bullshit," quite literally, on climate change deniers.

(Adult language. Might not be safe for work, or to played around young children.)


Here is the link to Aspen Journalism who first reported on Gore's remarks:

"Former Vice President Al Gore spoke Thursday at a communications and society seminar at the Aspen Institute (FOCAS). 

He primarily addressed the subject of how citizens can exercise their democratic duties in the networked world, although he also gave a long overview of media and communications history. 

Gore spoke off-the-cuff for about an hour and then took questions from the seminar attendees.During the discussion, Gore addressed the issue of what happens when citizens are fed information that is meant to derail rational debate on complex issues."

Personally I do not blame Gore for expressing frustration at how the corporations have spent millions of dollars working to discredit him, and convincing the low hanging fruit that the evidence that they read about, or see out of their windows, every day is not reality.

It  is at times like this that I have to fight the urge to fantasize about how much different our country, and the world, would be if George Bush, the Supreme Court, and Fox News had not colluded to steal the 2000 election. Nothing to be gained by that kind of thinking, except to reignite that barely forgotten ember of anger that burned in the pit of my stomach and caused me so many sleepless nights lo those many years ago.

(H/T to Progressive Alaska.)

Perhaps all is not lost for Texas after all.

Courtesy of the National Center for Science Education:

Pop the champagne corks. The Texas Board of Education has unanimously come down on the side of evolution. In an 8-0 vote, the board today approved scientifically accurate high school biology textbook supplements from established mainstream publishers--and did not approve the creationist-backed supplements from International Databases, LLC.

"This is a huge victory for Texas students and teachers," said Josh Rosenau, NCSE programs and policy director, who testified at the hearings this week. In his testimony, Rosenau urged the board to approve the supplements--recommended by a review panel largely composed of scientists and science educators--without amendments, and to reject International Database's creationist submission. The board did just that, and asked for only minimal changes to the approved supplements.

In hearings yesterday, NCSE members and allies showed up in force. At least four times as many people testified in favor of the supplements as written, versus those opposing the supplements or demanding significant changes.

Ultimately, the board approved the Holt supplement, and directed Commissioner of Education Robert Scott to review the list of supposed errors, and to develop amended language for Holt to incorporate. NCSE and Texas education groups are confident Scott's revisions will reflect the current state of evolutionary biology, and not any creationist alternatives.

Dr. Eugenie Scott, NCSE's Executive Director is celebrating the decision. "These supplements reflect the overwhelming scientific consensus that evolution is the core of modern biology, and is a central and vital concept in any biology class. That these supplements were adopted unanimously reflects a long overdue change in the board. I commend the board for its refusal to politicize science education."

Well I guess this is a glimmer of sanity in a state which still has Rick Perry as it Governor and whose abstinence only sex education program causes it to have the highest teen birth rate in the nation.


Oh well, at least now that Texans understand that evolution is fact they might soon realize that Rick Perry is somewhat further down that evolutionary trail than one might expect for the Governor of their state.

I mean seriously, is this guy even able to use rudimentary stone tools yet?

Your moment of geek this Monday morning.

Seriously this is the COOLEST video you will see all day.

I promise.



What an amazing time to be alive.

Judge rules to protect Alaskan polar bears, choosing science over the objections of Sarah Palin.

From Think Progress:

In 2008, the U.S. government placed the polar bear on the threatened species list because of the rapid decline in Arctic sea ice, becoming “the first to be designated as threatened because of global warming.”

But in 2008, media mega-star Sarah Palin was still the governor of Alaska. Fearing that protecting the polar bear would “cripple oil and gas development” off Alaska’s coasts, Palin — a well-worn climate science denier — sued the government to remove the species from the list. Palin pointed to the high population of polar bears in 2008 and dismissed climate models that predict continued loss of sea ice as “unreliable,” “uncertain,” and “unproven.”

But U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan backed the government scientists’ finding this week “that global warming is threatening the survival of the polar bear.” In a 116-page opinion, Sullivan dismissed Palin and hunting groups’ arguments as “nothing more than competing views about policy and science” and ruled on the side of science:

"Notwithstanding a handful of references to uncertainty that appear in record documents, Joint Plaintiffs have failed to persuade this Court that FWS [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] implemented the ESA [Endangered Species Act] “haphazardly.” Accordingly, the Court concludes that FWS did not act arbitrarily in relying on and drawing reasonable conclusions from the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] reports and climate models in making its listing determination for the polar bear."

Hard to believe that almost two years to the day that the batshit crazy loon quit her job, we are still cleaning up after the mess she left behind. Gee, I wonder how much THIS frivolous lawsuit cost my state?

I am very glad that at least judges can understand basic science, even if politicians subsidized by the oil companies cannot.

(By the way, this case is actually rather historic here at IM, as it is over Palin's response to the Federal governments decision to put the polar bears on the Endangered Species List that angered me enough to write my first post criticising her.  And I have not looked back since.)

THE BUTTERFLY EXPERIENCE: Officially The Last Post About The Hungry Little Caterpillar That's Now Miss Monarch

We had a great day, yesterday, observing the Monarch Butterfly emerge from it's chrysalis & then watching it as it's wings dried and straightened out! The Monarch is positively breath taking! Absolutely 100% beautiful and there is just something peaceful about them too!

Here are some pictures we took yesterday before we let the Butterfly go...

If you ever have the opportunity to scour patches of milkweed, be looking for a little pearl looking dot on the bottom side of the leaves and then your family can experience the chances that the Monarch butterfly egg goes through to become a beautiful butterfly! I can guarantee you, that our family will never be able to pass up another patch of milkweed without thoroughly examining it too! LOL! This "free" science experiment was just way to much fun!

THE BUTTERFLY EXPERIENCE: OMG...We are Mommies Again! Our Hungry Little Caterpillar is now...

An amazing, beautiful, glorious MONARCH BUTTERFLY!

GOOD BYE "Hungry Little Caterpillar" and HELLO "Miss Monarch"!

Seriously, I walked away for fifteen minutes and when I came back to peek at it, here is what I saw:

Isn't it breath taking?

We have to wait for it's wings to dry and then we'll let it fly off...

But what an amazing experience for me & my girls. I was almost moved to tears. Thank you Lord for our Beautiful Monarch Butterfly!

THE BUTTERFLY EXPERIENCE: Look What Happened to Our Hungry Little Caterpillar Over-Night

So, yesterday, we could see inside of the chrysalis, but it was still a greenish color. Now have a look at what it looked like this morning when we got up:

I am guessing that we will be seeing a butterfly emerge in the next couple days and I am so excited! I hope I don't miss the actual happening! I'd love to catch it on video or get some great pictures of it.

The kids and I have had such a great time watching this little tiny pindrop, pearl colored egg turn into something beautiful and amazing! GOD IS GOOD! It's so fastinating to watch & think about. I'm so grateful that our pastor's wife brought us the milkweed with the egg for us to have this experience. Such a fun "free" science experiment!

THE BUTTERFLY EXPERIENCE: Our Hungry Little Caterpillar Has Changed It's Look...

So, a few days ago, I noticed that our Hungry Little Caterpillar had stopped eating and was hovering the top of the butterfly cage...when I looked closer, I noticed that it was actually releasing silk on the top of the plastic...building itself a place to hang from (securing itself). So, I got really excited, because we were going to get to watch it turn into a chrysalis. It went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth on the top of the cage until finally, it settled in one place and started to direct all the silk in one spot. The next morning, it was hanging in a "J" shape, and was wiggling around. I thought we were going to actually get to see it transform into the chrysalis...but had to run an errand.

When I got home, found it it had already "HALF" formed it's chrysalis already. A little bummed...I continued to watch the rest of the afternoon as it transfored itself completely into a tiny little coccoon of sorts. SO COOL!

The Chrysalis is beautiful! It has little golden (they are actually even sparkly) golden jewels on it's casing. So...now we wait and see how long it takes before the Chrysalis starts to become sheer and a Monarch Butterfly emerges. YAY! I can't wait to share with you all when it happens!

Keep checking back for updates on our Hungry Little Caterpillar, soon to be a Monarch Butterfly.

THE BUTTERFLY EXPERIENCE: The Hungry Little Caterpillar's Progress...

Ummm...he keeps eating and eating and eating! Our "Hungry Little Caterpillar" is HUGE now! I was shocked this morning when I flipped the leaf over to find him, he's seriously doubled in size since yesterday. AMAZING how fast he's growing!

We are going to get him some fresh milk weed this evening after football practice and we'll see how much bigger he gets before it's time for him to cocoon and change into a butterfly. Since this is our first experience with it, every step is something new and amazing...and 100% free! YAY!

THE BUTTERFLY EXPERIENCE: Science is Wonderful, Amazing & Totally Free...THANK YOU MONARCH BUTTERFLY

Okay, so I know this is kind of off topic, considering that lately I've been doing mostly reviews & giveaways...but since the kids are heading back to school...I thought maybe this could come in handy for some parents who are homeschooling this year. Our family loves things that are "free" and "fun" and also things that educate our children. Plus, I just think it's really amazing & fastinating and something that everyone, from every walk of life can appreciate!

Our pastor's wife, who has become a personal friend, told us that when her girl's were young, they used to watch a Monarch Egg turn into a Butterfly. Of course, my 5 year old was totally intrigued by this idea (since we purchased a butterfly kit that turned into a disaster...another story for another time).
One day a few weeks ago, she dropped off a piece of MILKWEED that had a little teeny tiny Monarch Egg on it. I mean...seriously, this little egg was so LITTLE...you could have missed it unless you were really looking hard. It was smaller than the head of a pin.
We were so excited to take part in this experiment...to watch the stages of the Monarch Butterfly develop. So...I put the milkweed in water and we watched this little creamy colored egg for a few days. One evening, it appeared that the egg was changing into a darker color...and the next morning...when I woke up...there was a TEENY Tiny Caterpillar in it's place. The egg was completely gone (they eat what is left) and this little guy had already eaten a chunk of the milkweed as well. SO CUTE & LITTLE...
About a week has gone by now and we have a little tiny caterpillar that is pratically growing before our very eyes. He now has stripes and is really starting to look like a "real" caterpillar. LOL! So I am going to share our journey...the journey of the monarch, on this blogspot...because this is a project that any family could do with their kids. It's free, it's amazing to watch, and it's a fantastic way to teach your kids about science (without putting any money or thought into it at all).