Miami Herald gets it wrong again

What is so galling about this arbitrary and unnecessary favor to a White House colleague is that it stands the notions of fairness and justice on their heads. Stripped to its essence, the commutation is a blatant political act that invites cynicism and distrust. It sends the sad message that if you are a part of the administration, you are unaccountable, above the law.

- Miami Herald (read full editorial here)

Wrong as usual.

The commutation sends the message that prosecutorial misconduct is not going to be tolerated.

Libby deserved a full pardon, but commutation of the sentence was better than nothing.

Nematodes

You may have heard of the nematode, that microscopic gelatinous worm in your garden soil, but did you know that four out of every five living creatures on Earth is a nematode? The whole bloody planet is crawling.

- Washington Post (read full article here)

Ex-goddess

A 10-year-old Nepalese girl was stripped of her title as a living goddess because she traveled overseas to promote a documentary about the centuries-old tradition, a news report said Tuesday.

Living goddesses are worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists.

- AP/azcentral (read full article here)

Human evolution

People have continued to evolve since leaving the ancestral homeland in northeastern Africa some 50,000 years ago, both through the random process known as genetic drift and through natural selection.

- Nicholas Wade, NY Times (read full essay here)

Some interesting ideas about ancestry and convergent evolution.

Evo-devo

Now finally, after more than a century of puzzling, scientists are finding answers coming fast and furious and from a surprising quarter, the field known as evo-devo. Just coming into its own as a science, evo-devo is the combined study of evolution and development, the process by which a nubbin of a fertilized egg transforms into a full-fledged adult. And what these scientists are finding is that development, a process that has for more than half a century been largely ignored in the study of evolution, appears to have been one of the major forces shaping the history of life on earth.

- Carol Kaesuk Yoon, NY Times (read full essay here)

It sounds like we do not know a lot of things about this.

Evo-devo, a new modern synthesis, and paradigm shifts

None of these concerns provide a scintilla of hope for creationists, as scientific investigations are already providing new insights into these issues.

- Douglas H. Erwin, NY Times (read full essay here)

Very dense. Assumes a scientific literacy not attained by many Americans, including me.

Returned

Finally returned after some very rough flights dodging thunderstorms.

Caught a few pike and a couple of tiger muskies, but did not get into the big trout I was looking for.

There was a bald eagle near our camp at Eleven Mile Reservoir.

Saw a small tarantula, a first for me outside of zoos.

Visited the Dinosaur Museum in Canyon City. Very interesting.

Saw the dinosaur tracks along Skyline Drive above Canyon City. Also very interesting.

Had fun, but also glad to be home again.