What debate?

I hate that there is any debate in the first place.  And I hate that people actually think/say what is represented in pink.  But I love how well this diagram represents the level-headed responses to the crazy....

Why???

With all of the crazy spewing from fundamental conservatives right now, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? Even worse is this little detail at the end of the report:

But a bigger indicator of peril comes from a new survey question added the DK tracking poll for the first time this week. The poll now includes a rather simple indicator of baseline voter enthusiasm for the year 2010. The question offered to respondents is a simple question about their intentions for 2010:


QUESTION: In the 2010 Congressional elections will you definitely vote, probably vote, not likely vote, or definitely will not vote?


The results were, to put it mildly, shocking:


Voter Intensity: Definitely + Probably Voting/Not Likely + Not Voting


Republican Voters: 81/14
Independent Voters: 65/23
DEMOCRATIC VOTERS: 56/40


Two in five Democratic voters either consider themselves unlikely to vote at this point in time, or have already made the firm decision to remove themselves from the 2010 electorate pool. Indeed, Democrats were three times more likely to say that they will "definitely not vote" in 2010 than are Republicans.

We have a while yet to fix this, but what will it take? Negotiation-free health care (complete with public option)? Pulling troops out of all international "involvements"? Signing a climate change treaty in Copenhagen?

I have no idea....

Update

So...I've been m.i.a. for awhile. Just lost the motivation to post about random aspects of my life.

But now: a new challenge. My PhD program wants me to blog about life in Laramie (whatever that means) as a recruiting tool. Kind of nice to have a purpose, but that means the political posts will have to go away. So...I'll be over here for awhile. We'll see how it goes.

Oh, and I apologize in advance for the ugly format. Many dollars wasted and eyes offended thanks to the company the University of Wyoming hired to "re-brand" the website.

NOTE: This site is no longer listed in my blogger profile to avoid pissing off the Ecology people. So save the address...I may be back to bitch about politics in the near future

Blame it on the Tetons

This summer I am/will be busy trying to finish the 2nd chapter of my dissertation research, round out the rough edges of my 1st chapter, and plan the next round of research without knowing that the chapter 2 research is actually working (wouldn't it be nice to have a real-time isotope analyzer in the field?). Oh, and avoiding bison who like my field sites. Good times. Won't post much until August or later. In the meantime, enjoy the view from one of my field sites:

Where is this place?

After a harsh speech today from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, the cries of "Allah-o Akbar" in the darkness of Iran tonight are even stronger.

Tomorrow's protest may be the largest yet, and could also the most violent if the government chooses to retaliate against these now "illegal" gatherings.

My thoughts are with these people....



A rough translation of what the woman in the video is saying:

"Today is Friday June 19, 2009. Tomorrow is Saturday. Tomorrow is a decisive day. Tonight, peoples cries are louder and more forceful than the previous nights.

"Where is this place? Where is this place that all its doors have been shut?

"Where is this place that its people cry out only to God? Where is this place that every night the roars of Allah-o Akbar becomes more intense? Every day I wait for the night to arrive to see if the Allah-o Akbars are going to get louder. I am shivering. I wonder if God is shaking too.

"Where is this place that we are helplessly stuck in? Where is this place that nobody rushes to our aid? Where is this place that only with our silence were reaching our voice out to the world?

"Where is this place that the blood of the young is spilled, and the people pray in the streets for them? They pray on their spilled blood. Where is this place that its people are blatantly called thugs and thieves?

"Where is this place? You want to know?

"It is Iran. This is your and my land. This is Iran."

Why Iran Matters

Two bits of Iran coverage that I really like are linked below. I also think it's really important to give kudos to Andrew Sullivan and Rachel Maddow for doing solid jobs covering what's going on in Iran. They are in the minority right now, in my opinion.

Andrew Sullivan:
Why Iran Matters

Rachel Maddow: 'Just the beginning' in Iran

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A month later...

...and it seems like anything I could post about my life right now would be pretty trivial. Conference went well (Michigan has some great beer and beautiful "coastline"), trip to NYC and RI was great, and now I'm back in Laramie getting ready for summer PhD field work, round III.

My research last summer was a lot of trial and error, so I'm hoping that's my one less-than-productive round. This summer I have a technician who seems fantastic and I have a three-part research plan that consists of at least one part that I know will work. So...it's on to the Tetons/Yellowstone on 1 July!

In the meantime, I have witnessed first-hand the dramatic change in how many people are getting their news. I could care less about what I personally post on twitter, but it's at least 1 hour ahead of any "breaking news" emails from networks that have failed miserably in their coverage of what is happening in Iran. Granted, twitter is run by the masses and many use it as tool to mislead or alter the truth, but it's easy enough to realize who is there for the right reasons.

My perception of news (and people in general) has changed a lot in the last several days...and I'll just leave it at that.

Lambs are cute. And then you eat them.

I think Spring is for real this time: it's raining instead of snowing, more flowers are risking their blooms, and there are animal babies everywhere!

We visited our friends who live just out of town and do the ranching thing. Got to oooh and ahhhh at the lambs and kids (baby sheep and goats for those of you who are less farm-wise) and even bottle feed a couple of the lambs.


Then we asked our friends how much 1/2 of a lamb was going to cost us. Yeah, they're cute, but they're also tasty. And I have lots of Indian recipes that I want to try soon!

...Is that weird?

Americans Get Hurt

I am becoming a huge fan of this show.

My biggest concern: it might be too smart.

And...we're back?

Not sure what's worth posting here these days. Haven't come across any videos to embed and the teabagging parties are over. (At least the ones that'll make the evening news.)

Right now I'm frantically planning my summer research, writing my dissertation plan, hiring a technician and avoiding the fact that my conference presentation is going to suck this year due to lack of data.

Good thing I can give an award-winning talk about nothing. (See last year's talk that won Best Student Presentation as a prime example of my mad presenting skillz when dealing with data that I can't use to draw any meaningful conclusions.) Still, it would be nice to have something more substantial to talk about. Maybe I'll make up some new calculations....

But for the rest of the boring old grad school update:

• I'm up to $8,000 in grant money for the summer. And I think that might actually be enough.
  
• I found a few people that seem like they will make great summer research technicians (great = s/he has an actual interest in carbon cycling and will not try to get mauled by a grizzly mama). Now I just have to officially hire one.
• My dissertation research plan exists in my head. The writing is on hold until I can reorganize and actually find the papers I need to cite.
  

The lack of people with similar interests at Wyoming has been getting to me lately, but hopefully the upcoming conference will help with that huge void, even if it is a temporary fix. Funny that this issue is getting worse when we have two amazing aquatic ecologists visiting campus this month. Maybe it's seeing what I don't have that's getting me all riled up?

The New York Times published the most depressing description of my life, which can be summed-up as:

"In other words, young people enroll in graduate programs, work hard for subsistence pay and assume huge debt burdens, all because of the illusory promise of faculty appointments."

And, last but not least: the boyfriend hasn't killed me yet, despite the fact that I can't seem to get a good night of sleep.

"Houston, We Have a Solution"