New talking points from the EPA minimize human impact on climate change.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't understand all of those sciencey words you keep using.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Environmental Protection Agency staffers received a list of “talking points” this week instructing them to underscore the uncertainties about how human activity contributes to climate change. 

A career employee in the department’s Office of Public Affairs distributed the eight talking points to regional staffers. The list offered suggestions on ways to talk with local communities and Native American tribes about how to adapt to extreme weather, rising seas and other environmental challenges. 

Employees crafted the email, first disclosed Wednesday by HuffPost, on the basis of controversial — and scientifically unsound — statements that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has made about the current state of climate research.

“Human activity impacts our changing climate in some manner,” reads one of the talking points. “The ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact, and what to do about it, are subject to continuing debate and dialogue.”

Another states that while there has been “extensive” research and numerous reports on climate change, “clear gaps remain including our understanding of the role of human activity and what we can do about it.”

In other words the Trump Administration is saying that since they do not understand, or really trust, science they are simply going to do nothing, and hope that the world does not burn to a cinder before Trump can run for reelection.

Personally I think that the EPA folks who start spewing this bullshit in front of the ALASKAN native community better have one hand on the doorknob of the conference room, because those folks know exactly who to blame for the changing weather patterns, and it ain't them.

Stephen Hawking has now "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to touch the face of....truth.

Courtesy of the New York Times: 

Stephen W. Hawking, the Cambridge University physicist and best-selling author who roamed the cosmos from a wheelchair, pondering the nature of gravity and the origin of the universe and becoming an emblem of human determination and curiosity, died early Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 76. 

His death was confirmed by a spokesman for Cambridge University. 

“Not since Albert Einstein has a scientist so captured the public imagination and endeared himself to tens of millions of people around the world,” Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, said in an interview. 

Dr. Hawking did that largely through his book “A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes,” published in 1988. It has sold more than 10 million copies and inspired a documentary film by Errol Morris. The 2014 film about his life, “The Theory of Everything,” was nominated for several Academy Awards and Eddie Redmayne, who played Dr. Hawking, won the Oscar for best actor. 

Scientifically, Dr. Hawking will be best remembered for a discovery so strange that it might be expressed in the form of a Zen koan: When is a black hole not black? When it explodes.

By any measure Stephen Hawking was an absolutely amazing human being.

And in fact a living lesson as to just what can be achieved by humanity itself once it steps away from superstition and fully embraces the miracles to be discovered by scientific exploration.

The challenges that Hawking faced in his life were the kind that would destroy most people, and yet he managed to not only adapt, but to overcome.

It kind of puts the challenges that most of us face into perspective doesn't it?

Remembering Stephen Hawking, a renowned physicist and ambassador of science. His theories unlocked a universe of possibilities that we & the world are exploring. May you keep flying like superman in microgravity, as you said to astronauts on @Space_Station in 2014 pic.twitter.com/FeR4fd2zZ5

— NASA (@NASA) March 14, 2018

His passing has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake. But it's not empty. Think of it as a kind of vacuum energy permeating the fabric of spacetime that defies measure. Stephen Hawking, RIP 1942-2018. pic.twitter.com/nAanMySqkt

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 14, 2018

Have fun out there among the stars. pic.twitter.com/S285MTwGtp

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 14, 2018

I would say RIP, that would be an insult to the memory of this great man.

Clips from 2005 talk radio appearances show that EPA administrator Scott Pruitt does not believe in Evolution and wants to amend the Constitution to ban abortion and ban marriage equality.

“There aren’t sufficient scientific facts to establish the theory of evolution, and it deals with the origins of man, which is more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint,” Pruitt said on an Oklahoma radio program in 2005. https://t.co/20oZv5lOG8 pic.twitter.com/i8QpcYvfkQ

— POLITICO (@politico) March 2, 2018

Courtesy of Politico:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed evolution as an unproven theory, lamented that “minority religions” were pushing Christianity out of “the public square” and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005. 

Pruitt, who at the time was a state senator, also described the Second Amendment as divinely granted and condemned federal judges as a “judicial monarchy” that is “the most grievous threat that we have today." And he did not object when the program’s host described Islam as “not so much a religion as it is a terrorist organization in many instances.”

The views he states, in discussions peppered with references to inalienable rights and the faith of the nation's founders, are in line with those of millions of other conservative, devout Christians. But they also show stances that at times are at odds with the broader American mainstream, and in some cases with accepted scientific findings — an issue that has more recently come up with his skepticism about the science behind climate change. 

“There aren’t sufficient scientific facts to establish the theory of evolution (Actually there are.), and it deals with the origins of man, which is more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint,” he said in one part of the series (That is actually untrue as well.), in which Pruitt and the program's hosts discussed issues related to the Constitution. 

Of course Republicans were quick to defend Pruitt and his primitive superstitious views.

Republicans in Congress defended Pruitt, saying his religious beliefs should factor into how he does his job. 

"All of us are people of faith and obviously influenced by our faith and the role it played in our life … and continue[s] to play in our life on a daily basis," said Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees EPA. "It’s a part of who we are."

Actually since protecting the environment is an entirely science based policy, a person's religious beliefs serve only to interfere in their ability to understand the data they see in order to help direct their decision making.

ANY potential cabinet member who espouses such arcane and outdated opinions should NEVER be put in charge of any agency which requires at least some understanding and respect for science.

Period.

Creationist Ken Ham does not think that Bill Nye's show about real facts is appropriate for children. Because you know superstitious fairy tales are so much more palatable.

Courtesy of Science AF: 

Creationist Ken Ham loves to challenge Bill Nye on every scientific issue under the sun, and the release of Bill Nye Saves the World season two was too great an opportunity to miss. 

In a blog post for his website Answers in Genesis, the famous creationist accused the Science Guy's new show of being "inappropriate" for children. 

"Bill Nye is not kid friendly at all (this new show is geared toward millennials), and both seasons of this show's content (which pushes a secular view of origins and morality) are certainly not appropriate for children," Ham wrote, proposing that the show should really be called "Bill Nye Needs to be Saved." 

"He is definitely not Bill Nye the kid-friendly guy! Beware!" 

Apparently, the promotion of basic scientific facts is now considered inappropriate.

Apparently Ham is upset about Nye's descriptive language when discussing STD's and superbugs, and argues that his show is too secular in nature.

Does Ham not realize that science by its very nature is "secular?"

No, I guess he wouldn't.

So in Ken Ham's version of educating children you simply fill their head with superstitious nonsense and then threaten them with eternal torment if they refuse to believe you, and Bill Nye's approach is to present actual fact based information in a fun and entertaining manner.

Got it.

The Doomsday Clock is now the closest it has been to midnight since the Cold War.

Courtesy of Science AF: 

On Wednesday, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced they have moved the Doomsday Clock forward so it now rests 2 minutes before midnight. 

The Doomsday Clock is a symbol which represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe. Ever since 1998, when India and Pakistan started testing nuclear weapons, the Doomsday Clock has been just single digits away from midnight. 

But after the disaster that was 2017, when world leaders failed to respond effectively to looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, scientists have moved the minute hand forward by 30 seconds. 

The Clock is now closer than it has ever been to Doomsday since the height of the Cold War in 1953. 

"In 2017, we saw reckless language in the nuclear realm heat up already dangerous situations and relearned that minimizing evidence-based assessments regarding climate and other global challenges does not lead to better public policies," said Rachel Bronson, the Bulletin's president and CEO. 

According to the experts, last year's greatest threats came from the nuclear realm, leaving humanity on the "cusp of a new arms race." North Korea's nuclear weapons progress and the "hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions" from both the U.S. and North Korea have increased the possibility of nuclear war, they say.

People terrified around the world about the possibility of a nuclear war.

Somewhere you just know that Putin is sitting with a self satisfied grin on his face.

A population in fear, is a population easily manipulated.

The Trump Administration is now restricting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using words like "science-based" and "evidenced-based."

Courtesy of WaPo: 

The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in any official documents being prepared for next year’s budget. 

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.” 

In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based” or ­“evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered. 

The question of how to address such issues as sexual orientation, gender identity and abortion rights — all of which received significant visibility under the Obama administration — has surfaced repeatedly in federal agencies since President Trump took office. Several key departments — including Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, as well as Justice, Education, and Housing and Urban Development — have changed some federal policies and how they collect government information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Does your country feel any dumber yet? 

Well if not, just wait, it's about to.

California man's plan to launch himself 1,800 feet into the air to prove the earth is flat has been postponed. Wait, what's happening?

Courtesy of Fox News: 

Mike Hughes said the Bureau of Land Management wouldn't approve his plan to use public land for Saturday's planned experiment, so he'll have to move the project to private land next week, the Washington Post reported. 

The 61-year-old limo driver said he had received verval approval from the same federal agency just last year, pending an OK from the federal Aviation Commission, the paper reported. 

Hughes added that engine trouble in his motor home, which was converted into a ramp, also affected his original launch plans. 

“It’s still happening. We’re just moving it three miles down the road,” Hughes told the Post on Friday. “This is what happens any time you have to deal with any kind of government agency.” 

Hughes said the rocket will take flight next week, from private property near the Mojave Desert, along Route 66.

If all goes according to plan, Hughes said his stunt will be the first phase of the flat-Earth space program, sponsored by Research Flat Earth, a group that believes Earth is flat.

Climate change deniers,  anti-evolutionists, and these flat earth idiots probably feel that with Donald Trump in office this is their time.

After all clearly facts no longer matter, and denying reality seems to be a winning strategy.

 However after taking a look at the rocket in that picture up above I think the only thing this Mike Hughes is going to prove is that the human body can disintegrate on impact.

The Pope denounces climate change deniers. "I denounce thee, I denounce thee, I denounce thee."

Courtesy of CBS News: 

Pope Francis denounced those who deny global warming and urged negotiators at climate talks in Germany to avoid falling prey to such "perverse attitudes" and instead accelerate efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. 

Francis issued a message Thursday to the Bonn meeting, which is working to implement the 2015 Paris accord aimed at capping global emissions. 

In the message, Francis called climate change "one of the most worrisome phenomena that humanity is facing," and urged negotiators to ignore special interests and political or economic pressures and instead engage in an honest dialogue about the future of the planet. 

He denounced that such efforts are often frustrated by those who deny climate change, are indifferent to it, or think it can only be solved by technical solutions. 

Well good for the Pope!

I do not always agree with this Pope, but he is dead right to call these people out for clinging to a belief that is not backed up by the facts, and for which the opposite point of view is held by the smartest, most knowledgeable people on the planet.

Oh...wait.

P.S. Sorry, that may have seemed like a cheap shot, but let's face it faith that exists despite evidence to the contrary is the very foundation of both climate change deniers and religious folks.

They are kissing cousins at the very least, and at the very most one is a parasitic entity which could not exist without the other.

Stephen Hawking says that in less than 600 years this planet will be virtually uninhabitable.

Get out while you still can.

Courtesy of Yahoo: 

British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned repeatedly that Earth could well be doomed, but his latest warning gives us no more than 583 years before we get burned on Earth. 

During a video clip aired at the Tencent WE Summit on Sunday, the 75-year-old scientist said that humanity would have to deal with exponential growth in the centuries ahead. He noted that the world’s population has been doubling every 40 years. 

“This exponential growth cannot continue into the next millennium,” Hawking, who has been coping with neurodegenerative disease for decades, said in his computer-synthesized voice. “By the year 2600, the world’s population would be standing shoulder to shoulder, and the electricity consumption would make the Earth glow red-hot. 

“This is untenable,” Hawking said as a planet-sized ball of fire blazed on the screen.

Hawking suggested that humanity's best chance for survival lay in the stars, and that finding other inhabitable planets may be our only hope.

Personally I am all for space exploration and have believed for decades that it is our destiny to someday leave this planet and explore the cosmos.

However 583 years is actually cutting it a little close.

If you consider the fact that we have yet to understand how to travel any great distance from this planet and survive, while adding to that the fact we have yet to identify a planet that we know for certain can sustain life, then just for fun let's remember that also need to be able to move not a handful, but potentially millions of people, and it's starting to feel a little doomy around here.

Of course we could all just stop having so many damn babies, quickly move to renewable energy resources, and start working together to repair this planet that we have all treated like our own personal landfill for thousands of years.

Nope, our best hope is to get the hell out of Dodge before the planet burns to a crisp.

EPA chief comforts fossil fuel companies by assuring him that new report which specifically blames climate change on humans will not impact his policy decisions.

Courtesy of USA Today: 

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said a newly released government report that lays most of the blame for the rise of global temperatures to human activity won't deter him from continuing to roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, a major rule aimed at combating climate change. 

"We’re taking the very necessary step to evaluate our authority under the Clean Air Act and we’ll take steps that are required to issue a subsequent rule. That’s our focus," Pruitt said in an interview with USA TODAY Tuesday. "Does this report have any bearing on that? No it doesn’t. It doesn’t impact the withdrawal and it doesn’t impact the replacement."

You might be asking yourself why a scientific report would have zero impact on EPA policies, considering the job they are supposed to perform, and the answer to that is because it's only some report done by scientists.

Courtesy of the LA Times:  

Rigorous, independent research and analysis should undergird everything the government does. Nowhere is that more true than at the Environmental Protection Agency, which crafts and enforces a wide range of regulations aimed at limiting damage to the environment — and to people — from pollutants. Democratic administrations tend to use data to justify more aggressive regulation, while Republican administrations tend to prefer a lighter touch. But the current administration is following a third path, seemingly bent on converting the EPA into a science-be-damned rubber stamp for industry. And if director Scott Pruitt is successful, we will be living in a much more dangerous environment.

So no, a report from a bunch of scientists will NOT have an impact on the polices of the EPA, because the head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, simply does not believe in all that science mumbo jumbo.

The costs of global warming are literally too expensive to ignore.

Courtesy of TPM: 

A non-partisan federal watchdog says climate change is already costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars each year, with those costs expected to rise as devastating storms, floods, wildfires and droughts become more frequent in the coming decades. 

A Government Accountability Office report released Monday said the federal government has spent more than $350 billion over the last decade on disaster assistance programs and losses from flood and crop insurance. That tally does not include the massive toll from this year’s wildfires and three major hurricanes, expected to be among the most costly in the nation’s history. 

The report predicts these costs will only grow in the future, potentially reaching a budget busting $35 billion a year by 2050. The report says the federal government doesn’t effectively plan for these recurring costs, classifying the financial exposure from climate-related costs as “high risk.” 

“The federal government has not undertaken strategic government-wide planning to manage climate risks by using information on the potential economic effects of climate change to identify significant risks and craft appropriate federal responses,” the study said. “By using such information, the federal government could take the initial step in establishing government-wide priorities to manage such risks.”

And of course this does not calculate the cost of human life that will also rise exponentially as these devastating weather patterns worsen.

Just imagine for a minute how much less all of this would have cost if thirty years ago people had listened to those wacky climate scientists and started working toward weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, and moving toward renewable energy sources.

We could have literally saved billions and billions of dollars.

But then how would those poor oil companies have made their billions and billions of dollars?

White House top science adviser job has been left vacant for the longest time since the position was created back in 1976.

Courtesy of Newsweek: 

President Donald Trump and his daughter-adviser have been going all out to tout the administration’s commitment to “high-quality STEM and computer science education” as a means of boosting the U.S. economy. But Trump has yet to choose a top science adviser, who would play a crucial role in turning the White House horn-tooting into reality. 

The White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) has been without a boss for the longest stretch since its establishment in 1976, a former longtime member told Newsweek. 

John Holdren, who served as former President Barack Obama’s science adviser and as the Senate-confirmed director of his OSTP, is raising an alarm about what he calls the “very sizable vacuum” that persists in the science-advisory realm under Trump.

Holdren asserts: “If you don’t have science and technology advice in the White House, you’re going to miss opportunities to use science and technology to advance the rest of the leadership's agenda. You’re going to make decisions, in some cases, that would be better decisions if they were informed of the science and technology dimensions.” 

If the nation is in the midst of, say, discussing a potential North Korean missile attack on the U.S., Holdren said, it might be prudent to include an expert who understands “the likely effectiveness of U.S. defenses against ballistic missiles.” 

The same would apply, he said, if and when the Trump administration faces public health crises of the kind the Obama administration had to deal with, such as the H1N1 flu pandemic and the Ebola virus.

Not hard to imagine why this post has been left vacant, and why it will likely stay that way until Trump is no longer in the White House.

Simply put Trump does NOT like smart people around. He wants to always think he is the smartest guy in the room, and that becomes nigh impossible if you have some egghead with a PHD standing around telling you how wrong you are.

Besides once again this is a thing that President Obama was known for. He LOVED science, and hosted a science fairs in the White House and he was the FIRST President to ever get an article published in Science magazine.

The problem with this however is that not having a science adviser in the White House might make Trump feel smart, but it endangers the rest of us.

I think this actual image of Donald Trump looking up at the solar eclipse is all you need to know about his presidency. Update!

To be fair he DID eventually put on those "science specs" though he is pretty sure the idea that the sun can hurt your eyes is just "fake news."

Thus began the start of a million memes. pic.twitter.com/dB8WMS1Lu9

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 21, 2017

Still it's important to remember that this is how Trump first started his observation of the eclipse.

No glasses? (Pool video) pic.twitter.com/FKfBGuQOjR

— West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) August 21, 2017

Remember folks THIS is the guy that millions of your fellow Americans actually thought should be in charge of your country.

I also heard that a number of Trump voters were in a blind panic because they did not understand what was happening and thought that Obama's renewable energy policies broke the sun.

Update: I've now heard from a number of sources that there were people in the crowd yelling at Trump to put on his eclipse glasses but he took quite some time to respond.

Okay I think we can all agree, the Girl Scouts are pretty awesome.

Courtesy of CNN Money: 

The organization on Tuesday announced it is adding 23 new badges related to science, technology, engineering, math and the outdoors. 

Girl Scouts can now earn badges through activities like programming robots, designing model race cars, writing code and going on environmentally conscious camping trips. 

The Girl Scouts of the USA, founded in 1912, has created badges with the help of organizations like Code.org, SciStarter, GoldieBlox and the Society of Women Engineers.

The new experiences are meant to address "the lack of exposure many girls have to STEM," Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo told CNN Tech in an email. 

The new STEM badges come a month after the organization added cybersecurity badges. Those badges will be available to girls in kindergarten through 12th grade over the next two years.

Gee support for young girls to pursue their interests in science and technology without all of that religious baggage that the Boy Scouts are burdened by.

And here we thought they were just a front for a cookie selling operation.

Thanks to Donald Trump a growing number of scientists are now entering politics.

Courtesy of Politico:  

The lab-coat liberals are marching on Washington. 

Dismayed by President Donald Trump’s perceived hostility to climate science and other areas of research, a surge of scientists is entering the public arena and running for political office for the first time.

They represent an evolving brand of Democrat that has been gaining steam for months. What began with rogue Twitter accounts and protest marches has graduated into candidacies in House races in places as varied as California, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York. 

The handful of scientists who have formally announced their candidacies so far — and the others who are preparing to join them — have cast themselves as a counterforce to the Trump administration’s dismissal of climate science and de-prioritization of innovation funding.

Well that ought to make the debates over climate change more interesting on the House floor.

What's more Trump's election has also inspired a rather large number of women to also enter politics.

I guess this can be seen as a sort of accidental positive side effect of Trump winning the presidency.

And at this point I will take any positive news that I can find.

The Trump effect is rapidly undermining science all over the country.

Remembering the way things used to be.

Courtesy of CBS News:

The science division of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was unstaffed as of Friday as the three remaining employees departed this week, sources tell CBS News. 

All three employees were holdovers from the Obama administration. The departures from the division -- one of four subdivisions within the OSTP -- highlight the different commitment to scientific research under Presidents Obama and Trump. 

Under Mr. Obama, the science division was staffed with nine employees who led the charge on policy issues such as STEM education, biotechnology and crisis response. It's possible that the White House will handle these issues through staff in other divisions within the OSTP.

That actually may prove difficult since the entire OSTP is dramatically understaffed.

"All of the work that we have been doing is still being done," a White House official familiar with the matter told CBS News, adding that 35 staffers currently work across the OSTP. 

"Under the previous administration, OSTP had grown exponentially over what it had been before," the official said. "Before the Obama administration, it had usually held 50 to 60 or so policy experts, director-level people, for all of OSTP." 

The Obama administration staffed the OSTP with more than 100 employees.

35 down from 100, does not seem like a large enough staff to handle too many extra duties, and now with the science division completely vacated it does not bode well for the representation of science in the White House.

But wait, there's more.

Buzz Aldrin listening to Donald Trump trying to sound smart about space exploration represents us all.

This is a bit of Trump's remarks about space today during his E.O. signing. Just listen (and watch Buzz Aldrin's face). pic.twitter.com/hrUFAUpptX

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 30, 2017

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Trump’s remarks began with the president’s usual boasting:

“We’re going to lead again like we never led before.” But he then appeared to claim all of space for the U.S., calling it the “next great American frontier.” 

Trump also referred to space “providing the security that we need to protect the American people.” And he sent Aldrin’s eyebrows shooting up when he added, inexplicably, “At some point in the future, we’re going to look back and say, ‘How did we do it without space?’” 

“We know what this is, space. That’s all it has to say: space,” Trump said as he prepared to sign his executive order. He then turned to Aldrin and asked, “There’s a lot of room out there, right?” 

“To infinity, and beyond,” Aldrin quipped as others laughed. 

But Trump apparently didn’t get the reference to Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase in “Toy Story.” “This is infinity here. It could be infinity,” Trump answered in a rambling response. “We don’t really don’t know. But it could be. It has to be something — but it could be infinity, right?”

Jesus!

One of the first two humans to land on the moon, and the second to walk on it, and now he is reduced to standing next to a tangerine colored moron spewing stupid into a microphone.

Oh the humanity.

Vatican compares Donald Trump to a flat earther for pulling out of the Paris accords.

Courtesy of IFL Science:  

Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris agreement has attracted scathing comments from world leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, and pretty much everyone who doesn’t want to do terrible damage to our planet. 

The decision has even drawn the wrath of the Vatican, which Trump visited just last week. Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, made his critical remarks known in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica. 

“Thinking that we need and must rely on coal and oil is like claiming that the Earth is not round. It’s an absurdity brought forward only to make money,” Sanchez Sorondo stated. “I believe that oil lobbyists are behind this decision. They are pushing for it. Big oil is pulling Trump's strings and he can’t oppose them, although this doesn’t mean he wants to.”

I'm sorry but when the Vatican, the freaking VATICAN, compares you to a flat earther you have to KNOW that you are truly making a fool of yourself.

This is the head of the church behind the Inquisition and the burning of those accused of witchcraft at the stake, the idea that THEY are more scientifically advanced than the president of the United States is almost too ironic to imagine.

Somewhere Galileo Galilei is shaking his head in wonder.

Measles outbreak in Minnesota linked to anti-vaccination fake news.

Courtesy of Live Science:  

A recent measles outbreak that has thus far sickened dozens of Somali-Americans in Minnesota — nearly all of them children — can be traced to anti-vaccination campaigns that targeted Somali-Americans and suggested that vaccines are linked to autism, health officials said. 

On Friday (May 12), the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced that it had confirmed 54 measles cases, 51 of which were in children age 17 or younger — and the majority of those infected were unvaccinated, according to an MDH report published online.

Just a reminder that misinformation has real world consequences, and can even lead to death.

And just in case you were wondering, yes Donald Trump is also an anti-vaxxer.

Autism rates through the roof--why doesn't the Obama administration do something about doctor-inflicted autism. We lose nothing to try.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012

Yet another reminder that we need smart, scientifically literate people running our country.

Trump Administration removes virtually ALL mention of climate change, and the science that backs it up, from federal government websites.

How these pages appeared when we had a real leader in charge of this country.

Courtesy of The Guardian: 

During inauguration day on 20 January, as Donald Trump was adding “American carnage” to the presidential lexicon, the new administration also took a hammer to official recognition that climate change exists and poses a threat to the US. 

One of the starkest alterations to the White House’s website following Trump’s assumption of office was the scrapping of an entire section on climate change, stuffed with graphs on renewable energy growth and pictures of Barack Obama gazing at shriveling glaciers, to be replaced by a perfunctory page entitled “An America first energy plan”. 

In the more than 100 days since, the administration has largely opted for a chisel and scalpel approach to refashioning its online content, but the end result is much the same – mentions of climate change have been excised, buried or stripped of any importance. 

Federal government websites are being combed through to apply new verbiage. The state department’s office of global change, for example, has removed links to the Obama administration’s 2013 climate action report and mention of the latest UN meeting on climate change. Text relating to climate change and greenhouse gases has also been purged.

Here is one of the worst things that this article pointed out:  

Trump’s desire to champion the coal industry is reflected in the Department of Energy’s online pages aimed at educating children. Sentences that point out the harmful health consequences of burning coal and other impacts of fossil fuels have gone.

It is one thing to remove data from websites visited by adults, who may have the wherewithal and intellect to find the right information elsewhere, but when you take it off of educational sites visited by children you are purposely misinforming them down and directly interfering in their education.

This reminded me of a scene from that very troubling "Jesus Camp" documentary in which one of the kids, Levi, is reading from home school material that purposefully minimizes global warming, and attacks Evolution.

Having a parent purchase home school materials to help misinform their children, and keep them ignorant, is bad enough, but when our own federal websites are doing the same that is indefensible.