bootstrap analysis

can't resist: more on palin/mccain

2008-09-03T06:17:03-04:00

This struck me funny. The bulk of Sarah Palin's "executive experience" took place here:In an old interview, Palin said of this job: "It's not rocket science."And a potpourri of other items that I thought made good points on why this...

women and the direction of this country. let's not be stupid.

2008-08-30T11:49:57-04:00

"It's always said that the most important decision a presidential candidate makes is their pick for vice president. It shows their thinking and judgment. John McCain, in his first decision, has just told the world that he believes Sarah Palin...

pesticides, bees, and history's lessons be damned

2008-08-27T06:40:53-04:00

Last month I wrote about Germany's ban on the pesticide clothianidine, produced by Bayer AG. It was implicated in the death of thousands of honeybee colonies. See that post for more background.Last week the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a...

rtp and me

2008-08-24T07:15:00-04:00

I doubt there is a birder who has not heard of Roger Tory Peterson. RTP's innovative system of simplifying bird identification by pointing out field marks -- the most obvious or diagnostic characteristics to look for -- revolutionized bird watching...

an undescribed species of wasp

2008-08-22T08:37:36-04:00

Last fall I posted a little photo essay on our project to inventory all the Hymenoptera (bees and wasps) in the yard. We've kept it up this year, and our addition of several species of goldenrods and mountain mint have...

endangered species act still under siege

2008-08-12T08:08:12-04:00

A distressing article in today's WaPo outlines proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act that would eliminate independent scientific reviews of projects that might threaten species. The new rules would allow each federal agency -- most which have no biologists...

birder's world at aou

2008-08-10T00:12:21-04:00

Chuck Hagner, editor of Birder's World magazine, is one of my favorite people. We always have fun when we get together. Here we are at the beginning of the AOU/COS/SCO conference earlier in the week. And here we are last...

trip creatures

2008-08-03T09:18:27-04:00

The first banana slug, next to my hand. Very cool. And we had lice in the rental car. But had to pay for them.

off to pdx

2008-08-01T12:49:16-04:00

I'm headed to the lovely city of Portland, OR to the joint meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, Cooper Ornithological Society, and Society of Canadian Ornithologists. No offense to the artist, but this conference gets my vote for the worst...

biocontrol news

2008-07-21T07:45:50-04:00

Aphids versus garlic mustardA little bit ago, I summarized a paper that had some promising news about biocontrol agents for garlic mustard. In that case, it was a moth and a spittlebug that had been observed on garlic mustard. This...

support the salvanatura birdathon

2008-07-15T18:42:59-04:00

Last year, I suggested a great program to support: the Institute of Bird Population's MoSI (Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal - Monitoring Overwintering Survival) Program. This project helps support about 150 bird monitoring stations located across the American tropics. The goal...

bees and pesticides

2008-07-10T13:59:47-04:00

In early June, Germany halted the sale of seven insecticides linked to the deaths of honeybees in 11,500 colonies. The main culprit was Bayer AG's corn seed treatment clothianidine (trade name Poncho), which the German crop research institute determined killed...