Science of the World

Join all the folks learning what's new in geology and the related sciences as geoscience organizations celebrate Earth Science Week 2012. This year's theme is geoscience careers--learn about the broad range of career opportunities in geoscience. If you're a teacher, find materials useful for teaching at levels from kindergarten through high school. 

Earth science touches upon many, many aspects of life: the basic resources used for building homes, factories, other infrastructure, and many consumer goods; natural hazards such as floods and volcanoes; the supply of drinking water; and how we have been affecting our planet and environment as we change landscapes and produce wastes of all sorts. 

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), with support from other geoscience societies, industry, and government agencies, has been organizing and coordinating efforts to bring earth science to public view and appreciation for several years now. Check out this year's activities at www.earthsciweek.org today!

 

Who Killed Big Bird

      Who killed poor Big Bird?
    I, said Mitt Romney,
    with my austerity,
    I killed poor Big Bird.

    Why did he die?
    "'Cause he was a leech,
    While he tried to teach,
    I made him die."
   
    Who watched him die?
    We, with tears in our eye,
    Said all the small fry,
    We watched him die.
   
    Who caught his blood?
    I, said the teacher,
    In my glass beaker,
    I caught his blood.

    All the children at home
    Started cryin' and sobbin',
    When they heard how their friend,
    Was murdered that day.

Liking Green Energy Means Killing It

Mitt Romney also mentioned during Wednesday's debate that he likes green energy. In fact, he likes it so much that he has declared he will kill tax credits for investing in such things as wind power, much to the dismay of Iowa Republicans such as Representative Tom Latham, who said that decision "shows a lack of full understanding of how important the wind energy tax credit is for Iowa and our nation." Even conservative Senator Chuck Grassley wants those tax credits extended. 

Of course, with Romney, one can never be sure of what position he will take when it comes time to act. Some campaign donors are expecting (hoping?) Romney will flip-flop back to his earlier pro-green position. Does that mean Romney was merely pandering to pro-fossil fuels groups when he pooh-poohed solar energy saying, "...you can't drive a car with a windmill on it." 

Bipartisan Cooperation

In Wednesday's presidential debate, Mitt Romney boasted he was able to pass ObamaRomneycare in Massachusetts by coming to bipartisan agreement with Democrats in the State legislature. President Obama, Romney claimed, "pushed through" his agenda without consideration of Republican views.

Romney failed to note that in Massachusetts, the leader of the Democrats in the legislature did not declare that party's Number One Priority to be committing to ensuring Romney would not be re-elected. Not like at the Federal level, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed that his party's Number One Priority would not be job creation, nor improvement of economic conditions, nor national defense, but making sure Obama would be a one-term president.