The Daily... Bleat

## Michael Behe's new book promises a revolutionary take on irreducible complexity. Jerry Coyne sees more of the same.

## A beautiful visualization of air traffic control patterns:

## Europeans are taller. Americans are shorter. Why?

## How do detectives figure out who's lying? By asking suspects to tell their stories in reverse. (via Mind Hacks). A useful technique for journalists, too?

## Michael Gerson again bemoans the state of his party:

Today, in both parties, fundamentalism is again the fashion; authenticity is the prime directive. Talk-radio conservatism assaults the most obviously Catholic elements of Bushism -- a role for government in compassion and a welcoming attitude toward immigrants. "Purity" is defined as the empathy of Tom DeLay and the racial sensitivity of Tom Tancredo.

## Another architect of compassionate conservatism bemoans its death.

## Forget women. What impact would a Clinton nomination have on the male vote?

## Here is an essay question Richard Rorty once asked of his students:

Aliens from another planet, with vastly superior intelligence to humans, land on earth in order to consume humans as food. What argument could you make to convince the aliens not to eat us that would not also apply to our consumption of beef?