Fake News in Scholarly Publishing

I am a solid believer in science, but one of the big problems in scientific research, is "fake news", i.e. academic journals publishing fake articles about fake research findings.

To address this, more and more journals are requiring ORCID credentials to keep unscrupulous researchers from scamming the system to get publication credit they don't deserve.

Why does "the media" keep "attacking" Trump?

In fact, there is no such thing as "the media" and they are not "attacking" the Trump administration.

"The media" is not some monolithic bloc with a mind if its own. There are organizations that use media and advocacy.  Some of them attack and some of them defend any given political viewpoint, using posts that resemble news stories, except for the advocacy.

But the point of THIS post is to examine the operation of the professional journalistic media organizations, and why THEY keep reporting on possible wrongdoing by Trump and friends.

You Can't Play Music in Podcasts

Podcasts are programs intended to be downloaded and listened to off-line.  They are growing in popularity, but the general public, and some podcast producers, don't understand why it is illegal play music in a podcast.  

Simple Thinking in a Highly Complex World

One of the defining characteristics of conservatives is that they expect things to be basically simple.  They think that once you figure out a problem, there is usually one identifiable cause, and the problem gets solved by doing one thing.  But that doesn't work out too well in a world that is highly complex, in reality.

Same Sex Marriage Legalized in Taiwan

The constitutional court in Taiwan has ruled that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

I believe that this makes Taiwan the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage.

The change will not take effect instantly.  The court directed the Ministry of Justice and the national legislature to write new laws permitting same-sex marriage.

More details at http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3171568 (which is also the source of the photo).

No Action Against Colbert

Photograph: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

The Federal Communications Commission has announced that there was "nothing actionable" about Stephen Colbert's off-color joke about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which is no surprise.

Read on for an explanation of why.

Nevertheless, She Persisted

This phrase is cropping up in TV episodes that were probably being written back around February. Tonight, it is the title of the Supergirl episode.

I also heard it mentioned last month in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

(The image is captured from the TV Guide listings page.)

Running Government Like a Business: Not

I have long thought that the idea of "running government like a business" is a fallacy, because they are not the same things. Their reasons for existing are different and as a result their ways of doing business need to be different.

It's not getting better

I haven't posted here for a while, both because of a busy wrap-up of the academic year, and because I have been hoping that things might get better as the Trump Administration made their way through their on-the-job training.

That clearly hasn't happened, plus it is summer and I will need some diversion from my academic writing, travel, and other summertime activities.  

Completely separate from questions of policy, the ineptness of Trump and his inner circle is astounding.  So I may resume making comments, about our political environment, science, and other things that interest me.  :-)