You're doing fine, Alex. It's perhaps a little late for a nomination for this year's Prize, but next year's deadline gives you some time to lay the groundwork...[-)

Fox said something to the effect that "The people listen to your opponent because they are hungry for someone to follow." The president responded simply, "No, they listen to him because they don't know the difference."

'Tis true. With few critical-thinking skills, the people fall back on appearances, slickness and glibness, and warm-and-cozy feelings.

It occurs to me that, while the public has been exposed to almost no accurate picture of science, it has lived with that staple of popular entertainment, the courtroom drama, for a good long time. And while that view is surely distorted, perhaps it provides a useful analogy for science: Rules of evidence, innocent until proven guilty, due process, appeals and review, etc. Makes me think of the Scopes Trial, as a bridge between the law and science.

--Robert