The Vulnerable Heart of Machismo
Book Review: Cures for Hunger by Deni Béchard
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | May 16, 2012
A gripping, evocative memoir of the writer's childhood love for his criminal but all-too-human father
Shocking New Oil Propaganda Plan to Fool Americans
ATI plans dummy businesses and fake billboards to kill wind energy
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | May 08, 2012
The Guardian has unearthed a shocking new propaganda plan intended to turn the American public against wind energy in the 2012 election cycle.
An Open Letter to State Farm about Climate Denial - UPDATE
Should corporations be funding antiscience hate speech?
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | May 06, 2012
Climate Scientist Scott Mandia writes an open letter to State Farm Insurance.
From the Heartland: schoolchildren, climate, and... mass murder?
Astounding lack of judgment reveals propaganda outfit's radicalization
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | May 04, 2012
The Heartland Institute is preparing a $100,000 school science curriculum on climate change coming to a school near you. Among their logical leaps is a new billboard featuring mass murderers and totalitarians who believe in climate change. This is science?
Climate Change Obama Can Believe In
Why global warming will heat campaign trail in coming months
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Apr 25, 2012
Obama has an opportunity to use climate change as a significant wedge issue to shave votes away from Romney among moderate Republicans and Independents who believe science is the best basis for public policy.
Science: a force for freedom and human rights
Thoughts on the passing of Fang Lizhi, science humanitarian
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Apr 19, 2012
Chinese physicist Fang Lizhi wrote of science and freedom and paid for it with his own.
An Open Letter to Arianna Huffington
How the Huffington Post is still blowing it on science but has a chance to make a real difference
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Apr 17, 2012
When the publication's science editor publishes antiscience propaganda, what can we learn?
Fool Me Twice Wins the Minnesota Book Award
"One of the most important books written, not just in Minnesota, but in the country - in the last decade." - Don Shelby
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Apr 14, 2012
From a boy who loved NASA: How 49 heroes lost the right stuff and sullied their names over climate politics
Sadly, these aren't the can-do right stuff guys they used to be
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Apr 13, 2012
How could guys that once put their very lives in the hands of science be so dumb about it as they get old?
Who would be the best moderator for a presidential science debate?
Who has the media presence, debate chops, policy understanding and science literacy to lift America to a new standard?
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Apr 06, 2012
Both Obama and McCain attended the Saddleback faith forum because, some say, it was an honor to be associated with Pastor Rick Warren among the mainstream grassroots faith communities. Who could moderate a presidential science debate?
New Poll: Even religious voters overwhelmingly want candidates to debate science
Consensus among Protestants, Catholics for science debates, science-based policies; Twice as many think the US not spending enough on alternative energy as do defense
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Apr 03, 2012
It turns out that the presidential campaign staffers have it completely, one hundred and eighty degrees wrong when it comes to science. Overwhelming majorities of American voters want the candidates to debate the big science issues facing the country.
Republican Meteorologist says 'keep track of who the deniers are today'
Poking a Hornet's Nest
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Mar 31, 2012
My recent Op-Ed gave me a chance to summarize how I feel about the politicization of climate science in recent years - how it's become a bizarre litmus test for conservatism.
A Message from a Republican Meteorologist on Climate Change
Acknowledging Climate Science Doesn’t Make You A Liberal
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Mar 28, 2012
You can’t prove that any one of Barry Bonds' 762 home runs was sparked by alleged steroid use. But it did increase his “base state”, raising the overall odds of hitting a home run. You can’t point to any one weather extreme and say “that’s climate change”, but a warmer atmosphere increases the potential for historic spikes in temperature, and more frequent weather extremes.
Americans Deserve a Presidential Science Debate
In an age when the major US challenges revolve around science, we deserve candidates who will share their views on it
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Mar 19, 2012
America needs and deserves a president who can show that he or she understands the importance of basing public policy on the best available evidence, as the founders intended.
Cherry Blossoms, Ice Boxes, BMWs, and Climate Change
The way to counter antiscience thinking is to make science concrete. Hot enough for you?
By Shawn Lawrence Otto | Mar 18, 2012
The way to counter antiscience thinking is to make science concrete. Hot enough for you?