Mad rantings about politics, evolution, and microbiology. Comment policy: say what you want, but back it up with an email address. I don't like anonymous trolls.
mikethemadbiologist
Posts by this author
Over at Underbelly, Buce, in commenting on Bruce Bartlett's new book, makes a point about what he calls "supply side lite" that I'm inclined to agree with:
First, supply side lite. How much extra income will we garner if we tax all incomes over $200,000 at 100 percent? The answer is none: no one…
File this under "Democrats are the stupidest political party in recorded history." A recent poll asked, "In the 2010 Congressional elections will you definitely vote, probably vote, not likely vote, or definitely will not vote?" The answer:
This isn't just the 'liberal' base: the entire party…
Because the Mad Biologist isn't nearly curmudgeonly enough, especially about things like education [/snark], I thought this post by Ed of Gin and Tacos hit the right notes:
Should our educational system emphasize information retention or "critical thinking?" Here's the problem. We do neither. Exams…
Over at Sciencewomen, a reader, who is considering a Ph.D. program, asks:
I have a Masters in Biology (from a 5 year BS/MS program) and for the past 4 years I've been working as a lab manager/technician. I have my own research project(s) in addition to keeping track of ordering/equipment…
Remember that it is far better to eat turkey than to be eaten by them...
On a more serious note, if you have enough to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, consider giving to your local food bank. If you're in the Boston area, these people do good work.
If you're traveling today, I hope it's not too bad. Here are some links for you. Science:
Autism treatments: Risky alternative therapies have little basis in science
Where's the Clean Energy?
Regreening Africa
Other:
Man Made Disaster in New Orleans
Who's Who and What's Up with the Manhattan…
From the NY Times, the blame game begins:
At a hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security argued that they…
Steve Benen tells us about the long list of compromises by progressives and liberals to get us to where we are on healthcare:
Keep in mind, when progressive Dems argue that they've already compromised, they have a very compelling case to make. They started with a desire for Medicare for all. That…
I've been looking at the House and Senate Bills, and, on antibiotic resistance, they're not bad. Both bills would evaluate hospitals on hospital-acquired infection rates (although there's no mention of nursing homes, which are a significant focus of infection). This is good.
The House bill…
Links for you. Science:
Really rethinking breast cancer screening
"Obama's fixin' death panels for your mama": The USPSTF recommendations for mammography used as a political weapon
Give Young Scientists a Break: I don't know if I could have even started my career in today's funding environment.…
...because that's your job. TPM reports the following whine from an anonymous Senate Democratic chief-of-staff:
However, I believe it's worth reminding folks that--as long as the Republican Senators hold together--we have to hold EVERY single Democratic Senator, including folks like Joe Lieberman…
Richard Cohen recently wrote that he would like to see an "Institute for the Study of Sarah Palin" receive funding. It's a pretty good piece (which just goes to show that even the dumbest squirrel can occasionally find a nut). But I do have one quibble. Cohen writes (italics mine):
On the other…
Happy Friday. Lotsa links for your weekend. Science:
Hippos are photographed biting a crocodile to death
Virus helps save the American Chestnut tree
Say hello to a titanic ancestor
Can We Build Our Way to Reduced Carbon Emissions?
Heritability of sociopathy
Climate change catastrophe took just…
Seriously. This isn't a problem of the 'fringe' of the party. By way of Oliver Willis, look at what the Layfayette County Republican Central Committee (of Missouri) has erected on a billboard:
This isn't a couple of guys or a crazy businessman--it's an official division of the Republican Party…
...and how Levitt and Dubner fail to see that the Manure problem was not 'solved', only turned into a new problem that will also require wrenching change. First, the Great Manure Crisis of the late nineteenth century:
The standard horsecar, which seated twenty, was drawn by a pair of roans and ran…
At TPM, Josh Marshall asks an "obvious" 'framing' question about the ARRA:
Why was the Stimulus Bill called the 'stimulus bill' and not a 'jobs bill'?
To which Atrios responds with a "Pretty Obvious Answer":
Because for whatever reason, economist lingo is what people in the Obama administration are…
Halfway through the week. Some links for you. Science:
Poll: American Public Supports Investment in Prevention As Part of Health Care Reform
A SMART Plan? No, A Wackaloon Dumbfuck Plan!
The common cold and influenza
Holy Shit! A new way of finding out how diet affects gut microbes
What's killing…
Friday, the NY Times described the relatively paltry efforts in cancer prevention, compared to those for heart disease. Not that researchers haven't been busy figuring out how to prevent various cancers:
Then, in 1999, he had a chance to do another breast cancer prevention trial, this time of an…
I've finished reading Richard Nisbett's
Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count, which is a wonderful counterargument to Charles Murray's (and others') genetic conservatism (my phrase, not Nisbett's): intelligence, typically ascertain using IQ, is highly heritable, so there…
I have no doubt that the Catholic ecclesiarchy supports the Stupak-Mills amendment out of a genuine desire to regulate vaginaspreserve the fetus, which they believe is a person. But the financial incentives for Catholic Church-owned hospital systems are enormous:
...consider that there are 60 some…
(from here)
When you think about it, it seems pretty obvious (rising to the level of "duh!") that if one placed a wind turbine underwater it could be more efficient and, unlike wind power, ocean currents are far more predictable (of course, like most good ideas, it's obvious after someone else…
How many lives is a $100 million oil lease worth? That's the question someone needs to ask Ambassador Peter Galbraith. Peter Galbraith was a 'liberal' hawk who advocated the invasion of Iraq, and then argued that the U.S. should maintain a strong presence in Iraq. During the Bush Administration…
Have a Fabulous Friday! Links for you:
Some Thoughts on Historians and Contemporary Anti-evolutionism.
Barack Hoover Obama: The best and the brightest blow it again
Dear Sarah: Keep up the great writing!
Bible That Vanished on Kristallnacht Is Heading Home
Hi, I'm Marty, and I'm a recovering…
If you haven't heard by now, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds got clobbered by the Republican candidate. One of the things that hurt him was the poor turnout by independents and Democrats compared to the 2008 presidential election. And why did they stay home?
Consider the answers…
Of course, we all 'know' that the only women who get abortions are sluts, but what never ceases to amaze me is how ignorant pro-illegal, unsafe abortion proponents are about biology (let's not even get start on the ridiculous notion that sperm and ova are 'dead'). The recent Stupak-Pitts amendment…
It's not as bad as the Great Brooklyn Tampon Shortage, but it's just become a lot harder to study marine viruses. There are two basic ways to figure out how many viruses are in a given sample, such as a milliliter of seawater. One method is to mix a bacterial (or algal) cell with a certain…
Robert S. Khuzami, the Securities and Exchanges Commission enforcement director:
"If you find yourself chewing the memory card in your cellphone to destroy any record of your misconduct, something has gone terribly wrong with your character."
Indeed.
So to speak. One of the many loathsome things about the Stupak-Mills amendment is that insurance would not be able to cover abortions for the following reasons (italics mine):
Cases that are excluded: where the health but not the life of the woman is threatened by the pregnancy, severe fetal…
Merry Tuesday. Links for ya. Science:
FDA Urged to Ban Feeding of Chicken Feces to Cattle
The Swine Flu Vaccine Screw-up: Optimism as a Public Health Problem
What does not kill the group, makes it stronger!
Other:
Los Angeles Without Traffic
Destroying the Democratic Majority
Gladwell for Dummies…
(from here)
ScienceBlogling Ed Brayton finds this little tidbit from the coverage of the Stupak amendment (italics mine):
I'm bothered by something said in an earlier article on the CNN website about this:
Several Democrats, including Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pennsylvania, said they are in touch with…