mikethemadbiologist

Welcome to the world of Potemkin press conferences. FEMA held a press conference...with itself (italics mine): Reporters were given only 15 minutes' notice of the briefing, making it unlikely many could show up at FEMA's Southwest D.C. offices. They were given an 800 number to call in, though it…

By way of Shakes, this display made its way into the House debate on S-CHIP: What does abortion have to do with healthcare for children? It's as if conservatives believe in the totemic power of the Fetish of the Fetus. As bad as the Democrats can be, when they usually try to make some semblance…

I know: who could possibly think that the Bush administration would censor a report on the effects of global warming? From the Washington Post: Testimony that the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention planned to give yesterday to a Senate committee about the impact of climate…

Yes, it's LOLStaphylococcus. They don't call me the Mad Biologist for nuthin' A colleague of mind sent along this paper, "Nose Picking and Nasal Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus": OBJECTIVE. Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus is an important risk factor for S. aureus infection and a…

"Fear the drumstick!" (Globe Staff Photo/Mark Wilson) Forget Al-Queda, protect us from marauding turkeys: On a recent afternoon, Kettly Jean-Felix parked her car on Beacon Street in Brookline, fed the parking meter, wheeled around to go to the optician and came face to face with a wild turkey. The…

I think Maha just might have come up with the high-end talking point for 2008: A generation of Americans have been born and grown into adulthood listening to rightie propaganda that taxes must always go down. "Starve the beast," you know. The problem is that "the beast" conservatives are starving…

If memory serves me correctly, Senator Obama was counting on the 'youth' vote* as his secret weapon. That's fine, but then why on earth would Obama court virulent anti-gay bigots, especially when younger voters of all political affiliations are the most likely to be tolerant of gays? This…

Because this week is really hectic, I just want to follow up on this post I wrote about MRSA. One of the hidden stories in the rise in the frequency of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains is that this has also been accompanied by an absolute increase in the number of infections. In other words…

By now, there's little to add to the criticism of Donald Kennedy's absurd statement regarding Princeton economist Paul Krugman that: And yet maybe Krugman is not really an economist -- at least not according to the definition offered more than a century ago by Francis Amasa Walker, the first…

Atrios identifies the problem with the Republican choice-based 'vision' of healthcare: Well, really, the Republican vision, as slobbered over by cenrtist [sic] David Broder. In this case, he is visualizing a radically different kind of medical marketplace, in which families armed with specific…

Now that I've recovered from my seminar and accompanying cold, here are some links for you. Science firstest: I discuss an interesting explanation of why some people don't get natural selection and macroevolution. Deaths from Staphylococcus aureus now exceed those from AIDS. While we're on the…

Get ready for some more conservative cognitive dissonance: man finds Jesus and comes to believe that the occupation of Iraq is immoral: A U.S. soldier who said his Christian beliefs compelled him to love his enemies, not kill them, has been granted conscientious objector status and honorably…

A few days ago, I posted an excerpt from Hanna Rosen's God's Harvard which is about Patrick Henry College, which can be thought of as theopolitical conservative training facility. Before I get to a mindboggling display of cynicism, I want to make one thing: if someone wants to believe this lunacy…

maha had a very interesting post about the eroding support among Corporate America for the Republican Party: I want to go back to the notion that the Bushies are agents of corporate America, verses the "lethal amateurishness of these loyal Bushies" apparent now even to CEOs. I think the Bushies saw…

Since I'm speaking at Harvard today*, I thought sharing this bit from Hanna Rosen's God's Harvard would be appropriate (and it's a fascinating read). The president of Patrick Henry College, whose mission is "to prepare Christian men and women who will lead our nation and shape our culture with…

I'll get to Noah in a bit. But first, digby describes the lobotomization of our national discourse: Something very disconcerting has been happening in our discourse for some time, even worse than the up-is-downism that has characterized the most unctuously presumptuous members of the Cheney…

Over at Karmatics, Rob Brown thinks the counter-intuitiveness of natural selection is a big reason why people find evolution difficult to comprehend. In that way, natural selection is similar to prediction markets, where people bet on the chances of future events, such as the outcomes of sports…

I like this ad about S-CHIP: Now, why can't Democrats communicate like this more often? Help Public School Kids by Funding my Challenge at DonorsChoose

According to the Boston Globe, a new study indicates that deaths from the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus ('staph infections') have exceeded AIDS/HIV deaths in the U.S (italics mine): Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the…

Twelve Army captains who served in Iraq conclude the following: Iraqi security forces would not be able to salvage the situation. Even if all the Iraqi military and police were properly trained, equipped and truly committed, their 346,000 personnel would be too few. As it is, Iraqi soldiers quit at…

Once again, the science framing wars have flared up. While I'm not allergic to the concept of framing as some are, one of the major reasons why I'm not a big fan of dwelling on the topic is that obsessing over language reminds me of the late 80s and 90s when the Left won the battle of words, and…

In a great post, maha lays out what the consequences of an extraction-based economy--one that exploits humans--are for the U.S.: And then there's the fatigue factor. Workers are worn out and stressed out. They've skipped vacations and worked way too much underpaid and unpaid overtime. They are not…

...they're after you? Are we being spied upon by bug-like robots? There have been three independent sightings according to the Washington Post: Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month. "I heard someone say, 'Oh my god, look at those,' " the…

It finally feels like Fall. Here are some links for you. First, evil, non-creationist science: First, it's time to do something about science education in the U.S. Go support some science for students. ScienceBlogling Andrew sees sea slugs sitting by the sea shore. Speaking of sea critters,…

Knute Berger relays the following email from Ed Lazowska, the former co-chair of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (italics mine): The years of the [George W.] Bush administration have been a black time for science in this nation. I speak with the experience of having co-…

The MBTA in its infinite wisdom has started a pilot program to commercialize the public announcement system at subway stops: The roar of subway cars and chords of amateur musicians at the T station will now face competition from Neil Diamond songs, 1970s trivia, and live playoff updates from…

So ScienceBlogling Shelley Batts of Retrospectacle is one of twenty finalists in a blogging contest, and if she wins, she gets a $10,000 scholarship. Head on over to the voting page, and vote for her. Why? Not only do I like her writing, but she also stood her ground against Wiley Publishing…

These are much cuter than Congressman Marshall (from here) I received an email from Jane Hamsher and Matt Stoller about S-CHIP: Dear Mike, Despite overwhelming bipartisan support and a near veto-proof majority in the House, eight Democrats voted against the State Children's Health Insurance…

One of the common responses I get to posts about theopolitical conservatives is that I am advocating atheism or calling for the destruction of 'religion.'* This is absurd, as I am one of the defenders of some religions (though not all of them obviously). This is often accompanied by complaints of…

We likes Ann Coulter!!! Professional provocateur Ann Coulter in an interview on MSNBC advocated the conversion of the Jews (italics mine): During the October 8 edition of CNBC's The Big Idea, host Donny Deutsch asked right-wing pundit Ann Coulter: "If you had your way ... and your dreams, which…