Current Events
jstemwedel | June 14, 2006I'm not sure I realized it while I was writing it, but my last post (on whether scientific knowledge about the benefits of breast-feeding imposes any particular obligations) has me thinking about another kind of case where scientific knowledge might -- or might not -- bring ethical consequences.
That case? Global warming.
My big question, thinking about these two instances where scientific knowledge, individual decisions, and public policy all coalesce, is what the relevant differences are.
First, the disclaimer: I am not an expert in the scientific literature on the health effects of breast…
jstemwedel | June 13, 2006There's an interesting article in the New York Times about efforts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to promote breast-feeding. Proponents of breast-feeding point to quite a lot of science that supports advantages -- for child and mother -- of breast-milk over formula. But there's also a real question about what we (i.e., individual families making choices, DHHS, employers, and society as a whole) ought to be doing in light of this information.
From the New York Times article:
"Just like it's risky to smoke during pregnancy, it's risky not to breast-feed after," said…
jstemwedel | June 12, 2006Two of the common props of the archetypal philosopher are alcohol and coffee. (Existentialism throws in berets and cigarettes.) New research from Kaiser Permanente Oakland suggests that the coffee might offset some of the alcohol's potential harm.
From the Oakland Tribune:
It seems that people who consumed large quantities of alcohol reduced their risk of being hospitalized or dying from cirrhosis because they were also heavy coffee drinkers, researchers at Kaiser Permanente Oakland suggest in a study published Monday.
``For heavy drinkers, the more coffee they drank, they less likely they…
jstemwedel | June 8, 2006From USA Today:
The first vaccine to protect against most cervical cancer won federal approval Thursday.
The vaccine Gardasil, approved for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26, prevents infection by four strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, Merck & Co. Inc. said. The virus is the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease.
Gardasil protects against the two types of HPV responsible for about 70% of cervical cancer cases. The vaccine also blocks infection by two other strains responsible for 90% of genital wart cases.
Merck is expected to market Gardasil as a cancer, rather than an…
jstemwedel | June 8, 2006This week, the National Review Online's media blogger revealed the secret identity of dKos blogger Armando, who says that this unwanted decloaking probably means he will no longer blog.
While I'm not heavy into the political end of the blogosphere (until someone can provide me with more than 24 hours per day), Armando's story resonates with me because one of my favorite science bloggers, BotanicalGirl, had to stop blogging when members of her department became aware of her blog. So I've been thinking a lot about blogging anonymously versus blogging under one's own name, not just in terms of…
jstemwedel | June 2, 2006Months ago, I wrote about the Department of Homeland Security's concerns about chemistry sets. (You know, for kids.) Well, it seems the push to make the world child-safe (or perhaps not legally actionable?) continues.
Reader Donn Young points me to this story from Wired about government crackdowns on companies catering to garage chemistry enthusiasts. Donn also shares a story of his own:
Growing up, two friends and I had a chemistry 'club' centered around our chemistry sets and 'labs' in our basements. My friend's mother, who was a chemist at Battelle Memorial Institute, would give us…
jstemwedel | May 4, 2006Please notice that the title of this post promises a "paranoid response", not a careful analysis. It's one of those unscheduled features of this blog. Kind of like a snow day.
Yesterday's Inside Higher Ed has an article about the U.S. Senate getting kind of testy with the director of the NSF about certain research projects the NSF has seen fit to fund. Regular readers know that I think we can have a reasoned debate about funding priorities (especially when that funding is put up by the public). It does not sound to me like the exchange in the Senate was that kind of reasoned debate.
From…
jstemwedel | March 8, 2006... the Holocaust deniers turn to arson.
I'm a fan of reasoned arguments, especially those that comport well with empirical evidence. Some people are not. People of this sort have targeted the Holocaust History Project not only with denial of service attacks, but also by setting the physical offices of THHP ablaze.
Members of the reality-based community look askance at this kind of behavior. And, people who deal in reasoned arguments and empirical evidence are not going to just go away.
Orac has more.