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Mike the Mad Biologist

Mad rantings about politics, evolution, and microbiology

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ntm4-30-7 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.

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September 30, 2006

Pragmatism and Principle

Category:

I agree with Digby that the progressive have to stand for something more than winning.

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Phage Therapy

Category:

Since I'm going away for a long weekend, I'll leave you with this post about phage therapy from the archives.

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Republican Corruption Involving a Minor

Category: Ick

Rep. Mark Foley resigned yesterday because he sexually propositioned a sixteen year-old congressional page. That's awful enough--well, that and Foley was the Chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, but what's even worse is that the House Republican leadership knew about this for months and did nothing.

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September 29, 2006

Torture and Willy Pete

Category:

Over at Hullabaloo, tristero argues that the moral argument against torture, rather than the utilitarian one, is the argument to use. It reminds me of something Hunter wrote about the use of white phosphorous in civilian areas:

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I've Been Waiting For Coturnix To Say This

Category: We're Really Fucked

I had always hoped that my take on the Reign of Little Lord Pontchartrain was overblown. But even I have never thought it could lead to civil war. coturnix writes:

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September 28, 2006

Maybe Iraq Is Like Vietnam...

Category:

if for no other reason than Henry Fucking Kissinger is once again disastrously advising another president. From 60 Minutes (italics mine):

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I See Stupid People: The John Boehner Edition

Category:

This transcends absurd: Republican Rep. John Boehner, the House Majority Leader, stated on national television that Al-Queda and Saddam Hussein were linked, even though President Bush himself has admitted no connection.

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You Never Get the Last Word in Against...

Category:

a Jewish grandmother.

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September 27, 2006

Senator George "Macaca" Allen: Deer Mutilator?

Category:

Sen. George "Macaca" Allen (R-VA) is one sick puppy:

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Paul Waldman Kicks John Stossel's Ass

Category:

And one of my favorite liberal wonks was wearing glasses while doing so.

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The Tripoli Six and the Republican Torture Bill

Category:

Why did some of the six foreign healthcare workers in Libya admit to giving children AIDS when there is no evidence that they did so? Because they were tortured.

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September 26, 2006

More on the Republican War on Science

Category:

Fellow ScienceBlogling Chris Mooney comped me a copy of the second edition of his book, The Republican War on Science, and I have finally managed to get around to writing a review of it. Here's the short version: buy this book.

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Newsweek: Run By Gutless Cowards

Category:

What should be the cover story of a major news magazine: the resurgence of the Taliban, or a biography of photographer Annie Leibowitz?

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September 25, 2006

What Would a Mad Biologist Look Like?

Category: Bloggity Blog

Our Benevolent Seed Overlords want a picture of the Mad Biologist for their own nefarious purposes. So I ask you: what do you think a Mad Biologist would look like?

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E. coli O157:H7 and the Importance of Surveillance

Category:

Do you want to know how to stop, or at least, lessen the next E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak? Improve our surveillance and public health infrastructure.

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Microbiologists Overwhelmingly Oppose Bioterrorism Funding

Category:

Most microbiologists, you know, the experts , are not very thrilled with the emphasis being placed on bioterrorism. Inspired by Tara's post on the Bioshield initiative, I'm reposting this from the old site.

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September 24, 2006

Nice Resource for Defending Science Education

Category:

I stumbled across this site by People for the American Way designed to help citizens keep creationism out of the science classroom.

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September 23, 2006

Fear My "Random Violence"!

Category: Bloggity Blog

Another silly internet quiz.

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A Moment of Art Deco Romanticism

Category: Art Deco

Yes, the title is oxymoronic. But if Bevis Hillier and Stephen Escritt are right, much of the Art Deco movement was fundamentally oxymoronic.

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September 22, 2006

Bakelite For Breakfast, 1926

Category: Art Deco

Bakelite for Breakfast, 1926

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September 21, 2006

The Republican War on Science Continues

Category: Conservatives

Ed Brayton describes the support of intelligent design creationism by the Republican candidate for governor of Michigan. Says the hopeful candidate:

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Why Does the South Dakota Legislature Hate Jews?

Category:

In the November general election, South Dakota will have a referendum that could overturn its law that bans abortions, even where the woman has been raped, is the victim of incest, would suffer long-term medical problems, or would be unable to have future children. The first of the political ads are running, so I thought this post would be appropriate (and certainly in the style my readers have come to expect....). From the archives:

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Extraordinary Rendition and the Silence of a Few Good Men

Category:

No, this post isn't about William Shatner albums. Over at Orcinus, there's a great post about the rendition (rendering? My torture lexicon is rusty...) of terrorist suspects to other countries. Here's the description of the U.S. citizens who live near the airbases and facilities used to conduct these operations:

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The ABCs of Electronically Stealing an Election

Category: Voting

You might have heard of the group at Princeton which demonstrated how easy it is to crack the Diebold electronic voting machines. They have released a video that should just how easy it is to conduct electoral fraud.

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September 20, 2006

He's Stupid, and Nobody Likes Him

Category:

Eric Boehlert compares Bush's approval ratings with those of other presidents:

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How We Actually Monitor an Outbreak

Category:

A CDC website lays out how we actually identify an outbreak of O157:H7. Guess what? It doesn't happen like it does in the movies or on TV.

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The Pork! It Burns! It Burns!

Category:

We Jews have a secret: if you wave pork in front of us, we running away screeching. Contact with our skin causes anaphylactic shock. In fact, pork works better on us than silver does on vampires. Of course, I'm kidding when I say this. But I'm not kidding when I say that Sen. George "Macaca" Allen (R-VA) is still an asshole.

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Staphylococcus aureus: The Wild Type Is Resistant

Category:

Geneticists often use the phrase wild type to describe the dominant allele--genetic variant--of a gene. In microbiology, we typically assume that the wild type of a bacterium is sensitive to antibiotics, and that the rare mutants (and recombinants) are antibiotic resistant.

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September 19, 2006

Islamopinkocommiefascistterrorism and the Nattering Nabobs of Ninniness

Category: Things That Make Ya Go Boom

Let me state something very clearly: I do not want a U.S. city (or any other city for that matter) wiped out by a nuclear bomb. Having said that, the hawks among us have lost all sense of historical perspective when it comes to Iran.

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Are U.S. Troops Already in Iran?

Category:

Retired Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner seems to think so:

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The Internet Is Not Only Made of Tubes...

Category:

but it also has blogs, posts, and threads.

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Obama: Stop Yappin' and Start Doin'

Category:

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has released a new book. In it, he attempts to be the Democratic Party's next Joe Lieberman. This is a bad thing.

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September 18, 2006

New Edition of Animalcules

Category:

Over at Viva la Evolucion!, there's a new edition of Animalcules, the Carnival o'the Wee Beasties.

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Massachusetts Primary Tomorrow

Category: Democrats

Here are my endorsements for various Democratic candidates in the MA primary (held tomorrow; go to the MA state website for more information). I figure my endorsement is worth...

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September 17, 2006

A Propaganda Moment of Zen: The "United We Are Strong" Edition

Category: Propaganda

I'm fortunate enough to own one of the Koerner originals from 1942, so I thought I would post this.

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September 16, 2006

Some Sunday Links

Category: Lotsa Links

Here's some sciency and non-sciency links for you.

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Dog Bites Man: Bush Used Political Ideologues and Cronies to 'Rebuild' Iraq

Category:

After reading this Washington Post article about the Iraq War reconstruction effort, I've stumbled across the epitaph of the Bush Administration...

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Apparently, Feminists Aren't Allowed to Have Breasts

Category: Feminism

Ann Althouse, law professor and asshole extraordinaire, has decreed that Standing Straight Up with Breasts is whorish. Jessica from Feministing had a meeting with Bill Clinton and with other bloggers...

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September 15, 2006

Don't Eat Yer Spinach, Popeye!

Category:

There's been an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning due to contaminated lettuce. This gives me an opportunity to briefly talk about one of my favorite organisms, Escherichia coli.

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Quote of the Day: The HPV Vaccine Edition

Category:

From Kristine at Amused Muse: People are always pointing at scientists and screaming, "Why don't you find a cure for cancer?"

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September 14, 2006

Appeasing Bush

Category:

With all the Neville Chamberlain talk flying around, the neocons are right about one thing: there has been too much appeasement. Appeasement of Bush, that is.

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Governor Ann Richards, RIP

Category: Democrats

I always liked Ann Richards, the former Democratic governor of Texas.

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September 13, 2006

Were We Always This Stupid?

Category:

Granted, I've argued that Paul Waldman's thesis that politics revolves around a personal narrative and not logical discussions of policy analysis is the right way to view things--depressing as that is. But after reading this post by Kos, I'm thoroughly discouraged.

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A Moment of Art Deco Zen: The Zephyr Clock Edition

Category: Art Deco

Check out this Zephyr Digital Clock from 1933....

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September 12, 2006

NIH Funding. Sigh.

Category:

If you haven't read the Science letter by George Mandel and Elliot Vesell, and which was nicely summarized by fellow ScienceBlogling Nick Anthis, you should. It chronicles the coming dissolution of American science.

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Early Admissions to End at Harvard

Category: Education

Harvard University has announced that it will end its early admissions policy. Finally, the middle class and lower-middle class catch a break.

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September 11, 2006

Antibiotic Resistance: At Least ScienceBlogs Cares

Category:

It's good to see antibiotic resistance as today's "Buzz in the Blogosphere." Ironically, this weekend I had started putting together a post about how this issue isn't given the attention it deserves.

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For Heaven's Sake Eat Something!

Category: Please. Just Have One Chicken Finger

More than a few blogs have discussed the kerfuffle over the Australian fashion designer who had a runway show with women who were not emaciated. Not much to add, but I came across this survey of 100 models at Fashion Week.

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An Email That Makes Me Proud...

Category:

I think? I received this email from a friend:

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Nice Photo Op

Category:

Doesn't this define the phrase "photo-op"? (This is almost as ridiculous as the "China Box" photo op). Update: Michael Tomasky has more....

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An Awful Day

Category: Sept. 11

Many others will speak far more eloquently about today than I could, so I'll just mention several brief thoughts.

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Evolution, Atheism, and Miller

Category:

After reading PZ's post and the follow-up about Ken Miller's statements regarding atheism, I was just going to leave the subject alone. I usually find the arguments predictable, boring; there's always a lot of talking past each other. But for some reason, this particular argument over Ken Miller's remarks intrigues me.

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September 10, 2006

Some Weekend Links

Category: Lotsa Links

Here's some interesting links I've stumbled across this weekend

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Don't Mind Us...

Category:

distort the history of 9/11. It will help us get in good with the Bush Administration!

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September 9, 2006

Silly Viagra-Related Humor

Category: Humor

I've decided to inflict these bad Viagra-related jokes that came to me through one of those internet tubes you might have heard about.

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Lionfish in Long Island?

Category: Fish

This is really odd: there just might be a stable population of lionfish off the cost of Long Island.

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September 8, 2006

Donald Rumsfeld...

Category:

...let us remember what freedom and liberty really are....

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