Mike the Mad Biologist
Archives for January, 2007
Religion and Pessimism
Posted by Mike on January 25, 2007 Commenting on this post by John Horgan about religion and defeatism, PZ writes:
What Was Webb Thinking?
Posted by Mike on January 24, 2007 I compliment Sen. James Webb on his post-State of the Union speech, and he goes and votes against Sen. Dodd’s amendment to require Congressional approval to increase troop numbers in Iraq. Also voting in surprising fashion were Democrats Casey, Cardin, and Nelson. Republican senator Hagel showed that he’s another all-talk Republican: despite his blistering criticism…
Chickens and Group Selection
Posted by Mike on January 24, 2007 A while ago, Bora referred to a short article about David Sloan Wilson, whose research program examines group selection (among other things). Any discussion of group selection is almost always contentious, largely because there is a fundamental confusion (or conflation) of two different phenomena: the evolution of groups and selection among groups (i.e., group selection).
I’m Famous!!
Posted by Mike on January 24, 2007 Well, kinda sorta. I’m mentioned in a UPI article about rapid diagnosis of influenza and antibiotic use. Rather than repeat the UPI story, here’s the abstract (don’t worry, I’ll translate):
A Fine Speech
Posted by Mike on January 24, 2007 No, I’m not referring to Bush’s State of the Union, but Senator James Webb’s response. What’s interesting is how hard he hit the economics:
Healthcare: It’s the Insurers, Stupid
Posted by Mike on January 23, 2007 Let’s just say, for sake of argument, that Bush’s proposed tax plan for healthcare would actually lower premiums. There’s something rather obvious that his plan seems to miss.
Seed Magazine Covers Acinetobacter
Posted by Mike on January 23, 2007 Update: I was in error (long day at work). The article was published in Wired magazine Seed Magazine, the meatworld Overlords of ScienceBlogs, has an article about Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacterium which can be resistant to virtually every antibiotic used to treat it–and in some cases, all antibiotics.
Merry Blog For Choice Day!
Posted by Mike on January 22, 2007 Today is Blog For Choice Day. So I thought I would write about why I’m for legal and safe abortion. It’s rather simple: because the alternative is illegal and unsafe abortions. As long as women can get pregnant, some will not want to be pregnant. I trust their judgment that most of the time, they’re…
A “Literature Guy’s” Response to the Anti-Cullen Fervor
Posted by Mike on January 22, 2007 A few days ago, I posted about the conservative dogpile over at the Weather Channel because one of their bloggers had some very scathing comments about global warming denialists. I found this post by a self-described “literature guy” which makes two very good points.
Some Sunday Links
Posted by Mike on January 21, 2007 Here are some weekend links for you. First, the science: