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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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March 31, 2007

While I'm Away in D.C...

Category:

I plan on visiting the Smithsonian. Sadly, it hasn't been run very well the last seven years. Maybe the resignation of Lawrence Small will turn things around. Who is Small?

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March 30, 2007

Creationist Sez: Peanut Butter Disproves Evolution...

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...or something like that. By way of skippy, comes this, erm, fascinating creationist exposition on the inertness of peanut butter.

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Newspapers: Alienating Your Readers Is a Bad Business Model

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Atrios makes an interesting observation about the decline in newspaper sales and political trend at major metropolitan dailies.

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March 29, 2007

A Question About DLC Democrats

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How can the DLC-wing of Democratic Party, including Rahm Emanuel, continue to claim to know what's best for the Democratic Party after they've been so badly schooled? By other Democrats.

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And Who Elected These Guys Anyway?

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One of the interesting things about blogging is that it has undermined the importance of the punditocracy. In the pre-interenet, and certainly pre-blog era, you had a very different relationship to politics, even if you were aware and relatively active: you were a consumer.

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Prayer Is the Answer?

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That's according to Republican congressman Randy Forbes, member of the Congressional Prayer Caucus. Personally, I think exercising Congress' oversight role and passing some legislation worth a damn might help a bit more, but then again, my prayers wouldn't count for much anyway according to the Caucus.

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Creationists, "Biological Information", and Cyber-Vitalism

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In response to us foul-mouthed evolutionists, Casey Luskin asks, "Yet for all their numbers and name-calling, not a single one has answered Egnor's question: How does [sic] Darwinian mechanisms produce new biological information?" I've never liked the whole "biological information" concept.

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March 28, 2007

Willful Ignorance: the Global Warming Edition

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Blogger Mike Stark recently debated Myron Ebell about global warming. Apparently, Mike Stark did more than just hold his own, which is pretty impressive considering the debate was hosted by the ultraconservative Federalist Society. Stark had this interesting point about credibility, which is similar to a point I made about creationist credibility.

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The Closer the End Gets, the Louder the Screeching Is

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Hunter has a superb piece on the declining (or perhaps negligible) authority of the punditocracy. To paraphrase Hunter, we're all cheesegraters here.

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This I Do Not Understand

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By way of Seeing the Forest, I came across this Zogby poll from Sept. 2006 about the Iraq War. The stoopid is really painful.

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March 27, 2007

Is Senator Clinton a Lieberman 'Democrat'?

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I ask this seriously. Among rank and file Democrats, there is a common belief that Democratic politicians are being dragged to right by the need for compromise. But I don't think that's the case with Clinton: she is a conservative Southern Democrat without the regional accent. And the southern blue dogs have been pretty weak on the Iraq Occupation.

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The Political Failure of Annual Influenza

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One of the few predictable statistics in American public health is that between 35,000-40,000 people will die every year from 'ordinary' influenza. Most of these deaths are preventable. Yet we do nothing. This is a complete failure of the basic function of government to protect the life and health of the weakest among us.

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March 26, 2007

Punditry Versus Academic Writing

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I usually stay away from the various pissing matches that occur between big name commentators. Watching Hollywood actors and actresses is far more entertaining, and unlike the famous and beautiful people, pundits are definitely NOT TEH HOT! But in the midst of a clash between Eric Alterman and Joe Klein, Alterman makes an interesting observation.

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March 25, 2007

Some Sunday Links

Category: Bloggity Blog

Here are some Sunday links for you (with extra linkyness since there won't be one next week). First, I blind you with science.

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Breaking the Silence

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A story in the NY Times about a very interesting Israeli group, Breaking the Silence (Shovrim Shtika), finally got me motivated to blog about it. Here's one bit from the article that was interesting

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March 24, 2007

We're Going to Party Like It's 1979...

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...in Stasi-controlled East Germany. An anonymous internet service provider writes in the Washington Post about the 'national security letter' he or she received.

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"How Do You Ask a Man To Be the Last Man To Die For a Mistake?"-the WaPo Edition

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It's about time someone told the warmongers on the Washington Post editorial board to go fuck themselves. In the words of Democratic congressman David Obey:

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March 23, 2007

Didn't I Tell You...

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never mess with the Jewish grandmothers. Wednesday, Sen. Boxer smacked around Republican senator Inhofe but good:

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Did I Mention Something About Subprime Loans?

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The subprime loan fiasco is starting to reach suburbia. And as you might guess, the taxpayer is left to pick up the externalized costs of lenders.

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March 22, 2007

Willful Ignorance and the Heterosexual Agenda

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In a recent post that's made it's way around blogtopia (and yes, skippy invented that phrase), I referred to willful ignorance. I found an excellent parody of the anti-gay spew vomited forth by various rightwing faithtanks called "The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing the Myths." The whole thing is worth a read, but in the part where the author explains how to write a similar parody is an excellent description of willful ignorance.

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Attorneygate: Just How High Does It Go?

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The more you stare at this scandal, the more you feel like one of the proverbial blind men trying to figure out what the hell that elephant is.

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More on Attorneygate

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Yesterday, I was a little miffed about the coverage of the growing US Attorney scandal. During said crankiness, I wondered how we have reached the point where the legality of an action is the only criterion to use when judging if that action is ethical.

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March 21, 2007

Impact Factors and eigenFACTOR.org

Category: Publishing

In scientific publishing, one of the important things is what is known as the "impact factor" which is the the average number of citations a journal receives over a 2 year period. The impact factor is often used by librarians and researchers to determine which journals to purchase and where to publish. There are some problems with the impact factor, however.

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Why I Can't Stand the Media (Sometimes)

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The good news is that the Senate overwhelmingly rescinded Bush's ability to appoint U.S. attorneys without Congressional approval--one of those 'terror-fighting' 'improvements' that somehow found its way into the Patriot Act. But the coverage of the story is awful.

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March 20, 2007

The Evolution of My Opposition to Creationism

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In response to my latest post about Michael Egnor, I received a couple of comments lamenting my intemperance towards Egnor. Below is the long version, but Mark sums up the short version quite nicely.

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Here Comes the New Republican Talking Point

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Just watch: the Republicans are going to blame the Democrats for fouling up the Justice Department. From U.S. News:

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March 19, 2007

Antibiotic Resistance in Chimps

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There's an interesting news story about antibiotic resistance in wild chimpanzee populations that claims to have found transfer of resistant Escherichia coli from humans to wild animals.

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The Straight Bullshit Express: the Condom Edition

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Full disclosure: I have never bought into the belief of the Compulsive Centrists that John McCain is moderate. A detailed look at his voting record shows that he is often very conservative, with the occasional moment of lucidity (e.g., recognizing that global warming is actually happening). But it is truly pathetic to watch a man who clearly doesn't agree with the theological conservatives twist himself into a pretzel in an effort to placate them. He's done it with evolution. Now, he is 'confused' about condoms.

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March 18, 2007

Some Sunday Links

Category: Bloggity Blog

Happy Belated Evacuation Day! Here are some links for you.

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Sunday Sermon: Freeman Dyson on Total War

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Many of you will know of Freeman Dyson as a world-class physicist. But he was also assigned to RAF Bomber Command during World War II. Here are his thoughts on bombing of urban areas.

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March 17, 2007

Economic End Times and a Coming Housing Implosion

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By 'End Times', I'm not referring to the significant global decrease in food production, or the Far East trade war over sand (I'm not kidding--Indonesia has declared a sand embargo against Singapore). Putting those two news items together does have an apocalyptic feel to it. No, what I'm referring to is that mortgage foreclosures and homeowner vacancies have reached record highs.

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Funny Slogan of the Week

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This picture is from the ACT UP protest against Joint Chief of Staff General Pace's bigoted remarks

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March 16, 2007

Triumph of the Morons: More from the Peter Pan Conservatives

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Hear the Mighty Roar of the Peter Pan Conservatives: those conservatives who think that policy failures are not due to strategic, tactical, or logistical flaws but solely due to to a lack of will. It appears that this way of thinking has completely permeated Little Lord Pontchartrain's brain. Neocon Irwin Stelzer had a luncheon meeting with the president. His description is chilling.

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March 15, 2007

I See Stupid People: The Michael Egnor Edition

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Luskin and Egnor himself are treating this as a case of arrogant Ph.D.s beating up on a simple country neurosurgeon who is armed only with common sense. This is a lie.

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Go Support Majikthise

Category: Bloggity Blog

Lindsay of Majikthise is holding a fundraising drive.

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March 14, 2007

Agriculture, Antibiotic Use, and Genes in the Environment

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Who would ever think that 'wastewater lagoons'--lakes full of animal shit--could be so interesting? And important in understanding how agricultural antibiotic use increases the frequency of antibiotic resistance genes.

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Lactoferrin: It Might Actually Prevent Disease

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You might not know this, but your body produces a whole bunch of antibacterial compounds, one of which is lactoferrin. It's found in breast milk and mucosal substances such as tears and saliva. Lactoferrin hasn't really been investigated as a medical antibiotic because many disease-causing bacteria (e.g., E. coli) also live on (and in) people as harmless commensals, and consequently, have evolved resistance to lactoferrin. However, a new paper suggests that some lactoferrin might kill these pathogens.

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March 13, 2007

When You're to the Right of Paul Nitze, You're...

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...missing circuits in your head. James Carroll, in House of War, describes the bumpy road that nuclear hawk Paul Nitze, who advocated nuclear first strikes during the Berlin Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, had during his Senate confirmation hearings.

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Why Resistance Matters: the Things That Don't Show Up in the Statistics

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Last night, I was reading some of the comments you leave here, and, in response to a post about a surgeon who thinks evolution is irrelevant to medical practice (Got Antibiotic Resistance?), fellow ScienceBlogling Mark left a comment. I'll get to the comment in a minute, but tragically, I hear stories like his far too often.

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March 12, 2007

What About Antibiotic Resistance Doesn't Egnor Understand?

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I haven't been able to respond to Michael Egnor's idiocy about evolution because I've been recovering from a meeting, but fortunately my fellow ScienceBloglings have. But I'll add my two cents.

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Loving the War, Murdering the Troops

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The latest snafu from the War Department: we're sending soldiers to Iraq who are unfit for combat.

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March 11, 2007

Who Said This (Sunday Sermon)?

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Here's a topical Senate speech for you; see if you can guess who said this:

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March 10, 2007

Some Sunday Links

Category: Bloggity Blog

Merry Daylight Savings Time! Here are some links for you. First, the science stuff:

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A Good Diagram of How Antibiotic Resistance Evolves

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One of the little things I liked about Rick Weiss' cefquinome article was a diagram about how antibiotic resistant strains evolve.

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March 9, 2007

Why the Silence on the Right About Cefquinome?

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There's something very interesting about the unfolding story of the possible FDA cefquinome approval. After doing a Technorati search, virtually all of the blogs that discuss this issue are either non-partisan or progressive/liberal. The rightwing bloggysphere is nowhere to be found. Any thoughts on why that might be?

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March 8, 2007

Loose Lips, Sinking Ships, and Why Bush Won't Pardon Libby

Category: Fucking Royals

Much has been written about the Scooter Libby indictment, so I don't have much commentary to add. However, I will make a prediction: Bush will not pardon Libby. Here's why:

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March 7, 2007

Some Interesting Staphylococcus aureus Factoids

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Or maybe terrifying is a better word. I just returned from the Network on Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus meeting, where I learned some very interesting things about S. aureus (since I'm going to refer to MRSA, methicillin resistant S. aureus repeatedly, go check this link if you want to know more about MRSA):

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Here's the Blogrollin'

Category: Bloggity Blog

Thanks to everyone who bloglinked to me--I added you last night. If you're interested in trading links, or if you already link to me, let me know below.

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March 6, 2007

Thank For Blogrolling

Category: Bloggity Blog

I'm at a meeting (out of town), so I won't be able to add people to my blogroll until Wednesday, but thank you to everyone who linked to me, the anti-Kos.

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March 5, 2007

FDA Approves Cefquinome...

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...high levels of resistance to cephalosporins and beta-lactam antibiotics sure to follow. Sunday, the Washington Post covered the FDA approval of the use of cefquinome in cattle to treat respiratory pneumonia.

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March 4, 2007

Delurking Blogroll Day (I Am the Anti-Kos)

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This is what happens when you leave posts in the Blogerator: someone beats you to it (hat tip: skippy). Unlike certain famous* bloggers, whose initials are Kos, I don't like to purge live blogs.

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March 3, 2007