Arlen Specter Leaves GOP for Dems
Category: Republican Party
Specter: "the Republican Party has moved far to the right"
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:22 PM • 6 Comments •
The Scientific Activist
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A postdoc by day and a scientific activist by night, Nick Anthis isn't letting his research in protein structure and function get in the way of defending scientific and social progress.
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- Health Care Reform: It's a Matter of Convenience
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Other Stuff
Republican Party:
Just When I Thought Texas Politics Couldn't Get Any Dumber
Category: Texas
Republican lawmaker asks "What's Medicaid?"
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:30 PM • 6 Comments •
You Can Put $150,000 Worth of Clothes and Makeup on a Horribly Unqualified VP Candidate, but....
Category: John McCain
You know the rest.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 3:03 PM • 5 Comments •
Obamamentum
Category: Barack Obama
Obama wins Louisiana (57-36), Washington (68-31), and Nebraska (68-32), while John McCain still struggles to seal the deal.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:10 AM • 5 Comments •
Brief Super Tuesday Update
Category: Election 2008
The Democratic race remains tight, while McCain increases his lead--but not enough to declare victory.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:01 AM • 1 Comments •
South Carolina a Huge Victory for Obama, Democrats
Category: Election 2008
Obama's 295,091 votes last night trump second place finisher Hillary Clinton's 141,128 and Republican victor John McCain's 147,283.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:53 AM • 1 Comments •
An Immigration Reality Check for Iowans
Category: Election 2008
Immigration will be issue number one for Republicans participating in the Iowa Caucuses tonight, but before they get too fired up, they might want to pay attention to this dispatch from the reality-based community.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:35 PM • 3 Comments •
A Choice We Shouldn't Have to Make
Category: medicine
Guess what... we all get to play doctor!
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:25 PM • 10 Comments •
Schwarzenegger Approves Condor Protection Bill, but Damage Already Done
Category: endangered species
It will take two rights to make up for this wrong.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 9 Comments •
Fundraising Scam Not Enough to Keep NRCC in the Black
Category: Republican Party
Tensions mount between Congressman Tom Cole and the Republican leadership.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:55 PM • 3 Comments •
New Attack Ad Sets Dangerous Precedent
Category: elections
How liable are we for the things we don't write on our blogs?
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:27 PM • 2 Comments •
The Jena Who What Huh?
Category: racism
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson "doesn't know anything about" the Jena Six.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:24 PM • 16 Comments •
More on the Congressional Order of Merit
Category: Republican Party
Geez, Congressman Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) sure is a busy guy. Since I mentioned his fundraising scam for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)--the "Congressional Order of Merit"--last month, myriad new reports of Cole's activities have emerged. For proof, just check...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:48 PM • 2 Comments •
Update: Senate Also Passes CHIP Expansion
Category: health policy
This just in: the CHIP expansion has passed both houses of Congress.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:00 AM • 1 Comments •
House Passes CHIP Expansion
Category: health policy
despite Republican opposition to expanded health care access for kids.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:50 PM • 0 Comments •
The Congressional Order of Merit, Another Republican Party Scam
Category: Republican Party
Ira Flatow, of NPR's Science Friday, reports on the Science Friday blog about being the target of an interesting Republican Party scam, specifically one involving the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC): The phone message on my machine from the NRCC...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:53 PM • 30 Comments •
This Is Me Banging My Head Against the Wall
Category: political interference
The House passes the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act 331-94. Should we be surprised that all 94 nays come from the Republican side of the aisle?
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:20 PM • 8 Comments •
Extreme Conservative Group May Support Rudy Giuliani
Category: Republican Party
Giuliani may land a surprise endorsement from the Club for Growth
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:40 PM • 5 Comments •
Mitt Romney Buys Conservative Support
Category: Republican Party
As the presidential primaries for 2008 slowly approach, we're seeing the expected heavy swing to the right by several on the Republican side. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, though, seems to have taken things a step further by attempting to...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:02 PM • 14 Comments •
Conservative Extremists Get a New Voice at Texas A&M University
Category: Texas A&M University
Texas Governor Rick Perry appoints the chair of the homophobic, anti-diversity, anti-academic freedom, right wing organization the Young Conservatives of Texas as the new student representative on the Texas A&M University Board of Regents.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:16 PM • 8 Comments •
"Moderate" Republicans Pander to the Religious Right
Category: Republican Party
As 2008 approaches, many of the Republican contenders for the Presidency will try to paint themselves as moderates. An article in today's Washington Post, though, underlines why we should be weary of their empty rhetoric. Romney, who is expected to...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:30 PM • 0 Comments •
John Boehner Selected as Republican House Minority Leader
Category: Republican Party
Although painted as a moderate choice, Boehner's record on key science issues borders on appalling.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:22 PM • 3 Comments •
Black Tuesday (for the Conservatives)
Category: elections
Four days after the Democrats' impressive Election Day victory, the commentary keeps streaming in, almost to the point of overkill. Today's Guardian, though, ran a particularly poignant piece from Martin Kettle: Every poll for months had signalled a serious Republican...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:24 AM • 1 Comments •
2006 More Impressive than 1994, Statistically Speaking
Category: elections
Chris of Mixing Memory points us toward a good comparison of the Democratic victory in 2006 to the Republican victory in 1994. In short, the comparison--located at a Columbia statistics blog, Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science--shows that the...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:38 AM • 0 Comments •
Beyond Victory: What 2006 Means for the Democrats and for Science
Category: elections
As the sun sets on the conservative movement in America, 2006 marks a new beginning for the Democrats, and hopefully for American science.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 0 Comments •
Politics, Wild West Style
Category: elections
The Republicans have clearly been getting desperate, and one--Rick Green--was apparently desperate enough to punch Texas State Representative Patrick Rose in the face.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:05 PM • 0 Comments •
My Election Day Message
Category: elections
There is so much to say about the importance of today's election, but not a great deal that hasn't already been spelled out time and time again. Most importantly, if you haven't already voted, go vote today! Hopefully you'll have...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:39 AM • 2 Comments •
Please, Please, No More Rick Perry
Category: elections
This won't be news to anyone from Texas, but our governor, Republican Rick Perry, is a walking disaster. From The Dallas Morning News: SAN ANTONIO - Gov. Rick Perry, after a God and country sermon attended by dozens of political...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:40 PM • 4 Comments •
Another Reason to Vote Democratic
Category: elections
If George Bush is driving our nation down a one-way road to hell, it's the Republican-controlled House and Senate that are enabling him to do this. On October 17th, Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:12 PM • 0 Comments •
The Next Target for Global Warming Denialists: Children's Books
Category: global warming
Senator Inhofe is up to his global warming denialist shenanigans again, and this time the target is a children's book.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:31 PM • 0 Comments •
The Republican War on Science Paperback Released Today
Category: books
I don't have my copy yet of the latest edition of Chris Mooney's The Republican War on Science, but I've been told that it's on its way. And, believe me, I'll bump it up to the top of my reading...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:40 AM • 1 Comments •
Private Stem Cell Funding Good for Now, Not Forever
Category: stem cells
Wealthy billionaires, including many Republicans, are picking up the tab for US embryonic stem cell research in the face of restrictive Bush Administration policies. Is this a permanent solution, and does this mean that the Republican Party is now an ally of science? Not likely.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:07 PM • 1 Comments •
Bush to Scientists, Public: Go Fuck Yourselves
Category: stem cells
Bush hasn't used his veto yet, but he's promised to employ it on, of all issues, stem cell funding. Not surprisingly, this is indicative of the general Republican Party attitude toward the field.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:51 AM • 12 Comments •
Progress of Stem Cell Bill, and Its Media Coverage, Still Plagued by Problems
Category: stem cells
On the 29th of June, the Senate finally announced an upcoming vote on HR 810, a bill which would overturn President Bush's current prohibitions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The progress of the bill still faces many hurdles, and a recent article in the journal Science did little to publicize them and in fact contained several problematic and even inaccurate statements.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:00 PM • 1 Comments •
An Inconvenient AP Story for Republicans
Category: global warming
Yesterday, the AP released a story describing the general approval within the scientific community of the science behind Al Gore's new documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Not to be outdone, global warming denialist James Inhofe (R - OK) released his own press release via the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and it's about as crazy as anything else he's had his hands on.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:42 PM • 15 Comments •
House Republicans Vote for More Political Interference in Science
Category: political interference
The Miller Amendment on scientific integrity came up for a vote in the House Science Committee today and was solidly voted down by the Republican majority. In fact, while all Democrats voted for it, all Republicans voted against it.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:59 PM • 1 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
Senate Stalls Amendment Which Would Tackle Anti-Science Censorship
Category: political interference
In the ongoing struggle against political interference Michael Stebbins of Sex Drugs & DNA reports that Representative Brad Miller (D-NC) has introduced a scientific integrity amendment to HR 5450, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Act, which is currently under consideration in the house.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:06 PM • 6 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
