A Tale of Two Health Care Systems
Category: universal health care
Socialized medicine isn't even on the table right now... unfortunately.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:22 PM • 15 Comments •
The Scientific Activist
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Advancing Science through Conversations: Bridging the Gap between Blogs and the Academy
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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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Recent Posts
- Rhodes Secretary: Wall Street Megabonuses Draining Our Young Talent
- On Mimicking Phosphotyrosine
- AMA Advocates Change in Marijuana Classification
- Two New Papers on Integrin Activation
- New Interactive 3D Molecular Images in Scientific Articles
- Health Care Reform: It's a Matter of Convenience
- 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The Ribosome
- Bad Math at The Weather Channel
- 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine: Telomeres and Telomerase
- Scientific Diplomacy and the Universality of Science
Top Posts
Other Stuff
Washington:
The Most Recent Counterfactual Attack Against the Obama Administration
Category: Obama Administration
Claims that science chief John Holdren advocates "extreme measures of population control" show a total disregard for the facts and even basic logic.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:23 PM • 21 Comments •
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 •
Help Andy Revkin Annotate Obama's NAS Speech
Category: Obama Administration
Earlier today, President Barack Obama delivered a major speech on science policy to the National Academy of Sciences. Read more about it in my previous post. Now, though, Andy Revkin of Dot Earth is trying to annotate the speech with...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:28 AM • 1 Comments •
Obama Pledges Major New Commitment to Science in Speech to NAS
Category: Obama Administration
Obama pledged that under his leadership, the US will devote more than three percent of GDP to research and development, the largest commitment to science in US history.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:01 AM • 3 Comments •
Public Comments Open on Draft NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research
Category: stem cells
About a week ago, the NIH announced its draft guidelines covering the funding of human embryonic stem cell research. You can read the draft guidelines here and my post on the topic here. As these are draft guidelines, they are...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:10 AM • 1 Comments •
NIH Announces New Embryonic Stem Cell Research Guidelines
Category: stem cells
The new guidelines are much more reasonable than those of the Bush Administration, but are still overly restrictive.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:15 PM • 2 Comments •
We Need to Bring Back the OTA
Category: science policy
It would only take about one seven-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:28 AM • 0 Comments •
DC Celebrates Pseudoscience
Category: pseudoscience
A proclamation recognizes "Brain Education", an unproven curriculum by a longstanding purveyor of pseudoscience
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:10 AM • 5 Comments •
Most Poignant/Ironic Moment of Obama's Inauguration Address
Category: Obama Administration
A humorously well-timed shot of Bush drives the point home.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:45 PM • 0 Comments •
Slowing the Pace of Change: Bush Appointees Fast-Tracked into Career Government Jobs
Category: Bush Administration
An insidious legacy
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:15 PM • 9 Comments •
US to Consider No Longer Calling Mandela, ANC "Terrorists"
Category: Africa
You can file this one under "should have been done about twenty years ago." From the Mail & Guardian: Lawmakers on Tuesday debated legislation to remove former South African president Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) from an...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:57 AM • 1 Comments •
Pervasive Political Interference at the EPA
Category: political interference
Last week's report by the UCS indicates that the EPA has become little more than another political tool for the Bush Administration.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:58 PM • 3 Comments •
Senate Passes Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
Category: Congress
It's an important step forward, but the only true long-term solution is universal health care.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:45 AM • 10 Comments •
Are You a Scientist Interested in Getting More Involved in the Political Process?
Category: events
SEA is sponsoring a workshop that may interest you on May 10th in Washington, DC.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:52 PM • 2 Comments •
Barack Obama Receives Key Endorsement from the Heart of Texas
Category: Barack Obama
On Monday, Obama was endorsed by Congressman Chet Edwards, whose district includes Texas A&M University, the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, and George W. Bush's Crawford ranch
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:09 AM • 0 Comments •
String of Obama Victories Portends a Strong Performance in the General Election
Category: Barack Obama
Obama wins big in Maryland, Virginia, and DC, but now he has even bigger fish to fry.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:07 PM • 0 Comments •
Bush Vetoes Children's Health Insurance Program Expansion
Category: public health
It's time for a few key Republicans to grow a heart and/or some balls and override this veto.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:13 PM • 5 Comments •
House Passes SCHIP Expansion
Category: health policy
but not with a veto-proof majority.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:58 AM • 0 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 •
Senate to Vote on Mandatory Public Access to NIH Research Results
Category: open access
Following the House, which passed its version in July.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:01 PM • 0 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 •
Interior Department to Correct for Past Political Interference
Category: political interference
Repent! Repent!
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:39 AM • 1 Comments •
House Approves Mandatory Public Access to NIH Research Results
Category: open access
The next step is the Senate.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:58 PM • 0 Comments •
Take Action on CHIP!
Category: health policy
Let's get this bill rolling....
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:16 PM • 5 Comments •
Bush Plans to Veto CHIP Expansion
Category: public health
Tobacco trumps children's health care.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 12:27 PM • 2 Comments •
Interview With John Edwards at A Blog Around the Clock
Category: elections
Over at A Blog Around the Clock, Bora has posted an interview he conducted by email with Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on science and science-related issues. The fact that John Edwards participated is a good indication that the 2008...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:48 PM • 0 Comments •
Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence
Category: Bush Administration
Absurdity. Complete and total absurdity. George Bush, a president who has pardoned fewer people than any president in the past century, today commutes the sentence of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a guilty man who...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:05 PM • 2 Comments •
Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Bill
Category: stem cells
President Bush vetoes S. 5 and offers an awful alternative.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:02 PM • 4 Comments •
Abstinence-Only Promoter Can't Keep it in His Pants
Category: Bush Administration
On Friday, Randall Tobias--the Bush Administration's chief promoter of foreign abstinence-only sex education programs--resigned from his position as Deputy Secretary of State after getting busted for frequenting DC prostitutes. If your head hasn't already exploded, check out Timothy Noah's humorous...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:52 PM • 5 Comments •
Christopher Hitchens: Karl Rove is an Atheist
Category: religion
In a recent interview published in New York Magazine, writer Christopher Hitchens is asked "Has anyone in the Bush administration confided in you about being an atheist?". His answer: Well, I don't talk that much to them--maybe people think I...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:09 PM • 9 Comments •
SCOTUS: Who's Your Daddy?
Category: Supreme Court
Paternalism is the word of the day as the Supreme Court slices away at reproductive freedoms.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:55 AM • 2 Comments •
Hearing on Interference with Climate Change Science Interesting but Slightly Disappointing
Category: political interference
Members of the Bush Administration are forced to defend the Administration's policies of political interference in climate science.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:50 PM • 5 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 •
George Deutsch to Testify at Upcoming Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Hearing
Category: political interference
This should be interesting....
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:56 PM • 2 Comments •
The Difference Between Edwards and Romney
Category: Democratic Party
Romney and Edwards have both shifted heavily to their respective sides, but Edwards gives us fewer reasons to be skeptical than Romney.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 3:36 PM • 4 Comments •
Bush Administration Institutes More Political Interference in Scientific Regulation
Category: political interference
A new Bush Administration directive serves no other purpose than to further institutionalize Administration interference in science.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:09 AM • 0 Comments •
House to Vote on Embryonic Stem Cell Bill This Thursday, Amniotic Stem Cells No Substitute for the Real Thing
Category: stem cells
Yes, that's TOMORROW!!!
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:16 PM • 0 Comments •
Potential Changes to Mandatory Sentencing Laws
Category: law
Under the new Democratic Congress, many are hoping to change these outdated and sometimes blatantly racist laws.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:47 AM • 0 Comments •
Oversight of Bush Administration High on Democrats' Agenda
Category: Democratic Party
The Democrats are already making big plans to investigate some of the Bush Administration's more outrageous instances of political interference in science.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:47 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 •
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 •
Rumsfeld Steps Down, Bush Nominates A&M President Robert Gates
Category: Bush Administration
It has just been announced that unpopular Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is "stepping down". This is no doubt a positive step for the Bush Administration, the nation, and the world as a whole, but it comes as too little...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:22 PM • 12 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 •
Bush Administration Interferes with Science... Again.
Category: political interference
Is anyone surprised?
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:15 PM • 4 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 •
Fantastical Fridays: Ready... or Not
Category: Fantastical Fridays
Can one summer intern outshine the entire Department of Homeland Security?
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:55 AM • 4 Comments •
Bush Vetoes Stem Cell Act
Category: stem cells
After it passed in the Senate on Tuesday, Bush proved he was as stubborn as promised and vetoed HR 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, on Wednesday. This was another step backwards for science in the US and a...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 3:33 AM • 1 Comments •
HR 810 Passes in Senate
Category: stem cells
I'm on vacation right now, but I had to come out of hiding for this one. HR 810 passed in the senate today, 63-37. That was enough to meet the 60 vote mark for passage, but it won't be enough...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:12 PM • 2 Comments •
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