Maintained by Seed's editors, web editors, and the other people who make Seed tick, Page 3.14 points you in the direction of some of ScienceBlogs' finest offerings, plus the tastiest tidbits of science news and opinion from around the web.
In this post: the large version of the Politics and Medicine & Health channel photos, comments from readers, and the best posts of the week.
Reader comments of the week:
The Politics channel is all over Sarah Palin this week, but Mike the Mad Biologist reminds us she's not the only one running in From Food Stamps to the Presidency? Maybe a Safety Net Isn't TEH EVIL. While the Republican party often criticizes Barack Obama for supposed elitism, Mike points out, he is the first presidential candidate to grow up using food stamps—about as far from elite as you can get.
Reader Edward thinks the entire argument is useless, and that it distracts voters from more important concerns:
Honestly, I don't care if someone is an "elitist" - it's something that can be good or bad, depending on the context. I also don't care if someone has a pregnant teenage daughter. All this stuff is a circus to detract from the real issues. The selection of Palin proves to me that McCain is bending over to the Republican party theological orthodoxy and has forfeited any claim of being a maverick. There is no way I'm going to vote for someone who is beholden to those who want to turn this country into a theocracy.
Over on the Medicine & Health channel, Orac of Respectful Insolence bemoans the start of fall allergy season in When ragweed attacks.... The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has just released a top ten list of the worst cities for fall pollens. While Orac's city is not on the list, his allergies are bad enough to make him desperate for any remedy—he's even considering a homeopathic concoction of diluted ragweed, because as he says, "if ever there were a test of 'like cures like,' this would be it."
Reader Dianne shares his seasonal agony:
Ragweed is proof that there is a god and he/she is evil. Or that my immune system stinks at being able to distinguish dangerous parasites from harmless plants. One or the other. Either way, I became a convert to the wonders of Big Pharma the day the first nonsedating antihistamine came out. Claritin is the only thing that makes life worth living during allergy season (which for me is the entire growing season...I love winter.)
Some other Politics posts we thought were cool this week were:
Did the Far Left Blogs Turn Lieberman Into a Republican?
Palin-genesis: McCain was for mocking candidates' kids before he was against it
And from the Medicine & Health channel:
Get ready---flu season is closer than you think
USDA on mad cow: hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. That's the law!
Handcuffs not only kinky, also deadly
Look for highlights from other channels coming up!
Politics
Medicine & Health
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