Policy
mikethemadbiologist | December 27, 2010Links for you. Science:
Ancient humans, dubbed 'Denisovans', interbred with us
Hub care sites see rise in stomach bug cases
African elephant is two species, researchers say
Other:
What Haley Barbour's amnesia tells us: Like any good Southern conservative of his generation, he ignores the entire bad faith stew in which he was raised (a must-read post)
Really, Teacher. I Read the Assignment. The Marvel Comics Version.
When You Hit Bottom, Stop Digging. (Regarding this link and the previous one, I've dealt with value-added teaching appraisal and lifetime income issues elsewhere)
Police State…
pharyngula | December 18, 2010I'm so used to our do-nothing Democrats accomplishing nothing that I'm pleasantly surprised that they actually managed to repeal the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy afflicting our military. Congratulations, gay servicepeople!
Unfortunately, now we have to worry about marines' legs falling off, and Fox News has gone whining to popular opinion with a poll (big numbers there, we probably won't budge it much).
Will Ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Affect America's Ability to Defend Itself?
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/12/18/decide-dont-ask-dont-tell-military-gays/#ixzz18V7Ahe00
No…
lborkowski | December 17, 2010Less than two months after taking office, President Obama issued a memorandum on scientific integrity, which stated:
The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions. Political officials should not suppress or alter scientific or technological findings and conclusions. If scientific and technological information is developed and used by the Federal Government, it should ordinarily be made available to the public. To the extent permitted by law, there should be transparency in the preparation, identification, and use of scientific and…
stoat | December 16, 2010 I largely ignored Copenhagen (the conference, not the city, I hasten to add: very nice place I'm sure and I mean no disrespect) and chose instead to push for Carbon Tax Now, though I felt obliged to read a little bit of what they had to say. But now we have Cancun. What to say about that, other than rather unoriginal puns?
Nothing but the obvious really: it was a total failure and it would have been better if it had never occurred. Cancun was the triumph of the negotiator-class: the parasites encouraged by all the process: yet another waste-of-time conference designed purely to generate…
mikethemadbiologist | December 11, 2010Merry Christmas! Guess who would see their taxes increase as a result of the Obama-McConnell plan? Well:
The wealthiest Americans will also reap tax savings from the proposal's plan to keep the cap on dividend and capital gains taxes at 15 percent, well below the highest rates on ordinary income.....
In fact, the only groups likely to face a tax increase are those near the bottom of the income scale -- individuals who make less than $20,000 and families with earnings below $40,000.
Contrast this with who gets new tax cuts--this is not keeping the Bush cuts, but adding a whole new set of…
drorzel | December 11, 2010
Physics Buzz: Holiday Instability
"Holiday decorations are unstable. (We're talking about physics here. We'll leave their emotions aside.) To take a closer look at what we're dealing with, I've considered three of the most popular items from the array of December decor: The Christmas tree, the Hanukkah menorah and, of course, the Festivus pole.
Which of the three is the most likely to topple over when cousin Fred bumps into it after sampling too much egg nog?"
(tags: science physics holiday education blogs physics-buzz)
slacktivist: Getting laid off is not the same as getting fired
"…
mikethemadbiologist | December 8, 2010Obama's recent tax/unemployment deal with Republicans is a lot less demoralizing once one recognizes that Obama is a Republican, albeit not a completely batshit lunatic one. So I wasn't really going to comment on the most recent Obama capitulation. But several readers asked me for my thoughts on the subject, so here they are:
1) The anger by low- and moderate-information likely Democratic voters is astonishing. Today, completely unsolicited, I had five different people who, while they are likely Democratic voters, really don't pay attention to the details, rant about how weak Obama is and…
tfk | December 8, 2010Steve Benen wraps up the late-breaking reactions to the tax deal, most surprisingly Sen. Mary Landrieu's vigorous opposition:
It seemed at least plausible to me that we'd see some Kabuki theater when it came to congressional Democrats' reaction to the tax plan agreement. Perhaps they'd feign outrage, knowing that if Dems publicly expressed strong support, Republicans would automatically balk at the deal. After all, we've seen this before -- if Democrats approve of a proposal, the GOP assumes there's something wrong with it.
At this point, however, I think it's fair it's fair to say the Dems'…
gregladen | December 7, 2010I did a little (very little, very short) newsroom debate on Fox 9 with a guy named Tom who appears to represent conservative Christians regarding the question of "Does Christmas have place in schools?" I quickly add that even though that was the planned focus of the discussion, it was quickly revised to be "Oh, no, not just Christmas, but Kwanza and Hanuka and stuff too." That particular bit of backpedaling is, of course, ingenuous and annoying, because nobody from Hanuka or Kwanza is trying to force their religious holidays into public schools, only the conservative Christians. So if we…
tfk | December 4, 2010Dave Bruggeman, whose blog on science policy I find generally indispensable, has an odd distaste for the idea of a Republican war on science. Most recently, this emerged in response to a review by the Department of Interior's Inspector General into a report on the post-BPocalypse oil drilling moratorium. The original report was found to have implied inaccurately that scientists reviewing the moratorium itself, rather than that they had simply reviewed specific scientific claims in the report. The IG concluded that this was not an intentional misrepresentation, and that the inaccurate…
oracknows | December 1, 2010No, no, no, no, no!
I hate it when a fellow ScienceBlogger goes astray!
Fortunately, it's been a long time indeed since I felt obligated to administer a dose of Insolence, Respectful or otherwise, to a fellow ScienceBlogger. It's been even longer (as in, I think, never) that I've ever seen one whose resource I use regularly screw up so amazingly. I'm talking about Coby of A Few Things Ill-Considered, whose How To Talk To A Climate Skeptic (also found here) is a resource I turn to again and again and again when faced with denialist arguments about anthropogenic global warming. Indeed, I've…
mikethemadbiologist | November 30, 2010You might have heard how Obama has called for a three year salary freeze for all non-military federal employees. Let's leave aside the notion that we need every drop of fiscal stimulus we can get our hands on. Instead, I would like to know how this will not make things worse for research in the U.S.
As it is, program officers are overworked and understaffed with support personnel. I can't see morale increasing with this move. This won't make retaining people any easier--and probably will make it harder, since the good people will have other options (despite many academics' dislike of…
gregladen | November 28, 2010The following is an accurate account of a recent conversation in which illegal, and possibly dangerous acts against the Federal and State governments were planned.
"I'm glad you guys could come over for dinner," said our host, as we shared the task of moving dishes and serving plates, silverware and glasses from the dining room table to the kitchen.
"Get out of here, no need to help cleaning up," he continued, shooing the three of us away from the kitchen and into the living room, where we distributed ourselves on various pieces of furniture.
I had known Bill years ago in school, and we…
mikethemadbiologist | November 26, 2010Anyone who follows politics regularly is aware of the phenomenon of the voter who "wants the government to stay out of my Medicare" (Medicare is a government program). But a huge fraction of recipients of government aid do not believe they have received government aid. I'll get to why I think that's the case in a bit, but first consider this chart:
Like I mentioned, mind-boggling.
How can 43% of those who received a Pell Grant--college aid--not know that it came from the government? Not only is it all over the grant application forms, but, presumably, at least some of the recipients were…
mikethemadbiologist | November 23, 2010A while ago, I finished reading Adrian Goldsworthy's How Rome Fell. While there are far too many inane comparisons between the Late Roman Empire and the U.S., this summary of Goldsworthy's thesis seems appropriate (italics mine):
That is not to say that the latter emperors were more selfish, but simply that they could never be as secure. Many may have had the best of intentions to rule well, but the government of the empire became first and foremost about keeping the emperor in power - and at lower levels, about the individual advantage of bureaucrats and officers.
The Late Roman Empire was…
tfk | November 20, 2010Techdirt explains "Why Congress Isn't So Concerned With TSA Nude Scans & Gropes: They Get To Skip Them":
Earlier this week, in holding a hearing with the head of the TSA, our congressional representatives didn't seem too concerned about the public complaints about TSA security procedures: the naked scans and the gropings. Want to know why? Perhaps it's because, on the rare occasions that they fly commercial, they get to skip security. The NY Times notes that Speaker of the House John Boehner (who does regularly fly commercial) got to walk right by security and go directly to the gate. In…
mikethemadbiologist | November 15, 2010Just another Manic Monday. Links for you. Science:
Time Warp: Recent right-wing rejections of Einstein's theory of relativity echo Nazi dismissals of what they called 'Jewish Physics' (they're not attacking science, they're just trying to defend their culture space)
Juiced
Serious Fun With Numbers: We're drowning in data, but few reporters know how to use them (you could also hire some scientists who know how to do this. Just saying)
What It's Like to Live in a Science Museum for a Month
Other:
Jewish Leaders Take Beck to Task for Creepy Soros Accusation: Scurrilous, Grotesque, Monstrous…
drorzel | November 10, 2010
Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds - CNN.com
"Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts.
For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.
His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food.
The premise held up: On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months…
oracknows | November 8, 2010I advocate science-based medicine (SBM) on this blog. However, from time to time, consider it necessary to point out that SBM is not the same thing as turning medicine into a science. Rather, I argue that what we do as clinicians should be based in science. Contrary to what some might claim, this is not a distinction without a difference. If we were practicing pure science, we would theoretically be able to create algorithms and flowcharts telling us how to care for patients with any given condition, and we would never deviate from them. It is true that we do have algorithms and flowcharts…
pharyngula | November 7, 2010There are hints of the direction our country will be taking in the near future.
Medicaid is one of our rare social safety net programs — it provides basic health care support for low income, disabled, and elderly people, and is supported by both federal and state level funds. Emboldened by the recent election results, which apparently tell them it's now open season on the poor, Texas Republicans are talking about ending Medicaid. By refusing to carry their 40% of the Medicaid bill in the state of Texas, they'd lose the 60% coming from the federal government — so poor Texans would lose 100%…